Happy Holidays!

Yeah..., let's all post when it's most convenient!

Still busy but here's a post!

I really would like to post more often but I just can't find the time to do so. I'd rather do other things instead, you know? It's something I do in my "spare time within my spare time". So where to begin... Oh, I know. I'll start by posting an image.

It's been raining recently and I like it. Although, I haven't felt that warm and fuzzy feeling you get from this time of year. Real life sucks. I have no idea how to get into the mood of a pleasantly dissonant overcast. Suggestions from people wouldn't work too well either since everybody has different tastes. Rewatching some anime sounds really nice right about now but I have a lot shows that I already started so I don't want to add any more. I guess it can't be helped.

Time to talk about video games. yay I started up Fate/Extra again just to see if I could finish it. Well, needless to say that I didn't get too far. The combat is still as crappy as ever. It doesn't have a fun factor that a good RPG battle system should have. The only draw the game has left is the story but even that is pretty mediocre. I really want to finish this game, though. It's one of those games that you know you can beat if you just stick with it to the end but I just can't do it.

I don't know if you guys have been keeping up with Psycho-Pass but this show keeps on getting better. Generally, Urobuchi doesn't really impress me on his own merits. It takes a good staff of people in order to bring out his talents. I don't mind that it's a GiTS clone in some ways since anime doesn't get a lot of cyberpunk these days.

I've recently listened to the new EP by Toe called "The Future Is Now". It left me wanting a new album by them. Just four new songs wasn't enough. Toe is one of those bands that's actually been getting better as time goes on. I remember Nevah talking about this in an old post he did. A lot of musicians tend to get worse as time goes on but there's still few that actually get better over time. The majority still get worse, though. This poses the question, "maybe you should quit after one album?" People will ignore this and would rather make mediocrity than work a day job.

Hope you're doing well and have a nice day.

Another dumb post

I don't know how long it's been since the last post but I'm making a post anyway. I don't even have anything interesting to talk about. I've been kinda busy doing things and writing for this blog is just something I do within my spare time of my spare time. I don't even have time to within that time either. Hopefully those last two sentences confused people because that was totally my intention but I really do mean it, as well.

I'm hoping I can finish writing this post in just 20 minutes as opposed to the 4 hours it usually takes. The amount of time spent does not reflect quality, you should know this. Whatever, I'm not even going to edit this post either. If you see any mistakes, well it couldn't be helped. I'm also writing this before I go to sleep.

Tigoris on the right.

You might be wondering, "Another KyoAni is awesum post??", and to that I say NO. Granted, the show is getting better and it is a lot of fun but I wouldn't say it's amazing.

Try following along, too!

This post is stupid. Mostly because I'm too lazy to write about what video games I've been playing. I didn't want a huge gap between posts so here I am.

I did start Gundam Battle Operation again because the Acguy became available. I wanted to play as the cute mobile suit so now I am. It's COOL.

Autumn/Fall Anime 2012

I could've sworn that I was going to pick up more shows but I guess this is it. Maybe something will peak my interest later but this is what I'm going to be watching for now.

Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb
Aww yeah, time to strap in for some more wideface action. I'm actually waiting for it to finish so I can marathon it all at once. I know for a fact that I can't wait weekly for this.

Initial D Fifth Stage
FUCK YEAH!!! It's been years since Fourth Stage so I'm kind of amazed that they're actually continuing the anime. Apparently two episodes once a month, every month. I'm curious to see how this will turn out.

Bakuman. 3
Season 3 of the anime about people making manga. Nowadays, it focuses more on the character relationships rather than the process of making manga. Although it does go back to that in order to advance the plot. Still entertaining and fun.

Btooom!
I didn't know much about this at all and picked it up on feeling alone. The first episode wasn't too good and the direction for it was really shitty. It did get much better once episode 2 came and managed to hook me after that.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!
Another KyoAni production but sadly it isn't up to par with their other works. I really hate the "chuunibyou" characters and find them massively annoying. I kinda want to see a show about a main character who wants to be normal and succeeds at it. Despite this, I do like this show and it still manages to be a lot of fun.

Girls und Panzer
I wasn't expecting much from this show but it was surprisingly good. It seems pretty lighthearted despite involving tanks.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (2012)
I've read the manga and thought it was awesome. So far, the anime has been a pretty good and a faithful adaptation. The violence seems a bit toned down but I'm pretty sure the Blu ray will fix that. YES, the ending theme is amazing! Opening theme is amazing too.

K
I picked it up because I'm kind of a fan of GoHands animation work. Of course, the animation is really good. At times, it feels like it's just showing off. The actual story is a typical action modern fantasy with a fujoshi pandering twist. It hasn't really hooked me but at least it's nice to look at.

Medaka Box Abnormal
Season 2 of Medaka Box, picking up right where it left off. It isn't the best story in the world and the animation isn't at the quality of studio's more famous works but it still manages to entertain me.

