Thursday, April 10, 2014
Back from Taiwan!
have just been back from a 7 days trip to Taiwan, lots of housekeeping to do coupled with roughly 6gb of photo data to go through... will be following up on the new season once everything has been put into place so yea, will start updating again as soon as possible :)
Monday, March 24, 2014
Noragami - The 5 Yen God
A series with beautiful animations, would be something I would use to describe this series. It had its shine in some episodes but nearer to the end, everything became so rushed, many characters being added in before being properly developed and turns out to be a rather disastrous end for the short 12 episode series that had once been one of the more highly anticipated series this season.
I wouldn't exactly say that the series was horrible, it was just that they had too much content to try and squeeze into a 12 episode series which in the end felt so rushed that before you could actually make sense of what some of the characters are thinking or what their motives were, the series had already ended before you know it. It honestly had a good start, bringing both Yato and Hiyori in an accidental meeting which leads her to develop her half ayakashi form which serves as the plot starter for the whole series itself. The downside to that was Yato didn't actually begin to tackle her problem soon after that, making Hiyori a kind of an "extra" character rather than a female protagonist. One of the reasons for delaying Hiyori's development was perhaps due to them wanting to slot it for the final few episodes which they eventually did, but having tackle her problem only in the last 2 episodes?! And also introducing a whole new character at that time too?! Now that's just rushed. It could've worked out better if the series was stretched longer, like say a 24/25/26 episode series so that we can have more insights on like Bishamon, Kofuku or even Rabou, the flaw of the series really lies on their huge character pool but yet very little developments on each of them.
Lets take Kofuku for example. She sure was an impactful character from when she appeared as Yato's supposedly girlfriend back in episode 4. And as we said, there weren't much development of these side characters, but at least for Kofuku, she did showed her face here and there in the later few episodes and did play a large role in the purification of Yukine in episode 9. As a god of poverty, it was sure hilarious seeing how she did spread her omen on people around her, which was possibly why we do see Yato being so poor as he is right now. But boy did she get serious when she threatened Bishamon on details of Yato so with that, she's quite a significant side character in some sense but cmon, I do want to know her past with Yato :X
And next with we have Bishamon and her 8 shinki-s. As a war god, she is introduced as someone who is after Yato's life, who apparently had cut down one of her shinki in the past or that was what was being suggested. But suggested as it were, the exact details were never revealed and Bishamon slowly faded out into just someone who clears the Ayakashi in the town with not much of an important plot driver to the whole story itself. It feels more like a filler character to bring out the "past" of Yato being an "evil" god, but other than that, nothing much else was developed for her and was forgotten and tossed aside.
And of course, we have our 3 main protagonist. Let's talk about Yukine first. Sure enough I looked as him as a kid, deprived of what normal kid has, which in his case, was friends and families but to me, it was more like he was deprived of this thing called "living". He has passed away when he was a child before being spotted by Yato and made him into his shinki and never gave him up even after all the stings that he had caused Yato to suffer. For all shinki, apparently when they think about something bad or take actions that are considered to be bad by society such as stealing or what not, it stings the owner of the shinki, or a kind of "impurity" is spread over the owner's body like a virus or some sort. For Yukine, as a child, he sure did prioritise curiosity over his morals after seeing how he stole a skateboard because he could do it and not be seen and also a kind of "lust" over Hiyori when she invited him to sleep on the same bed with her. I didn't actually like Yukine's character from the start, seeing how obnoxious he was but I started to sympathise his situation after the school episode, where it was there that Yukine finally broke down, for the better I would say. It was the turning point for him, when he got all his feelings out and finally learn to accept himself after the purification was done. It was that moment, that Yukine realised how empty he was, as someone who was dead, without friends or families but what he had not seen, was Yukine and Yato who were always with him but he somehow missed these 2 "friends" in his world. I would say that the Yukine arc was one of the best in the whole series, even though the "realisation" part for him was a little cliché but the build up and conclusion was just nice for that arc.
What I feel was lacking for Yato as a main protagonist, was more character development for him. All we know is that in the past, he is a scary god of calamity, he performs odd jobs for 5 yen and with his shinki, he slays Ayakashis. Ok... so what special moves does he have? Nothing in particular, just basic katana-wielding skills and a repeated "final" attack scene that just keep getting repeated and repeated over and over again, with the same lines, same bgm, same animation. I mean come on, this isn't a Gundam Seed era... Leaving that aside, what I do want to know, is more on Yato's past. The series did show many flashbacks on his past (and repeated ones too...) but never did once talk about them. What exactly is he doing in the past? Why did he start slaying people and shinkis? Did he actually kill off one of Bishamon's shinki? What was his past with Kofuku like? What was his experience with Nora? Till the end of the series, none of these were answered. Yeah. Just tossing questions here and there but not answering any one of them even until the very end. I did admire however, his realisation of how important Hiyori was to him, with him grabbing Hiyori's hands when she turns to leave after she loses her memories of him was just bittersweet. It wasn't actually romance but she did mean a lot to him after all her help all these while, even when he collapsed during Yukine's incident. And all these leads up to our jersey 5 yen god who in the end, still has his past in mystery. Oh and I do admit that seeing a serious Yato in the last episode was pretty darn cool. Even Yukine could feel the difference :D
Hiyori on the other hand, felt the least as a main protagonist, at least in the first few episodes, until the end, where she became the plot driver after losing her memories of Yato and the rest. Sure it did interest me quite a bit after she developed her half-ayakashi form with her encounter with Yato, and in the 9th episode where it was suggested to Yato that he should cut her ties with her, I somehow already had the feeling that "hey, Yato's definitely not going to do that, and even if he did, she wouldn't allow it". Which was what exactly happened in the last episode. What I find to be disappointing was yet another "deus ex machina" that was run in the series that was somewhat similar to Kyoukai no Kanata. Hiyori basically had her memories destroyed, turning her into an empty vessel just like the pilots in Valvrave become when they lose all their runes, and I was thinking that that was it, Hiyori's gone but as a mc, she's not gonna die. Rather than dying, she awakes and regains all her memories just because she sub-consciously recognised Yato's smell which she has taken interest in. No explanations given, just a sniff and she returns to normal and breaks Nora's spell too. Wow? So much for a half-ayakashi who in the end, still retains that form (which was expected), and the trio continues their life without any specific closure.
