Sunday, April 25, 2010

Angel Beats - 04

Key, king of Trolls.

Summary:

We have Yuri's gang planning on entering the baseball tournament about to start to mess with Angel's plans for an organized tourney. Meanwhile they are also looking for replacement for Iwasawa for the band. Yui comes in to audition, but she isn't received very well. They decide to let the band have the final say.

What every fan wanted to do to key for killing off Iwasawa

Meanwhile Hinata and Otonashi try to pull together a team. Everyone else who seems to be good is already taken. They are left with a rag-tag team of Hinata, Otonashi, Yui(trying to prove herself), Shiina (trying to redeem for failing to reach Guild), Noda (still trying to pick a fight with Otonashi), and three random girls from the school (following Yui). They manage to do quite well despite they lack of outfield with the three girls. However Tenshi comes to put an end to it, and start eliminating all the teams one by one. The last match is Tenshi's vs Hinata's. Yuri, watching all the action from a distance, is quite happy at the chance to finally beat Tenshi fairly and ruffle her feathers, so to speak. Tenshi's team of baseball regulars prove to be much more than the other teams and Hinata finds them falling quick.

I gotta admit, as annoying as she is i like her outfit

Otonashi is able to recruit Matsushita to their outfield with a meal ticket and they begin to do much better. In the last inning Hinata is a bit stunned, and we find it has to do with what happened in his life. Hinata was on the baseball team with similar situation in a game. Bottom of 9(or is it 7 here?) and runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out and up by 1. The opponents hit a pop fly up to second base. However either due to heat or exhaustion Hinata blanks and can't remember the end of that game. Judging by how the team reacted he missed the play. Someone else offered him steroids, telling him it would improve his play.

Probably the only female i care about anymore

Back in our game, Otonashi asks if he would disappear if he wins this game. He answers no, but his voice has a stammer. The pitch is thrown and it really is a pop fly. Hinata goes up to catch it, and for a minute it seems like it would be all over.........

Yuri looking rather evil

Until Yui rushes in and hit him, making them loose the game.

God damn you key! You save him but not Iwasawa!!!

Review:

So it seems Hinata is staying around for a bit. Thats good at least, BUT WHY DID THEY KILL OFF IWASAWA THEN! Ah but at last this is Key, and they are just trolling us all. Somewhere in a board room a writer laughs every time someone gets pissed at them. Instead of the cool and beautiful Iwasawa, we get the pink fluff ball Yui. I don't really have anything against Yui, even if she is a bit annoying at points, but why did she have to replace iwasawa. Even with only 12 eps Key is willing to keep some chars around. It does seem weird for Yuri to be taking disappearing so lightly, right after Iwasawa disappears.

I'm also very unimpressed with Hinata's backstory. I was sure he died of heat stroke or something missing his game. instead it seems likely he died of a drug overdose. I kinda feel hard to sympathize with him unlike Yuri and Iwasawa's characters, so it isn't sure thats how he died. Now.... if you'll excuse me i got to go listen to some Angel Beats soundtrack songs with Iwasawa... :'(
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Sunday, April 18, 2010

Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn 1

Okay....so I finally got around to this I guess. I mean, I haven't actually had time to watch all the episodes with Full Metal Borhterhood and work, but I can at least get the thing for #1 out. However I must inform you all that my computer is blacking Myspace player so I can't actually re-watch the first episode to get it out. Don't you guys worry however! I will be comming back to edit this post shortly to get the first ep up.


Also on a side note. This friday I leave for the carribean, so I won't be posting anything until after I return. Cheers! Read more!

Angel Beats - 03

Summary:

We start with Iwasawa showing off a new song she wrote to Yuri. Being a ballad, Yuri is worried that it is too soft and slow to work as a distraction. Yuri then goes on to explain their next mission, which is to break into Tenshi's base. they have enlisted a new member, who i will call four-eyes for now because i can't remember his name and can't seem to find it. We then get introduced to a new character Yui who is a big fan of GirlDeMo.

Beaten by PI... every nerds dream

We also get a look into the past of Iwasawa while she was alive. Her parents were always fighting and the stress of that really took a toll on her. She eventually found music and realized she could escape her troubles by drowning it out with songs. She finds a old guitar and starts to learn how to play. Even though she had good grades and could get into good schools, she rejected them because she wanted to continue with music for her life and she didn't want to rely on her parents for financial support any longer.

he could be arrested for rape for this scene lol

One day while at a part time job she begins to feel light headed and faints. Turns out during one of her parents fights she got hit on the head in the process and dies. She, like Yuri, doesn't care about reincarnation, but doesn't want to accept her life. She leaves Otonashi her bottle she was drinking from and prepares for the concert.


man, i'm really liking her character, i can't wait to see more.

