Review: Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge (anime)

[disclaimer: image does not belong to me]

I sit back and relax to watch the continuation of Arakawa Under the Bridge.

[the boys bonding in a mentality test]

I anticipate disclosure of each of the character's past.

[Desperate Amazoness is... desperate]

But all I get is more crazy sh*ts and OH LOOK NEW CHARACTERS~!

[kakkoi Billy........ :V]

okay I enjoyed everything. At least the jokes or puns is more comprehendible than Sayonara Zetsubou sensei. The only disappointment was no explanation why the hobos end up under the bridge as weirdos.

A very short review cos I can’t remember what I need to criticize anymore.

OP is "Cosmos vs Alien" by Etsuko Yakushimaru who also sang the first season's OP. Oyea, GO SUMMER! Song is disgusting. Period.

[KOU-SAMA!!!]

btw the ED song "Akai Coat" by Suneohair is pretty good :3

Review: Angel Beats! (anime)

I actually watched this a bit later than most people did.

[WARNING: May Contain Spoilers]

Even after watching I don’t really get why people are all over it. Okay, I’m pretty impressed with the character backstories especially Yui and Maeda. For a pink haired psycho moe girl, she’s the one I like most, and more than Kanade. No, I don’t hate Kanade. I don't see Kanade having any personality compared to Yui. Just I don’t understand why the quiet girl is the most voted in ISML. I mean, c’mon! Yui’s story is totally inspiring! But none can beat Maeda’s!

Anyway, Angel Beats is about… er… the afterlife. Turns out the afterlife is a school. Complete with school uniform and classes and student council and sports day! And I guess you kind of have the chance to live a life again, but depends on how things turn out; you’d either become the NPC (Non Playable Character?) or disappear. Er… after disappearing, does that mean you reincarnate? Man… for a story about the sorrows of afterlife, it sure doesn’t seem too sad. Also, the story is like going through a video game. Everytime you KO you’ll get another chance to live. And with that fact too I don’t really get why the characters need to grieve if one party member is struck by a giant iron ball. The show has a great number of characters, but too bad we didn't get to know each and everyone of 'em. It's also unfair for the existing members to be ignored while the 'new members' pasts are discovered.

[IMO too many characters ain't suitable for 13 episode action anime]

And it’s funny how all this while the SSS team is doing nothing but chase something that’s not even evil. And I feel sad for Yurippe in the end… not cos I pity her crazy plans were in vain but how she’s all nice to Kanade in the end is quite hypocritical to me -__- I mean, she could’ve tried a more gentler approach to find out about Kanade! But I guess the crazy plans are just to make viewers laugh. (a concert to make a distraction? whut...)

i don't fancy the character design much. Hate how the eyes are drawn.

The songs are okay, not much into the OP “My Soul, Your Beats” until Yui version comes (sung by LiSa). That one was BAM, hits the spot. To be honest, Girls Dead Monster’s music didn’t appeal to me. If it did, I would’ve remembered all of the songs as I write this. Oh yeah, "My Song" was good… buy Iwasawa’s voice sound more like a sick girl trying to sing, so I downloaded Yui’s version instead.

Ok overall, I still don’t think it should dub as the “best series ever”, probably thanks to the fact that I don’t fancy reincarnation themes. Cos… well… you got a chance to live again why is there a need to be sad? I don’t like the storyline much but I do love the characters...

Review: Kuragehime (anime)

Again, another slow review

[WARNING: May contain spoilers]

Kuragehime ("Jellyfish Princess" in English) is an adaptation from a josei manga of the same name. The story is about a bunch of otaku girls, which focused more on the jellyfish geek named Tsukimi and how her life changed upon meeting a fashionable crossdressing guy.

the whole "life change" upon meeting someone new is rather typical, but this story is far from cliche as it's not just another stupid shoujo plot. At least, it stays mostly true to the original storyline but since it's only 11 episodes don't expect it to be satisfactory, but I'm pretty satisfied with the ending anyway.

The story the second thing I'm impressed with about this title. The first thing was the characters because... the characters are designed to be as realistic as possible. I mean, hey, in general female otakus aren't THAT attractive. Unless they're cosplayers or some sort. But take a look at OreImo, nearly all the female otakus are good looking. Logic fail (but it's anime so who cares about logic). Kuragehime's female otakus vary in shape and sizes, and their personalities differ so much you can't help but laugh at their quirks!

