So squareenix has finally released their latest work, to add to their big list of Final Fantasy collection.
Is it really their latest? The Japanese version came out a while back, and the only difference are the vocals.
(Damn these unionized seiyu’s! Work so slow!)

Back on topic, let’s get down to the breakdown. (Hellz yes! My lame pun skillz are back!)

As a little background on myself, I’ve only played FF7, 8, and 9, and I didn’t finish any of them.

The Good

• After the encounter with Last Remnant, I’d say Final Fantasy has improved on their storywriting… a little bit. Maybe they downsized their staff during the recession, but I can tell you they kept their excavators. Because they are methodically digging their own grave. (Maybe I shouldn’t be so tough on them)
• Final Fantasy is pure eye candy, from start to…. well, to as far as I got, with flashy graphics and enough lighting effects and contrast to give seizures to blind people. And more importantly, shorten the lifespan of my TV.
• Linear world. Don’t you know it, it’s as linear as it gets, if you keep making right turns you’d head in the right direction. (Ah ha ha ha, there is nothing cooler than laughing at your own puns) This is a double edge sword however; since simplifying  a game to cater to drunkards, crackhead, and retards have its limits, because as far as I know, none of them have the capabilities to buy your game. The only reason I put it on the good side is because I am desperately trying to make this list look balanced
• Socially awkward Vanille is moe~

The Bad

• Where to begin… the people who names the characters… Lightning, Snow, wtf? Who the hell calls their kid that? (Named after Final Fantasy spells that they TOOK OUT from the game) Not only that, why can they not keep their Japanese counterparts? I was playing this game… and oh, a hot girl. Oh wait, she’s a mother, but that’s okay, she’s still hawt, amirite? But wait… why doesn’t she have a name, why only called Mother? Oh wait- don’t tell me… DAMN she dies. I knew it. And that is how squareenix deal with the how people can tell who’s not important by looking at the level of detail in their character design, they made it even more simple by not giving them a name. Her son, on the other hand, is given a masculine name, Hope. Hope people don’t make puns out of his name too much.
• They keep downsizing and…. oh. No Japanese audio? I see, because no one knows Japanese other than in Japan, amirite? They are geniuses to see the growing trend of people who prefer their anime undubbed… and ignore it. If you are going forcefeed dubs to us, at least give us a sexy british accent like in Last Remnant. (Davide, the extra e at the end of names just makes it so much more exotic!) And what’s with Vanille’s overly cutesy and annoying voice? Wait… a review here says the Japanese version has all annoying and cutesy voices… maybe it’s not so bad after all.
• On the topic of audio, you’d think they’d do a better job of lipsyncing. Oh right, if they want to re-render for english words, we’d have to wait for another 3 years.
• Weapon ideas – So, a boomerang that returns even if you hit the target, a weird staff that acts as 6 fishing rods. Cool weapon ideas, better than using swords and fists in a futuristic environment… wait, they have those too.

The UGLY

• So, they release a demo for a game, and when people buy the game, it’s actually not like the demo! PUNK’D! That’s what happened with Final Fantasy XIII. They, again, retardrized another element of the game. This time, the victim is the combat system, instead of a nice (and somewhat challenging) air combo that you can do in the demo, they give you a chance to…. do nothing. That’s right, they just say, “Hey, look, we made the game easier to play for everybody so everytime you hit an enemy, it gets more and more damage instead!”. I SEE, they’re so smart, they’re trying to copy the success of Heavy Rain and make FFXIII into an interactive drama with a linear plot! The story is so amazing that… wait, it’s not amazing, oops.

The Forecast

I’ve only started on this game so I don’t think I should condemn this game… yet. Anyways, quite a few of my friends have it and I will play it just for a conversation topic. (Although 70 bucks may be a bit too expensive just for a topic) Well, the forecast is… Cloudy with a chance of Nerd Rage.

Hope I’m a crappy weatherman, cheers!

That’s right, stop motion!

I promise.

Not like anyone cares.

