Bakemonogatari-Ghost Story with some romance mixed in

Title: Bakemonogatari/ "Ghost Story"
Produced by: Aniplex, Kodansha, and SHAFT
Animated by: SHAFT
Original Creator: NisiOsin
Runtime: Just finished airing on tv in Japan. Available to watch online.

I came across "Bakemonogatari/Ghost Story" a month or so ago and put a sticky note in my mind to come back and review it when I got the chance. Then I forgot about it. But I went online and seen it up in the ongoing series section and remembered my sticky note and proceeded to watch all 12 episodes in the space of 3-4 days! I love love love this series!!! Ever since watching "Mononoke" over a year ago I became a huge fan of supernatural/ horror anime so I was pleaseantly surprised with "Bakemonogatari".

Taking leave from my absolute gush-fest of this anime the synopsis of this anime is as follows. A boy named Koyomi Araragi is almost back to normal after being bit by a vampire over spring break. Araragi having a close call with an "oddity" himself is very sensitive when it comes to matters of the supernatural. Because of his empathy he comes across several girls who are all victims of demons, ghosts, and a slew of other craziness. And like all other harem anime the girls tend to stick around afterwards and flirt with the main character.

The first thing that caught my eye in the first episode was the way it animates. The way it moves is so smooth! Every step they take even every word they speak is well animated! The backgrounds in every episode are all very dynamic! The anime also has alot of word play in it and that contributes to the cool factor of the show.

My one gripe with the series is that it obviously relies on fanservice a bit too much. Even though I am unfamiliar with the original light series novel so I don't know if it had alot of fanservice but the anime seems to be bogged down by it. It isn't as gratutious as say..."Queen's Blade" but it does hold a presence. In fact in the first scene of the first episode it's there. Then by episode 3 the loli meter starts to go up and by episode 9-10 it hit's the roof! Just...loli...so much loli...

But I'm glad I stuck with it. The twelth episode kinda has a cliff hanger to it as far as the status of the two characters relationship...But I want more Bakemonogatari!! I want stories about crab spirits taking someone's weight away! I want more demons, ghosts, and kami stories!! I don't want fanservice but what can be done...

Trailer to come soon...

Bakemonogatari- 5 out of 5!! Go watch it Noooowww!!!

Crayon Shin-chan's creator dead?!?!

This is kinda a departure from my regular anime review and along the lines of being anime news; so yeah, I'm wearing my newscaster hat right now! This story first broke out 2 weeks ago when a Japanese newspaper called Mainichi Shinbun reported that the creator Yoshito Utsui was reported missing by his wife after he did not return home from hiking.

Over the weekend a body was discovered at the foot of Arafune mountain and was confirmed by authorities to be the body of Yoshito Utsui. So how did he die? Police have confirmed that the cause of the death was from a collapsed lung and other injuries sustained across his body on the day of September 11 which was most likely sustained from an accidental fall while taking pictures on the edge of a cliff.

When it comes to his manga, the editorial staff at Futabasha's "Manga Town" magazine has stated that the "future publication [of Crayon Shin-chan] is to be determined."
As of September 29, the president of TV Asahi network has stated that they plan to continue airing the animated series of "Crayon Shin-chan" after the death of it's creator.
-Anime News Network

Shin-chan has become some of a hit both in Japan and overseas. It's also interesting that when it come to translation it wasn't translated literally like many other animes. But it changed from something that addressed social concerns in Japan and became some random crass, dark comedic thing here in the states. I watched it on tv a few time on Adult Swim and it is the most crass thing I have ever watched! I'm sorry but kindergartners talking about manipulating men to their bidding... just...doesn't sound appropriate to me and I will watch alot of off the wall stuff.

Some of you out there might be shouting "hooray" from the rooftops while others maybe feeling a deep grief...Personally I am not a fan of Shin-chan so a balloon for those who don't care and pat on the back for those who do.

Vacation time is over but summer is still alive in Natsu no Arashi...

Aaawww...I can't believe summer is over... Lazing about in the park enjoying the cool summer breeze, watching anime with wittless abandon, and sleeping until noon; all that is over!....Unfortunately....
But in homage to summer, I am reviewing this cute coming-of-age anime called "Natsu no Arashi".

Title: Natsu no Arashi/ "Summer Storm"
Genre: comedy, romance, slice-of-life, supernatural
Rating: PG
Animation Studio: Shaft
Showing: The first season ended in Japan as of June 2009 and a second season is coming up very soon....in Japan. But it is playing on Crunchyroll.com

I must say that I am a little late watching this but I came across it online again and figured I'd watch and review it instead of reviewing "Soulmate" which is awesome by the way. But back on topic!