And here I thought "fujoshi" was only for extreme yaoi fans, but if you're crazy about just about anything, you can be considered "fujoshi" (for girls). Jellyfish, trains, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, japanese dolls and elderly men are acceptable too! oh yeah, there's a hikkikomori BL mangaka living in their quarters too (she's like the ORACLE for the girls)

And not to mention, Kuranosuke, the crossdresser, who's not really confused with his gender but likes fashionable things. All thanks to his mom, which he was separated with since he was young. With this hobby, he hopes to be free of being his family responsibilites. Another character that deserves my love is his 30 year old half-brother, who has no experience with women until he sees make-over version of Tsukimi and later got bribed by a manipulative vixen. Now there's also the annoying love traingle involving the lead female haih...

[the lovely kuranosuke]

it was interesting to see how Kuranosuke manage to make the NEET girls work without their consent (go check out the manga for more details). And what I love about Kuragehime is how they mix the life of these virgin otaku girls, fashion industry people and... politicians. YEAH the politicians are LULZ in this anime/manga XD

ok here comes the worst part. Talking about the animation... for me is okay I guess. No complaints here. The character design is similar to the manga. I don't remember the OST, but the OP is amusing; both the song and sequence. And I think I like the ED song better. I'm not sure what to say about the voice acting, but sometimes it sounds like the volume is turned down even when my computer volume is full. not sure who's fault though.

and I believe I found our IRL Kuranosuke...

[Malaysian fashion designer amir luqman ftw]

Review: Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (anime)

FLY AWAY NOW FLY AWAY NOW FLY AWAYYYYY~~~!!!

[WARNING: May contain spoilersssss]

Doesn’t the promotional picture makes you think it’s just another Cartoon Network show? But look at the title, isn’t it too obscene for kids to watch?? LOL.

Because it is not decent to begin with!

*cough* [imitates PowerPuff Girls’ narrator] THE CITY OF DATEN (Daten City), is just another fictional place in an alternate universe where citizens live and do their daily stuff. At the same time there are also Ghosts moving about, and these things are the main monster of the week. At the residential church, resides two fallen angels by the name of Panty and Stocking. Under the supervision of Garterbelt, they were given tasks to eliminate Ghosts so that they can collect heaven coins for a ticket back home in Heaven.

Anarchy Panty – The blonde in the red dress. Her favourite past time is having sex with any random hot guy, anywhere and anytime! You wouldn’t guess what her goals are before she goes back to heaven. Her main weapon is a gun which is actually her panties, and she can actually transform other people’s underwear into different kinds of guns (which seem to reflect individuals’ size and shape)

Anarchy Stocking – The Gothic Lolita girl with the plushie in her hand. She likes to eat sweet things like cakes and pastries, and never gets fat cos all the fat goes to her boobs. She may not be as lusty as her sister, but her taste in men stinks. He socks are her weapons, which turns into dual katana. She's more well-mannered and responsible than Panty, and is never a potty-mouth unless proboked.

Garterbelt – the priest of the church with an afro. He’s not as… holier-than-thou as he appeared to be (*coughSMcough*). He monitors the fallen angels activities (even as far as disguising into someone else) and acts as a messenger of god when a ghost is detected. Like his namesake, he wears a garterbelt under his robes. And am I the only one who noticed that 'anti-christ' symbol on his attire? LOL

Chuck – Every mahou shoujo needs a mascot. Well, I wanna consider PanSuto as mahout shoujo cos they got that f*ckin’ transformation scene that makes you cream in your pants! By the way, there's a trilogy episode regarding this thing...

Brief – aka Geek Boy, an awkward ghostbusters fag who has a huge crush on Panty. He may seem like a nuisance, or irrelevant... but he’s so damn important YOU GOTTA SEE THE ENDING man!

Scanty & Kneesocks – The daughters of the city's mayor are worth mentioning, as they’re the recurring villains and the latter is my favourite b1tch aside from Brief, after Stocking broke my heart. In contrary to the Fallen Angels, who are prone to appear badass, these are the devil sisters who are ironically worshiping the existence of RUUUUUUUUUUUUUURUUUUUUU (the word “rule” spoken in Japanese). They also have a mascot that apparently has a history with Chuck; he’s called Fastener.