Psycho-Pass
Disregarding the famous writer involved, I was interested in this because the Sci-Fi concept intrigued me. Then I learned that one of my favorite bands was doing the OP theme for it,second time this has happened which pretty much guaranteed that I'd watch it. Cool soundtrack and a dark cyberpunk setting. I'm liking it already but it feels like it's taking its time with setup. I'm not really sure where it's going but I'll keep watching.

Robotics;Notes
Popular VN that's a semi-sequel to another popular VN gets an anime. I kinda like where it's going but I hate main guy's attitude. I'm pretty sure that some character development will take place along with cast expansion, you know the drill. Pretty fun and I like the mecha fanaticism.

Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter
I don't even know why I even picked it up in the first place but... Holy shit, it's fucking awesome. It's filled with giant robot anime cliches and isn't ashamed at what it's doing. Pure fun and a really good palette cleanser. Transformable sports car mecha with card games.



I wasn't planning to take this long to post this but that's what happened. Oh well, maybe I'll do better next time. Can't cure the lazy, you know. On a side note, I kinda like this time of year.

The rest of Summer anime

By now, I'm pretty sure everybody has moved on from these shows already but I'm still going to give my thoughts on them anyway. I've already locked myself into this so I guess it can't be helped. This post will contain the rest of the shows that I watched. This way, I won't have to post it later when even more people wouldn't care.

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate

When I first went into this show I thought, "Oh hey, another harem anime." Well, it is another one but that doesn't mean they can't be good and fun. It really surprised me how much I enjoyed this show. It's a typical high school slice of life setting but it offers much more. One thing that set it apart was the political intrigue. The bureaucracy at the school is set up in such a complicated way that it pretty much resembles a functioning government along with many conflicting views within the system. I found myself enjoying the politics shown in the show since it gave a new type of conflict for romance comedies to deal with. The comedy was really good too, much more well done than most. It had its cliche set of harem antics but it also had legitimately funny moments. Part of which was due to Yuuki's voice actor, who also played Oreki in Hyouka, and his delivery of lines that made it gold.
This is a visual novel adaptation so there were problems with pacing. The events that happened seemed like they were going to go in a certain direction but didn't. Certain issues that were brought upon were solved too quickly or completely ignored as time went on. I suspect because they had to lock Yuuki into a certain route and therefore had to ignore the rest of the harem. The route they chose ended up feeling a little underwhelming and it isn't my favorite of routes in the first place.
With that said, I really enjoyed it even though it had some flaws. It's a harem anime that's better written than most but that could be because it was a visual novel first. I guess it succeeded in its goal to make people interested in the source material, I know I am.

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!
So how do I begin with this one. Hmm, I guess its poop. Hold on, let me finish! I went in to this show knowing exactly what I was getting into. A typical harem show with its own specific type of comedy. I like watching these shows sometimes. They're like junk food, you know its bad but its so good in what it delivers. How does it stack up to other harems? Not much. It was enjoyable at times but hard to get through at some points. The twist in the end was interesting but the build up was done poorly. Well, it's done so I got my fill of entertainment.

Campione!
Another battle shounen light novel adaptation with a diverse harem and comedy antics. I don't want to be too hard on this since it didn't really do anything bad. In fact, this is a lot better than a few of the other entries in the genre that we've had in the past. The animation was good at times and the comedy was good too. It just suffered from being too much of the same, which stems from trying to be like the rest that came before. I'm not a fan of the main heroine but I do like the rest of the harem. This show also had the gimmick of transferring magic through kissing, at least that was interesting. The action is kind of unimportant to me since it's just white knight protag going in and getting things done in a few episodes, not too different from the rest. It was enjoyable at least, I know I've seen much worse in the same genre.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II
This was pretty good despite the daunting task of adapting those ridiculously thick "light" novels. A good mixture of sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, drama, romance, action, politics, war, etc. Yeah, it's really diverse in its storytelling but that's what makes it unique. That isn't to say that it's another LOGH but it's still good nonetheless. Personally, I'm not a fan of the action since it tends to drag too long and you know they're always going to win so there's never any tension involved. I did like the more slice of life and comedy segments throughout. The romance plots were also well done and had good resolutions for them. The political debate segments were pretty memorable and the soundtrack was really good just like the first season.
The common complaint, which is one that I had as well, is that it feels like a lot of the source material got cut and gives the impression that there's more to the story than what was shown. This was bound to happen, just look at those light novels. This leads to a lot of plot confusion even though the main story is pretty linear in the first place. Nobody was really expecting an exact adaptation since it would be way too long. It's still enjoyable without having to read a wiki. If you're watching season 2 then you should know this by now.
I'd say that it was really fun but I'm planning to rewatch this someday since I know I missed a few things in my first viewing. I'm slowly starting to understand what's going on in the story but it's not like I could explain it to you.