That was kinda expected since the series is still ongoing in terms of its manga, but if the ending was going to be so rushed, I would love it if they could extend the last Hiyori arc to more episodes, because just 2 episodes on that is simply too short! Same goes for the existence of Rabou. We only know that he is a former ally of Yato and he just appears, couples up with Nora and aims to kill Yato? To me, that's how a typical shounen series works and I dislike them, a lot. The series had a very very predictable end too, which was easy enough for anyone to guess it. The moment you see Hiyori at the final battlefield and with Rabou wanting to see a "true" Yato. It is definitely going to be something to do with Hiyori to bring the "true" Yato out but in the end he will still retain his own sense due to Hiyori again. Which was EXACTLY what had happened in the last episode. In there, Hiyori feels like she was "placed" there as a stimulus for Yato to awaken, rather than an accidental leap by her to end up with Yato and Yukine when they duo left.
What I do find not series breaking even as how rushed it was, was the absence of romance factor in the series. Which is definitely, a 100% good thing. This series should never, never have romance mixed into it, considering already how many genres it has taken up and including that in will just ruin the show completely. Sure they did hint a little and almost broke the line when Hiyori reawakened with Yato beneath the rock, but boy am I glad that there wasn't actually a kiss or anything (it almost seemed to have one) and the trio still remain as best friends, rather than any two becoming a couple. It is still alright if there are hints here and there if there were romantic feelings but thank goodness none of that came true...
Overall, the series wasn't as bad as it turns out to be, the first few episodes were great, absolutely loved the Yukine arc and its closure, and was just disappointing in how the end had become. The final closure scene where Hiyori declines to have her ties cut was just nice, and of course, seeing how Yato is chirpy once again after receiving that 5 yen from Hiyori once again just makes it a happy ending. The series really had its potential to develop into a longer series (have not touched the manga yet so I'm not too sure how the plot had went) and being 12 episodes was really too short. I guess the only disappointments was how rushed the ending was, their lack of proper character developments and of course the irritable repeated usage of animation scenes. =.= Other than that, the plot is pretty decent, not so much to hope for a second season, but I definitely am looking forward to their OVAs. :)
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Those "what if" memories
Seeing Shichimiya's feelings slowly overwhelming her was just painful to watch, even from the sidelines. And I do think that after all these while, the "love triangle" has finally been formed but however in a different way since by the pace of the series progress, there will almost be no chance for a "let's have a fair fight" or anything similar to that since the 2nd season was already set up for Yuuta and Rikka to be together as a couple.
Back when Shichimiya was introduced, it was kinda surprising to see how her character interacted with the rest of the group. It wasn't like she came back filled with feelings for Yuuta but instead, she was trying her very best to remain just a friend to Yuuta and not interrupt the relationship between Rikka and Yuuta. I was almost quite certain this new character addition would trigger some sort of romantic conflict between the 3 but I guess I was only half correct and for the latter, we didn't quite actually see a conflict but a depressing realisation of her own feelings right as the series is coming to a close. ( Only 2 episodes to go! :( )
Honestly, it was both painful and depressing to watch as Shichimiya came to regret her own actions of not confessing to Yuuta back when she actually had feelings for him, until one day she decided to shut it out and follow her Chuunibyou ways. It was that action, however, that made her regret her decision after seeing how Rikka and Yuuta can still become a couple even with the chuunibyou syndrome still remaining for the both of them (well, perhaps not for Yuuta). To Shichimiya, she believes that it would be difficult for both her and Yuuta to become a couple with the duo still having their chuunibyou in the past but now when she sees that it was possible, all her past feelings of regret started to overwhelm her, and that, knowing all along that she will defintiely be on a losing end and yet she just had to have those feelings coming back to her at this moment when Yuuta's only got eyes for Rikka now.
Everything was pretty normal, slowly seeing Rikka and Yuuta developing their relationship, until the 4th last episode where they decided to drop a "depression" bomb, showing all the regrets of Shichimiya where she imagined a different outcome if she had taken Yuuta's hand in the past. So far for all the series that I've seen, childhood friends seem to have a role to play in the romance stage of these male protagonist, just that things just wasn't planned to work well for Shichimiya, it was just a pity that she'd missed her own chance and seeing how her "supposed happiness" was taken away from her and there wasn't anything much she could do about it (furthermore with Yuuta amplifying all that "damage" on Shichimiya), it just shows how one person can regret so much in the future, after looking back and thinking that "hey, perhaps the outcome would've been different if I had chose a different course of action". For normal situations, it would have been just bad, but for her which is a romance case, it turns out to be twice as bad. 2 more episodes to go, and we'll just have to see how things work out in the end...
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Depressing as how Chuunibyou has been, things haven exactly went well in Noragami as well, especially after all those trouble of finally saving Yukine and having both Yato and him patched up at the end. Sure it was suggested that Yato should sever his ties with Hiyori if he was attempting to help her and stop letting her transform into a half ayakashi. But in Yato's eyes, Hiyori was more than just a friend, I don't actually see the "romance" theme developing between Yato and Hiyori but seeing how desperate Hiyori was in trying to save him and Yukine and all those things that she has tried to help even though she was a human and they were not, Yato regards her just much more than a friend and can't bear to sever her ties with him.
