Cool and Spicy » Anime

January Loots

anonymous_object — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:26:36 +0000

Didn’t plan on spending much in January but still managed to acquire a few items ^^; Just a quick rundown on the various items I procured.

First up is the disc media. Rightstuf happened to run a sale on Ouran late last month so I picked it up. Then a few weeks later, they had another sale on Funimation items. Yeah, I know Funimation doesn’t have the best reputation but I really enjoyed Ouran so figured it would be worth it. Also, grabbed Spice and Wolf since my interest in the series has been renewed recently (more on that in a bit). A few Kodocha volumes I needed to complete my collection went along with the order.

Aside from the anime DVDs, also grabbed Valkyria Chronicles for PS3. I’ve been wanting to play this game since its release and since I spotted it for a mere $20, I went for it. Not one for JRPGs these days, but I’m liking it so far. Combat system is a bit quirky at points but it’s fun ^^. Mass Effect 2 is taking game-time priority though ^^;

Hoihoi-san is next! Yeah, I know this is an old release (Fall 2009) but the store I ordered her from was not too reliable and they just this month shipped her out to me… Probably won’t be ordering there again. If you’ve never heard of Hoihoi-san, she’s a small robot that is made to exterminate bugs and also to be irresistibly cute xD. Check out the OVA if you want to see more. Here, she is a pre-painted model kit so assembly is required but it doesn’t look too hard. I have not had a chance to put her together yet. Her miniature rival, Combat-san is also getting the model kit treatment soon! :D

Moving on, I’ve got a few treats for my doll daughters. The Christmas dress is actually the red version of the one Kagami wore for Christmas. Hobby Search sent the wrong color by mistake and so they sent out an additional one at no charge. First time I’ve had a problem with a Hobby Search order and they took care of it nicely. That means I’ve got two of the outfits for next Christmas ^^.

Also from Hobby Search, I ordered an additional Obitsu Body stand and a pair of 1/6 scale high-heeled strap shoes. The stand is same type as I used for posing Yui earlier, just clear instead of blue. It worked really well so I bought another one. The shoes are actually in anticipation for a new outfit I have ordered for the dolls. Will have photos of that when it arrives ^^.

Books! And they’re not manga either ^^; Decided to give light novels a try (also from a recent Rightstuf sale). Yes, they are English translated. This is why my Japanese skills never progress ;_; I should have gotten them in original Japanese but reading each probably would have taken me a month… So, I took the lazy route and got the English published versions by Yenpress.

Each book has a few illustrations. Make no mistake though, the book is 98% text ^^;

Spice and Wolf light novel volume one was released just last month and caused quite a stir when Yenpress announced their “updated” cover art. Not many fans liked the new cover and after lots of complaining Yenpress decided to provide the original cover to customers who order from certain online retailers. Rightstuf was one such retailer that offered the original cover slip so I got it ^^. ‘Tis a good thing since I didn’t much like the other cover. Anyway, the novel itself… wasn’t really a big Spicy Wolf fan but since reading thing book, I have renewed interest in the series. In fact, I really liked the novel! Seeing the much more fleshed out relationship between Holo and Lawrence kept my interest and left me wanting more. I love their subtle, yet playful jabs at each other as their relationship developed. Also, while the anime glossed over a lot of things, the novel takes its time to explain the economics in thorough detail. It’s an all around good read.

Yuki ... ... ... xD

No need to introduce the next two books. Haruhi novels volumes 1 and 2. Still never finished the anime, lost interest halfway through. The books, however, I can safely say kept my interest ^^. Already read volume 1 and nearly finished with volume 2. Kyon didn’t strike me as very clever in the anime, but I really like his character in the novels. Haruhi, on the other hand, seems a bit more annoying here than in the anime. Kyon is really the main character of these books though, not Haruhi.

Both Spice and Wolf and the Haruhi books were great. Definitely has kindled an interest in light novels for me. Would recommend both if you like reading ^^.

Speaking of kindling… here is my final item in January!

Recently became an owner of the Amazon Kindle e-reader ^^. Was not a personal purchase however; a gift instead. Still, I’ve always liked reading and getting my hands on a new piece of tech is always fun. Most people have probably heard of the Kindle. It is Amazon’s attempt to head off the inevitable drop in physical book sales and get a head start in the growing e-book market. Prior to receiving this gift, I had little interest in e-books. I always thought that a physical book would be more convenient and comfortable to read and to a certain degree, I still think this way. Still, having had the Kindle for a few weeks, I have to admit I’m enjoying it more than I expected.