Now enough with being emo, this summer has been, well, as the title suggest, a giant ragefest for me. Games that worked suddenly doesn’t, laptop burning away, etc. etc. But probably the most symbolic of this summer’s ragefest is an anime about an endless summer itself. Yes, the highly anticipated animation by KyoAni turned out to be a giant flop. Guess what is it?

Another thing was SaiKano, I went to watch the anime around 2 years ago and decided against it. Read the manga and it was awesome, AWESOME.
…Then reached the ending and it was a ragefest. I dunno if it’s a spoiler, but the author dedicated one who chapter to hentai, or as close to it as possible, makes you wonder if this whole manga was just building up to that damn scene. Still…. it was a good manga, and will find its place amongst the top.

Also, this picture will explain itself.

Maybe I was exaggerating, it’s not all that bad. This summer seems to be more abundant in good anime then the previous 2 seasons, such as Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Umineko, and Bakemonogatari. I mean, Maria is just so moe, can’t resist.

I think this ends my rant for now, it’s late and I got to go to work tomorrow, I’ll try to whip up some reviews, seeing how I have downed some anime and quite an amount of manga.

I uploaded it myself, you can click on the video then click on watch in HD to see it in amazing detail! You can also watch the original video from Cyndi Wang here.

(ヒャッコ)

(How the heck did uploading images get even more confusing? I had to upload this the ghetto HTML way!) /rant

Additional info:

This series is currently completed.
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Demographic: Shounen
Animation Studio: Nippon Animation
Director: Michio Fukuda

Synopsis(ANN):

On the first day of high school at Kamizono Academy, four girls meet each other while lost on the huge campus, and form a friendship. This story follows the daily school life of the four girls and their eclectic classmates.

Artwork and Animation: 8.5/10

Although waterpaint backdrops is neither the specialty nor the focal point of this anime, it still stands out from other animes as being a more bold approach by making them look like they’re out of a sketchbook instead of a finished piece of fine artwork, and I can’t say I hate it. This style especially shine during OP’s and ED’s (2nd ED = beautiful) when the audience diverts their concentration to the artwork as the song play. As you can probably tell if you have seen it already, they toned that style down for the OP’s since the song didn’t exactly fit with it. The animation is also quite outstanding, and big elaborate movements means the studio wasn’t being cheap with this anime at all, although as for originality and style, it didn’t strike me anything out of the ordinary.

Sound (Themes, Voice-overs, and Inserts): 8/10

Cheers, its Hirano Aya! To be able to voice Ayumi after surprising us by going from Haruhi to Konata, she is proving herself to be a versatile seiyu indeed. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for her singing, face pace songs seem to be her forte when she has a commanding singing voice. Not to worry, her single for this anime- “Namida, Namida, Namida”- is not a slow place song, which the name misled me to believe that it is before I watched the anime. A powerful song fill with energy, and at the same time, sorrow. Good job Hirano-sama! As for the opening… I cant say it is the best I’ve heard, in fact, it’s no where near, but it fits. And fitting is all I can give it.

Plot (including character development): 8/10

Like with all the other comedies, Hyakko’s strength should come from the scriptwr… the manga artists who created this. It is good, and I had some nice laughs, although if you ask me to pull out a funny moment right out of my head, I’m afraid I can’t do it. It did not just WOW me like Zetsubou Sensei did (Early on, that is). However, it had slice of life elements that filled the space in between the comedy. Was it the lack of material they had to work with? I do not know, didn’t read the manga. There is no plot movement in this anime, so technically there are no fillers, although some parts can be quite slow, even by slice of life standards.

Directing: 8/10

Nothing jawdropping on this aspect either, the director did what needed to be done, it didn’t exactly enhance my enjoyment out of this anime, but it sure didn’t hinder it. Because of it, nothing noteworthy can really be said about it, neither good nor bad. Or maybe it is just me not paying enough attention… nah.