And turns out that the "ties" was indeed severed, just not by Yato's own hands but by Nora instead. We did see a desperate attempt for Yato to try and bring back her memories of him, but later when he realises it was for the greater good, for Hiyori since it would mean that she would most likely not transform into a half-ayakashi any longer and would have her own problems solved. But Yukine wasn't about to give up, until Nora removed another piece of memory from Hiyori, making the point of "saving her" come into play and the duo head to face Nora and the god of calamity.
What just confuses me is what exactly is Nora's goals? What we do know is that she was a shinki that Yato had previously used before and she was one who has multiple owners, making her existence rather "unwanted", so now as Yato has Yukine, what does she actually want from Yato? Does she want his death for abandoning her and choosing Yukine who she thinks is much more inferior compared to her? It was rather straightforward for her to target Hiyori since she was so important to both Yato and Yukine but I just can't exactly pinpoint her purpose. Not many episodes are left for Noragami, and it just feels like the characters just weren't developed enough. Sure Hiyori had turned into a half ayakashi due to her attempt to save Yato, but that focus was quickly shifted away to Yukine after that, and it took them rather long before returning to the main issue, where by the time the plot caught up with her, more characters are introduced and even their backgrounds are totally revealed. Like Bishamon and Yato's past. Sure enough this series was pretty good, but it does lack a little on their plot development. The characters just didn't have much of that impact and the plot too is varying too much in their humour and serious counterparts.
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And here we have another song under Project Diva again which was featured too in Magical Mirai 2013:
Back when Shichimiya was introduced, it was kinda surprising to see how her character interacted with the rest of the group. It wasn't like she came back filled with feelings for Yuuta but instead, she was trying her very best to remain just a friend to Yuuta and not interrupt the relationship between Rikka and Yuuta. I was almost quite certain this new character addition would trigger some sort of romantic conflict between the 3 but I guess I was only half correct and for the latter, we didn't quite actually see a conflict but a depressing realisation of her own feelings right as the series is coming to a close. ( Only 2 episodes to go! :( )
Everything was pretty normal, slowly seeing Rikka and Yuuta developing their relationship, until the 4th last episode where they decided to drop a "depression" bomb, showing all the regrets of Shichimiya where she imagined a different outcome if she had taken Yuuta's hand in the past. So far for all the series that I've seen, childhood friends seem to have a role to play in the romance stage of these male protagonist, just that things just wasn't planned to work well for Shichimiya, it was just a pity that she'd missed her own chance and seeing how her "supposed happiness" was taken away from her and there wasn't anything much she could do about it (furthermore with Yuuta amplifying all that "damage" on Shichimiya), it just shows how one person can regret so much in the future, after looking back and thinking that "hey, perhaps the outcome would've been different if I had chose a different course of action". For normal situations, it would have been just bad, but for her which is a romance case, it turns out to be twice as bad. 2 more episodes to go, and we'll just have to see how things work out in the end...
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Depressing as how Chuunibyou has been, things haven exactly went well in Noragami as well, especially after all those trouble of finally saving Yukine and having both Yato and him patched up at the end. Sure it was suggested that Yato should sever his ties with Hiyori if he was attempting to help her and stop letting her transform into a half ayakashi. But in Yato's eyes, Hiyori was more than just a friend, I don't actually see the "romance" theme developing between Yato and Hiyori but seeing how desperate Hiyori was in trying to save him and Yukine and all those things that she has tried to help even though she was a human and they were not, Yato regards her just much more than a friend and can't bear to sever her ties with him.
And turns out that the "ties" was indeed severed, just not by Yato's own hands but by Nora instead. We did see a desperate attempt for Yato to try and bring back her memories of him, but later when he realises it was for the greater good, for Hiyori since it would mean that she would most likely not transform into a half-ayakashi any longer and would have her own problems solved. But Yukine wasn't about to give up, until Nora removed another piece of memory from Hiyori, making the point of "saving her" come into play and the duo head to face Nora and the god of calamity.
What just confuses me is what exactly is Nora's goals? What we do know is that she was a shinki that Yato had previously used before and she was one who has multiple owners, making her existence rather "unwanted", so now as Yato has Yukine, what does she actually want from Yato? Does she want his death for abandoning her and choosing Yukine who she thinks is much more inferior compared to her? It was rather straightforward for her to target Hiyori since she was so important to both Yato and Yukine but I just can't exactly pinpoint her purpose. Not many episodes are left for Noragami, and it just feels like the characters just weren't developed enough. Sure Hiyori had turned into a half ayakashi due to her attempt to save Yato, but that focus was quickly shifted away to Yukine after that, and it took them rather long before returning to the main issue, where by the time the plot caught up with her, more characters are introduced and even their backgrounds are totally revealed. Like Bishamon and Yato's past. Sure enough this series was pretty good, but it does lack a little on their plot development. The characters just didn't have much of that impact and the plot too is varying too much in their humour and serious counterparts.
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And here we have another song under Project Diva again which was featured too in Magical Mirai 2013:
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
While we wait for the new season...
really apologise for not updating this as frequently as it should be, mainly due to 2 reasons: where 1: having dropped almost 90% of the series this season, there isn't quite much to talk about until the new season arrives, and 2: I have been busy planning out an overseas trip so yea, didn't actually found time to sit down and slowly type out an entry.
leaving those aside, here are some of the event updates that will be happening in Singapore this year and for some, fairly soon:
Spring Doujima 2014 - 27 April 2014
Basically a doujin market will be held at *SCAPE, facebook page can be accessed here
It is not a cosplay event, but as they say on their page, it is however cosplay-friendly. Am still unsure if I'm heading for this one, but for now, I guess I am, considering that both C.D.S. and Daiyaku are there, so yeah...
