Anime Revolution 2012 (Full)

Sorry for the delay, although I think only 1 person reads my posts.

Anime Revolution's debut this past august and was my first con ever, and it was an amazing experience that has me looking forward to future conventions. Anime Revolution [AR] was a 3 day event that featured the reunited dub cast of Sailor Moon for their 20th anniversary celebration. AR had a wide variety of events, including an auction, voice actor Q&A with signatures, Anime Idol, a Walk-Off, Pokemon gym and elite 4 competition, and so much more.

To start off, the event held a ton of people in downtown Vancouver (BC). Lots of people dressed up in some amazing outfits, while tourists and onlookers outside the convention center took photos like we were celebrities or acted like ignorant assholes towards our amazing costumes cuz they were jelly.

The best thing about the event was how awesome and free I felt while expressing my love for Anime, It was a very personal experience that led me to be proud of my otaku side. It was an amazing atmosphere that I recommend everyone attend if they enjoy the anime culture. Everyone was accepted by everyone and only a few onlookers tried to act high and mighty in their regular street clothes as myself and other cosplayers made our way to the event each day.

Among the many attractions, the market section was a  football field sized large room with a ton of artists and vendors. Everything from swords, manga, movies, figurines, pillow sleeves, jewelry, and paintball was available for purchase. I ended up buying 5 posters from various artists, a pair of Death The Kid rings from Soul Eater, a Shining Blades Sakuya figurine, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blue-Ray, and a Bleach Ichigo Bankai Sword (not because I like Bleach but because the sword is cool). I spent roughly $300-$400 in total from purchases, food, tickets and commute, but I could have easily shaved off about $200 if I didn't buy that sword.

Next to the vendor hall in best attractions, the Anime Walk Off featured some hilarous skits as cosplayers took to the stage to woo the judges and audience with their moves, wits, and creative character skits.
Here are some images and videos highlighting the 3 days of amazing fun.

http://s1167.photobucket.com/albums/q640/djrseven/ for all the best images taken.

Fall 2012 Anime Season Preview

Here are the 2 most popular charts for this season, see credits on their charts:

I know I haven't made many posts lately, but I should be able to pick up a series this season. (Maybe even starting this week for the rest of Koi Chocho!) This will be a shortened version cause doing these posts take too much time that I don't have anymore.

Hyouka 13-18: The games of a Genius are the bane of the Ordinary

No I’m not gone… Just had to concentrate on my final VFX project for my 3rd semester. Then again I won’t be doing a weekly post from now on. I’d only be posting either every other week or when an arc ends or just when I feel like it. Also, I’ll be making shorter posts now since things are still getting busy.  ヾ(￣0￣； )ノ

Anyway, I pretty sure we all already know how awesome the recent arc is. How they started off with multiple events then slowly and flawlessly tied them all together. We also got to know more about Fukube and Ibara. Who are the main focus of this arc.

With Ibara, we found the not so friendly relationship she is having with her fellow manga club members. I find it admiring that she is capable of coping up and resisting the harassment from them. But this shows her strong will and love for manga, which I found very attractive.

Now this time, Fukubes part in the arc is more “Important”. Since he is the stories detective maniac, he tries to solve the Juumoji mystery. But then he finds a rival, Koureyuki Tani, and his purpose for fighting Fukube is one mystery that has yet to be solved. However the rival Fukube finds is of course Oreki. And throughout the arc he desperately tries to solve the mystery to prove to that he too can be a detective.

Chitandas role in this arc has been brought down to a support character and she didn’t really do much so we’ll skip her. So Oreki on the other hand has had a peculiar role in this arc. On one hand the arc shows little of him making it seem like he is a support character like Chitanda, but then in those little scenes he tends get the key pieces to the mystery.

