Anime Analyze: Tenjho Tenge (Anime)

This next anime is called Tenjho Tenge.  Made by the company Oh! Great, it was originally made as a manga and then remade into the anime series in 2004.  Like some other shows that I have reviewed, it only lasts 24 episodes, however the manga goes farther in the story than the anime.  Through the entire series there is just one opening song, "Bomb A Head" by m.c.A.T. So, lets get into the anime Tenjho Tenge. 

New AMV

This AMV was made by Hikachan as a submission to Anime Banzai 2012 and we uploaded it to YouTube after the competition. Hope you enjoy!

Anime Analyze: Darker than Black

The next show that I will be reviewing is called Darker than Black, and boy is this one gonna be good.  Made by Bones in 2007 and instead of being adapted from a manga series, the show actually came out first, then the manga was made a released.  At the time it was also awarded Best Original Anime of the Year by the magazine GoGoPlex.  There is also a second season called Darker than Black: Ryusei no Gemini (Gemini of the Meteor), but I will be covering that as well as the four episode OVA's of the show at another time.  The series has 25 episodes in it and had two openings, the first was one of my favorites, "Howling" by Abington Boys School, and the second was "Kakusei Heroism" (The Hero Without a Name) by An Cafe.  So, lets get into one of my favorite shows, Darker than Black.

Anime Analyze: Sengoku Basara: The Last Party (Movie)

 So we all remember the show Sengoku Basara  that I reviewed earlier, it was that anime that never explained how it worked when it came to how the people got abilities and it just went on doing what it did without taking any time to go through the basic mechanics of how people fought. Well that show was freaking awesome and so they made a movie to go along with the show.  This is Sengoku Basara: The Last Party.  Released in 2011 it starts off where the second season ended and is supposed to be the finisher for the animated franchise.  While being the ending for it, I can make the argument that it didn't finish out the series as well as it could have, and I will go into that more later.  So, here is the review of Sengoku Basara: The Last Party.  

Anime Analyze: Black Rock Shooter (OVA)

 So, having looked at the 2012 anime Black Rock Shooter, I took a look at the OVA of the same name using a song title featuring Hatsune Miku, also of the same name.  It was made in 2010 and was taken in strongly by the public which eventually led to the creation of the mainstream anime series two years later.  Though the OVA series itself only lasted one episode, which created some flaws in it believe me, it was fun to watch and I am going to go more in depth with it now, so lets take a look at Black Rock Shooter the OVA.

Anime Analyze: K-On! I

Happy Labor Day to everyone, I hope that you all had a nice long weekend, I personally did.  So, the next anime that I will be doing is the first season of the show called K-On!.  Made in 2009 this first season is 13 episodes long, based off of the manga started in 2007.  It was produced by Kyoto Animation, who is known for making shows such as Clannad and Lucky Star, and doing other animation for shows like Inyuasha and Full Metal Panic!.  The opening is "Cagayake! GIRLS" by Aki Toyosaki with Yoko Hikasa, Satomi Satou, and Minako Kotobuki, and the ending is "Don't say "lazy"" by the same people who made the opening.  So, lets get together with Sakuragaoka Girl's High School's light music club and see what they have to show. Side note as well, this is the show that brought about the video game that was reviewed by Hikachan earlier in the summer.

Anime Analyze: Hellsing (Anime)

All right, now that I am back from that short hiatus that I was unofficially on for the past month, I can start getting back into the swing of things with my reviews.  This time, I went back to an older anime (or at least older in my mind), way back in the olden days of 2001.  The anime today is Hellsing the anime version.  Hellsing was originally made as a manga in 1997 and then they made an anime adaptation in 2003.  They also have been making an OAV version with a few different episodes called Hellsing Ultimate.  Being an OAV they can make the episodes as long as they want to allowing them to go into as much detail in the show as they need.  Hellsing Ultimate is releasing its final episode here in a few months and at some point I may check the series out.  However, this review is not about that, instead its about the anime TV series with the standard 24 min run time per episode.  With only 13 episodes in the one season it had, it isn't a long series by any means and didn't have a lot of time to build a story with it.