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Cosfest XIII Trilogy
Apparently, this time round, Cosfest is not going to have another 2 parts event but rather 3 for this year:
Cosfest XIII Trilogy I
Cosfest Comics Black Market
Date: 15 June 2014
Venue: The Resorts World Convention Centre
Cosfest XIII Trilogy II
Cosfest XIII - The Final Fantasy
Date: 5 & 6 July 2014
Venue: Downtown East Cosfest XIII
Trilogy III Cosfest Christmas
Date: To be announced
Venue: To be announced
Not so sure about the one at RW Convention Centre... but am definitely going for the one at Downtown East, I mean hey, that's an annual event... Will be starting school this year too, so I am crossing my fingers that the dates don't clash with any important school events :X
Will most likely pass on the christmas one which I guess am similar to last year's at Funan, where its mainly just activities planned for cosplayers. Didn't actually went there last year, but the feel there just by looking at the photos, didn't quite feel as "good" as it was at Downtown East.
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Went down to Marina Bay area for the "Light Festival" last weekend, and here's the event details:
i Light Marina Bay 2014 - 7th to 30th March
Time: 7.30pm - 11pm
Location: Marina Bay Waterfront
There are a total of 28 light installations, didn't manage to catch all of them as it was already quite late and there were so many people there, making it quite difficult for me to get a perfect shot. Did however capture long exposure shots of the area as well as some of the installations, so here they go:
some of them did have the weird white spots around the lightings, am viewing them fine on my pc, so i am guessing that is picasa's compression of the images :(
other than the installations, it was actually pretty neat using the same settings for the skyline and boy they looked great:
Cosfest Comics Black Market
Date: 15 June 2014
Venue: The Resorts World Convention Centre
Cosfest XIII Trilogy II
Cosfest XIII - The Final Fantasy
Date: 5 & 6 July 2014
Venue: Downtown East Cosfest XIII
Trilogy III Cosfest Christmas
Date: To be announced
Venue: To be announced
Not so sure about the one at RW Convention Centre... but am definitely going for the one at Downtown East, I mean hey, that's an annual event... Will be starting school this year too, so I am crossing my fingers that the dates don't clash with any important school events :X
Will most likely pass on the christmas one which I guess am similar to last year's at Funan, where its mainly just activities planned for cosplayers. Didn't actually went there last year, but the feel there just by looking at the photos, didn't quite feel as "good" as it was at Downtown East.
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Went down to Marina Bay area for the "Light Festival" last weekend, and here's the event details:
i Light Marina Bay 2014 - 7th to 30th March
Time: 7.30pm - 11pm
Location: Marina Bay Waterfront
There are a total of 28 light installations, didn't manage to catch all of them as it was already quite late and there were so many people there, making it quite difficult for me to get a perfect shot. Did however capture long exposure shots of the area as well as some of the installations, so here they go:
some of them did have the weird white spots around the lightings, am viewing them fine on my pc, so i am guessing that is picasa's compression of the images :(
other than the installations, it was actually pretty neat using the same settings for the skyline and boy they looked great:
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and another rather awesome and dark song that I heard from Magical Mirai 2013
Tokyo Teddy Bear
Monday, March 3, 2014
Shocking progress
After the latest episode of Tokyo Ravens, I am surprised, shocked, and sad to see one of the main characters biting the dust.
Well for some series there is always the possibility of a deus ex machina occurring when a main protagonist dies and for some which don't, namely Shin Sekai Yori and Valvrave, the story becomes more "real" in the aspect and of course, the audience will start to feel similar feelings as in the series itself, after all we have been looking at this character for like 20 episodes since it began to air.
And the person in question was Tsuchimikado Natsume. I didn't actually catch the death flags of her right at the start of the episode... There were flashbacks but the thought of her dying in the series totally did not occur to me at all. In the first place, the series was moving at a pace where it didn't quite seem possible for any of the main protagonist to die, furthermore with their light-hearted atmosphere, until now. After all those moments where Natsume wanted to reveal the truth about Hokuto and Harutora deciding to stop chasing the matter after his monologue midway in the series, the final chance was given for the revelation, but not only did she fail to tell him the truth but also loses her life to protect Harutora. Well at least she did manage to confess her love for Harutora right at the end, but seeing how she was "acquainted" with Hokuto once again with Harutora screaming out to her in the background, it was really painful to see how she had shared the same fate as Hokuto and wasn't able to hear Harutora's answer for her confession.
There is always a possibility of the series having an anime original ending, because if they did follow the novel plot (which I spoiled myself after watching this episode), then this series will definitely leave a long lasting memory of one that had such a plot twist. 4/5 more episodes to go so we'll see how it goes, and while in the meantime... those feels T__T
shall see how the novel actually describes this portion of the plot... so it's time to head down to kino again soon! :X
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Saw this trailer of Hitsugi no Chaika,
seems interesting, didn't include that in the previous entry so I guess I'm gonna follow this too. From BONES as well, which of course gave the deja vu on darker than black. THAT sniper rifle @_@
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And.... finally got my first gaming mouse from the recent IT show :D budget type so I shall see how long this will last. since it's gonna be used for dota so I'm guessing it won't be long haha
Monday, February 24, 2014
Winter season thus far...
Among the 8 series that I've started watching since the start of the winter season, only 3 remains on the list and the others, well, have been dropped due to various reasons one way or the other, or it was just purely a lost of interest to the show where nothing much interesting actually happens to keep the suspense high.
I'd just talk about the 3 that I'm still currently following now and 2 of them are actually sequels too, which makes this season having only 1 series that actually kept me watching from the start, which was Noragami. And even that series had almost made me drop it after how their plot progressed on the earlier part of the series but I'm glad that something more serious had developed into the story and it wasn't just purely humour any longer.
This would also mean that among all the other seasons of the year, this has got to be the weakest and poorest series lineup I've ever watched... There are however some series that I was originally very interested in, like Buddy Complex and Hamatora, but the plot just doesn't move in quite the way that would interest me... I wouldn't totally dismiss the idea that I might be watching them after they have aired finish, which I may be doing, but for now, they are just not cutting it...