So while the arc tries to focus on Fukube and Ibaras story they bring in this odd feeling by making Oreki take all the big pieces. Which actually works because with this arc they were clearly trying to show “the difference between talent and skill”. Which is pretty much the meaning and idea to the whole arc. This idea is also apparent from Ayako Kouchi and Jiro Tanabe’s jealousy over Haruna Anjo and Muneyoshi Kugayamas work “A Corpse by Evening”. In the end, the way the writer fuses everything together throughout the arc is just so seamless and perfect. *Applause*  *Applause* *Applause*

However it is NOT safe to say that what they’ve shown here is the difference between talent and skill. Talent and skill are not so far apart, in the end it is the one who develops that particular ability throughout the days who will be the one to come on top. Now look at Oreki, he wasn’t even developing his talent until recently but then he was able to figure out such a complex mystery through some “I never thought I’d find a clue there” ways? Lets face it Oreki is a genius and genius is something high above both talent and skill. So rather than saying “the difference between talent and skill”, the right term here is “Genius vs Ordinary”.

As for the recent episode, meh. Good filler but the only thing we could get out of it the more development from Oreki and Chitanda, especially in the end part.

OkamiSan~

Anime Revolution Vancouver 2012 Day 1 (partial)

This weekend is the start of the first Anime Revolution here in Vancouver B.C as it marks my first ever anime con. Here is a brief re-cap of today's events, but there was so much to write about that I don't have time at the moment.

There was a ton of awesome stuff on day 1, first off it took about an hour and a half to get into the damn convention center, which was equal for both pre-registered people and people just registering, which kinda ruined the whole pre-register option.

While standing in a long line-up there were some awesome cosplayers which grabbed the attention of some people from Japan wanting pics with everyone, except for me. I dressed as Shizuo Heiwajima, and I must say it was pretty legit.

Surprisingly there was a ratio of 50-50 for cosplays and regular street clothes, but there was definitely a lot of people attending. The most common cosplay theme was Zelda, with about 10 or so Link's sporting various colours and costume quality. There was also an abundance of Vocaloid, Madoca Magica, Final Fantasy, and FMA. There were a ton of unique costumes including a SIMS guy, Lolipop Chainsaw, Super Meat Boy, Pedo Bear, and fully suited Alphonse Elric. Some of the most High quality costumes were a full Master Chief outfit with fans inside his helmet, cellphone attached to his arm, glowing lights, shotgunn, and speaker system, which took him about 1000 hours to make.

For the events I watched the Anime Walk Off, where two dressed cosplay competitors battle it out on stage with dance moves, and zoolander actions to move on to the next round. This event was pretty hilarious as Loki and Lelouche battled it out with steeds including a My Little Pony cosplayer.

The biggest thing was the large vendor area where you could buy an assortment of posters, plush dolls, weapons, Gundams, manga, movies, and all your anime merchandise. I ended up spending $100 on a Shining hearts Figure, World Ends With You badge, three posters featuring Lightning, Black Rock Shooter, and Midna on wolf Link, as well as a mini Cyndaquill handmade wool doll.

I need some sleep as the con starts at 9am tomorrow so I will try and get day 1 and 2 up when I get home tomorrow night, unless I stay there till 1am that is haha.

Xenoblade Chronicles Review 10/10

Xenoblade offers a compelling story, fresh game mechanics, awesome exploration, easy questing, and a return to quality RPG gaming since the first Dragon's Age.

In this day and age of AAA blockbuster high budget video games, Xenoblade Chronicles comes as a welcomed return to simplistic casual gaming. The game features one of the most fluid gameplay ever, offering absolutely no loading during play.

This game was brilliantly polished in terms of pace, combat system, and the whole RPG theme. The graphics are quite lackluster and blurry but, it's still a beautiful game.

Narrative:
The story runs deep so I hear, I am only on the fourth area and it took me about 10 hours to get there while doing almost every single side quest. The intro starts off with the usual, big ass machines arriving and wrecking up the place and it's up to the lone hero who wields a unique power to defeat them, after a certain incident that almost had me in tears, the hero heads off in search of vengeance. Several characters and an interesting relationship web of every named interactive character creates some fun side missions and additional dialogue.  The story thus far of my play time perfectly guides the player forward and will definitely excite anyone. The game world is set on two titans, yes you are running around on two massive titans that have long been dead, this just blows my mind more than as a planet within a planet like FFXIII.

