Welcome to Sketchbook13~


We give you Sketchbook13, a gaming/anime/manga/trolling/somewhatpersonal blog for your interest.
Compromised of Your Mom, Your Pants, Alazarelle, Illuminya and myself (Yuzu)...
We're still young, but hey, we can live.
So drop by, say hi and WELCOME ^^

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Monogramic Concert

Heyaz~ it's Syuri again! ^^

So, has anybody been cheering for a monogram on stage lately?
An amazing phenomenon of thousands of Japanese cheering on a h.o.l.o.g.r.a.m. is eerily enticing seems to be the new hottest thing.

Crypton Future Media is to blame for creating and subsequently unleashing the popular singing synthesizer extraordinaire, Hatsune Miku (and her fellow vocafamily ^^), and this time (after finally collecting enough money from several million people + me)- they have finally released Miku's own concert!
Backed up by a live band only, Hatsune is arguably mesmerizing even as a hologram~

(Fact: the tickets were ALL sold out within 17 minutes upon release)
Check out the following clips ;3:
World Is Mine [Hatsune Miku]
Romeo & Cinderelle [Hatsune Miku]
Just Be Friends [Ruka... somethingicantrememberatthemoment]
Butterfly On Your Right Shoulder [Kagamine Ren+Rin]


~

matte ne?
s y u r i ♡


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Winter '11 Anime Outlook

HAH I was all troubled about what to write for this post.  Then a friend of mine requested that I check my Twitter, I idly scroll down, and I SEE THAT 2011 ANIME HAS BEEN ANNOUNCNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Well, no sleep for me tonight kishishishishi.  Time for ranting ranting drooling sparkly eyes and kyaa~~s!!!!!!!!!!!!  But warning lol most of my comments are based purely on my fantasies so don’t go blaming me if they don’t turn out the way I dreamed it would >.<




Haiyoru! Nyaru-ani: Remember My Love (Craft-sensei):
“The story centers around Nyaruko, a formless Cthulhu deity who can take on the shape of anyone it wishes, but particularly the shape of a seemingly ordinary silver-haired girl.  Mahiro Ysaka is a normal high school student who is chased by aliens one night, until “Nyaruko” saves him.”
My comments:
Hah. Hah. HAH. HAH! HAHAHAHA!!!!!  School uniform female deity, normal guy, aliens, RIGHT UP MY ALLEY.  Hah sounds like the perfect setting to add ecchi and “naiveness of someone not used to human life,” and thus I see lots of promise for tons of laugh laugh laugh laugh laughs!!!!!!

StarrySky
“The heroine, Tsukiko, enrolled to a school that was recently changed from all-boys school to co-ed.  Since the area where the school is conveniently rural and the rather exclusive curriculums the school has, up until now the heroine is the only one female who enrolled to the school.  In Starry Sky, the 12 constellations of the Zodiac are personified into handsome young men.”
Comments:
*shivers* oh groans reverse harem.  Twelve guys for one girl?  Come ON!  Even actual harems don’t give 12 girls to one guy, that’s just way too ridiculous =.=”  I don’t care if this is gonna turn out interesting or whatever, I’m never gonna touch this stuff lmao.

Wolverine
“Next in the four-part Marvel Anime project and broadcasts after the Iron Man anime.  Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing factor that allows him to recover from virtually any wound, disease or toxin at an accelerated rate.”
Comments:
Maaaaannn~~~~ American crap.  Gag.  Throw up.  Shivers.  Throws it into a trash can.  Fires a nuclear bomb at the trash can.

Fractale
“The story takes place in an island, where a “Fractale System” is beginning to collapse.  One day, Crane finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff.  She disappears leaving a pendant.  Crame sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.”
Comments:
Hmmm~ sounds like a so-so setting for a fantasy RPG-style series.  Judging from the plot intro, I expect this to be something like Shukufuku no Campenella.  Will probably check this out when I have time during the X’mas hols hehe.

Hourou Musuko
“Shuuichi Nitori is a 5th grade student who likes to bake and has always been something of a feminine boy.  When he transfers to a new school, Shuuichi is mistaken for his 6th grade sister on his first day.  Then he ends up sitting next to Yoshino Takatsuki, a tall, boyish girl who everyone calls “Takatsuki-kun.” They both have secrets they can’t let anyone know…”
Comments:
Oh.  This.  It finally got an anime huh.  The manga wasn’t all that interesting.  A buncha 5th graders cross-dressing.  Boring stuff *yawns*.