Eureka Seven AO
It's rare to see such a split opinion on a show like this. Even if people agree on one thing they'll completely disagree on another. The writing involved for me to thoroughly state my arguments and points would take forever. I'll just say this⎯ I liked it, much more than the first series. So good. I know that there's still two episodes left but I'll just leave it at that.

Kokoro Connect
 Again, this has four episodes left but we won't see them until next year.
An enjoyable series that explores several interesting subjects and situations through melodrama. Yes, the entirety of the show is filled with melodrama. It isn't bad thing if you like this type of storytelling and I think it was done pretty well. I will say that it could've been better if it wasn't the main part of the story. The characters suited the show but they felt kind of uninteresting when compared to characters of other stories. The slice of life aspect attributes to this, which forces the characters to represent normal people. This is why I see it as an experimental story that explores how normal everyday people can react to these weird events. If you combine this with a different story then it becomes something completely different.
I did like this and it had some really good comedic moments. Worth a watch but it doesn't feel like it's anything bigger than that.

Gundam AGE

I guess that about covers everything. Next up is Fall season so be sure to expect a post on that.

Accel World and Tari Tari

Even though there's so much to write about, I'm still too lazy to write or do anything at all. FUCK

Accel World

I have mixed feelings about this show. It immediately hooked me right from episode 1, establishing the futuristic setting, technology, and the characters. I knew that this was going to be fun, and it was. The main character didn't annoy me at all, unlike a lot of people. The story had very cliche elements but handled them in a good way, except for certain parts that I'll get into later. What I also found interesting is that the female characters where portrayed as being much stronger and smarter than everybody else yet still retaining their feminine qualities. The animation was also really good for some of the more pivotal fight scenes. I also liked the soundtrack a lot. A fusion of cool techno with synths or, my personal favorite, generically awesome guitar riffs. There were other styles in there too but it was still good. The mecha designs should be mentioned as well since they were pretty cool looking, especially Black Lotus.

One thing I really have to mention is the second half of the series. While the first half was great and exciting every step of the way, the second half took a huge downward plunge. The plot followed a single arc while before, it was going at a good pace knocking down multiple arcs. It focused too much on a single antagonist, who wasn't all that interesting to begin with. It followed a lot of the typical shonen writing and had very uninteresting plot development. There was a mini filler arc smashed in between too. I was one of the people that liked it but, at the time, I wanted it to be over quickly so we can get back to the main story. Of course, the main plot ended up being more of the current arc with no end in sight. It made me appreciate the filler all the more. The way everything ended was a bit shoddy too. There was some major development for three of the main characters but the way things happened made me feel like it was pointless, even though it wasn't, based solely on how it happened.

Infinite amounts of jelly.

I'm not sure if I'd like it the same way on a rewatch but I at least know that the first half is worth it. There were many sci-fi aspects that really appealed to me in this. The overall tone and plot had a somewhat mainstream feel to it but at least I, technically, enjoyed most of it. I hope that they adapt the rest of the novels.

Tari Tari
Another of the, somehow, many anime original productions that PA Works has done. A slice of life, high school, coming of age story with music as the main theme. As always, I really enjoyed the production values put into PA Works shows. Not necessarily the animation but just the overall look of everything. There were a lot of problems with this show, though. Being an original production, the story is completely made up as they go along. This always invites some of the same problems that plague such works. An example would be the characters and how they become friends without much development to do so in the first place. I remember watching one of the later episodes one day and thinking, "Wait, since when were you guys good friends?" I take it as a negative sign but I could also be the one at fault since I consume a lot of anime so who knows? The characters felt somewhat flat as well. That could be attributed to its short length and not enough time to flesh them out, even though they did get ample amount of development. There were little arcs that focused on each character, which at the end of those arcs had them overcome their dilemma. I'd say it was how rushed everything was, which made it seem cheap to me. The choir bits and various other songs were also kinda cheesy but that's just me.
This show was obviously made in order to sell. Sell what you ask? Anything and everything from merchandise to Blu Ray/DVDs. I wouldn't really rewatch this since it's done in my mind. I did enjoy it but it wasn't anything special to begin with, that's not to say that it's bad either. Giving it a watch isn't a bad thing at all. There were a lot of comparisons to Hanasaku Iroha since it was the same studio, character designer, and they're both anime original. I'd say that Hanasaku Iroha was my favorite between the two since I liked it more despite Tari Tari having a plot that was better put together. There are a lot of variables in place when it comes to storytelling and enjoyment.

By the time this is posted, more shows that I was following would already be finished. My opinions on those will come in the next post. I also left out Gundam AGE since I couldn't finish it in time. It became a bit mediocre but I'll get to my opinions on that later.

Moyashimon Returns, Hyouka, and Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

With Summer finally ending, anime series are bound to follow. This post is going to start off the wave of opinions that you'll see in the coming weeks. So let's dig in.