The day comes and the gang prepares to break into Tenshi's place, which is just an ordinary dorm room. they decide to try to hack her computer to see if they can get any more information. Otonashi however feels they shouldn't be doing it. Yuri discovers all of Tenshi's skills, and realizes that they don't have much time left. The skills they discover are being developed by Tenshi herself, not given by god. This confuses Yuri, as to why god wouldn't give Tenshi more support.

Kage bunshin?

The band is having trouble getting the attention of the student body, but does attract the attention of the teachers. They decide that they have been too lenient with the band and tries to shut them down for good. In a desperate effort to buy more time, Iwasawa picks up a guitar that looks like the one she found while she was alive. She plays the Ballad that was rejected by Yuri and realizes that she is truely happy playing music. With that, she disappears.

DAMN!!!! YOU!!!! KEYS!!!!!!!!

Review:
my first though after this episode: "GOD DAMMIT KEY WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THIS TO ME". This episode really reinforces by view that this should be a 26 or so episode series. In the span of one episode, we get all of Iwasawa's back story, a potential love interest (The water bottle and the indirect kiss potential was intentional) , and death. I was just starting to like the character and Key has to go and kill her. But given the amount of characters there are, i wouldn't be surprised to see one character go per episode. Also given that Iwasawa disappears after realizing what makes her happy, i strongly believe in my original theory that they are all in a middle ground, and can only move on to heaven by accepting their death. However given how tragic Iwasawa's back story was as well makes me think what kind of message they are going for. Your life is going to be crap, and then only by accepting that your life was crap and is unfair can you move on? Man, if there is a god in that world he is a real jerkass. The other interesting point is Tenshi's skills. They are developed, rather than given. This might mean shes an ordinary human as well, all be it more in charge because of her role as student president, but still human.

I do have to make an amendment to my previous statement. IT seems everyone has their memories, making Otonashi the odd one. I still wouldn't put my suicide theory about Yuri away just yet.

Either way, i really am enjoying this series and hope it will turn out alright, but still hate the fact it is only 13 episodes
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Saturday, April 17, 2010

HeroMan 1&2

So, i finally got around to heroman 1 and 2. I don't know how strictly i'll stick to blogging this but i will stick to Angel beats, expect that tomorrow or day after. Sorry there wont be pictures up for this week's review. Too tired and too much work going on.

Story:

So we start off with a rather timid character named Joey. He works part time to support himself and his aging grandmother. His love interest, Lina, is definitely part of the "other crowd". She is rich and pretty and popular and her brother, Will, is a jock. Despite this difference in class, and Joey's overall timid nature which doesn't allow him to show his feelings (which he may or may not have for her) she is still attracted to him. Her brother and father on the other hand strictly disapprove of Joey. We are also introduced to two other minor characters, the eccentric scientist Professor Denton, and Joey's best friend, Psy. One day one of Will's friends is showing off his new toy, a small robot. It soon however gets destroyed by a passing car. Joey noticing it, and realizing he can never afford one himself, decides to take it and fix it up. When he's done, he leaves for his job. Later a weather report shows a storm coming in and he goes home to get his new toy, which he calls heroman, away from the window. When he gets home, it gets struk by lightning and comes to life. meanwhile, Lina and her father are caught in a car accident which Heroman rescues them from.

The next episode revolves around Joey trying to decide what to do now, when news of aliens coming to earth reaches them. To make a long story short, Heroman beats them easily and Lina now knows the identity of Heroman.

Review:

The story starts out interestingly enough, but the suspension of disbelief is pretty thick. All in all i'll keep watching for a few more episodes, if nothing more then the fact that Stan Lee had a part in making this, and even cameos believe it or not. However the story and writing really need to kick it up a notch.
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Monday, April 12, 2010

Angel beats ep 02 - OMG am i actually blogging on time?

Yes, yes i am. I am a little late, but still within reason. I will get around to heroman i promise, but exam time does take priority.

Onto the review!


Episode 2 was quite interesting. We start off with a scouting report that the gang is starting to run low on guns an ammunition. Yuri decides to head down to guild, their weapons factory deep underground to prevent angel from seeing. On their way they notice that the traps haven't been deactivated. This means that angel has found Guild and is on the move. Heading through eventually every member of the gang falls to traps except Yuri and Otonashi.

Classic death traps

Its here we learned what happened to Yuri. It seems she, for some reason, still retains her memories of her past life. She was the oldest of four siblings. One day they got robbed and the robbers demanded she bring back something valuable every 10 minutes or one of her siblings died. She wasn't able to make it and they all died. It's because of this, no matter what punishment awaits her she wants to fight god. She can't accept what has happened to her family.

This guy gets my props, out of all of them


They eventually do reach Guild, but so does angel. They decide to destroy Guild and remake it in one of their old factories. Otonashi realizes how strong Yuri really is.