IS: Infinite Stratos
“Japan engineered an armed powered exoskeleton “Infinite Stratos” (IS) and it became the mainstream of weapons.  Since only women can operate IS, women dominate the society over men.  Orimura Ichika is a 15-yr-old boy and accidentally touches an IS placed in the IS pilor training school.  He is found to be the only man who can operate IS and forced to enter the training school.  Ichika’s busy school life surrounded by girls has begun.”
Comments:
*whistles!* This cliché mecha-that-only-girls-can-use-but-suddenly-one-guy-can-also-use setting.  Soo~~~ cliché hahahahahaha.  But works almost every single time.  Ecchi~ecchi~ecchi~ecchi hehehehehe.  Maybe I’ll relinquish my mecha-hate for just this season, just to enjoy the ecchi of this series.  Muahahahahahahaha.

Yumekui Merry
“Ten years ago Fujiawara noticed he had a power to see multicolored auras surrounding the person’s body.  Ever since then he’s been having a weird dream about a war with cats.  Then one day a mysterious girl falls on top of him…”
Comments:
Girl falls on top of boy.  Cliché beginning.  The war with cats part seems like it could get good though XDDD  Cus I personally can’t imagine a war with cats wthroflmaobbq.  Since I don’t know what to expect for this one, I expect it to be good!

Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season
“Kuronuma Sawako is completely misunderstood by her classmates.  Her timid and sweet demeanor is often mistaken for malicious behavior.  This is due to her resemblance to the ghost girl from “The Ring,” which has led her peers to give her the nickname Sadako.  Longing to make friends and live a normal life, she is naturally drawn to Kazehaya Shouta, the most popular guy in clas, whose “100% refreshing” personality earns him great admiration from Sawako.”
Comments:
Oy.  There was no need for me to type out the entire plot intro, was there?  WHO THE HECK HAS NEVER SEEN KIMITODO??????  This is like, the best best best BEST BEST BEST! romance series that I’ve ever EVER EVER EVER! seen.  Ever.  Really.  So cute and fuwa fuwa and awww~~~  I love this series so much >.<  Whenver anyone says VALENTINE I automatically immediately spontaneously think KIMITODO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cardfight!! Vanguard
“TV anime based on the game that is a collaboration between Yu-Gi-Oh! R manga creater Akira Ito, the original Duel Masters technical advisor Satoshi Nakamura, and Bushiroad President Takaaki Kidani.”
Comments:
Ah~ card game series huh.  Haven’t watched THOSE is absolute ages.  As long as the period of time in which I haven’t watched Digimon and Pokemon, in fact.  I dunno, IMO these series are just too kiddy.  Not interested.

Dragon Crisis!
“A normal high school boy Kisaragi Ryuji’s peaceful life is turned into an adventure by the return of this second cousin Eriko.  Ryuji and Eriko seize a relic box from a black broker.  In the box, they find a red dragon girl Rose.  In order to protect Rose from the black organization, Ryuji decides to fight using his power as a relic handler.”
Comments:
Hmmm LMAO.  I really don’t know what to say about this lolololololol.  This could go so many different ways: could turn into a kiddy series, could turn into an ecchi series, could turn into a what-is-justice series, so many different directions.  Probably worth checking out.

Beelzebub:
“The story follows the “Strongest juvenile delinquent,” Oga Tatsumi, a first year in Ishiyama High, a school for delinquents.  One day while sleeping next to a river he sees a man floating down it, he pulls him to shore and the man splits in half revealing a baby boy.  This boy is the son of the demon king and he has been chosen as the one to raise it with the baby’s demon maid Hilda.  The story follows his life with the child and at the delinquent school.”
Comments:
HAH!  *evil laugh*  This FINALLY FINALLY gets an anime!  ABOUT TIME!  One of the AWESOME new manga series~~  This manga is kick-ass~the anime better do it justice!!!!  SOOOO gonna love this gonna love this gonna love this hehehehehe *drools*
GOSICK:
“GOSICK takes place in 1924 in a small, made-up European country of Sauville.  The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a Japanese Imperial soldier, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage.  There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can’t solve.”
Comments:
Ah, I faintly remember having read a few chapters of this manga before ^^  The mysteries aren’t that mysterious haha they’re all quite well-used, but the girl.  THE GIRL.  That girl is a character that has the potential to go down in history as one of the most “moe” characters ever >.<  Doll-like figure, European looks, white skin …… the ojou-sama type haha.