Moyashimon Returns

This was a great series and a good sequel to season 1. The story starts right where the last season left off. Making alcohol for the sake of science and agriculture university antics. Each episode flowed nicely into the next, which made it feel like the entire season was one big arc.

A complaint I had in the beginning was that the character designs were changed from the original. I'm not really sure what happened here since it apparently has the same studio and director behind it. Different staff? It's not like the character designs got any better, so why change it? I also noticed how they spent way too much time in France. This was definitely where the main conflict was but it kinda felt like it dragged too long. It could also be that most of the cast wasn't even in France. At least we got introduced to a new character, the hot blond pictured above. Next to the trap.

I should also address the sour reception that this season had. I liked it. If you're looking for science, go read a textbook. I will admit, there wasn't as much microbe and fermentation science involved within the season. But it was to make room for the character development and the events that were established in season 1.

Uwahh~

Hyouka

Easily a favorite from the season. I was a fan of it from the start. Slice of life adventures of mundane mysteries and a cast of characters that the fandom will forever keep shipping. I'm definitely going to give this a rewatch this since it's really that good. In fact, I rewatched a few of the early episodes already.

However, I do have some complaints. I'll start with a shallow one, I really can't stand Satoshi. I don't think it's the character itself, it's the character in combination with the voice actor. I know that the voice actor has done better roles with different voices but I hate it when he falls into this type cast. So annoying. Then there's Oreki's voice actor who, quite frankly, could've been replaced with someone else who specializes in that category. I know his voice actor can act really well but this role really isn't meant for him. I know some people will argue against me since they're SO used to these voices that they couldn't imagine anything different. Keep in mind that I really like this show. Holy shit.

The best part of the series was definitely the culture festival arc. Because of this, the rest of the episodes felt semi-inferior in comparison. The final episode had an okay resolution but I kinda feel like the imagined Oreki confession wasn't needed and actually made it worse. I won't go into detail but you can look up interpretations of the final scene elsewhere. It already makes sense to me. I can keep going on about this show but we would have to speak personally for this to happen. Overall, if you like slice of life as well as KyoAni then you'll like this. Amazing and worth a rewatch

Maybe this will convince people to watch it.

 Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

I'm very glad that I picked this up on a whim. It was really good, might even be another favorite of the season. They really captured the style of the manga perfectly by using similar techniques in the art/animation. The comedy was good with a dash of dark and the pacing was well done in a different way. Of course, there were times when I wasn't really excited to watch it but that quickly goes away once I start watching it.

My favorite arcs would have to be the manga arc and the school arc. These are the two that stick out in my mind when looking back at the series. The show is very quirky and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes overlooked as time goes on. I'm pretty sure fans of ABe would enjoy this one. The best way to know if you like it is by watching it. I should also mention that the opening was performed by nano.RIPE and the ending by Itou Masumi. Two of my favorite performers in anime music that I enjoy. A rewatch is definitely happening and I really hope we get a second season.

:D

Note: Yes, I know about some people closing their blogs and it's really sad to see. It's all about comments, if you really enjoyed this then you wouldn't close it. I hope they don't close forever. I know I don't comment much so sorry.

Gundam and puzzle games

This post is here later than usual, as it always is, but I'm here writing it anyway. It's not like a lot of people read my blog. baka

I don't care what anyone says, Yamada clones are the best.

I decided to pick up Gundam AGE, now that it's ending soon and that new PSP game based on it looks cool. Mostly for the video game. I don't care how shitty the game is, I just want to play it. I've only completed Flit's Frito arc and it's been pretty enjoyable, so far. People complaining just don't know how to have fun. It's doing a few things differently, the most notable difference being the 3 generation story arcs in one series. Common problems are inevitable, like pacing and shallow characters. The show itself feels like it's trying to play it safe in the worst way possible. It tries to appeal to the older fans and at the same time gain new fans but it feels like its true potential isn't realized. It does feel a bit lighter and the characters don't feel very fleshed out, only the minimum for plot progression. It also feels like it's for younger audiences, but this was intentional from the beginning. I also have to note a specific plot point that I'm pretty sure everybody knows already. *spoiler* Yurin dies. Didn't like that, even though the characters weren't strong to begin with.*spoiler* These are only my thoughts so far. I still have the rest to watch but I am looking forward to finishing it.

I've been playing a lot of video games recently. It's happening again ;_; Mostly,  SNES/SFC games. During this time period, I blindly pick games at random and start playing. Through this process, I found an interesting game. Super Soukoban, a puzzle game about pushing crates. hmm.... It's really, entertaining? I'm not sure, because I never felt a sense of satisfaction when clearing a puzzle. You're always sent to the next screen after clearing a puzzle, which is an even more convoluted mess than the last. Of course, it's not a bad game. Here's a challenge for all readers. Actually TRY OUT this game and tell me what YOU think.

It's still Summer. I hate it, but at least it isn't as bad as previous ones. I got quite a bit done during this time and it also felt like time flew by quickly. I still hate it, though.