The 2 sequels that I'm currently following now are Chuunibyou and Seitokai Yakuindomo, and for the later, it is a slice-of-life so not much complains over there... As long as it is funny, everything is clear to go. For the former, it was nice to see another anime couple really recognised instead of the usual - dragging of wanting to confess or not and wanting to be together or not and only at the very end then the duo would be together - kind of show. Yes, I'm talking about Tokyo Ravens (which I will get to that later on) Chuunibyou has been great showing how Rikka and Togashi actually attempts to further develop their relationship, including the fact that Rikka is still residing in her "chuunibyou" world which makes romance this kind of thing, difficult for her to understand... but in the recent eps, we finally got this:
which is a freaking big plot driver from now on. Dang, now I will question quite a bit on the existence of Shichimiya. Contrary to our belief, she isn't exactly one that will try and get close to Togashi by herself but rather, she respects the relationship between Rikka and Togashi, which makes her existence somewhat of "being here to make you jealous" kind of thing. But from ep 7, we do know that she did harbour feelings for Togashi in the past, and it is more of like a "one step behind" kind of situation after she finds Togashi after so many years and he was already attached to Rikka. Like I said, this was a sequel so after seeing their 1st season, the 2nd would be a must-watch for me that is...
Noragami on the other hand sure had its ups and downs. Honestly speaking, the starting driver of the plot of "making Hiyori normal again" is forgotten and lost somewhere in the show. Now it feels like that part of the plot was used and was there only for the introduction of Hiyori's half ayakashi form and after they achieved that, it was thrown away and left aside. That however did started to deter me since I thought that hey, this would possibly be a slight slice-of-life, coupled with slowly moving pace on getting Hiyori back to normal, but boy was I wrong. The main bulk of the plot still resides over on Yato himself and his newly acquired Shinki - Yukine, which is being a total pain the ass. I'm not complaining now that Hiyori has been forgotten but am rather glad that they had shifted their focus on both Yato and Yukine for quite a while now and has been progressing rather smoothly now. To me, Hiyori seems more like a side character now rather than a female protagonist since she doesn't actually quite add to the equation of the show... somehow... It is good too, to see how these Ayakashis are impacting the real world although not all can see them and how Yukine, after being revived from the dead to be Yato's shinki, is feeling dejected from the world and now, he had crossed his own boundary and had led both Yato and Hiyori into danger.
Every desire that Yukine has will blight Yato even more, up to a point where Yato might even lose his life for it and that is exactly what was happening now. The latest episode seemed quite pointless which them trying to solve a bullying case until at the very end, where it was actually used as a plot driver for Yukine to "cross the line" after seeing how he is "dead" and am unable to have friends like the other. This also shows how much consequences are if one actually tries to bring back the dead and at the same time, unable to be seen by others. It doesn't feel right to say that Yukine is "alive" since he can't be seen and especially for someone at such a young age like him, feeling dejected and left out is probably the most painful thing he could feel which was why Yato feared for him when they reached the school, which might trigger his inner desires, which did, in the end.
Pretty neat to see Kofuku being all serious as well, and things are definitely getting interesting from now on, but for a short 12 episode series, this ending could turn out bad and might have to resort to following the other media for this series as well...
Tokyo Ravens isn't exactly part of the winter season but that is still a series that I am still following and after their 13th episode with Harutora's monologue about wanting to confirm whether Natsume was Hokuto or not was the the main highlight of the series, both on the development of the plot and also on the beautiful use of animation at that point in time. It was after that episode that things started going uphill with the show, and with a recent episode of seeing Harutora fighting seriously, that episode was really exciting for the whole 20+minutes. I am glad that they have discarded the possibility of Natsume revealing her as Hokuto to Harutora and am disappointed too at the same time, but with the series hinting a possible revelation near the end, I can only think that it will fail again but my inner self definitely wants to see it being known... only a few episodes more to go and I am hoping very hard that I will be able to see that coming true :)
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Now as for the other series, like Nobunagun, things really did seem interesting at the start with all the "reincarnation" things lurking around, but when the plot really starts and she was recruited into the combat force, things became too normal, or just plain to me. Would've appreciated the fact if it retained the school setting unlike the one they have now, which was just boring to me now.
And Hamatora as well, basically it lost its steam over at episode 2, missions that are too easy to solve, too plain to think and really try-hard attempts to link cases together which in the end, turns out to be too obvious to see that they were trying very hard to do it. Didn't quite like the animation at the start too so you could say I was kinda prepared to drop this sooner or later.
And of course we have Mahou Sensou which didn't even make it to episode 2. Too forced storyline, little things explained, basically a very typical shounen series that you can find anywhere and everywhere.
Buddy Complex is however one that I might consider watching when it finally ends, the system that they use in their mecha does sound too cliché but it was that, that interest me from the start and also with the "time travel" kind of setting. But that point seemed to have been forgotten in the series as well, which is disappointing... so until the time where they actually bring that point back, then I will consider rewatching the series. Other than that, the plot is too dry and too slow for my liking so it's a dropped show for now.
What came more surprising to me was dropping of Nisekoi. Yes it was a SHAFT animation series and for me, which I tend to be bias towards SHAFT, dropping this was kinda out of the norm. But placing the plot on the table, this is just too boring, tooooo boring. It totally feels like watching some korean drama or something where you wanna say it but then you don't wanna say it, you suspect this but you dare not to confirm it.... Basically it is just frustrating to watch the show and SHAFT is honestly better of animating weird series with supernatural and out-of-the-norm themes like Bakemonogatari or even Sasami-san rather than a romance series like Nisekoi. I wouldn't mind starting to read the manga from now on but for the anime, nah, can't bear to watch it any further.