Overall: 7.5/10

It’s good time to spend time on and enjoy yourself once in a while, but there is nothing to hook me into finishing these series in one go if I had a chance. I guess that’s both the strong and weak point of comedies without a plot, you can enjoy it anywhere anytime, but the level of immersion is kept to a minimal level. I myself don’t like that very much, closure is something I prefer, maybe I’m getting old. *sigh cough cough*

Finals, and games(mostly) on my mind. As always there is a surge of posts when the pendulum swings towards anime side and practically none when it swings towards the game side. And Mabinogi is doing a darn well job at keeping the pendulum on the game side.

Anyways… let’s start.

(クラナド)

(btw, this new system makes posting pictures a pain in the neck, wonder if I can revert back to the original)

Additional info:

This series is currently completed.
Genre: Drama, Romance, Harem, Fantasy
Demographic: Seinen
Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation
Game Developer: Key

Synopsis(ANN):

Tomoya Okazaki is a third year high school student resentful of his life. His mother passed away from a car accident when he was younger, causing his father to resort to alcohol and gambling. This results in fights between the two until Tomoya’s shoulder is injured in a fight. Since then, Tomoya has had distant relationships with his father, causing him to become a delinquent over time. While on a walk to school, he meets a strange girl named Nagisa Furukawa who is a year older, but is repeating due to illness. Due to this, she is often alone as most of her friends have moved on. The two begin hanging out and slowly, as time goes by, Tomoya finds his life shifting in a new direction.

Review:

Artwork and Animation: 9.5/10

It seems the animation style of Key games keep getting better (from the notorious blunder of Kanon’02 to a passable Air and then on to a nicely done Kanon’06) That paired with decent CG effects gives it a nice feel to the environments it tries to produced, along with some comedic scenes done in flash. Well, since it IS the anime’s strongest point, aside from the story (if you take out the story and the art from Visual Novels, what do you have left?).

Sound (Themes and Inserts): 7/10

Although the opening still has quite an impact, the OST in general seemed by be glossed over by the intesive plot movements. The ending… dango, dango, dango, dango… dango daikazoku? Indeed it draws quite a bit of curiosity in the beginning but quickly becomes an annoyance for me (sorry to anyone who I’ve offended, I can personally think of quite a few). All in all, the main thing it had going for it was Megumeru by eufonius, but when that pales in comparison too Tori no Uta from Air… well… it pales in comparison.

Plot (including character development): 8/10
Although I’d like to give it credit for doing a rare thing and trying combine ALL the arcs together, it too ended up in a general harem (following in the great footsteps of School Days, I see). They, however, do not even attempt to keep it coherent albeit there is the main and often underlying arc with Nagisa which seems to spontaneously appear and disappear, and at the grand finale it all spontaneously combust into a who gives a damn it’s a happy ending let’s all enjoy it kind of ending. Well, I don’t like it, do you?

Directing: 9/10

The directing is quite good with bits of general randomness that is totally avatar/signature/forum worthy. (For example the part where Sunohara gets owned by the Tomoyo/Tomoya 1000(?) hit combo.) I find myself waiting for these moments much more than paying attention to the plotline itself. Still disappointed with how the Kyou arc, or the lack of it, turned out T_T

Overall: 8/10

I know that is hyped up and all. Because we all love to see the anime of a children’s game that turned hentai. But unfortunately, as far as the directing carries it (which isn’t very far), this will fall into green section in my decent animes, but I wouldn’t impose this anime on others unless they’re really into that genre. As much as I whine about fanservice, not having it in a harem… just feels out of place. If they went out of their way to move it out of the slice of life (which it really should be) into more of a romance comedy, it should add some fanservice, don’t you think?

So I started reading Boku ni Natta Watashi because the synopsis sounded like Hana Kimi. In fact, there are some aspects that are uncanny similar to Hana Kimi. Like the part where a guy touches her chest (taped down) and thinks it’s man boobs. (I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference either.)

Also this part, that’s right, I haven’t read Hana Kimi manga, so they maynot be matchin. But this part is also from the drama, and it’s definitely something to comment upon.