More video games

This post is for more video games that I've been playing. The two that I'm going to be mentioning are ones that I played at around the same time. It kinda sucked because they're both really good and engrossing games.

The first one I'll mention is Digimon World Re:Digitize on the PSP. I was looking forward to this game for a while since I knew it was going to be like Digimon World for the PS1. Playing through Re:Digitize was awesome. It really felt like a modern update to the original game. Getting Numemon because you messed up was no longer the case. Now, Greymon is the new Numemon. Dammit. Training your Digimon is also more streamlined, which is something the series really needed. The PS1 game was extremely brutal because it expected you to raise them perfectly without mistakes while knowing where everything is in order to complete the game. Re:Digitize is much better paced and gives you the opportunity to do whatever you want. The combat is still the same as Digimon World. You can't control them like you would in a regular RPG but that's just a staple of the series and gets the job done.

I love the official artwork

One thing that did discourage me is the grinding. Now, grinding in this game isn't fighting battles, it's actually training your digimon. If you've played the PS1 game, you'd know that digimon need to be trained and taken cared of just like a virtual pet. The games are pretty much virtual pet simulators with heavy RPG elements in the mix. This also means that they don't last forever because they die after a certain time period. You need to keep raising different digimon, which have better stats if you chose reincarnation, in order to progress through the game. By the time I got to my fifth digimon, I was already feeling kinda tired of doing the same thing over again.

I stopped playing the game after this. I was using my awesome Angewomon that wrecked pretty much everything and it was great to finally have my first super powerful digimon. When her time was up, I just couldn't go on anymore since raising them takes way too long so I just stopped. I'll come back to it, though. I still need to finish the story and it's interesting enough to get me to come back. It's completely in Japanese but it has furigana so it pretty much means that I can understand all if not most of it.

I finally decided to play Fallout New Vegas, or as I like to put it, the real Fallout 3. Without getting too much into it, Fallout 3 was pretty good but a lot of things just didn't fit in right with the series, which is where New Vegas comes in. I started up the game, and to no surprise, I saw that this game was in serious need of mods. I was prepared for this but it took me a while just to get them all working right. Once I had a good looking female character wearing the GANTZ suit with the big ass GANTZ katana and a custom radio playing the Wangan Midnight Soundtrack, I was ready to have a good time. Playing the game this way for the first time was an amazing experience. Just like my ultimate Cyberpunk Fantasy!

The game itself was good. The dialogue was gold and exploring the desert was cool. Though, I personally don't like the dirty post-apocalyptic aesthetic. Sci-fi guy here. The gameplay is still kinda clunky but I didn't get a chance to mod that. To be honest, I don't think I can ever play this game vanilla. It just doesn't seem like my cup of tea. It's a pretty good game but I won't really enjoy it unless I play it the way I want to. Going through that desert at night, listening to the techno tunes of Wangan Midnight and using my game-breaking weapons. This is the way I liked to play it. I stopped playing this game too. I got to a certain quest and found out that I could've done something beforehand. I didn't have a save to go back to and that pretty much made me not want to play it. I'll get back to this too, I think.

That's it for now, so what are you guys playing?

Some video games I played

I haven't been talking about what video games I've been playing lately, so this post is going to be dedicated to that. I planned to add another poll but it won't let me for some reason.

Let's start at the very beginning. I was playing Dark Souls quite a bit and I was really liking it. But then I got stuck at a certain part of the game. I don't know the names of the locations but it was the area where you had to fight two bosses at once. You might be thinking, "Oh, that shouldn't be a problem." But it IS. I tried a few more times, grinded, and even got new armor but nothing helped. Normally I would keep trying but I just stopped playing. I was stuck in that area and you can't go back to the hub until you beat the boss. Yes, literally stuck there. The game became unappealing at that point. I'll go back to it someday, I think.

Now, at some point I decided to go back and give Fate/Extra another try since the game was severely lackluster when I first played it. Well, it was still kinda poop. The gameplay is the main problem here. Sure, they tried to make it different but it's just really sluggish and boring. It doesn't have that "fun" factor that other RPGs are supposed to have with its gameplay. I guess this is why they bundled it with a figma. The dungeons are kinda bland and the school, the main hub area, feels hollow and boring. But for some reason I kept playing. I don't know why. Maybe it was the mediocre story or the quirky interactions with a more rude SEIBAH. Or maybe it was my video game pride saying, "I'm gonna beat this fucking game! FUCK YEAH!" I stopped playing this game around 2 weeks ago. I was pretty far into it. I'm not sure if I enjoyed playing the game or I liked the thought of me beating it. One thing is for certain, I will come back to it.

 At the same time I played Phantasy Star Online 2. I signed up during the open beta since I couldn't wait anymore. The game was awesome, it was everything you'd expect from the sequel to Phantasy Star Online. I don't play it too much since there's nothing that really compels me to play more. It's pretty much a huge grind, which is what the series is about. A fun grind, though.