[the devil sisters: Scanty & Kneesocks]

Like just another typical American children’s cartoon, the episodes appear to be unrelated. Each episodes are divided into two parts, and the titles are usually a parody of existing movies. Initially, I was turned off by the obscenity in the first episode, but seeing how my friends tweet about the upcoming episodes sparked my curiousity. The second episode won my heart, and henceforth I survived the ordeal towards the end. They made an excellent parody of the environment in American school, and that hobby of making out with random people. They also have that Japanese-y stuff going on to balance the developers origins. For instance; THE BEACH EPISODE is a must have! And that seifuku fetish. I have to say, if I ever dropped this, I’d surely miss A LOT.

Eventually, the anime came to a turning point that implies that PanSuto HAS a plot, which I’m pretty much happy to hear cos usually these ‘American’ shows doesn’t have any. The final battle was something that you’ve never seen before in the history of “climax of the story” , kudos to GAINAX for breaking your record of your previous success (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann). And the ending is like LOLWTF..??? And we’re all expecting a second season. I mean, THEY OWE US AN EXPLANATION!!!

The OST is one of those which are actually memorable in my mind, although the genre is not my cup of tea. Other than the Fly Away song, I’m more infatuated by the Theme of Scanty & Kneesocks. JUST BECAUSE! ED song is rather soothing, especially when you went through 20 minutes of madness; Fallen Angel by Aimee B.

To be honest, I’m really sorry to say that every episode were pointless to watch, but if you were in for “the lulz” and something totally out of this world than DO WATCH PanSuto. It’s like watching an X-rated version of PPG. But if you plan to watch, please be warned that the obscenity is so extreme that it puts the real life dirty conversations look like a one inch dick.

oh yes before I wrap up this post...

I love the cosplays :3

Review: Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi (anime)

I've left this blog for quite a while as to pay respect to Japan. However, it doesn't look like the situation is getting any better, now that they have the nuclear crisis to worry about. But they're not giving up, and I hope things get okay soon. And I think I should proceed to my pending reviews since the anime I'm watching since last season is almost over.

[WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS]

Ookami-san and the seven comrades (Ookami-san). Does the title sound familiar? Wait till you see the whole cast.

Mukashi.. mukashiiiii...

The story is actually about an organization that likes to help people doing random things, and the clients have to do something to return that favour as well. It started off with our protagonist chasing some bad guy in the back alley, but suddenly a rock flew past her and hit that guy the moment he took out his knife. This gave her the chance to knock him out with her Neko boxing gloves. Later that day, a voice said to her out of nowhere… “Ookami-san, I like you!"

Ookami-san and the 7 comrades are…

1. Ryouko Ookami – the Ookami-san that I’ve been babbling about, and it’s explicitly told in the official summary that she’s a tsundere. Heh what kind of spoiler is that, that’s so ruining the ‘surprise’. But I’m glad she’s not the annoying type. She’s named after the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, and she has some sort of history that she became the lone wolf.

2. Ringo Akai – Ryouko’s roommate and confidant, who’s often her partner. Ironically she’s named after the Red Riding Hood (literally her name means Apple Red). She likes to tease Ryouko about the shy guy who openly confessed to her, but at the same time loyally keeps her secret from him.

3. Ryoushi Morino – the low profile guy who’s in love with Ookami-san, regardless of her tendency to verbally abuse him. Such an M, really reminds me of someone =_=. But this guy’s biggest flaw is that he freaks out when people stare at him, cos he not used to having his existence acknowledged. The manliest moment he can display is when he’s hidden in the shadows shooting rocks with his slingshot. He’s based on the hunter from the same fairy tale.

The rest of the characters can be view here XD

I’m so sorry, I don’t recall the rest of the characters much, but most of them were adaptation from fairy tales. There’s Snow White and her seven little siblings, Cinderella and the ‘prince’ who liked to be kicked by her, gender bendered Momotaro and her 3 companions who went on a quest to Onigashima school. There’s also the Hare and the Turtle Aesop Fable, this time competing in a popularity contest! And also, the story about the Sheep and the Wolf thing… but the Sheep is the main villain. OH ANOTHER IRONY!