Characters:
The most irritating yet enjoyable thing is the voice actors, unfortunately we don't have any north american voices and we get the whole UK dubbing, which is a bit annoying outside of cutscenes with their extra dialogue. Having UK voice actors somehow makes the game a bit more enjoyable and the voice acting is well done and helps create the mood, but the voices themselves irk me slightly, but also gives off a unique charm. The characters themselves are well defined and their combat styles reinforce their character types, so all around the characters are enjoyable.

Questing:
So the game is pretty linear in terms of story, but the amount of side quests and exploration makes this game incredibly open. You are never forced down a linear path following the story quest like FFXIII. The game allows you to simply delay the main story and start side questing, but the side quests are completely optional and act as ways to level up and get cash without having to grind. Often do the quests require you to gather a certain amount of loot from a specific enemy, but what makes this amazing is that you can gather the loot before even accepting the quest. I usually kill all new enemies about 3 times and by the time I get the quest to gather the needed items, I already have them.

Combat:
The combat is flawless, each character you play has a completely different way to fight, and each character can be played four ways as a support, healer, tank, or assassin. I even got to play as the game's tank and dish out massive damage with a set of attack spells. The combat has a bunch of QTE (quick time events) that are so well suited that they feel like a part of the combat rather than a gimmick like Prince of Persia 3. Also several ways of customizing each character's ability slots to suite a role you want them as and level up each character however you want.Yes you can play as any character in your three man party to explore different play styles which makes grinding and questing plenty of fun.

Pros:
- Great open world to explore at your own pace.
- Casual grinding that has great pace and flow.
- Unique combat experience and character roles.
- A very interesting story despite starting off stereotypical.
- Constant graphics so we are never torn between higher and lower quality cutscenes and gameplay.
- Plenty of additional quests to help you level without the need for mindless grinding.
- Plenty of items to customize your character's attire and armour.

Cons:
- It's only on the Wii so low quality graphics, but it still looks good and is immersive.
- Side quests don't add much to the story or create enough side story appeal like Dragon Age 2.

This game is easily top 5 games I have played over the past few years and possibly sits at number 1 on my list. Anyone who has a Wii, MUST get this game if they enjoy any form of RPG or fantasy games.

~Djr7

AKB0048 13 - See You Next Stage

The one week wait for each episode of this was always long, and the time spent watching it always flew by; it was no different for the finale. I actually picked up the show four weeks into its run via recommendation by Pearz. I ended up watching all four episodes in one sitting and never looked back; you never steer me wrong, do you Pearz? Coming into this final episode, I knew there were too many loose ends to be tied, but I still expected it to go out with a bang. For the most part, I was really satisfied with the ending given that the AKB0048 franchise will have more time to tell its tale.

After being routed by the DES forces, Tsubasa was forced to end the concert on Lancastar prematurely; after all, the safety of the girls come first. However, both understudies and successors alike wished continue the concert, and Acchan's guiding voice and light was able to convince Tsubasa to allow them to complete what they started. Even after this episode, we still know nothing concrete about the Center Novae or their disappearances. Here, the clue is that Acchan's voice seems to come from no direction in particular, but shining lights are present. This suggests that Acchan hasn't really disappeared, but merely transcended the normal world into space-time. The power that allows interstellar travel is the Kirara Drive, so maybe Acchan just got stuck in that fourth dimension when the Kirara shone brilliantly on that fateful day on Lancastar.

Hey, it might not have been a duet, but it'll have to pass. Taking us back to episode two, the clashing ideology between Chieri and Nagisa was obvious: Chieri saw the others as rivals, while Nagisa wanted to sing together with everyone. Here in the finale, Chieri moved over to Nagisa's camp, for the present moment at least, because the situation is much bigger than themselves. Competition against each other is an afterthought because the people of Lancastar needed their support, otherwise the entertainment ban would put a vice grip on the planet. Moreover, the issue of Nagisa's lost voice was quickly resolved: she only needed to see that her parents were safe and that her proud mom and tsundere dad were there watching her perform in her debut.