True hero of GUNDAMu

 Let's move onto some recent games. I've been playing Gundam Battle Operation, a lot. It was the one that I was looking forward to and it did not disappoint. Well, there is one thing. Being a free to play online game, you can only play up to three matches. Once those matches are up, you have to wait two hours for one more chance to play. This can stack up to three. You also get rewarded free matches for doing various things like ranking up. There's also the quick method, which is to pay money to add a set amount of games. It isn't pay to win since matchmaking does a good job at pairing you up with similarly ranked players.

I mostly play as Zeon.

The game is all online multiplayer, so no local play. You start off with a junker grunt mobile suit and later on you can upgrade to better grunt mobile suits. Yup, this game is mostly grunt units and it's pretty cool. There are those super special, high level mechs such as the Dom, Gouf, and da GUNDAM. These take quite a bit of time to unlock but if you've been playing every chance you get since the beginning, then you'd probably have these mechs by now. I, personally, have not so I'm still using level 2 mechs.

I wish you could use this in the game.

Actually, I just barely unlocked the painting option. Yeah, you can paint your mechs and the pilot. Fucking awesome. Paint it red to go three times faster. Oh, and I'm doing surprisingly well when I play, sometimes I do the best out of the entire team. I'm at the stage where I do better than most people but I can't beat high level people since their mechs are much more advanced than mine so I go down in two hits. Finding out how to use custom search led me to play with high level people. Never again. As you can tell, I really like this game. Maybe some of you with PS3s can come join the fun. It's only on Japanese PSN so you need a Japanese account. The game is, of course, completely in Japanese but still very playable for those that don't know the language. The controls will take some getting used to, as do a lot of games, but you really need to learn how to control effectively if you want to become the best newtype there is. If you're curious, check out some gameplay videos on youtube.

There's a couple more games I've been playing but I'll save those for later.  Next post, probably.

So, what have you been playing?

Summer Anime 2012

Since a few weeks have passed since the start of this new season, I thought I should go over what I'm watching. A simple first look at things, not an in-depth review. Before we start, there's also a poll I've set up. I'll be adding new ones every now and then.

Campione!

When I saw the promotional art, I knew that it wasn't going to be anything special. Yes, I do have an extra sense that tells what's going to be good just by looking at the cover. Only works with anime, though. The first episode was kinda poop but it all changed at episode 2. It suddenly became lots of fun to watch because of the generic anime plot elements. In fact, it was so generic that it kind of felt like parody. Still, not recommended but I'm having fun with it.

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

I picked this up completely on a whim and I didn't really know what to expect. What I got was a cute, cynical comedy that has a unique style. The comedy style seems to be a bit different than most. I don't really know how to describe it. It is a bit cynical but but not entirely. Also, the unique art style is very appealing to me.

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate

A harem series that I picked up because I knew it would be entertaining. Of course, that's what ended up happening. Not really sure what to say since it's just another harem with a different setting. It also features chocolate and politics, as the name implies.

Kokoro Connect

I was looking forward to this one for a while. A slice of life series that deals with body swapping. Very funny at times and the antics that ensue are also fun. I'm really enjoying this one. I'm pretty sure you'll notice that the character designs look like modern KyoAni. That's because the character designer of K-ON did the art for the original light novel. I was disappointed that KyoAni didn't animate this, though. It would've made sense but I guess it didn't happen. Silver Link is doing it instead and they're doing a pretty decent job at it. The animation itself still has a sort of "cheapness" to it, since the studio isn't really known for their spectacular animation.

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!

A generic harem series that was obviously made to sell. If you didn't know this already, then you are a fool. Despite how generic it is, I'm still enjoying this. The story has no substance whatsoever but it's still good fun to watch.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II

A direct continuation of the first series. I have no idea what's going on but I like it. Yes, that's Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon. It doesn't look like they changed much from production, though correct me if I'm wrong. It's still as fun as always. My only problem is that I didn't rewatch the first season so I'm still confused as to what's going on. But I'm slowly remembering what happened as time goes on.

Moyashimon Returns

The microbes are back with all new adventures..... is what I would say if that's what this series was about. It's just more slice of life adventures in an agriculture college that involves a main character that can see microbes. Still just as good as the first series, though they changed the character designs for some reason. It was a really weird change and I really would like to know why this happened. It doesn't matter too much since I'm really liking this series.

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

Adding to what I said from my AX post. I was able to watch the first two episodes again, as well as episode three, by myself and I actually enjoyed it more. I guess I hate watching things with other people. It still isn't very good, though. The opening song is just bad. I have no idea what they were thinking with this. The show still suffers from atrocious direction. The animation looks cheap a lot of the time. I know that using CG for the mechs saved the studio a lot of money but it's just terrible anytime you use it. The fight scenes lost a lot of life because of this and, in the end, felt very stale. I'm still enjoying it since the characters are entertaining and the voice acting is pretty good. Ono Daisuke and Tomokazu Sugita are back again! The end is predictable but Muv-Luv is all about the ride there.
EDIT: It seems that the director was replaced with someone else in the middle of production and the whole studio is a mess. The cause seems to be a work overload and not enough resources to finish it all. It really baffles me how this could've happened in the first place. I really hope that the studio can recover from all this.

