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Bokurano (manga) Review.

Probably one of the most depressing manga I have read. A seinen science-fiction manga written by Mihiro Kitoh. Narrating the story of 15 children and their battle against mechas from parallel worlds - where the survival of the Earth is dependent on the outcome of their battle.

Sounds like any other mecha series right? But as previously stated, this has to be one of the most depressing manga I’ve read. The psychology of the characters, how they are reacting to the situation they find themselves in - I actually found myself somewhat speechless, sometimes feeling the need to cry. I won’t go into much into detail on the plot, that is something you would have to experience for yourself.

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Though the series can easily be compared to Neon Genesis Evangelion, Bokurano is easier to follow and less headache inducing - and definitely does not leave the reader going “what the fuck?”

The chapters are generally separated into the current pilot’s narrative, having a total of 65 chapters. Each section narrating the thoughts and reactions on the event of the current pilot, what is currently going on in their lives and their past - why they are like they are. 

There is so much that can be said about the plot of the story, all of which are spoilers. It’s not a spectacular series, I’ll be honest about that, it does get a little bit boring every now and then - but you feel like you need to keep reading to find out more of the situation. Also check out ‘Uninstall by Chiaki Ishikawa,’ such a beautiful song.

(P.S sorry for my retarded typing - brain is fried from dissertation. I seriously can not make a coherent sentence, so excuse my grammar) 

Black★Rock Shooter OVA Review.

It’s been awhile since I last wrote a review. Black★Rock Shooter,something I wasn’t new to - having stumbled across artwork on Japanese artists websites as well as Pixiv-  but quite honestly, I never knew it was an OVA. I simply thought it was one of those ‘Japanese Things,’ pretty much like Nico Nico Douga Singers and or the Vocaloids (Which apparently did stem from). So it was quite a pleasant surprise to find this as an OVA.

Black★Rock Shooter by Ordet; Directed and written by Shinobu Yoshioka and also written by Nagaru Tanigawa. The pilot edition was released back in 2009, and was released as part of a DVD bundle on July 24th 2010.

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Well, where to start - the story follows two seemingly separate story lines; one which follows Black Rock Shooter, the title character battling an evil being named, Dead Master; the other, two junior high school girls whom are tied by friendship. Both stories tend to cut between each other and can be quite confusing at times - I found myself forever analyzing why something was happening and trying to relate both stories (curse media studies, can’t watch for the hell of watching anymore).  

Unfortunately, I feel like I can’t say much else without spoiling the story, so I’ll leave the summary short. Personally, I have mixed-feelings about the OVA, I enjoyed it but didn’t find it something fantastic. It has a nice story, though would make sense it you export the movie to Premiere, Final Cut Pro or whatever and separate both stories and reorder them chronologically. I was a little bit disappointed with the ending, not that is was bad, I just expected there to be more footage (though there could quite possibly be another OVA). The animation is pretty spectacular and consistent; the character designs are cute and I loved the soundtrack. Overall, it has a little Persona (Game) feel to the OVA and the title character constantly reminded me of Lenalee Lee from D.Gray-Man (I miss her). 

I would say it’s worth a watch, even it is for the awesome battle sequences or the fact the character designs are simply amazing. Just go, check it out.

That’s all for now, back to life ~

Birth by Sleep thoughts and tips.

After somehow clocking in 55+ hours worth of gameplay and a somewhat disappointing easy final boss, I managed an overall of 86% completion rate. Whether or not I decide to complete the last 14% is up for debate - I assume the final 2% on the story mode are the secret uber hard bosses. I might attempt to collect all the stickers and treasure chests and completing Mirage Arena does not seem too hard (or frustrating). The only issues I would have completing are the mini-games, which I swear piss me off more than they should - I tend to avoid them where I can.

So basically to complete the game you have to play three different stories - though technically each follow the same story, you experience the different points of views of each character - something I, personally enjoy (probably ever since I’ve watched Baccano). It was a little bit of a drag to re-watch some cutscenes, though the final cutscenes before the final bosses are always a joy to watch.

Depending on which difficulty you chose at the start determines how easy it is to unlock the final part of the game. Looking up which mode allows you to do what, goes as follows:

• Beginner mode: The secret ending in impossible to unlock. You do 50% more damage and take less damage.