Well, that certainly solves Takamina's dilemma quite well. Ironically, it was because she already decided to let Kanata take over after this concert that she was able protect both the understudies and the concert above all else, and ultimately be chosen by the kirara of succession once again. Something the writers did not decide to touch upon was Yuuko's desire and ambition to be Center Nova. Despite all the grit she showed about not being upstaged by the understudies, she showed none of that in this final episode. Maybe she simply realized that this concert wasn't her time with all that was going on.

I thought it was awesome that both the OP and the ED were used as insert songs. So now each one of these girls have the possibility to be the next Center Nova? All the understudies that performed shone radiantly, which is consistent with the idea that they're all possible candidates to be the next Center Nova. Though for some reason, I felt like they were hinting at Kanata. After seeing the current Takamina's soul resonated with the original's, Tsubasa asked, "What of Kanata?" It immediately transitions to the deep booming voice chanting "Center Nova," whom I assume to be Sensei-sensei, but the issue was dropped as quickly as it was brought up. I guess will probably be one of the main plot points in AKB0048's future project.

Dualium is the other clue about the Center Novae's disappearances as well the mystery behind the kirara. The common thread between Acchan's final performance and the understudies' performance was that they were both on Lancastar. It was on this planet that we saw the spawning of the girls' personal kirara. Though still in trace amounts, it seems Lancastar just so happens to have a more readily available amount of dualium compared to other planets. It also falls in line with Suzuko's seemingly trivial fact about how most 00 members come from mining planets. Perhaps the presence of dualium amplifies the effect of the kirara on the radiance of the soul. This is just pure speculation on my part, but maybe Center Novae that came before Acchan also disappeared on dualium-rich planets. When all the girls were glowing, it looked like Mii-chan was afraid that they might disappear like all the previous Center Novae did. Perhaps they didn't disappear because the radiance was distributed among the understudies, and not concentrated on one Center Nova.

There are still many questions left unanswered, but fear not, more AKB0048 was announced for 2013 post-credits. Hopefully it'll be a full-fledged second season and not a movie or an OVA. Another point of interest that flashed across our screens was "Maeda Atsuko the 14th." This leads us to believe that one of our beloved understudies will succeed and become the next Acchan, and possibly the next Center Nova. It seems that the real life Maeda Atsuko is graduating this August, so maybe there will be a plot point similar to that in the 2013 project. As for the rest, all we can really do is speculate for the next year or so. Even though many loose ends remain untied, I really liked the finale because it was packed with a bunch of awesome moments with the singing, dancing, and fighting space idols that we grew to know and love. This was a show that I looked forward to every Sunday and it certainly leaves a void now that the cour is done. I'm sure we'll all be painstakingly awaiting what is hopefully the second season. See you next stage.

-Bern

Tasogare Otome X Amnesia In Review 5/10

Somewhere along the way Tasogare became lost within its own universe, struggling to grasp its its own darkness with the amount of fan service, romance, and comedy. Tasogare was a disappointment, but despite its inability to thrive off the essence of eeriness and haunting atmospheres, it was enjoyable to an extent.

The major flaw with the show is how it tried so hard to play itself off as a sad romance story, a-midst blood stained backgrounds and dark spooky atmospheres. The atmospheres were very well done but the issue was how often they played off some ecchi or comedy in front of these great set pieces, ruining the moment.

The finale was a huge troll end, I was almost brought to tears with what I thought was the perfect ending, only to be disappointed by the end of the credits.