Sword Art Online
Another series that I was really looking forward to. Every episode seems to deliver and I look forward to watching it every week. The concept itself is interesting, you're stuck in a video game and you can't get out until you beat the game. It kind of has the survival aspect that I enjoy. Can't really say much else since the story feels like it hasn't opened up yet.

Tari Tari
A nice slice of life show by P. A. Works. The gimmick of this one is music, more specifically, the choir club. It's nice and I really like it so far. It does suffer from a lot of generic events and I can kinda predict how this will end but I still enjoy it.

So those are all of the new series I'm watching this season. In addition, I'm still watching the series that are still going on from last season.

So what are you guys watching?

Anime Expo 2012

I just got back from Anime Expo, well I didn't just get back but I did go. I won't be sharing a lot of cosplay pictures but I will post some in order to pad out this post.

I got a 4-day pass but only attended the first three since the last day never has anything interesting and I was pretty exhausted at that point. There was a big turnout this year. Usually the first day is kinda slow but there was still a lot of people. I went there early since there was a certain event I wanted to go to.

Yep. I just HAD to go since it's Muv-Luv.

I guess you could say I'm a fan.

I was waiting in line right when the line first formed, which was when the panel before it first started. It was well worth it since I got to sit in the front row.

In front of the swag master himself.

Ayami(right) was pretty adorable during this.

The panel was just an introduction to Muv-Luv and some thoughts on the upcoming anime. Nothing of much worth except certain anecdotes of production.

I did, however, make Yoshimune Kouki laugh during the panel. Since a lot of people were being stupid and yelling stuff out at random times. Just like any panel. It all began when ayami was introducing herself to the audience in english. She was doing pretty well until the end when she finally got nervous and stopped. I, acting like the silly person I am, yelled out "大丈夫！" and Kouki said under his breath, laughing, "へへー、大丈夫。" Made my fucking day. Yes, it really did happen.

Immediately after that was the wait for the Fate/Zero finale screening/Q&A. I knew that I had to get in line right away since Type-Moon has some very dedicated fans. Sure enough, the line was already getting long. I wasn't at a bad spot since the line got extremely crowded at the end. My seat wasn't too bad considering the place was packed. No cameras were allowed but I did see a lot of people taking pictures. I didn't want to risk it. The panel started with Koyama Rikiya, Aoki Ei, Kondo Hikaru, LiSA, and Kajiura Yuki coming on stage along with some really good Fate/Zero cosplayers behind them. I really wish I got a picture of this. They introduced themselves and then left so we could see the finale. Watching the final two episodes back to back on the big screen with thundering speakers was a really great experience. Obviously better than watching it at home. After that there was a Q&A with Aoki Ei, Kondo Hikaru, and Koyama Rikiya. A few interesting questions, such as the coincidental air dates, which turned out to just be coincidences according to both director and producer. Of course, it wouldn't be a ufotable panel without mention of a Heaven's Feel adaptaion. The answer was the usual, "there are no plans." Koyama was ignored until they finally asked him a question at the end. He should've been asked more since he can really draw a crowd.

After the panel was the usual hanging around along with all the cosplayers. Eating lunch and then hang around some more. There wasn't anything else that interested me that day.

Well, there was this interesting situation.

Which, apparently, drew a huge crowd. Don't worry, it's just Spider-man and panda chillin out.

Posting this for skype friend since they wanted to see it.

Day 2 came and straight to the exhibit hall it is. I browsed through most of the booths and bought stuff at some. Some places were cheaper than others but that's to be expected. All of this was to waste time before we lined up for another panel.

Yep, a continuation of the Q&A from the day before. I lined up pretty early so I got to sit in the second row.

Please excuse my shitty camera.

More questions, which consisted of not just Fate/Zero but their other works as well. There was also mention of Heaven's Feel...., again. This time they asked, "If you were to adapt Heaven's Feel..." Apparently they got tired of hearing this so Kondo decided to play dumb and say "What's that?" The guy asking the question went along with this and proceeded to describe Fate/Stay Night. Kondo then ended with, "This work sounds very interesting. If you know where to buy this, I'll certainly try it out."

Their faces when asked difficult questions. Every question was difficult.

There was a raffle at the end, which let you be first in line to get their autograph. They chose around 30 people as winners....., and I was one of them.

I really don't know how to feel. I really wasn't expecting this but I guess it's cool.

After that, it was just more wandering around the exhibit hall and hanging out with the cosplayers. I pretty much did all I wanted to do that day and everything else didn't really interest me.