They might as well have kissed

Seeing as how little the first episode explained, there were many interesting theories that have floated around about the true nature of their world. The two most interesting ones were either a virtual world, like a giant RPG. This would explain the lax on death as well as the RPG guild mentality and naming "NPC". After this episode, it doesn't seem very likely that's the case. The next interesting guess is the idea this world is purgatory. Instead of being reincarnated based on what your past life, they are all working towards redemption towards some better future. This would fit quite well, except with what we seen i don't think Yuri would have been subject to purgatory after what she's been through. My personal guess is that this is a purgatory where people move on after they have accepted their death.Perhaps Yuri is stuck because she won't forgive god, and ultimately will end the series with some form of acceptance of god.

This reminds me of the underground thing from the FMA movie

Quite a lot was explained in this episode, including why Yuri fights so hard and where they get their weapons. On the relationship side we got a few funny touchy moments, but there is no doubt they are setting up Yuri to end up with Otonashi. I am actually liking Yuri and her wild antics. Even if death is cheap in this world, she seems to genuinely care for her people and feels remorseful for being a poor leader. I do have to admit half way through i expected it to be a twist where the guild guys were purposely trying to kill them or something. The anime got more serious this episode, so i am looking forward to a bit of a lighter episode next. Oh, and a quick secondary theory. Yuri seemed really quick to dismiss suicide, and seeing as how she's the only one who has memories, i won't be surprised if it turned out she did kill herself.

More high quality fight scenes


This is just plain cute


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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

K-on S2 - Ep 1

This is going to be a quick summary. No long detailed post.

For a different change of pace i'm going to talk about the music first, then move over the story.

First thing first, the most important thing about K-on is definitely the music. The OP is definitely weaker than it was first season. Cagayake! Girls was a fun, up-beat catchy tune. Go! Go! Maniac on the other hand, is just what you would think. Its sounds disjointed and crazy. There's taking inspiration from Lucky Star, and then there is totally ripping it off, and it doesn't work. The ending song, Listen!! actually isn't bad. TBH though, and this is solely based on tune, not lyrics, sounds more accustomed to a action anime then the slow paced Slice-of-Life. Its still not bad, and whenever Yōko Hikasa is a good thing. Still i can't help but be nostalgic for Don't say lazy.

Now for the plot. There really is nothing to say. Girls try to find more members in order to leave the club to Azusa with a club for next year as the rest of the gang enter their final year. It just feels like everything has been done before in the first season. I know your trying to get people caught up with the show for those who haven't seen the first season, but still to copy the exact same plot as 2 or 3 of the eps in the first season is a little much. Luckly it looks like the next ep will be back on track with the manga.

I'll probably be continuing to put up small post for K-on, but the main focus post-wise will be Angel beats and Hero man which i hope to get around to soon! Read more!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Angel Beats! ep - 01 (and some other stuff)

Well first of the new year from me. Pretty late huh?

Seeing as how Omni is now retired, i feel like i'll be making more of my own opinions on what to watch season by season. Will i pick winners? Omni had a great blog not only on anime opinion but also anime news, and while i'm sad to see it go, i'm sure its for the best.
One show has caught my eye and i definitely will follow, weather i blog or not is another story :P

Our latest KEY works, The much anticipated Angel Beats.

I'll try to keep this simple. The story is about a boy named Otanashi who wakes up with amnesia next to a girl with a sniper rifle. This is going to be a good show :P.
girls and sniper rifles? Damn key, you know my weakpoints!


Anyways we find that they are all dead and the girl is part of a resistance force against the will of god and behaving as a "model" student of the school lead by the feisty Yuripee. The school is controled by the "tenshi" who is in charge of keeping order and peace.
clean up, isle 3

The story certainly has its interesting parts. Its a very new concept and its nice to see Key break away from the typical romance/comedy/drama they usually do. This is definitely a much more action packed show. The animation was pretty solid overall, but nothing spectacular.

This is how you facepalm


About the plot itself, Its a very interesting concept. We've seen many "people fight against god" before, but never with dead ghost in a school. Its also interesting to see that Tenshi only acts when they are committing some violation of the rules. Once they stop, she stops chasing. The relation to an RPG game Yuri makes actually makes a lot of sense if you look at it that way. There reasons for fighting however seem kinda weak. To fight god just so you don't pass on seems like a concept that will be broken quickly, especially because Otanashi doesn't seem to fully buy it yet. Yuri certainly gives off Haruhi vibes, and anyone who knows me knows i hate Haruhi, but she doesn't seem to be mistreating anyone or an overall bitch like Haruhi was so i think i'll accept this character. The two characters im interested in are Tenshi and Shiina. Tenshi and the backstory seems to be a very interesting plot and Shiina, well i just wanna see her throw more knives. It's only 13 eps, but i can almost guarantee if the ratings for this show keep up with it's hype, it will get a second season.


A concert Scene in the first ep? pandering to the haruhi/k-on crowd huh?

Overall a very good watch.

Damn i'm a sucker for katars. So fluid and cool

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