The characters were somewhat shallow but are overall likable enough to keep watching. Our female lead Yuuko was the foundation the show revolves around, and she does well to invoke scenes of loneliness and sadness. Her counter part, Shadow Yuuko acts as the evil entity creating some awesome moments of thrill. Despite Yuuko's performance, too many of her scenes revolve around a mushy romance with Teiichi, which often flips our view of the show from mystery thriller to romantic ecchi comedy. The show is unable to balance these two themes and I really wish they would have integrated them together a bit better. While this was bothersome for the majority of the show, the ending does quite well to introduce a complete Yuuko that balances out her personality issues and contrasts well with the ecchi romantic Yuuko personality we come to know. The remaining two support characters make an attempt at being Teiichi's love interest, but they fall short of capturing that convincing feeling and are often there to just push Teiichi along his struggling role.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a light thriller. The amount of ecchi, romance, and comedy isn't overboard and the eerie and mysterious scenes are well done and can really draw you in with their amazing atmospheres.

Overall a 5/10 for its quality moments but lack of smooth integration of all its themes it tried to master. 

~Djr7

Young Animator Training Project - Dudu the Floatie

If you've got 25 minutes of free time and like lighthearted stuff, I'd definitely recommend this for a quick watch. Of the Young Animator Training Project stuff, this is only the second that I've seen, the other one being Wasurenagumo. Of the two, I definitely liked Dudu the Floatie more simply because how much more straightforward it was. Unlike the bizarre and unexpected ending that we got from Wasurenagumo, this little short's goal was easier to see: it was to highlight the bond between father and daughter.

For the visuals, what stuck out to me the most were the character designs. Just the simple contrast of size between father and daughter was cute. For  some weird reason, I really liked how the eyes were drawn too. Moreover, the color choice was rather fitting of what felt like a small segment of a kid's PG movie. 

The story is rather easy to follow. Mika is upset that her father breaks his promise of taking her to the beach yet again due to him being called in for work again. As she dozes off in the kiddie pool, she, along with Dudu, goes on an imaginative journey of adventure and self-reflection. Upon the climax of her dream, she tells her "evil self" that she'll definitely wait until her father takes her to the beach and sees her father's fear going into the sea.

Her father's reinflation of the Dudu also inflated his courage to confess his phobia to his daughter. Being the forgiving daughter that she is, they go to the beach as promised. Seeing her daughter float away into the ocean, the father overcomes his fear and swims to her to re-clasp her hand, bringing this heartwarming short to an end. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and will probably go back to watch the first 2011 short before gg translates the fourth one. It's really nice to see some talent going into the anime industry in Japan.

-Bern

Rune Factory 2 NDS

After checking out a new store in my area similar to Gamestop and EB games, I picked up an old DS game called Rune Factory 2.

The game revolves around a boy with amnesia and gets a free farm to take care of in a little town. You spend the majority of the game growing crops in each season while performing little fetch quests for your neighbors, a lot like Animal Crossing, except this game adds in a possible romance and marriage option with any of the townsfolk as well as some "dungeons" to kill enemies. One of the coolest features you don't see to often in games these days is you get to play as your second generation, so when you marry and have a kid, 7 years pass and you get to play the game fresh as your son/daughter in what seems to be a slightly harder version of the game where you can upgrade your tools, weapons, abilities, and fight harder monsters in the dungeons. 


The game is top down perspective as you run around slaying monsters and plotting your crops for money. There is no core feature that really grabs my attention, but the whole package itself of what you can do is a breath of fresh air among today's games. I played Animal Crossing for so long before realizing that I didn't even know why it was so addicting or fun, and I think Rune Factory is also worthy of the Animal Crossing addiction. 

The graphics are old but consistent, they use the 8 bit sprites and cut out images of each character like most games from Japan. Unlike Animal Crossing each day goes by in a matter of 24 minutes, and you can only do so much in a day, there are certain days like holidays or character birthdays where you get to take part in special events which is nice, but the main thing you do is talk with everyone in town each day raising their friendship and love points.


 It's a fairly old game with the recent announcement of Rune Factory 4 for the 3ds in Japan already, but if you ever want to sit back and break free from the hollywood style of today's gaming industry then I would suggest picking up one of the Rune Factory Games. 


~Djr7