Natsu no Arashi is a cute slice of life show about a middle school boy named Yasaka Hajime and how he met this high school girl named Sayako Arashiyama or Arashi for short. Hajime visits a cafe nears his father's house and sees a girl named Arashi working as a waitress. He sees that she is older and is attracted to her boobs and butt and makes a comment about how "looking at older woman makes his butt feel funny." or something along those lines! So a big hulking guy comes in the cafe looking for Arashi and says that he will take her back to her family by force if need be. Hajime, the wannabe hero, makes a promise to protect Arashi and a friendship is born. Later, Hajime learns that he and Arashi, when they hold hands, can travel through time. Oh! And another little secret is that Arashi is a ghost!

My first impression of this is that it's cute and interesting.The people look kinda strange because everyone has this heavy line over their eyes so it kinda gives this weird Tite Kubo(Bleach) look. But as far as the anime goes. I have only watched the first four episodes and I want to find out more about the characters and story revolving around those who are ghosts.

This should definitely be watched at least once and if you start to think that it's an echhi anime. It really isn't. There is a good story intertwined with the madness/randomness. One filled with romance, tragedy, and a spin of comedy.

"Queen's Blade"-To Fanservice or not to fanservice?

Queen's Blade- Ruro no Senshi
Animation Production: Arms
Rating: R (Very suggestive themes, lots of boob/crotch shots, and innuendo...)
Premiered on tv in Japan: April 2009
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Ecchi

"Queen's Blade- Ruro no Senshi" or better known as Queen's Blade is an anime with lots and lots and lots of fanservice. So me being a girl my opinion will be vastly different from that of a guy. So..get ready! :D
The story circles around this event called "Queen's Blade", where every four years a contest is held for a new queen to be selected to rule over the land. The rules state she is only to be over the age of 12 years old and the contest is over when one person is either killed in battle or no longer has the capacity to move. Any girl/women from any country can compete and there is no limit on what weapons can be used.

So the episode starts off with a princess named Leina who tries to run away from a life of being married off to some random guy ;since she is heir to her family's kingdom thing. So she runs off and her sisters try to find her but to no avail, but Risty "the bandit of Desert Justice", yeah that's her title from the show, saves her from a demon named Melodana. Now the demon Melodana's boobs shoot out acid that dissolve only clothes and armor; not skin. I just thought I should point this out because that shows you what the show is all about. "Queen's Blade" is ecchi through and through. All the girls have super huge boobs, and there are just crotch shots, boob shots, boob-to-boob shots, everything that a guy or lesbian is into is in there.

There is fanservice everywhere. There is a mud fight in episode 3 between two girls, of course, and I think Leina's sister has a more than sisterly thing for her, and the characters arederived from every otaku's fantasy girl. You have your loli girl, a tough "I'm-out-for-myself' girl, the tragic princess, and even an elfen girl.

Because of the fanservice I did not like this at all. It just seemed extremely gratuitous and I wasn't really presented with a chance to get past the fanservice and try to appreciate the story, if there was one. "Queen's Blade" looks pretty, which must be a prerequisite to appeal to others, but there were just too many unnecessary boob/crotch shots for me to enjoy it.



I give "Queen's Blade" a 1 out 5. :(

This thing called..."Shangri-La"

Shangri-La
Animated by: Gonzo
Now playing on tv in Japan and online at crunchyroll.com

Alright! Well..what got me interested into this anime was the art which was done by Range Murata. He illustrated another of my favorite animes called Last Exile. Secondly, seeing that it was animated by Gonzo also made me want to check it out because even though they did tragedies like "Strike Witches" they also did cool stuff like "Last Exile", "Gankutsuo" and "Welcome to the N.H.K." to name a few. So I figure why not give Gonzo a second chance and watch Shangri-la. The outcome of that decision is...mixed.

Shangri-la is a story about a young woman named Kuniko Hojo who is fighting to survive in a world where carbon credits are traded between different countries and where the dredges of society are numerous and the privileged are the few. The poor reside on a land that for the most part is flooded and the city suffers from periodic missile showers from the city above called Atlas. Atlas is where the rich and privileged live and there are lotteries for the poor to participate in with the hope that they can live in the "Golden City" Atlas. Of course, the government that governs Atlas wants to only a few in but keep everyone else out; thus our heroine Kuniko fights to change that! Or something...