Mitsudomoe 2nd Season
“Sequel to the first series.  The 11 year old Marui triplets could not be any more different.  The oldest one, Mitsuba, is sadistic and kind of mature for her age.  The middle one, Futaba, is perverted and very athletic and has the strength of a full-grown man.  The youngest one, Hitoha, is generally very quiet and gentle but when push comes to shove, she might just be the strongest, the most perverted and the most sadistic out of the three.”
Comments:
Ya, y’see, I tried watching the first season.  But as a man, as a male member of the human species, I could not stand it anymore after the episode when all three of them ganged up together to smash their teacher’s balls.  “OTL

Rio – Rainbow Gate
“The Japanese game maker Tecmo has announced at its “Rio Super Carnival “ events on Sunday that Rio, a character who stars in several pachi-slo games, will be adapted into a television anime titled Rio – Rainbow Gate.
Comments:
Geh, only delinquents and office workers and mafia ppl play pachiko, I thought O_O  I really wonder what an anime geared towards that audience is going to turn out like …..

Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!!
“Junior High student Nao’s brother complex is so strong, it’s almost at the point of incest.  She’s determined to make her brother, High School student Shuusuke, see her as a woman.  So determined, that she goes as far as going into his room to throw away all his non-incest related porn.  But as she’s looking for his porno stash, she finds a photo album… and she’s not in any of his childhood pictures.  What is going on??
Comments:
Oy we JUST HAD a series with a super-duper long Japanese name this season about a pair of siblings oy oy oy oy.  Well, but this seems to be a different style, and a different genre.  I remember I read a few chapters of this manga before haha, get ready for LOTS LOTS LOTS LOTS of ecchi scenes lololololololol.

Kore wa Zombie desu ka?
“Aikawa Ayumu is a normal high school boy.  One day he is killed by a serial killer and revived as a zombie by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe.  He starts to serve Eu as her guard but he happens to deprive the mahou shoujo Haruna of her magic power.  Haruna orders Ayumu to fight against the anti-mahou shoujo system “Megalo” in her place.”
Comments:
Lawls where should I begin to tsukkomi from???  Crazy name.  Wth is an “anti-mahou shoujo” system?  How does a zombie deprive someone of magical power????  But hey the girl looks cute =D  This just COULD turn out good.  It could.  I hope it WILL.


And oh wow turns out I get sleep after all XDD  But ROFLMAO 7 pages of Word doc.  Right now am feeling so excited by the upcoming season doki doki waku waku~~~!!!!!!  Well, seeya all later~!  I got a CUHK Japanese Society event to go to hehehehehe XDDD

Monday, November 22, 2010

From Arakawa, with Love~

One of my FAVOURITE animes of all time?
Arakawa Under The Bridge.
Even better?
Arakawa Under The Bridge 2 plus lots of jpop updates.
What ruins it?
SCHOOL BLOCKING THE INTERNET FOR 'FILE TRANSFER SERVICES.
FUUUU-
Well anyways xD I'll try update soon, with a blog of Arakawa2's 7th ep :)

November teh Twenty Second (HP rant...sortof)

by Sora
So it seems like everyone else in this frickin world gets Harry Potter before Hong Kong does.
WHYYYYYYY?
I mean really.
Who cares about Chinese subtitles.
GIVE US THE MOVIE. D':
























I'm getting endlessly spammed by this kind of hilarious freaky stuff on Tumblr and I HAVEN'T YET WATCHED THE MOVIE.
Good thing I read the books or I'd be in tears.
Speaking of tears, I read one of the most amazing Harry Potter fanfictions ever. It's called Things Unsaid. Basically, every chapter is a simple message from one character to another. Most of them are either heartwarming or heartbreaking and there's a few humorous ones slipped in there, too. Chapter ten had me sniffling and then crying after reading it a second time. It's from Fred to George Weasley.
I found it via this.
SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS OR HAVEN'T BEEN SPOILED BY YOUR ANNOYING FRIENDS WHO'VE READ THE BOOKS ALREADY. (It's unlikely that you don't know this happens.)
























I honestly recommend any and every Harry Potter fan to read it. Just click the name.
Go.
Now.
Quickly. Click it. You know you want to.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Air Gear ~Kuro no Hane to Nemuri no Mori~ OVA Episode 1 [WITH SPOILLERS]

Hey la~! It's Syuri here ;3 So I was searching online for the last few days for this upload and...

Yes! Finally out ^^ I was waiting so long for this! I <3 AG, and I'm so glad this is finally out... this was posted online a little earlier this week, but since this is an OVA, we'll have to wait till March of 2011 for te next one... *sad face* T^T