When you put the Kindle in stand-by, it displays a random greeting image.

The device is really thin and light which gives it a great deal of portability. Also, the battery life is outstanding. I was able to read nearly two full books before having to recharge it. That’s about 2 weeks time. It has built-in (and free) 3G connectivity which allows you download books instantly and even browse the web if you like (the browser is pretty bad though). Most importantly, though, is the screen. The Kindle uses e-ink technology which gives displayed text a very natural, paper-like appearance on the device. I don’t know about you, but when I stare at an LCD screen, even nice ones, I can tell it’s a screen and reading for hours on end will result in some eye-strain. The e-ink tech in the Kindle pretty much dismisses the eye-strain problem. It’s very easy to look at and read. The downside is that the screen is slow to refresh and is only black and white. Still, that’s completely acceptable for normal book reading so I’m not bothered by it. As for the books, I don’t like the DRM’ed mess that currently exists but since many classic, public domains books are available for free on Amazon, I can’t fault them much there. Currently reading War of the Worlds and have a dozen more on the device waiting to be read ^^.

Anyway, this post has gotten too long so I will end it here. I actually have received most of my C77 goodies as well but I will save those for a later post. Thanks for stopping by!

Custom Mouse Pads

anonymous_object — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:54:01 +0000

For the past year, Kagami has been keeping an eye on me during computer use. Making sure I don't do anything she doesn't approve of ^^;

Ever wanted an anime-themed mouse pad but didn’t want to shell out $10 or $20 for one of your favorite character? Or maybe one of your favorite image that just isn’t for sell anywhere. Well, how about creating a custom mouse pad? :) If you’ve seen older pictures of my desk, you may have seen the above mouse pad. It was my first custom anime-themed mouse pad but as you can see after over a year of heavy use, it has seen better days ^^;

So I decided to order some new custom mouse pads :). Headed over to my image site, e-shuushuu.net, and picked out some of my fav illustrations. I use the website www.icustomdesign.com to order my mouse pads. You can upload your own images and, using their tool, re-size and align them to fit on a mouse pad. Then you can add it to your cart and they will print your custom mouse pad!

New mouse pads!

During the checkout process, make sure you apply the coupon code MSPD99 which will bring the price down to $2.99 per mouse pad with free shipping :) I found this deal on slickdeals.net and if you’re like me and like to keep an eye out for good deals in general, you might want to check their site out too. I browse there regularly and that is where I originally found this mouse pad deal. Just about all the deals are US/Canada though ^^;

Anyway, $12 for the above four mouse pads isn’t so bad in my opinion :D
Anyone else going to create a custom mouse pad? ^^

Taiga wins 2009 Saimoe ^^

anonymous_object — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:09:04 +0000

Artist: Nari Otoko

This year’s Saimoe contest winner is none other than the tenori tiger herself: Aisaka Taiga :) Glad to see one of my favorite characters getting recognized ^^

Moetron has a good summary of the contest and votes. Congrats to Taiga for pulling off the victory over another moelicious rival, Yui from K-ON! Enjoy a few pics of Taiga to celebrrate (more at Moetron too!)

Artist: Noway

Artist: Ramble

Artist: CORE

Just finished watching Aoi Hana

anonymous_object — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:39:24 +0000

Illustration by Moha

What kind of ending was that? >_<
I was kind of hoping at least something would happen there between Fumi and Aa-chan ^^; But, nope, no yuri love to be had between the two main characters. Now I don’t know why I even watched the series xD Time to finish up my next series: Bakemonogatari. At least there are lolis in it! ;)

New Shugo Chara Anime + LA

anonymous_object — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:16:53 +0000

Yesterday it was announced that a new Shugo Chara anime would begin this fall. It will be called Shugo Chara!!! Dokki Doki and starts in early October. That’s good news for Shugo Chara fans like myself but there’s more. Apparently, there will also be a live action spin off! ^^

The LA part will be called Shugo Chara Pucchi Puchi!. I’m not sure on the details but I think it will be airing as short segments during the anime. The LA cast will be the Shugo Chara Egg! group which is part of Hello! Project. They look quite cute ^^/

I’m still working my way through the second anime series, Shugo Chara! Doki but am definitely looking forward to more cool and spicy Amu-chan ^^.

Source: Moetron

Nagi-sama does Kannagi OP in Dance×Mixer

anonymous_object — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:35:29 +0000

A friend in an IRC channel (thanks topz) posted a link to this awesome video of Nagi-sama singing the Kannagi opening song, Motto Hade ni ne!, and I just had to share it ^^.