Only about a month+ or so and we'll enter into the spring season, and that is one that I have a lot of high hopes for, well for now that is...
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And here's livetune's latest song, which if I'm not wrong, is the OP theme of Project Diva F 2nd
I'd just talk about the 3 that I'm still currently following now and 2 of them are actually sequels too, which makes this season having only 1 series that actually kept me watching from the start, which was Noragami. And even that series had almost made me drop it after how their plot progressed on the earlier part of the series but I'm glad that something more serious had developed into the story and it wasn't just purely humour any longer.
This would also mean that among all the other seasons of the year, this has got to be the weakest and poorest series lineup I've ever watched... There are however some series that I was originally very interested in, like Buddy Complex and Hamatora, but the plot just doesn't move in quite the way that would interest me... I wouldn't totally dismiss the idea that I might be watching them after they have aired finish, which I may be doing, but for now, they are just not cutting it...
The 2 sequels that I'm currently following now are Chuunibyou and Seitokai Yakuindomo, and for the later, it is a slice-of-life so not much complains over there... As long as it is funny, everything is clear to go. For the former, it was nice to see another anime couple really recognised instead of the usual - dragging of wanting to confess or not and wanting to be together or not and only at the very end then the duo would be together - kind of show. Yes, I'm talking about Tokyo Ravens (which I will get to that later on) Chuunibyou has been great showing how Rikka and Togashi actually attempts to further develop their relationship, including the fact that Rikka is still residing in her "chuunibyou" world which makes romance this kind of thing, difficult for her to understand... but in the recent eps, we finally got this:
which is a freaking big plot driver from now on. Dang, now I will question quite a bit on the existence of Shichimiya. Contrary to our belief, she isn't exactly one that will try and get close to Togashi by herself but rather, she respects the relationship between Rikka and Togashi, which makes her existence somewhat of "being here to make you jealous" kind of thing. But from ep 7, we do know that she did harbour feelings for Togashi in the past, and it is more of like a "one step behind" kind of situation after she finds Togashi after so many years and he was already attached to Rikka. Like I said, this was a sequel so after seeing their 1st season, the 2nd would be a must-watch for me that is...
Noragami on the other hand sure had its ups and downs. Honestly speaking, the starting driver of the plot of "making Hiyori normal again" is forgotten and lost somewhere in the show. Now it feels like that part of the plot was used and was there only for the introduction of Hiyori's half ayakashi form and after they achieved that, it was thrown away and left aside. That however did started to deter me since I thought that hey, this would possibly be a slight slice-of-life, coupled with slowly moving pace on getting Hiyori back to normal, but boy was I wrong. The main bulk of the plot still resides over on Yato himself and his newly acquired Shinki - Yukine, which is being a total pain the ass. I'm not complaining now that Hiyori has been forgotten but am rather glad that they had shifted their focus on both Yato and Yukine for quite a while now and has been progressing rather smoothly now. To me, Hiyori seems more like a side character now rather than a female protagonist since she doesn't actually quite add to the equation of the show... somehow... It is good too, to see how these Ayakashis are impacting the real world although not all can see them and how Yukine, after being revived from the dead to be Yato's shinki, is feeling dejected from the world and now, he had crossed his own boundary and had led both Yato and Hiyori into danger.
Every desire that Yukine has will blight Yato even more, up to a point where Yato might even lose his life for it and that is exactly what was happening now. The latest episode seemed quite pointless which them trying to solve a bullying case until at the very end, where it was actually used as a plot driver for Yukine to "cross the line" after seeing how he is "dead" and am unable to have friends like the other. This also shows how much consequences are if one actually tries to bring back the dead and at the same time, unable to be seen by others. It doesn't feel right to say that Yukine is "alive" since he can't be seen and especially for someone at such a young age like him, feeling dejected and left out is probably the most painful thing he could feel which was why Yato feared for him when they reached the school, which might trigger his inner desires, which did, in the end.
Tokyo Ravens isn't exactly part of the winter season but that is still a series that I am still following and after their 13th episode with Harutora's monologue about wanting to confirm whether Natsume was Hokuto or not was the the main highlight of the series, both on the development of the plot and also on the beautiful use of animation at that point in time. It was after that episode that things started going uphill with the show, and with a recent episode of seeing Harutora fighting seriously, that episode was really exciting for the whole 20+minutes. I am glad that they have discarded the possibility of Natsume revealing her as Hokuto to Harutora and am disappointed too at the same time, but with the series hinting a possible revelation near the end, I can only think that it will fail again but my inner self definitely wants to see it being known... only a few episodes more to go and I am hoping very hard that I will be able to see that coming true :)
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Now as for the other series, like Nobunagun, things really did seem interesting at the start with all the "reincarnation" things lurking around, but when the plot really starts and she was recruited into the combat force, things became too normal, or just plain to me. Would've appreciated the fact if it retained the school setting unlike the one they have now, which was just boring to me now.
And Hamatora as well, basically it lost its steam over at episode 2, missions that are too easy to solve, too plain to think and really try-hard attempts to link cases together which in the end, turns out to be too obvious to see that they were trying very hard to do it. Didn't quite like the animation at the start too so you could say I was kinda prepared to drop this sooner or later.
And of course we have Mahou Sensou which didn't even make it to episode 2. Too forced storyline, little things explained, basically a very typical shounen series that you can find anywhere and everywhere.
Buddy Complex is however one that I might consider watching when it finally ends, the system that they use in their mecha does sound too cliché but it was that, that interest me from the start and also with the "time travel" kind of setting. But that point seemed to have been forgotten in the series as well, which is disappointing... so until the time where they actually bring that point back, then I will consider rewatching the series. Other than that, the plot is too dry and too slow for my liking so it's a dropped show for now.