My musings~
#1: At the beginning where she attacks Simca (yes, it's Simca you idiot subbers- not Shimca, what are you? People who haven't even read the first chap of Air Gear? Simca was featured- go read it ;3), Ringo's belt was an apple?!?! Anybody else notice this? I thought that it was so fitting to her name but so weirdly un-fitting for her outfit ^^
#2: They shortened the whole sequence a LOT compared to the manga, but unlike a lot of other animes- I think Air Gear's anime is very fitting for random cuts, because there are oly a few important moments (don't get me wrong though- those 'important' moments should be marked as 'epic'!).
#3: Ringo's and Ikki's fight was AWESOME! Smooth animation, the pretty illustrations of the thorn queen, the overdramatic ripping of clothes (relax. it's the guy's), Ringo's amazing mood swing, the awesome sound effect- EVERYTHING you'd want in a fight ^^ Start at "I can crush you" and watch their fight if there's nothing else you want to see (but then again, it's more than half the ep...). Their match each other so well~! Only thing that I have to pick on- what's with Ringo randomly flashing her bra???
#4: Ikki ripping his shirt off. Equals. Dumb. Moral of the day- in a battle where your opponent can shoot throns at you, keep all clothing on the protect oneself.
#5: ending... with the... kiss... *sigh* so sweet~ too sweet la~ oh wells ^^ me love anyways~ (not to mention the extra at the end with Iron was oo funny XD)

AUDIO:
Epic! With a 'k'! AG music never fails to impress ;3 The theme song is good too (guitar-wise anyway, learnt it on guitar the other day afterall, I don't learn things I'm not interested in ^^)

ANIMATION:
Better than the original, very smooth- but the art is nothing to die for, just very easy on the eyes~
Hair and eyes of the charas look much MUCH better though... ^^

NEW CHARAS (including those that weren't very featured in the last one):
Iron Clock: his voice seems... deeper? Probably the most 'in' chara apart from Kanon though ^^
Simca: I like her new voice- it's... less annoying? Did they change her seiyu or did she get better?
Kanon: I love him. Not as a guy. Not as a chara. But as someone to piss others off, that the role as the one who moves the story- this guy is too lovable ;] His evil laugh is so LOVABLE
Kururu: Help. Me. I. Want. To. Kill. That. Annoying. B*tch. She is also not as "Kururu-like" as I would have liked her to be... "Let's get revenge"? What happened?!?! Her personality changes too easily... And oh, did I mention? I hate her voice -w-"

~

matte ne?
s y u r i ♡

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Hey :)

Hello, everyone. Riku here. I'm currently being eaten by NaNoWriMo as as such won't have much to say during November, but I'll pop in and post whenever I can.

One of the things I wanted to comment on, since Yuzuru skipped over it, is the anime Star Driver. It's certainly a unique show, and not everyone's cup of tea, but it's intriguing and clever. Think of a mecha show crossed with a magical girl show. This isn't really a surprise, since the director for this show also directed Sailor Moon, but it's quite enjoyable, as long as you can get past the quirkiness. I've only seen the first episode so far, but it overall seems like a quality show; the characters are likable, the music is decent, and the animation is excellent. I'm not entirely sure where the plot is going yet, but I expect that I'll soon find out as I watch more episodes.

November Der Seven

by a very hungry and sleep-deprived Sora

This is me. For the past three days.
Sleep pattern is screwed. I'm waking up at two then six then half past six then stuffing my face with breakfast and rushing out the house for school.
And this is me again. The whole. Bloody. Day. Even right now. Seriously.
I had eggs, toast and fillet for breakfast then immediately craved FroYo even though it's technically near winter (yay Christmas!) so I dragged Larx along to the store I found before but guess what?
It. Wasn't. There.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
That store was there for what? A month? Two monthes max? )<
So basically, Subways, Ebenezeer's and that disappearing FroYo store are all gone.
The only fast food restuarant nearby now is McDonald's.
Ew. e_e

Ahem. On a more anime sidenote, I might get Togainu No Chi DVD set when it comes out during Christmas season....or the PSP game. Hehe. -grins- Call me odd but I'm quite fond of anime fight scenes. Like. Hellsing/Devil May Cry-style anime fight scenes...
And it's BL. Even better.
....Gomenasai Yuzuru, if my tastes differ from yours. -snickers-

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Fall '10 Anime Commentary

Fall ’10 Anime Commentary

Hi guys!  Koko wa Yuzuru desu~!  This is my first post, I’m so excited! >.<  So, as my first, I decided to do a season review of Fall ’10.  This is the perfect time, seeing as the season has started a few weeks ago and every series has had a few episodes out already.  Oh but by the way I won’t be commenting on ALL of them… some of them are just, let’s say, not my cup of tea =P  Also, I’ll clearly say, but everything written here is my personal opinion.



Star Driver
One of those that I won’t comment on.  I hate mechas.  Period.