I can’t get over the fact that girls cover their breasts when someone caught them naked. (Is it even true?) Why not one arm for each? Thank goodness for camera angles and convenient patches of steam, right?

Or maybe she doesn’t want to cover it up, sneaky sneaky girl. But unfortunately her attitude towards that was fairly inconsistent. I think it’s bending it to be both humourous and dramatic and the same time, but for someone like me that fusses over the small details, it can be quite a detriment.

The omakes are pretty decent, but not the best I’ve seen.

Isn’t this great? A manga post makes the post looks like it’s longer than it really is.

Third iProject for me, getting better, and faster… (1hr and 5 minutes)

Shouldn’t have draw those circuits anyways, they don’t turn out that great when the picture is small… oh well.

Enjoy!

Synopsis:

This episode’s synopsis is short and sweet since all the explanations are done and all thats left is to fight it out. After the battle, Lockon refuses to be in a “regeneration capsule” because he cannot help if someone attacks them, and UN announces it will now take it’s GN units to war with Gundams. The OverFlag is still being developed while Dynames is out of service. Honestly, decompression should have left Dynames much more damage than just the hull. Anyways, Tieria still feeling bad about Lockon’s injury and his loss of reliance on Veda for battle skills. Feldt gets a little airtime in this episode, but she used it to snoop on Lockon, what a stalker! xD Trinities on the run after their land-base was destroyed by the HRL, and they are once again chase down by the HRL, Drei got damaged in the battle, and they pulled a hasty retreat. Meanwhile, Saji is slowly losing his soul to become Shinn reincarnate. After the battle Celestial Being decides they need to come out rehab and do another armed intervention. Al-Saachez comes along and tells the Trinities that he killed Lagna, and then pulled a quickie on Michael (not that quickie, perv), he should’ve gone with a headshot since Michael had armor on (maybe futuristic pistols are really strong). He jacks Michael’s Gundam and kills Johann, or at least blows up his Gundam (always leave room for some miracle). As expected, Nena lives because a)she’s a girl, b)she’s got comedic value. Setsuna fights Al-Saachez once again, and has another fit, right when he’s about to lose, he conveniently gets a Super-Saiyan power-up from Veda (notice somethings wrong, since his unit is obvious disconnected from Veda now). The SS power-up is called Trans-Am and reveals a bit of Setsuna’s past. Trans-Am, isn’t that a car model? Vroom vroom!
(Wait… this isn’t short at all! -.-)

Thoughts:

Well it looks like it’s nearing the climax/ending (same thing for Gundam, because they find peace when everything’s blown up). Is Saji going to have any role later on? Maybe he’s just gonna curl up and die? Or some protagonist in a sequel? Still kinda disappointed by the lack of airtime Soma Peries has, she’s my favourite of the anime and has such a potential for a good protagonist! Ah well, maybe in a sequel. To add on, I disapprove of the Trans AM system, it succeeded in making Gundam 00 ridiculously unrealistic (like it isn’t before). I dislike the idea of 1 person pwning every single thing he sees. Or even a small group of elites, the pressure for them to revolt into their own powers is unparalleled to their loyalty, such is the case in this series, (although it’s true with Seed also). Maybe that’s why I never really liked Gundam battle scenes.

This is also about Gundam 00… ちょっと…

Notes:

I’ve been neglecting certain series lately, namely Miname-ke, Zetsubou Sensei, Bamboo Blade, and True Tears, of those four, only True Tears has been regularly coming out with subbed episodes, but honestly the story itself is slow already, I have keep following it episode by episode I’ll be very confused since I’ll keep forgetting what happened before. I’ll wait till it’s finished. Good thing Minami-ke and Zetsubou Sensei has no general plotline to follow, and Bamboo Blade’s plot line isn’t exactly coherent either.

Left to post:
Shigofumi 9/10
KimiKiss 21/22

Left to watch:
Clannad 20
Clannad the Movie