What came more surprising to me was dropping of Nisekoi. Yes it was a SHAFT animation series and for me, which I tend to be bias towards SHAFT, dropping this was kinda out of the norm. But placing the plot on the table, this is just too boring, tooooo boring. It totally feels like watching some korean drama or something where you wanna say it but then you don't wanna say it, you suspect this but you dare not to confirm it.... Basically it is just frustrating to watch the show and SHAFT is honestly better of animating weird series with supernatural and out-of-the-norm themes like Bakemonogatari or even Sasami-san rather than a romance series like Nisekoi. I wouldn't mind starting to read the manga from now on but for the anime, nah, can't bear to watch it any further.
Only about a month+ or so and we'll enter into the spring season, and that is one that I have a lot of high hopes for, well for now that is...
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And here's livetune's latest song, which if I'm not wrong, is the OP theme of Project Diva F 2nd
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Spring 2014
As the Spring season list is more or less confirmed, here's a look out at some of the upcoming series that judging from their plot or PVs, are worth a try:
"When he was a child, Murakami was infatuated with a girl he called Kuroneko. She insisted on knowing about aliens and having met them, but no one believed her, even young Murakami was skeptical. One day, she decides to show him the aliens, but an accident occurs and Kuroneko dies while Murakami is left seriously wounded in the hospital.
Years go by and Murakami obsesses on finding proof of the existence of aliens because of a promise he had made with Kuroneko. Then, one day, a new transfer student comes to his class, who not only looks a lot like Kuroneko, but is named Kurohaneko! And even though she insists on never having met Murakami before, the girl has superhuman strength and seems to even be able to predict the future!
How will Murakami's life change now that he has been saved by this mysterious girl that claims to be a magician?"
A pretty normal plot setting where the male protagonist loses his female childhood friend and a girl who is able to use magic, appears in front of him, looking just like the childhood friend whom he had lost. I guess it's pretty obvious to me that the girl is the same girl he had lost, just that she had underwent certain "modifications" to enable her to use those special powers. Guess that was easily pointed out in the PV itself. Looks kinda like a dark series from the PV, and it the girl wasn't who I was thinking she was, then this would probably interest me even more than it already had. Certainly this has some nostalgia on Elfen Lied so I'd definitely see how this goes.
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Mekaku City Actors
Now this is a very interesting series that caught my eye. Apparently from the wikipedia page:
Wow. I haven't actually heard their vocaloid songs and apparently this has become quite a popular series and be good enough for an anime adaptation. Kinda seems like Black Rock Shooter where it was also from the Vocaloid cover that skyrocketed its popularity over the net, which in the end, got an anime adaptation as well.
"Shintaro Kisaragi, a HikiNEET who shut himself inside his room for 2 years, had been living his life normally until he met a cyber girl named Ene, who appeared in his computer screen when someone anonymously sent him a mysterious e-mail one year ago. One day, Ene messes with Shintaro's PC which causes him to go outside for the first time in two years."
Now this series is somewhat similar to Hamatora of the current season now, where it's generally people with supernatural abilities teaming up and stopping crime. This does have a sense of Durarara!! as well, but considering how I've dropped Hamatora, this genre does have its flaws. Nonetheless it is by SHAFT animation and I'd be much much more interested in seeing SHAFT doing animations for these "supernatural" series rather than a romance one like Nisekoi right now. SHAFT is "different" after all :D
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Black Bullet
"A near future, where humans have been defeated by the viral parasites named Gastrea. They have been exiled into a small territory and live in despair, side by side with terror.In this world trapped in darkness—
Rentaro, a boy living near Tokyo and member of the "Civil Security" – an organization specializing in fighting against the Gastrea – is used to accomplishing dangerous tasks. His partner is Enju, a precocious young girl. They fight thanks to their peculiar powers until one day, when they receive a special assignment from the government. This top secret mission is to prevent the destruction of Tokyo...
Set in a near future, this thrilling heroic-action story... starts now!"
There are really quite a number of supernatrual series in the Spring season which I'm definitely not complaining since I am a fan of this genre, and from the PV, this series looks really good. An apocalyptic setting coupled with characters with special abilities? Damn, that's general, but of course, a good setting nonetheless, for me.
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Mahou Shoujo Taisen
"Mahou Shoujo Taisen" is a project created from a variety show for the Otaku "2.5 Chigen TV" (2.5 Dimension TV).
The characters are the mahou shoujo that represents each local town in Japan. The characters that won from the second illustration competitions that were held on pixiv will appear in the anime. "
Hm. Not too sure about this, but it's pretty interesting in some way. Not even sure if this is going to be a full 20 minute series and exactly how many episodes it's gonna have. And I'm not sure too about what this is going to be about. Well, it is this kind of uncertainties that bring about curiosity :)
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Date a Live II
Pretty much self-explanatory... season 2, yup.
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Captain Earth
"One night right before summer vacation, Daichi Manatsu, a second-year in high school, sees a weird round rainbow floating in the sky above Seed Island (Shuushi/Tane Island) and ventures there alone. He has seen this rainbow before. With the memories of his father's mysterious death and an encounter of a mysterious boy and girl, Daiji arrives on the island while the alarm of a building labeled "Earth Engine" is going off. Someone asks him "Are you a captain?" just as robotic intruders from Uranus called "Kiltgang" arrive. The battle around the shining stars is about to begin."
An orginal mecha series! And its under BONES which of course did the previous rather "classic" mecha series of Eureka 7. I will catch their debut episode but whether or not I'll continue to follow this will remain on how much the plot engages, which of course failed in the case of Buddy Complex. (well, I'll get to the "this season" talk soon)
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No Game No Life
Pretty neat plot, a semi-SAO-styled series where it revolves around the virtual world which in this case, could be reality as well. Did bear certain similarities with Summer Wars since they are both from the same studio. Does seem to have more of a humour side to the plot too so why not give this a try? :O Among the others, this really did stood out from its unique plot. Plot-wise, this did remind me of Kaminomi, but at least Keima was a student and not like a NEET like this pair of siblings but as gaming legends, I've got a feeling this is gonna be pretty interesting.