Ore no Imouto wa Konna ni Kawaii wake ga Nai
Background music: 7/10
        Pretty good.  Like, the music usually starts when you’re not aware of it, but it’s always well-matched with the pace of the animation.  *Shrugs* Not much to say about it.  Nothing in particular stands out.
Animation:              9/10
        Nine!  Cus the girls are kawaii~~~~!!!  >.<  No pantsu and no ecchi scenes, since Kirino’s not that type and Kyosuke is not the accidentally-get-into-ecchi-situations kinda character =P  The animation is quite fluid, and the characters are well-designed.  But then again, as with a lot of animes nowadays, this series is based off of a manga, so credits for character design doesn’t really belong to the anime director =P
Plotline:                   8/10
        Very interesting social commentary on modern otaku culture.  Plus, we rarely get series about fujoshi (girl otaku), so this one’s quite novel.  The main character being cute and smart and athletic makes it more interesting (actually, IMO, that’s the only way it should be =.=  a main fujoshi chara who looks lame and otaku-ish like in Kuragehime would just spoil every thing).
Comments:
Love love~!  All the girls are cute hehe.  I love comedy series, but I think that I’m gonna create a new genre: otaku commentary.  There’re a lot of those nowadays.  Like, series about otaku or gamers or mangaka (like, on second thought, there are a LOT lot of them this season).  It better change soon.  Before it becomes another cliché genre.  But anyways, love this series.

Panty & Stocking
Damn American-crap.  There’s a reason why I like anime, and it’s cus I love Japanese culture.  I hate cartoons.  I hate comics.  And I get pissed at heck when anyone calls anime ‘cartoons’ or manga ‘comics.’  This American crap isn’t even worth my time typing the name.

Ironman
Was almost gonna copy-and-paste what I wrote for Panty & Stocking.  Then I remembered how retarded the Ironman animation was, and how ridiculous I felt at seeing American crap actually being displayed using Japanese animation.  American retards should just stay OUT OF Japanese animation.  They’re way inferior, don’t belong here, and IMO, should stay losers for eternity.

Otome Youkai Zakuro
Background music: 8/10
        Hmm I’m getting tired of discussing every single series lol.  I’ve never actually learned about animation or background music so the stuff I say are all quite similar, and I only know to think about “Does it go well with the animation” and “Is it interesting” =.=”  So, well, there’s nothing too special about this series’ background music, and nothing seems wrong IMO.  So, yea.
Animation:              8/10
        This is the first time I’m doing this, and I just realized, every single series has a distinct animation style.  I never knew that lol.  Well, if I had to say, I’d say that this series’ style is dream-y.  The lines are well-drawn, of course, but there’s a certain blurriness to the animation that augments the fantasy feel.  It’s not bad at all.  The fighting scenes are also kinda, dreamy.  Like, with sakura petal streams and wind blowing and stuff haha, seems very Japanese-like XD  (actually, it does resemble Byakuya’s bankai somewhat haha)
Plotline:                   10/10
        I’m giving this full points because of its creativeness and seriousness.  There are a lot of otaku culture commentaries this season, but something like this, a creative series not based on anything else, is getting harder and harder to find.  This one’s quality is quite high too.  And there is a lot of room for improvement (like, that evil society that we’ve so far seen a little bit of, and the Black Widow’s hints about Zakuro’s mother), so I look forward to each episode.  And the girls are quite cute XD  In my limited experience, I’ve never seen anime girls with Bonbori/Hozuki’s character ever before O_O  I like them, they’re so cute~!!!  But then again, that’s cus Ganryu himself is also quite cute~ XDDD
Comments:
All in all, a quite interesting series.  Making the main character have youkai-phobia is a very well done part of the setting hahahahahaha.  A higher-than-average romance/youkai/military series.  Me like ^^  Especially also because of the whole Japanese aura of the series haha.

Togainu no Chi
I heard that there are no female characters at all in this series.  Therefore, there’s nothing left but BL fest with tons of gore and violence.  Way out of my alley.  Kimoi.

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
No comments.  Characters are ugly.  Comedy is not funny.  The romance doesn’t improve the quality of this series.  One of those fail slice-of-life.  Might be something inside for maid-maniacs, though.  Dropped after 2 eps lol.