• Standard mode: Normal mode, you deal and receive normal damage. To unlock the secret ending (and the Final Episode?), you have to complete your report section (i.e., treasure, abilities and complete every mini-game).

• Proud mode: You deal normal damage but take double damage. The secret ending is unlocked by completing the final episode. To get the final episode, you have to find all of Xehanort’s Reports.

• Critical mode: You deal half damage, take double damage, earn fewer HP throughout the game. You start with two extra deck command slots and have the choice to use the Zero EXP ability to make things more challenging. The secret ending is unlocked by completing the Final episode.

I would suggest starting on Proud if you want to breeze through the game (unlock the secret ending and find out more about the series), it was not particularly hard or very challenging as long as you are prepared for certain matches. (I played Proud mainly to avoid completing the mini-games.) If you played any Kingdom Hearts game previously, I would not suggest starting on anything lower than Proud, the game is relatively easy anyway.

Providing you have enough space on your memory card, I would highly recommend installing the data, it makes gameplay much faster. Straying away from topic slightly, I was very impressed how Square-Enix managed to fit such a long game onto a UMD - though I was slightly annoyed that the cutscene before the final battle was not pre-rendered (it’s basically the same cutscene used in the secret ending of KHII) however it was understandable why it wasn’t.

Anyway, enough with the dilly-dallying. My tips on the game:

• Though character order does not matter too much, the story makes more sense if you play Aqua last. 

• The first world you go to (varies on which character you start off with), these worlds are probably the best to grind and level up at the start of the game.

• Where as leveling up for the final boss does not matter too much, like most games it does help. I found Aqua was the easiest to level up providing you have Mickey in your D-link with double EXP.

• Consider making Renewal Block/Renewal Barrier (Aqua) at some point in the game. Renewal Barrier saved me a lot in the final boss matches.

• Don’t throw your PSP in frustration because Disney Town is the most annoying place you’ll ever go to. (It’s even worse because the Background music is sooo god-damn happy as well)

• Before the final bosses of each story, consider maxing out your ability list (mainly Once More, Leaf Bracer, Second Change, Attack and Magic Haste and any elemental resistance).

• In your deck commands, be sure to have at least two Curaga’s for the final bosses, since you may find yourself floating in darkness having to retry the battle due to be killed off before the spell reloads.

• For Ven’s final boss fight, take at least an hour’s break before hand, make sure your hands are in top form because believe me, you will need it. (I was in so much physical pain, my poor thumb).

• In Terra’s story mode, the second time you fight Zack, button mash square at the start and hope for the best. His starting attack is basically a one hit kill if he hits, he is also extremely fast and has quite powerful moves (I would say he was probably one of the harder bosses of the game), alternatively, you can slide away and try to dodge before he attacks you (I usually failed my timing on this so I ended up button mashing square for the life of me). I generally relied on my shotlocks and any fast deck command attacks.

Out of the three games, I found Aqua’s to be the easiest. I’m not too sure whether it was because I played her last and I had adapted to the gameplay or she just did not have any extremely hard bosses. In contrast, I felt that Terra had the harder bosses, or maybe it was just because of  Zack. 

I would say the harder bosses of the game are:

• Zack (Terra’s story mode)
• Captain Hook (Ven’s story mode)
• Xehanort (Terra’s story mode: Final boss)
• Vanitas (Ven’s story mode: Final boss)

Final notes on the game. I was happy but as well sad that Zack makes an appearance - I totally fell in love with his character ever since playing Crisis Core, before hand, I didn’t pay much attention to his character in FFVII or in the movie, but after playing Crisis Core, I was in total awe.

Onto negative issues, I know this is just me, I feel the game would be so much better if Micky was not present. But, that’s just me having a strong distaste for his character, however it pains me to admit, but he was probably the most useful D-link for leveling up.

The Voice acting wasn’t actually very bad, I’ve read there were issues with Terra’s voice being semi-bland and emotionless, but I didn’t really notice until after I read the article, but even then it didn’t seem so bad. Maybe watching stuff like Pokemon and One Piece (4kids) along with many bad dub has made me numb to poor voice acting, I didn’t think there was much of an issue with Terra’s voice. I actually thought it suited him, some lines were a bit off, but not enough that it makes me want to shove my head down the toilet and drown. 