Basically what I like about the anime is the way they adapted the well known fairy tales of the west and also the east. It’s like watching another Hetalia. Unfortunately, the series had a very… verrryyyyy lousy ending. Major disappointment as I was expecting something MORE (this makes Maid-sama’s ending much more satisfactory) As expected from a light novel adaptation I guess. And this show has the lamest archenemy I’ve ever seen; his purpose of acting evil is not even worth mentioning! And Ookami-san also ended up making me sceptic when she shows how easily affected she was when she faced her past. I guess those years of training to become tsuntsun wasn’t enough.

[uhhh what's with the cute boxing gloves?]

You don’t really have to watch this. Ookami-san’s tsundere-ness is rather bland if you compare with Aisaka Taiga (ToraDora). It’s especially a turn off when it’s revealed too early what stereotype she is and it’s not as extreme as we expected her to be. I'm also disappointed that the 'wolf' theme of hers isn't used wisely. Anyway, if you want an amazingly f*cked up (and mixed up) fairy tale adaptation, go read Ludwig Kakumei (I wish they make an anime for it). Don’t be fooled by the bishounen at the cover, there are plenty of cute girls to see.

ohyeah before I forget, the OP and ED aren't my cup of tea. It's hard to like most of anisongs nowadays.

I guess that is all. Medetashi medetashi~

p/s: KUROKO VOICE…. is really A FUKKEN TURN OFF cos it’s actually quite a nuisance when you're trying to listen/read the subs of the character dialogues then the narrator butts in for no reason.

Pray for Japan

I had a test on Friday morning. For someone who did not study much, it was a fairly easy one, but I had some mistakes. Probably thanks to my reluctant attendance to the extra tutorial classes.

Once the test is over we stepped outside. It was raining lightly. Throughout the afternoon, I was't feeling well. Somewhat sleepy since I didn't sleep well, hungry because I didn't eat much for breakfast... then even after eating some bread, I still feel rather sick. I felt like a weed. It was like... I can't seem to go on but at the same time I wanted to do some work in the laboratory. It was as if I'm greiving...

Suddenly, this happened...

11 March 2011, Sendai Earthquake and Tsunami

A

t first I saw #prayforjapan as Twitter Trending Topic, which made me wonder what was going on. It was not until someone tweeted about an Earthquake in Japan, I started lurking for the news.

Before this there were foreshocks around Magnitude 7.2 starting from 9 March, then another one of Magnitude 8.9 coming from the seabed and thus...Tsunami returned to its land of origin. The moment I reached home I quickly joined my grandpa watching CNN for the news. The video footage was... really scary. Buildings shook like crazy, people panic, but none of the skyscrapers collapsed (thanks to their awesome engineering) yet the top of Tokyo Tower was bent. Yet there were towns that were not so lucky. And the worse part was watching the waves swept through the land, it was like a giant oily monster eating up a part of Japan.

[well this reminds me of the game Okami...]

Tsunami warning was alerted to over 50 countries, including the Phillipines, Indonesia and even our very own Labuan, Sabah. Peninsular Malaysia is said to be safe, but there was a video of what happened to the shore at a coast in Terengganu (and it was rather funny seeing some people living in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan panicked when in fact it's on the opposite side. Now you know why studying Geography is important). Since I'm talking about the ocean, also need to note that a whirlpool appeared above the source of the earthquake. Freaky weh...

[the whirlpool, there are a few boats stuck in there]

Yesterday there was another quake in Tokyo with magnitude 6.8
Forgot to mentioned that there were over a 100 of aftershocks after the big one. It's listed in one of the 5 biggest earthquake ever recorded on earth, but first time for Japan after over a hundred years. As I'm writing this there's already more than 1000 deaths while 10k are still missing.

The aftermath;
1. more than 45 countries are lending a helping hand.
More info here
2. my friends who have loved ones in Japan are safe
3. Some people are worried about Japanese celebrities, most of them are reported to be safe.
4. nuclear reactors had to be shut down, causing millions of home having power outage. Some reactors have radiation leaks and they were working hard to overcome this.
5. Some anime are suspended. Well, give 'em a rest peeps. I guess even the producers need some mental or emotional recess.
6. Japan island moved 2.4 meters to the east, the earth axis shifted by 25 cm.
7. Yen drops..?