Yakumo
Background music: 9/10.
        It is extremely similar to Death Note bgm.  I’ve tried to look up companies or performers or whatever and apparently they’re not the same.  However, expect a lot of orchestral (ex. violins) music, digitally altered (ex. to enhance a mysterious atmosphere) music, and Latin-sounding singing.  Me likee.  =D
Animation:              8/10
        Seems kinda dark.  Like, it’s usually showing a black or dark sky.  Or inside a room without lights.  That’s a personal dislike.  But otherwise, the animation is very good.  I don’t know the exact terms for describing animation, so I’ll just say this: again, quite similar to Death Note style.
Plotline:                   7/10
        The main character, Yakumo, is able to see and converse with spirits of the dead.  The female main character, Haruka, for some reason keeps running into such cases and brings them to him.  Yakumo then talks with the spirits and catches the responsible criminals.  But because the victims are dead, the cases usually involve murder, so it’s all a bit too dark for me.  And not too far in, the viewer sees hints of a secret organization or a group of people who will be harassing or opposing Yakumo sometime in the future.  There is definitely room to expand the plot.
Comments:
So, I watched this up to episode 5, then decided to drop it.  This is way too close to being classified as “horror” and again, that’s something I hate.  And everything’s all too dark for my liking (except the music, which I absolutely love).  But for people who like mystery series with a mysterious atmosphere (as opposed to something like Tantei Opera Milky Holmes), this series could become quite a favorite.

Kuragehime
Another one of those series that I don’t wanna spend time talking about.  The animation is like, really weird.  The main character is this pathetic ugly girl who lives with several other fujoshi (female otaku) who can’t say a single thing in the presence of so-called “fashionable people” and guys.  A series about pathetic people living their pathetic lives without trying to contribute to society.  No comedy, no action, no clear plotline, one of those slice-of-life series that isn’t going anywhere.  A far cry from something like Yotsuba.

Bakuman
Background music: 7/10
        I’m used to noticing stuff like this, but when I checked again, I realized that there was no bgm a lot of the time.  And even when there was, there’s nothing particularly interesting to say about it.  But then again, this series isn’t an action series, and there is a lot of dialogue.  So I guess this is good enough.  But then again, the bgm itself definitely doesn’t wow me, so I’m marking it down.
Animation:              8/10
        This series always maintains a well-lit atmosphere, which I think is appropriate to the content, seeing as this is a series about “aiming for your dreams.”  I’ve never seen this style before, and I actually think the design for Miho can’t convey her passion for her dreams and I think the design for Shujin makes him look like a slob, but I’m getting used to it and it’s quite viewer-friendly.  Although the story isn’t fantasy, the mangaka and director has made this quite interesting to watch.
Plotline:                   9/10
        Brilliant is all I can say.  I love this series!  I even stayed up all night to catch up on the manga haha, and from the way things are going, it looks like the anime will be following the manga quite strictly, so I’m looking forward to future episodes very much.  I read manga all the time, but never knew about the process of making it.  Aside from merely being informative, this series gets the viewer interested into the making of their favorite things.  The mangaka who thought this up, Tsugumi Oba, is a genius ^^
Comments:
        I love the manga, and I love the anime as well.  I think the romance is a very nice addition to the plot; adds flavor hehe.  But a friend of mine mentioned that the girls in this series seem to be maintained as clearly secondary characters, sort of like the female characters in Death Note.  After going home and checking again, this seemed quite right.  But then again, I don’t care about that XDD  The main characters here are the mangakas, so there’s no need to forcefully add depth to the secondary characters.  I like this series quite a lot.  But a heads up, this series can turn quite tiresome, because there is a lot of dialogue and a lot of information (about being a mangaka), so some people can get bored of this.

Fortune Arterial
Background music: 9/10
        I like it!  The setting for this series is in a high-class academy, so there’s some quite elegant background music hahahaha.  In the scene when Kohei finds out about vampires, the background music back then was nicely suspenseful~  This is a step above average bgm.
Animation:              9/10
        Rate it high!  Cus both guys and girls look good in here.  The girls are very cute, but using the same animation style, the guys also look very cool and elegant ^^  The art is very well-lit and clear-cut, but the director has shown that this series is also capable of darker and more mysterious scenes (ex. when Kohei first sees Iori in the chapel sucking blood).
Plotline:                   7/10
        Don’t see where it’s going.  It doesn’t exactly seem like a slice-of-life kind; a plot is implied, what with vampires and stuff.  However, the plot doesn’t capitalize on that too much, trying to show that vampires also live normally with humans.  But then that takes away the uniqueness of introducing vampires in the first place, unless if something’s going to happen because of them being there.  And if so, then I’ve yet to seen traces of it.
Comments:
Slightly interesting.  Will keep watching because I love Japanese anime vampires~ they’re all so cute! XDDD  (ex. Karin, Moka)  Otherwise, not much reason to watch this lols, it’s not particularly interesting or something hahaha.