Also on the issue with Ven and Roxas, though both have more less the exact same character design, I feel it is very easy to separate both characters. For example, if I replay KHII or 358/2 days, it would be like, yeah that’s Roxas and playing BBS, yeah, that’s Ven. They may have the same design, but their characters are total contrasts.

Other than that, I loved the game. It easily surpasses 358/2 Days (as fanservicey that game was, I only bought it for Roxas, because he wins) and I think I may like it better than both KH and KHII (I haven’t played Chain of memories, since the ps2 version is not available in European format and it’s a bitch to get ahold of the GBA game without forking out a lot of money, alternatively I can download the ROM but I generally get issues with game data corrupting about half way through the game and I’m usually reluctant to play the whole game again) . 

I think the next game out will be KH Re:code, I know it was already released as a mobile game in Japan, but I’ve read it will be released for the DS in Europe at some point. 

I’ll be waiting for the future games to be released.

On a final note, many cutscenes from the previous games make more sense, especially the one between Xigbar and Zexion in KHIIFM+.

High School of the Dead [Episode 1] Review.

A recently released Summer 2010 anime. The manga adaptions written by Daisuke Sato and illustrated by Shouji Sato - the anime begun airing July 5th 2010 and has been set to air 13 episodes. 

The story follows a group of high schoolers at Fujimi High School named as they battle to survive a deadly disease that turns people into Zombies. 

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And, that is about all I can grasp from the first episode, for the main plot line anyways. Interesting turn of events - though very much expected from the ‘Zombie’ genre - I like the twisted monologue at the end from the main protagonist. 

“I killed my best friend and held the girl I liked for the first time.”

The animation is simply amazing - the timing of the frames at the beginning, were at first, very unexpected but conveys the situation very well. Being the person that I am - the gore is very amusing and I found myself chuckling a number of times. I also found the numerous ecchi scenes quite hilarious - especially in the opening sequence.

Overall, I wish I could say more about this. I must thank my friend who is a total fangirl over the manga, I remember seeing this on the Summer 2010 listings and I immediately thought of him. I didn’t expect myself to actually like this (I’m not a fan of Zombies, Vampires and all that other crap) - even if it’s only the first episode, it keeping my attention for more than 5 minutes is spectacular.

 Definitely a must watch - now I will have to go and check out the manga ~

Rabbit Doubt Review.

Rabbit Doubt - also simply known as just ‘Doubt,’ is a psychological horror manga written and illustrated by Yoshiki Tonogai. The story follows a cellphone game known as ‘Rabbit Doubt’ - the rules of the game being there are a group of rabbits and amongst the rabbits there is a wolf. Each round, the Rabbits must guess who the Wolf is before the whole colony gets eaten. 

Six players who arrange a meet up, mysteriously find themselves trapped in an abandoned facility - and find themselves in a real life version of the game, Rabbit Doubt. With one player already murdered - the five remaining players conflict with each other, accusing one another of being the Wolf. Eventually working together to find a way to escape - as they get picked off one by one.

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I stumbled across this manga by chance, I was intrigued by the front cover -psychotic rabbit head masks - not exactly your normal front cover. I haven’t really read a psychological horror manga before so I decided to give this manga a go and to be honest, I’m quite glad I did.

This story is amazing, the way how the artist illustrates and pace the story - I was shuddering with anticipation and had to read more. Many times, I could actually feel the atmosphere of the situation, which in general is quite rare in manga. It has a Saw -esque feel to the story and despite having some really gory panels - I did not feel the need to laugh my ass off - something that usually happens when I encounter gore. The gore felt natural - not like in Kill Bill where you get a tiny cut and blood comes pouring out like a fountain - and sometimes, somewhat creepy. 

Like most shounen mangas, the artwork is quite a pleasure to look at. As far as I am aware, the mangaka also illustrated one of stories for Ryukishi07 (the author of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni).  

I’m afraid I can’t actually say much without spoiling the story. The only issue I had with the story - mainly due to the fact I over analyze things - I easily figured out who the wolf was and most (if not all) of the major plot-twists. Though despite this, I was on the edge of my seat and really enjoyed reading this manga. 

Similar Manga: N/A (Sorry haven’t read many manga’s of this genre); Judge (written by the same mangaka)

Working!! Review.

Much to my surprise, this week’s episode was the last episode of the series. So that’s two animes that I won’t be able to look forward to watching when I get home from work now. 