The series is made by Gonzo, who has since the making of this series is known for anime such as Full Metal Panic!, Samurai 7, and Afro Samurai.  It was then a few years later released in the English dub by Geneon Entertainment and shown in America on Starz! in 2003.  The opening theme used for the show is "Lokos Naki World" (A World With No Logic) by Yasushi Ishii.  So, here is my review of Hellsing.

Anime Analyze: Shakugan no Shana III (Final)

So let's finish off the series called Shakugan no Shana.  The third and final series is known as Shakugan no Shana III or Final.  Released in 2011, it completed the series that had been going on for two seasons prior. Like the last season, it had two openings, "Light my Fire" by KOTOKO and "Serment" by Mami Kawadi.  I can say right now that this was definitely the better of all three seasons, so lets get into Shakugan no Shana Final!

Anime Analyze: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Dear God, this anime is insane.  I don't mean insane in the awesome sense, I mean insane as in nothing makes sense through almost the entire show.  If you people want a show that makes sense and has the physics of nature follow normal patterns then do not watch this show! However, if you have a more open mind and are willing to bend it in a way that destroys all knowledge as we know it, then feel free to watch it.  This is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, an anime series that was released back in April of 2007 by studio Gainax. With 27 episodes running the average 24 min episode length, it is loved by many and yet pondered over by more than that. It also has won a couple of awards including 7th annual Tokyo's Anime Award in 2008 as well as Excellence Prize at Japan Media Arts Festival in 2007. I had so many people tell me to watch this show that I just had to go into it to see what was up.  With the opening called "Sorairo Days" by Shoko Nakagawa, we head into Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.  

Anime Analyze: Shakugan no Shana II

As I move on through more Anime, I went back to watch the second season of Shakugan no Shana entitled Shakugan no Shana II.  Released in 2008, it continues where Shakugan no Shana left off.  It has two opening sequences, the first being "Joint" by Mami Kawada, and the second being "Blaze" by KOTOKO, both being good, although I liked the first one better than the second.  So, here is my review of Shakugan no Shana II. 

 

Anime Analyze: Sengoku Basara II

Now that I have taken a break from it, I went back to the second season of Sengoku Basara in order to finish off the series.  The second season is called Sengoku Basara 2 and follows directly after the first season left off.  The second series was released in 2010 and the opening is a song called "Sword Summit" by T.M. Revolution, a member of the band who made the first season's opener, Abington Boys School.  So, let's jump right into the second season, Sengoku Basara II. 

Future Diva: Review of Hatsune Miku Project Diva 2nd

           A virtual diva that surprised all of Asia being the first successful virtual diva to hit the market. If you know Hatsune Miku, there is no need to explain how popular this character has become. If you don't know her, you should look her up on the internet to get a better feel for the character.Her main products include music albums, several video games, action figures, and the software. Although there are many products, we will be looking at Hatsune Miku Project Diva 2nd or also known as Project Diva 2. This again includes grading on gameplay, graphics, music, presentation, and overall appeal.

      Project Diva 2 is quite a simple game at its core by a simply hitting the buttons when the icon reaches the marker. Its for the psp. Although being a Japanese game which are typically harder than American games, the timing for each note has to be very exact in able to score combos or points in the game. As a musician, I believe that the amount of leeway for a note to be counted towards a combo is a 16th note. The game doesn't contain the normal "get to the end of the song without failing"; however it contains a quota system which is to get a certain amount of fine and cools in order to get a passing score. This game really is hard when it comes to that and people without rhythmic training will soon learn how difficult the game gets.