I didn't catch too many Touhou cosplay but from what I saw, they weren't that great.

Day 3 started off with a lot to do. I wasn't planning to do much but I decided to go to the Production IG panel on a whim. I had no idea that they were going to give out free stuff. The speaker was pretty generous with giving people free stuff and it got kinda chaotic at times. She would ask a trivia question and if you got it right you would get some autographed merchandise and if you got it wrong you still get autographed merchandise. There was a guy who answered wrong and decided to leave right away so the speaker stopped him and asked, "Are you leaving? Why are you leaving?" "Because I didn't win anything..." "Oh, okay. If I give you something will you stay?" Of course, he got something. The panel itself was just a showcase of current and upcoming Production IG titles. Oh, and Satou Tatsuo was sitting with the audience in the front for some reason. Yup, lots of fun.

After that was the Madhouse panel. I didn't take any pictures for some reason even though it was allowed. It was a Q&A with Asaka Morio, Hamada Kunihiko, and Tsunoki Takuya. They were asked a bunch of questions about Chihayafuru and Cardcaptor Sakura. They did ask about Kaiji season 3 but they only said that they would love to work on it but didn't know if there were any plans. There was also mention of Chihayafuru season 2 but they said they had no idea if they were going to be involved in it or if it was going to a different studio. This news made everybody kinda sad.

After that I saw some anime being played at some of the video rooms as well as buying more things at the exhibit hall. Again, I was wasting time before I lined up for the premiere of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse.

 I got there two hours early and there was already people waiting around for the line to start. The panel before it was a stupid naruto panel and the line was enormous. It took a while for them to leave so we could start lining up. This came back to haunt us since the premiere was delayed by more than an hour. We were all getting anxious and the line kept getting bigger. It didn't take long for "FUCK NARUTO!" to start getting thrown around. I was the second person to say that. I then suggested we start a chant. Nobody knew what to say so I belted out "MUV LUV MUV LUV....." The people around me followed and the hall got quiet for a second. I stopped since I got tired and I guess everybody followed.

We were finally seated and I got second row in front of the screen. No cameras were allowed. The premiere fan line, which is pretty much the 'let me cut in line because I payed more' line, was pretty big so a lot of the good seats were taken but I still had a good view. Also, before the presentation started. I managed to wave my hand at Yoshimune Kouki since nobody else knew it was him. He waved back even though he was probably busy walking back and forth. I was surprised to hear that Kuribayashi Minami and ayami were going to perform live for us. I sat in front of the screen, which meant I was little away from the stage but I still got an okay view. After they performed, the anime started.

They played the first two episodes back to back and it was all anime original. It gave me some insight on how people were trained and the world before the BETA came to attack. It was nice to see everything animated but there was a lot of misplaced directorial decisions. Some stuff came off as really cheesy and there was also some minor things that only a fan could catch. I would say that the first two episodes were okay. It tried too hard to please both fans and newcomers but kind of fell flat on its face at times. It wanted a Muv Luv Extra/Unlimited feel to start off with and slam you with Alternative type twists. But it doesn't really work that way. It was okay and I appreciated it for insight it gave to the universe it takes place in. We'll have to see how the rest of the series turns out. The end was followed with an encore by Kuribayashi Minami.

AX was fun though it wasn't the best. A lot of stuff happened and I met a lot of people. It's the only time of year you could walk up to a random person and start talking about anime. I'm kind of sad that it's all over but good things aren't meant to last. I hope you guys enjoyed this stupid long post.

I'm writing a title here because it needs one

I'm so lazy, I don't even know why I'm doing this. Hot weather always makes me feel this way. I just want to lay down all day whenever it gets like this. Hmm... I think I've said this before but Summer really does make me very lazy. But enough of that, let's move on to something else.

Is this a touhou?

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead finished and I'm not happy about that. Yes, it was damn good and funny. Probably funnier than season 1 though that might be arguable. What I do know is that it was a blast to watch and every episode delivered. The season was only ten episodes so it could mean that extra work was put into each episode but who knows for sure. You might have noticed that I've been vague with my thoughts. Well, that's because talking about specific events would take too long. Also, it'd ruin the experience if you haven't watched it. Definitely worth a good rewatch. Go watch it immediately after watching the first season. If you haven't done that, what are you waiting for go watch it!

Oh alright, here's one more gif

This season has been amazing so far. I think I'm looking forward to almost every show that I picked up. There's also a few shows that I want to watch but haven't because of the sheer amount of stuff I picked up. If you say that you don't like most shows this season then that only means you hate anime.

A really big event happened last week that was about "video games". I won't get into this too much since a lot has already been said so I'll quickly go over this. Overall, underwhelming. It's not like I was expecting much but it's like they forgot that this was supposed to be about video games. Wii U looks cool and I might get one at launch if the games available are worth it. Uhh... I guess that's it.

*cough* How was your week?