Kami no Mizo Shiru Sekai (The World God Only Knows)
Background music: 8/10
        Nothing too special, but very good accompaniment with the animation.  Good variation in the soundtracks.  The director didn’t just leave the dialogue unaccompanied, but put in good bgm that blends in very well.  The high score is also cus I super duper love the OP. ^^
Animation:              9/10
        Awesome animation!  Sometimes there are very, um, “philosophical-looking” poses for Keima, which are hilarious because at those times he’s usually saying very God-like things (about games, of course HAHAHAHA).  There is no need for comic relief, because very often Keima himself is comic-ized (new word yay!) to contrast the difference between how El views him (a god) and the common view of otaku gamers (lame and pathetic).  However, it was a little different from how I expected it after reading the manga.  I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is that I feel is lacking.  Oh well, I love this anime very much as is =D
Plotline:                   10/10
        Now this is what I consider creative.  It’s super funny how the mangaka made a plot out of the ani/manga/game industry itself =D  Seeing as every single girl Keima conquers is one of the famous character types, this series can go quite far (seeing as there are tons of chara types haha).  And every single time he takes a unique approach, so it never gets boring.  Well, but if you read the manga, you know about the new plot twist and new goal that Keima gets later on XDD  This series definitely can go far.
Comments:
EVERY ANIME FAN SHOULD WATCH AND LOVE THIS!  This is super funny.  And every time there’s a new girl I go like “OH RIGHT THERE’S THAT TYPE!!!!!” and examples pop up like crazy in my mind.  What’s important for entertainment is to connect with people, right?  Well, this series connects directly with the viewers by drawing connections directly to what they know best – anime.  I love this series ^^

Letter Bee: Reverse
Sorry, never even watch season 1.  Some people said that it’s really interesting, but I don’t see what’s so cool about delivering letters.  And needing to install fragments of your soul into a gun to shoot oversized insects doesn’t sound that awesome either.  *shrugs* To each his own.  This one I don’t particularly hate.  I just don’t get it =P

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge
I watched season 1 and couldn’t keep up at all lmao.  This series is just, like, complete randomness.  Can’t follow at all =.=”  Thus, won’t follow.  Dropped after ep1.

To Aru Majutsu no Index II
Background music: 9/10
        Those of you who’ve watched the first season should know what kinda bgm this series uses XD  There’s a lot of digital alteration, and also a lot of old church/opera-sounding music.  It’s quite brilliant, really, seeing as the series is about the “meeting of science and magic,” so they combine the two different kinds of music.  It’s mixed quite well, and goes along with the action very well.
Animation:              9/10
        Action scenes very well directed; by this I mean very cool-looking presentation of all the superpowers in the series and well-paced plot progression.  Very good use of both well-lit and dark lighting to complement the ongoing animation (ex. hospital room is cheerful and full of sunlight, as opposed to a dark red background inside a magical alternate dimension).
Plotline:                   8/10
The first arc of this season is about grouping up with a Protestant (Amakusa) church to fight against the Roman Catholic church.  There was a nice surprise twist in the middle of the plot.  However, seeing as the Catholic sisters were also in the OP, it looks like they might appear again.  If they do, then I’d be disappointed; sudden introduction of too many characters makes it annoying and hard to follow and takes away time in which to create further depth to the already present characters.
Comments:
YAY MORE INDEX~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I loved the first series, loved the spin-off Kagaku, and now am loving Index S2~~!!  IMO this is one of the better action series XD  Awesome action, cute girls, funny tsukkomi protagonist, and well-defined reasons for fighting (not some stupid stuff like “be a man!!!”).  Definitely among my list of favorites hehe.

MM!
Background music: 7/10
        The low score is because of the law of diminishing returns =P  I’ve just watched clips of too many series today lawls.  Since there’s nothing special about this series’ background music either, there’s nothing to raise my appreciation level haha.
Animation:              8/10
        Very clear and well-lit animation.  The girls are also very well drawn.  This goes along very well with the plotline ^^  And it’s hilarious when Tarou gets excited HAHAHAHA.  Well, all in all, the animation is quite high level.
Plotline:                   8/10
        Very interesting plotline.  Putting a whole bunch of people with personality disorders together into one club, hilarity and sheer baka-ness (another new word yay!) is just bound to occur hahahahaha.  Very creative setting.  Will look forward to how the plot develops with great interest and excitement.  Will be disappointed if it turns out retarded like Mayoi Neko Overrun.
Comments:
I quite like this series ^^  Well, I don’t like that Mio calls herself ‘god.’  The title of ‘god’ isn’t to be bandied around as nonchalantly as that.  Otherwise, I like the setting and the characters, now all that’s left is to see some clearly defined plot =D