Gameplay

 

Opening sequence 

   

Anime Analyze: Black Rock Shooter

This anime is different from any anime that I have seen before.  The largest reason for this is that the entire series is only 8 episodes long.  And, yes each episode is the normal 24 min long.  This series is good because it somehow fit a deep meaning story in such a short amount of time.  Originally an OVA the anime series was made and released in 2012.  The OVA and the anime series were both created from the song by vocaloid's Hatsune Miku Black Rock Shooter. So, to delve deep into the psyche of middle school students and their counterparts in another dimension, let's delve into Black Rock Shooter the anime.

Blacklight: Retribution - A Review

         Okay, so right now I've got Zero breathing down my neck for me to make my first post on the site, so here I am. No real fancy title, 'cause I really suck at naming things. So without further ado, here is my review for Blacklight: Retribution!

Anime Analyze: Sengoku Basara I

This anime rocks!! Sengoku Basara I is an anime based off of a video game series under the same name.  Having this connection from a video game instead of a manga helped it out somewhat when it came to various action sequences and other features.  Having been released in Japan in 2009 Japan's CBC, it was also later released in the English dub by FUNimation studios in 2010.  The opening for the series is JAP by Abington Boys School.  So, here is my review of the anime adaptation of Sengoku Basara.

More Growth!

As I said welcome to Hikachan, I am now saying welcome to Hindenburg, our new author for the site.  Thanks for joining, and we hope to see something from you soon!

A Game with Tea Time: Game Review PSP K-on Houkago Live

By: Hikachan 4/21/2012

Awhile back, I bought the k-on psp game from play-asia.com. Being a hardcore K-on fan, I was extremely excited to play this game. I had already watched the trailer of the game and saw that sega was producing the game. Already playing project diva, I had a good feeling of buying this game for about 70 dollars which is normal for an imported game. When it did finally arrive in my front door step, I took it out of the package, took it to school, and played it through my English class. 

Well at first glance the game is in complete Japanese characters.In result, anyone who can't read Japanese will probably have to take a Japanese class or just fiddle around until you get to the performance button. There is also a clock, event, ad hoc play or multiplier, title, album, and dress mode. This is quite a lot considering its a fan service game.

The game play is quite simple. Its a standard bar that runs in real time going over notes. Although the game content does persuade for a sub-par game for fans, the game play actually has a very difficult and strict grading system. even compared to guitar hero, the game is stricter on its judgement of timing. The first time I played the game, I had major problems of getting used to the timing of the notes. Instead of hitting them right when the tempo line crosses the note, you must actually hit the note slightly before as if you were actually playing an instrument. The punishment for the missing notes however is very light. Individuals are pretty much able to mash buttons and still pass the song with a very low rating. However, that is were the game gets hard. The game contains many rewards such as costumes and in game menu items. These items usually require some sort of rating in able to unlock them. 

Welcome!

I am posting this to welcome our site's newest author Hikachan.  He has recommended many different shows to me and actually has spent a lot of time in Japan.  He knows the language, and has lots of different insights that he will bring to the site as he posts.  Welcome!

Anime Review: Shakugan no Shana I

This next anime is one suggested to me by Hikachan the same friend who suggested to me the show D.N.Angel.  Needless to say, I was skeptical when deciding to go and watch the series because of this.  However, watching through the first season, (though the different seasons are split into different series), I was proven wrong.  This anime was very interesting and now I am taking many suggestions from this friend to watch in the future. So, here is my review of Shakugan no Shana I.

Review: Soul Eater Anime

Alright, now that I am back and able to watch shows more frequently, I can now go back to reviewing shows and all things that are awesome! Thanks so much for your patience!

This time I am reviewing the anime called Soul Eater.  Created and released in 2008, it was directed by Takuya Igarashi, who is more well known for being involved in the popular anime Sailor Moon. It was later licensed by Funimation, who released the series on DVD as well as made the English adaptation of the series. The series is based upon a manga by the same name which was released in 2003 but the storyline and events of the two do not coincide.