Apparently, the video was made by a new software application called Dance Mixer that allows you to create a character, customize her appearance, and then program her to dance to your imported songs ^^. There doesn’t appear to be a demo of the program available and it costs 15,980￥ so I haven’t had a chance to try it myself >_<

More videos at their Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/dancexmixer

So K-ON’s over…

anonymous_object — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:59:25 +0000

Now what? It was, by far, the most popular series of the season and now that it’s over, what did you think? Personally, I thought it was a good series though not as epic as some fans anticipated. It was arguably the most hyped anime series since The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. Maybe a bit too much hype? Yeah, I’d probably say so but that doesn’t detract from the fact that every week I had fun watching the latest episode ;)

And despite the huge fanbase that formed around Mio, she didn’t end up being my favorite character. For me, it was Yui with Azusa in a close second. Mio was entertaining most of the time but I think her ‘scaredy-cat’ personality was overdone a bit. Ritsu and Mugi-chan also were fun characters and we can’t forget about the super-cute imouto, Ui :3. Honestly, that’s what made this show worthwhile; the characters were great. The story itself was fairly mediocre but the characters and their interactions kept the pace, laughs, and fun going ^^

Moe moe kyun!

So, yeah, K-ON! wasn’t a miraculously awesome series or anything but it is was fun ^^. Hmmm, now I need to think about the next show to watch… Maybe I should catch up on Hayate or Eden of the East.

More pics of Azu-nyan and the rest of the K-ON! gang can be found at e-shuushuu ^^b

Toradora: All for the Journey

anonymous_object — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:58:52 +0000

I was finally able to watch one of my most anticipated series of anime seasons past. Toradora kept my attention all the way through with both humorous and emotionally touching storytelling. With an great story and a wide array of strong characters, Toradora is an excellent series that should be on every anime fan’s “To watch” list.

Although a high profile voice acting cast is not a requirement for creating a great series, it can certainly help. The seiyuu cast in Toradora is absolutely amazing, particularly with the 3 female leads. I’ve always liked Rie Kugimiya (Nagi Sanzenin <3) but she went and exceeded my expectations in the role of the ferocious yet timid Tenori Tiger. Taiga Aisaka is now permanently engraved in my all-time favorite anime heroine list. I absolutely adore her ^^ Of course, there is also the ever-talented Yui Horie as Minori. I have to say few characters have made me smile as much as Minorin did. Usually such overly genki characters annoy me but she proved to be a rare exception. Finally, there is Eri Kitamura as Ami. She fulfilled her role quite well as the self-loathing, fake perfect girl. The Holy Night song by Taiga and Ami was perhaps the most entertaining seiyuu song I’ve yet heard in an anime :-D

This image and more at e-shuushuu.net

Speaking of songs, I really like the opening and ending songs for Toradora. Pre-Parade (OP1) and Vanilla Salt (ED1) are my favorites but Silky Heart (OP2) and Orange (ED2) are also great songs. I find myself listening to Pre-Parade and Vanilla Salt a bit too often ^^;

The story itself is the real meat of the series and through it we experience the captivating characters of Toradora. It felt reminiscent of high school, the good and bad. Lots of drama over who likes who ^^; There was also the cat fight at school. When girls fight… and I mean really fight, it’s a scary sight. >_<

hai, prz

Most importantly though was the theme of love. Sacrifice in love. Minori and Taiga both cared for each other enough to sacrifice their own love interests for the sake of the other. And Ami pretty much just watches. She realized what was really going on with the intertwined relationships earlier than did those who were actually involved. I don’t think she ever really considered herself in the race, instead she tried to convince Ryuuji, Minori, and Taiga to be true to themselves.

Thankfully, there was real character growth in Toradora. They all eventually accepted the reality of their individual situations. Taiga continuously ran from her own feelings and instead focused on trying to do what she believed would make Minorin happy. We see her finally accept (with some forceful persuasion) that she could be honest to her feelings. Ami sees that Taiga was able to be herself and still be loved by someone and is jealous which drives her to be honest with her true self. She discovers that she too can be true to herself and doesn’t need to cling to self-inflicted lies. Minorin perhaps sacrificed the most… she tried to hide her own feelings for the sake of Taiga even though Ryuuji was initially interested in her. She conceded Ryuuji to Taiga because she believed Taiga needed him more than she did and admirably bowed out.