Other news:
Nuclear Power plants faces new threats
raw footage of Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Photos of the aftermath - it's like looking at a glimpse of the post-apocalypse era.japan's earthquake causes the day to be a wee bit shorter

Also, please join this cause in facebook Pray For Japan

Sidenote, a volcano crater in Hawaii collapsed and a volcano erupted in Indonesia.

Before you all start spurting out 2012 is coming early... let me tell you this; it's just a prologue.
It's just happening one step at the time (before this there was one in Christchurch, New Zealand and somewhere in the USA).
There'll be more to come...
my thoughts: Well I was rather devastated. I lost my appetite yesterday (moreover I'm having some sort of diarrhea since Monday). Kind of scared too. Especially when you're a science student, specifying in Physics... you can see how powerful God is, and believe in how powerful it is in controlling the universe; affecting whatever that is happening on our insignificant planet. Okay so we know that disaster is occuring a bit too frequently, and the Middle East is having an uproar. Something is happening... and you should know what. So let's all... seek redemption together before it's too late...
well that aside, let's pray that the survivors are safe; especially from the nuclear threat or any kind of disease that may emerge after the disaster. Let's give them emotional support, they've lost too much...
EDIT: Pray for Japan heartwarming tweets. I think I love Japan even more.

p/s: Coincidentally, I was in the process of downloading Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 when it happened. A 2009 anime which I heard was good. It's ironic that it actually happened, ne?

review: Sengoku Basara 2 (anime)

[WARNING: May include spoilers!]

A sequel to Sengoku Basara anime, yet another adaptation of my favourite CAPCOM video game. Not gonna review much on the characters this time, but I’m just gonna say something about the newcomers.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi – historically, the second great ruler for the Sengoku Period was also known as ‘monkey’, hence his gorilla-ish looks. It is implied in the anime that he has a lover (not sure if it’s mentioned in the game cos I played the Japanese version) and was also Keiji Maeda’s acquaintance. Despite of seeming ridiculously brutal in front of his foes, he was somewhat kind to his beloved tactician.

Takenaka Hanbei – Toyotomi’s beloved masked tactician, who wears a purple mask and whips a chainsword thingy. Supposedly, he’s a great tactician though I think his kidnapping method is rather dirty. Can’t help thinking that this guy is gay, especially by the way he calls people by their first names.

Miyamoto Musashi – in popular belief, he’s a dual sword user and relatively strong. And in SenBasa’s case, he wields a wooden sword and an oar.

[miyamoto musashi, Sengoku Basara version]

Once again, I dislike the way each characters powers act like an atom bomb the DBZ style since it’s not even THAT explosive in the video game. And what’s with drying off the sea shore with a single punch?? Now that’s a bit too much. Now if only we can just do that in the game, destroy half the stage with just one swing.

However, this time I’m rather satisfied with the story and the character development (though I’m pretty sure they f*cked up history again). The rivals, Masamune Date and Yukimura Sanada are splitting ways, fighting their own battles yet still thinking of each other. Awww….

Ahem, anyway, Masamune Date sort of lost his “Right Eye” by Hanbei’s dirty trick, and henceforth his army grew weaker without Katakura Kojuuro’s intelligence. Poor Masamune is ‘nothing’ without his Right Eye :3 Meanwhile Sanada travels far away to form an alliance with another army, and along the way losing one of his ally forever, due to his narrow-minded leadership. Though regretting his actions, he still continued his journey as ordered by Shingen Takeda.

Okay, it’s been a while since I last watched this. I’m not sure what I can remember about the main storyline. I’ll just tell you about my favourite parts then. First is the episode where the ‘biker gang’ cooperates with the ‘pirates’, that sure was interesting! Then Yukimura Sanada versus Miyamoto Musashi! Also the return of Kotaro Fuuma and Matsunaga Hisahide. And also hints of characters that were going to appear in Sengoku Basara 3 (which is already out prior to this review). Nice way of introducing them, by the way.

[here comes another bishounen! Mitsunari Ishida :3]

OP SWORD SUMMIT WAS THE BOMB. It’s TM Revolution again wheeee~~~!! And… and my darling Takehito Koyasu again (as Sarutobi Sasuke) :3

Conclusion: I like it better than the 1st season ;D