When it comes to how the show looks, it's pretty. The backgrounds are lush and the animation is smooth if albeit a little too simplistic at times. In one episode the quality of the animation decreased signficantly and I had to remind myself that I was still watching Shangri-la and not something else.
The music also leaves something to be desired also. The opening song is okay and the animation is fantastic but it hardly lives up to the ending song which I personally love! However the music in the anime itself is yawnfest and I was slightly upset about that...

Another thing that kinda disappointed me was the pacing of the show. But in hindsight that shouldn't be too much of a surprise because Last Exile suffered from the same thing. The show starts off strong at first but by episode 3 I found my attention wanning and caught myself asking, " Why am I watching this again?". I think the episode was just illustrating what life was like for the disadvantaged living in Duomo and I was just..bored. The main character was depicted as kinda flighty about what role she wanted to take and whatever obstacles they attempted to throw her way was just cliche. Seriously!! An old woman whose son was almost killed,until Kuniko rescued him, blames her becuase she's the reason(indirectly) that the town was placed in danger. Hhhrrmmm...>>

The premise of the series is interesting in that it is set against the backdrop of a world where the sea levels have risen and the forest and jungles have exploded in growth because of high levels of carbon dioxide.In order to keep carbon level low the world trades with Carbon credits to disuade people from emitting high levels carbon dioxide in the air and as a result there are some winners and losers. But the execution is lacking and I'm stuck wondering if the story will pick up or will it just die into oblivion like Studio Gonzo is doing reportedly.
Shangri-La gets an uninspired 2 out 5...



Don't like my review? Well please do head on over to J1studios.com and go to the forum to discuss why you disagree/agree. :)

Otakon 2009-Oh! So much fun!! XD

Pics from Otakon are posted above this post.:)
Btw..video is of a guy trying to do the dance from the Kannagi opening. Look all the way toward the right..

Alright, this weekend I experienced one of the biggest and greatest cons on the east coast called Otakon 2009. This year was it's sixteenth year, my first, and it was epic in size and in scope. The con lasted for three days (Fri-Sun) and they had more than enough scheduled for each day encompassing 12-14 hours on Friday and Saturday. Sunday is a shorter day because it's last day of the con, so they try to wrap things up by mid-afternoon.

When it comes to the convention's highlights, for me, was the premier of the dub version of Evangelion 1.0. The hall where it was being played was packed with people. Many who have seen the movie and many more who have not seen the movie but loved the series. The experience was awesome, aside from the projector cutting off every so often; but the moans and groans coming from the audience as the picture goes off was great.

Another highlight that was great for me was the quality of the cosplayers. The ratio of good to bad cosplayers was higher than other smaller cons i have attended in the past and i was pleasantly surprised! The wigs were great, no foamy/bad color/nappy wigs at all. The most popular series being cosplayed were Final Fantasy, Naruto, Gurren Laggan, and Hatsune Miku.The one weird thing about it was that there were alot of crossplayer or guys who dressed like female characters and girls who dressed like males characters. I came across one guy that was dressed as Ashley from a resident evil game and there were a couple girls dressed in bikinis supposed to be Naruto or Sasuke or Kakashi. Craziness!!

Now it's time to talk about the bad... Firstly, if you have an issue with being around alot of people...then you will have a difficult time here. Especially on the first 2 days. There are about an estimated 33,000 people that attended this year. So if you do not like wading through people to get to the anime showing then you might want to go to a smaller con. Secondly, standing in line for registration for three and a half hours!! It was a totally different experience for me and if it were not for people selling water and a person giving me water, I would've died 3x over...no lie. Standing outside in the sun with a t-shirt over a tank top is not fun in 90 degree humid weather. And that was about it.

When it comes down to it Otakon was awesome this year. Headlining acts for concerts were Kanon Wakeshima, Becca, and Mell. I attended Kanon's concert and it was sssooo great. I just wished that it was longer cuz as soon as she came on the concert was over :(...So sad....

The con also served as a way to help people who wanted to work in the anime industry to find a way to that. They had panels on topics ranging from translation to career planning for artist/geeks. It was great and I felt like I learned something while having fun!

Anime Conventions are a great way to meet new people, learn about new mangas/animes that are coming out, and learn about the anime/manga industry as a whole. So even if your a fan or if you want a career in this industry oorrr if you want to spend the entire weekend playing video games and watching anime than you definitely have to plan a trip to your local anime convention. It'll be the best experience you'll ever have.