Working!! is a four-panel comic strip, written and illustrated by Karino Takatsu.  The manga is still on-going and the anime aired April 4, 2010 - June 26, 2010, consisting of 13 episodes. 

Set in a family restaurant situated in Hokkaido, the story follows a series of characters - all of whom works in this restaurant. The story beginning with the restaurant recruiting new staff members - Taneshima Poplar, a 17 year old student who currently works at the restaurant is sent to recruit new staff. After hours of searching she stumbles across Takanashi Souta, a 16 year old student, who admittedly mistakes the older girl for an elementary student due to her short stature. Long story short, he gets hired as a part-time waiter and meets several of his strange co-workers;

Taneshima Poplar, a 17 year old who is easily mistaken for an elementary or middle schooler.

Shirafuji Kyoko, the apathetic manager of the restaurant who never does any work.

Todoroki Yachiyo, an employee who carries a katana around the workplace and has a strange obsession with looking after Kyoko.

Satou Jun, the head chef who appears to be cool and collect; and Souma Hiiroshi, a kitchen assistant who seems to know everyone’s dark secret.

Takanashi Souta himself not being normal as he appears, he has a creepy love for small cute things like puppies and children.

All seems perfectly normal until the manager pairs a shift with another student, Inami Mahiru - a girl who suffers from severe Androphobia (fear of men) - and upon their meeting Souta is harshly punched just for being near her (and surprising her). After been given the task of curing her Androphobia, he ends up in many comedic situations which usually ends with him flat on his back.

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 I started watching this series when episode 3 was aired. I don’t know what drew me to the series to begin with, but it had to be good to have me coming back to watch each episode as it airs.

My initial thoughts were how many of the characters voices sounds suspiciously familiar, like I had recently heard them in something else. Much to my surprise, the 3 main male characters of Working!! happened to be one of my OTPs of Durarara!! Kishitani Shinra (Takanashi Souta), Heiwajima Shizuo (Satou Jun) and Oirhara Izaya (Souma Hiiroshi) respectably. Also the fact when I first saw Satou I immediately thought he was Sanji from One Piece. 

Those characters aside, the series have a nice flow - the contrasting characters and relationships blooming between co-workers makes the series and characters easy to relate to. The slice of life, upbeat nature the series has makes it more enjoyable -especially to those who want to idle around and pass the time. This is probably my second favourite anime aired so far this year. It’s worth a watch if you like a slice of life, upbeat comedy with an undertone of romance.

Durarara Episode 23 

So I just finished watching the raw for this episode (I can only pick up bits and bobs of what they are saying, but I know enough to understand what is going on). I feel rather sad that next week is the last episode, I’m hoping Brain Base will pick up another season and animate Volumes 4+, because that’s when all the good shit starts.

My thoughts on the episode;

The beginning, as usual starts of with the slow, but well planned out pacing. I don’t know if it was my ears deceiving me, but I think Kadota is still trying to figure out why the name “Horoda” sounds familiar, I’ll wait for subs to confirm this. Shizuo is seriously an enigma, honestly being shot in two places and still able to walk to Shinra’s place to get himself fixed. I know the guy is practically invincible (or just used to shit happening). 

Izaya is Izaya is Izaya. I think his sadistic troll ways have actually scared Namie this time around. Her face was priceless as he plays his little ‘game.’ Though the look he gave her, I would imagine would have been quite daunting if this were real life.

Horada is a prick. Though he always has been, he’s what 30-something; shouldn’t he be worrying about getting a job instead of trying to run teenage gangs. I like how, considering the Yellow Scarves have turned on Kida to follow Horoda, they are still scared of their previous leader.

I LOVE the fact they basically kept the revelation scene the same as the novel. I was sitting, pleading, “please use crowbar, please use crowbar, please us crowbar.” AND YES, Horada throws a crowbar at Kida, epic blow to the head. In return, Kida using the crowbar as a weapon. Though the fight scene was shorter than I was hoping, the fact it was basically kept the same was a blessing. Especially after so many changes last episode.

Though I had a more epic (for lack of better term) imagination what was actually going to happen in the revelation scene, the scenario was pretty much spot on. I’m pretty please. Can’t wait for next episode. Hopefully it will be left open so that there is a possibility that another season can be picked up.