Oh and here's the chart from Neregate this season:
which can be viewed here
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Gokukoku no Brynhildr
"When he was a child, Murakami was infatuated with a girl he called Kuroneko. She insisted on knowing about aliens and having met them, but no one believed her, even young Murakami was skeptical. One day, she decides to show him the aliens, but an accident occurs and Kuroneko dies while Murakami is left seriously wounded in the hospital.
Years go by and Murakami obsesses on finding proof of the existence of aliens because of a promise he had made with Kuroneko. Then, one day, a new transfer student comes to his class, who not only looks a lot like Kuroneko, but is named Kurohaneko! And even though she insists on never having met Murakami before, the girl has superhuman strength and seems to even be able to predict the future!
How will Murakami's life change now that he has been saved by this mysterious girl that claims to be a magician?"
A pretty normal plot setting where the male protagonist loses his female childhood friend and a girl who is able to use magic, appears in front of him, looking just like the childhood friend whom he had lost. I guess it's pretty obvious to me that the girl is the same girl he had lost, just that she had underwent certain "modifications" to enable her to use those special powers. Guess that was easily pointed out in the PV itself. Looks kinda like a dark series from the PV, and it the girl wasn't who I was thinking she was, then this would probably interest me even more than it already had. Certainly this has some nostalgia on Elfen Lied so I'd definitely see how this goes.
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Mekaku City Actors
Now this is a very interesting series that caught my eye. Apparently from the wikipedia page:
The Kagerou Project (カゲロウプロジェクト Kagerō Purojekuto, lit. "Heat Haze Project"), also known as Kagerou Daze,[1] is a Vocaloid song series created by Jin (also known as Shizen no Teki-P). The story revolves around the Mekakushi Dan, a group of teenagers with unusual eye-related powers.
The series became popular on the video sharing website Niconico after the release of the song "Kagerou Daze" (カゲロウデイズ, lit. "Heat Haze Daze"), which also gave the series its name. The song has amassed over 3 million views and is the most popular song of the project. Four light novels have been released, written by Jin and illustrated by Shidu. A fifth novel has been announced. A manga adaptation with illustrations by Satō Mahirō, began serialization in Monthly Comic Gene on June 15, 2012. An anime adaptation titled Mekaku City Actors will be directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and produced by Shaft will begin airing in April 2014.
"Shintaro Kisaragi, a HikiNEET who shut himself inside his room for 2 years, had been living his life normally until he met a cyber girl named Ene, who appeared in his computer screen when someone anonymously sent him a mysterious e-mail one year ago. One day, Ene messes with Shintaro's PC which causes him to go outside for the first time in two years."
Now this series is somewhat similar to Hamatora of the current season now, where it's generally people with supernatural abilities teaming up and stopping crime. This does have a sense of Durarara!! as well, but considering how I've dropped Hamatora, this genre does have its flaws. Nonetheless it is by SHAFT animation and I'd be much much more interested in seeing SHAFT doing animations for these "supernatural" series rather than a romance one like Nisekoi right now. SHAFT is "different" after all :D
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Black Bullet
"A near future, where humans have been defeated by the viral parasites named Gastrea. They have been exiled into a small territory and live in despair, side by side with terror.In this world trapped in darkness—
Rentaro, a boy living near Tokyo and member of the "Civil Security" – an organization specializing in fighting against the Gastrea – is used to accomplishing dangerous tasks. His partner is Enju, a precocious young girl. They fight thanks to their peculiar powers until one day, when they receive a special assignment from the government. This top secret mission is to prevent the destruction of Tokyo...
Set in a near future, this thrilling heroic-action story... starts now!"
There are really quite a number of supernatrual series in the Spring season which I'm definitely not complaining since I am a fan of this genre, and from the PV, this series looks really good. An apocalyptic setting coupled with characters with special abilities? Damn, that's general, but of course, a good setting nonetheless, for me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mahou Shoujo Taisen
The characters are the mahou shoujo that represents each local town in Japan. The characters that won from the second illustration competitions that were held on pixiv will appear in the anime. "
Hm. Not too sure about this, but it's pretty interesting in some way. Not even sure if this is going to be a full 20 minute series and exactly how many episodes it's gonna have. And I'm not sure too about what this is going to be about. Well, it is this kind of uncertainties that bring about curiosity :)
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Date a Live II
Pretty much self-explanatory... season 2, yup.
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Captain Earth
"One night right before summer vacation, Daichi Manatsu, a second-year in high school, sees a weird round rainbow floating in the sky above Seed Island (Shuushi/Tane Island) and ventures there alone. He has seen this rainbow before. With the memories of his father's mysterious death and an encounter of a mysterious boy and girl, Daiji arrives on the island while the alarm of a building labeled "Earth Engine" is going off. Someone asks him "Are you a captain?" just as robotic intruders from Uranus called "Kiltgang" arrive. The battle around the shining stars is about to begin."
An orginal mecha series! And its under BONES which of course did the previous rather "classic" mecha series of Eureka 7. I will catch their debut episode but whether or not I'll continue to follow this will remain on how much the plot engages, which of course failed in the case of Buddy Complex. (well, I'll get to the "this season" talk soon)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Game No Life
Pretty neat plot, a semi-SAO-styled series where it revolves around the virtual world which in this case, could be reality as well. Did bear certain similarities with Summer Wars since they are both from the same studio. Does seem to have more of a humour side to the plot too so why not give this a try? :O Among the others, this really did stood out from its unique plot. Plot-wise, this did remind me of Kaminomi, but at least Keima was a student and not like a NEET like this pair of siblings but as gaming legends, I've got a feeling this is gonna be pretty interesting.
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