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls
Background music: 9/10
        There is a lot of traditional Japanese music, using Japanese instruments.  Very appropriate, seeing as the setting of this series is Edo Japan.  More like, a very nice large range of music; soft music for touching scenes (or the girls’ erotic illusions hahaha), Japanese music for setting the setting, and hard fast music with impact (drums!!!) for the battle scenes, to name just a few.  I especially love the transformation music, so cool!!!
Animation:              9/10
        Very strange animation style lol.  Everything looks so … drawn.  Like, with a brush and ink.  Some of the scenes look just like a painting, it’s very unique and creative.  The battle scenes are extremely fluid though, very well done.  The transformation scenes are so cool!!
Plotline:                   7/10
        Not very creative.  This is basically Sekirei, but in traditional Japan.  Harem battle series, and the girls have to kiss the main male chara to get superpowers for a short period of time.  But no mad scientist overseer.  Still have to see where this story is going.  It appears that the President who’s currently in France might be a bad guy, but you never know *shrugs*
Comments:
This is … kinda interesting.  Not all that mindblowing.  Lol but for some reason this is the series that got to air the Fall ’10 teaser ep two weeks before the season actually began.  I’ll just keep watching for the weird/cool/unique art and the battle scenes.

Motto To Love-ru
Background music: 8/10
        Very cheerful background soundtrack, and a lot of background sounds.  This series is a very cheerful series (no duh there’s no dark and suicidal ecchi harem series), so the background music is good accompaniment.  The light music goes well with the light atmosphere and the laughs.
Animation:              8/10
        What can I say?  Pantsu galore XD  A ton of pantsu, ecchi, blushing, and female retribution scenes.  The animation is crisp and clear-cut, all the characters are super cute, and well, this is one of the best ecchi-harem-comedy series out there.
Plotline:                   5/10
        Don’t be turned away by the low score.  I gave it a lot score only because there is no plotline.  There’s no big villain, no evil organization, no diabolical plot to go head-to-head against.  Just Rito and his normal, ecchi everyday life.
Comments:
As I’ve said above, this is one of the best ecchi-harem-comedy series ever XD  Definite must-watch for all boys hehe~  There really is no plot.  But there really are a LOT of cute girls.  Hasemi Saki even brought in Eve from Black Cat (earlier series done by same mangaka) and turned her into cute alien Yami-chan.  =D  This series is funny!!!

Sora no Otoshimono: Forte
Background music: 9/10
        I like the music for this series.  Firstly, I love the OP ^^  A very sweet and cute song about love.  The effort that the animation team puts into the EDs all the time is also very commendable.  I mean like, they change it so often!  Think of all the effort in making animation for a new ED every other week~~  As for the series’ bgm itself, it complements the comedy very well.
Animation:              8/10
        The animation for this is actually quite high.  The characters have very fine design, and the angels have very unique outfits.  But then when chibi mode get flipped on the main character looks so stupid =.=”  That makes me quite annoyed sometimes.
Plotline:                   6/10
This series looks like it might be going somewhere; there are hints of a Synapse-related battle very soon.  However, for now, it’s just one ecchi event after another.  This isn’t going anywhere lols.  The ecchi stuff goes overboard quite often, and sometimes it’s just ridiculous.  Illustration of a boy’s perverted fantasies, I’d say?  Way too ridiculous.
Comments:
I’m still watching this only because of the good animation, due to which I get cute girls XDDD  Plus, I’m now interested about Synapse, after ep6 and finally seeing Daedalus.  But this is one of those series that I’m ready to drop at any given time haha.

Hakuouki Hekketsuroku
An obviously girl-directed reverse-harem series.  Just a parade of cool-looking guys and dark atmosphere and sword-waving.  It’s the third season, so there must be something in there that makes it popular, but I can’t stand reverse harems.  Period.

Yosuga no Sora
From what I’ve seen, appears to be another one of those go-back-home-and-retreive-forgotten-memories kinda series.  This one, however, appears to hint at quite a bit of incest.  The line art is beautiful too, so this could become quite popular.  But then again, not my cup of tea *shrugs*

SO there is all of them!  And lol would you believe it, that’s 10 whole pages of Microsoft Word, Times New Roman, font 12, single space.  HAHAHAHA.  Definitely not gonna do another one of these in a hurry lolololol.  I still haven’t decided what I’m gonna write about on here … weekly episode reviews, or just series reviews unrelated to current airing schedules.  Well, for now, this is all.  If you’ve actually read the entire thing, you have my complete and total thanks and respect O_O  If you’ve just skimmed through, or just CTRL+F your fav series, then I’ll still thank you for popping in and taking a look =D  Dewa, matta ne, minna~!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

November da Third


November da Third~

Because today is Sora-Is-Foreva-Alone Day.....
Larxene and I past by a trio of university dudes sing Love Story to a another one. We laughed like crazy. We quickly began to sing the rest of the song right after. They had a good laugh.
Picture of the Day:
Quick. Click it now! Before all the computers of the world are DOOMED~. Or before I die of boredom.
Whichever comes first.