Around the middle of the series it felt like there was little progression in Taiga and Ryuuji’s relationship. I would have loved to have more of the series like the last 3-4 episodes when Taiga and Ryuuji’s relationship really started taking off, but then I realized the long wait and buildup to that point is exactly what made the last few episodes so enjoyable. It was the long journey for all of the characters to finally get there. Though gradual and not always obvious, the characters and their relationships matured. This is what made the series so memorable to me. There was actual, believable progression by the end of the series. Seeing the evolution of each character and their relationships, especially Taiga and Ryuuji’s, was a refreshing break from the norm in romance anime to leave things nearly the same as they started even after dozens of episodes.

The combination of great characters, an engaging story, and high production value made Toradora a pleasure to watch. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and go watch it. A true masterpiece that I would recommend to anyone.

I was finally able to watch one of my most anticipated series of anime seasons past. Toradora kept my attention all the way through with both humorous and emotionally touching storytelling. With an engrossing story and a wide array of strong characters, Toradora is an excellent series that should be on every anime fan’s “To watch” list.

Although a high profile voice acting cast is not a requirement for creating a great series, it can certainly help. The seiyuu cast in Toradora is absolutely amazing, particularly with the 3 female leads. I’ve always liked Rie Kugimiya (Nagi Sanzenin <3) but she went exceeded my expectations in the role of the ferocious yet timid Tenori Tiger. Taiga Aisaka is now permanently engraved in my all-time favorite anime heroine list. I absolutely adore her ^^ Of course, there is also the ever-talented Yui Horie as Minori. I have to say few characters have made me smile as much as Minorin did. Usually such overly genki characters annoy me but she proved to be a rare exception. Finally, there is Eri Kitamura as Ami. She fulfilled her role quite well as the self-loathing, fake perfect girl. The Holy Night song by Taiga and Ami was perhaps the most entertaining seiyuu song I’ve yet heard in an anime :-D

hai, prz

Most importantly though was the theme of love. Sacrifice in love. Minori and Taiga both cared for each other enough to sacrifice their own love interests for the sake of the other. And Ami pretty much just watches. She realized what was really going on with the intertwined relationships earlier than did those who were actually involved. I don’t think she ever really considered herself in the race; instead she tried to convince Ryuuji, Minori, and Taiga to be true to their selves.

Thankfully, there was real character growth in Toradora. They all eventually accepted the reality of their individual situations. Taiga continuously ran from her own feelings and instead focused on trying to do what she believed would make Minorin happy. We see her finally accept (with some forceful persuasion) that she could be honest to her feelings. Ami sees that Taiga was able to be herself and still be loved by someone and is jealous which drives her to be honest with her true self. She discovers that she too can honest and doesn’t need to cling to self-inflicted lies. Minorin perhaps sacrificed the most… tried to hide her own feelings for the sake of Taiga even though Ryuuji was initially interested in her. She conceded Ryuuji to Taiga because she believed Taiga needed him more than she did and admirably bowed out.

Around the middle of the series it felt like there was little progression in Taiga and Ryuuji’s relationship. I would have loved to have more of the series like the last 3-4 episodes when Taiga and Ryuuji’s relationship really started taking off, but then I realized the long wait and buildup to that point is exactly what made the last few episodes so enjoyable. It was a long journey for all of the characters to finally get there. Though gradual and not always obvious, the characters matured. This is also what made the series so memorable to me. There was actual, believable progression by the end of the series. Seeing the evolution of each character and their relationships, especially Taiga and Ryuuji’s, was a refreshing break from the norm in romance anime to leave things nearly the same as they started even after dozens of episodes.

Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens

anonymous_object — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:47:34 +0000

In between trying to force myself to watch Macross Frontier episodes, I started watching Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens. This series aired last fall so while it has been around a while, I’m really glad I got around watching it.

Mahou shoujo Nagi? ^^;

Jin, a high school student in the art club meets a girl who appears from the wood statue he carved. The girl calls herself Nagi and claims she is a god. Since the girl has no place to stay so she stays with Jin (against his wishes). A boy with a goddess by his side doesn’t seem so original but it’s executed pretty well. The majority of the series focuses on Jin and Nagi’s relationship but also has a strong supporting cast along the way.

Too cute >_<

In fact, a lot of the series is just day to day life of a boy with a earth deity learning to live as a more normal girl all the while she is trying to clean the world of impurities. The good thing is that it’s actually entertaining ^^; Also very funny at times. ANN lists the series themes as comedy, magic, and romance and that really does sum it up well. It doesn’t rely on one individual genre more than it should and feels well balanced overall.

Tsugumi just enjoying some doujinshi ^^;

The main reason the series was so enjoyable for me was the was that the series had some a strong female lead. Nagi is just such a lovable character. Whether she is becoming fascinated by anime for the first time, throwing a tantrum in the closet, or working at the local maid cafe (^^), she is just adorable. Haruka Tomatsu really seems to fit perfectly into the role. I’m adding Nagi to my list of favorite female characters :) Her and Jin’s back and forth interactions keep the show moving forward and provide a lot of laughs along the way.

It gets hot hiding in a closet with your magic wand light.

The opening and ending in this series are also great. I actually watched them for every episode and I rarely do that for any anime ^^; They’re both attractive songs and their respective animation sequences seem to fit very well. I have embedded them here (in HD) so you can see for yourself ^^

Kannagi OP, motto☆Hade ni ne! by Haruka Tomatsu (Nagi!)

And the ED, Musuhi no Toki also sung by Haruka Tomatsu. Really like this song ^^

In retrospective, this series was just a lot of fun to watch. Not too heavy, not too light; it just felt right. Definitely one of my new favorites. It makes me want to go read the manga too! I thoroughly enjoyed this series and highly recommend it ^^

Macross Frontier

anonymous_object — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:36:36 +0000

Watch out! Emergency Nuns!

I started watching Macross Frontier a few weeks ago and finally got around to finishing it. I thought I was going to be able to complete the series in just a few days but as the series progressed my interest in it dwindled. It’s unfortunate because after watching Super Dimensional Fortress Macross a few months ago (which I enjoyed), I was looking forward to Macross Frontier. Read on for my impressions (and some spoilers).

The main character. A guy or girl? lol, I don't know either.

Sure the first 10 or so episodes were decent, maybe even somewhat interesting, as they set up the premise and introduced the characters but there wasn’t any real meat to the story. As the series went on, the fluff only became more obvious and more unbearable. By the time the series was halfway over, I was dreading the rest.

So, what did I not like so much? Well, first of all, the Vajra aren’t weren’t nearly as interesting a foe as the Zentradi from the original series. Plus, we didn’t really learn anything about them until more than half way through the series and even then it was light info. Most of the time, they were just regarded as mindless drones, not very exciting…

Zentradi were so much cooler than the Vajra

Also, I didn’t like the way much of the series focused more on a love triangle than a real political struggle, war, and fighting for survival. The original series provided much more food for thought, I think. Sure, there was a love triangle there too, but it was part of a more epic story overall.
And the whole singing to defeat the enemy thing seemed a bit of a stretch. It made more sense in the original Macross against the Zentradi, but the Vajra again don’t seem to be right type of enemy for this to work on. Just feels a bit tacked in in order to keep the musical trait of the series.

One of the more entertaing singing scenes

There were also numerous plot holes and shortcuts in the storytelling. What was with the characters going all tsuntsun between emo/depressed and suddenly determined to fight and “protect” (Yes, the oh-so-original “I fight to protect” reasoning). Oh, and then there was Michel’s ridiculously predictable death just seconds after he realizes he loves Klan. Yeah, that’s never been done before…

Klan should have had more screentime!

And the antagonists, Leon and Grace? Some actual character development would have been nice to at least understand their motivation for trying to destroy/dominate the universe.

Yeah, she's evil... but why?

The fact that the truth behind Ranka, Vajra, Brera, etc was really only revealed in the last 3-4 episodes seems to indicate that the writers really didn’t have any good plan for the entirety of the show and just decided to string the series all the way along with very little real substance. Really, at least half of the episodes could have been cut and it could have ended the same way.

Don't ask me why she had to take off her clothes first...

Overall, I found Macross Frontier quite disappointing. I don’t see how so many people thought this series was good >_< It’s a shame because I wanted to like Macross F. I liked the original Macross quite a bit and was expecting a lot from this series…

I have made a lot of comparisons to the original series but since Macross Frontier seems to want to copy it so much it only made sense to do so. Some of the characters seemed to be almost carbon copied from characters in the first Macross :-/

I wonder how many Macrosses they made?

While the bad parts of the series really stuck out, I suppose there was some good to the series. It did have high production value with good animation throughout the series. Also, the songs which are prevelant through the series are catchy and popular (Albeit with some bad, bad engrish). Ranka and Klan were my favorite characters and made watching a bit more entertaining. I didn’t like Sheryl much from the start but she turned out pretty decent.

Sheryl

Well, I suppose my advice is… if you liked this series and haven’t seen the original, do yourself a favor and give it a try. If you can get past the ancient animation, you might just be able to forget about having watched Macross Frontier ;)