So the next one I will be reviewing is another one that I really enjoyed. This is Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini (Gemini of the Meteor), the continuation of the anime Darker than Black. Made and released in 2009 two years later than the original season, it is a little shorter than the first season having only 12 episodes in it instead of the regular 24. There has been since a series of OVAs called Darker than Black: Gaiden, which explains what happens in the two year gap between seasons and I may have to check those out sometime. The opening theme is "Tsukiakari no Michishirube" by Stereopony. So lets take a look at the continuation of an awesome series, Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini.
So the next series that I watched recently was Pumpkin Scissors, a somewhat comedic military anime. It was originally a manga started back in 2002 and (unfortunately) it is another one where the manga is still going, even to this day, but they decided to stop the anime for whatever reason, leaving the majority of the series as well as many plot points left unattended to. Anyway, the anime adaptation was made in 2006 by Gonzo (think Afro Samurai and Kaze no Stigma) and consists of 24 episodes at regular half hour length each. The opening was "Aoki Flamme" by Yoko Takahashi, and here we go into Pumpkin Scissors.
So the next anime that I watched was definitely a different one from the last few. It is definitely not as "actiony" as some that I have seen and the main reason that I watched it is that Hikachan told me to. He said it was good and I do have to agree with him in some respects. And while this genre of Anime is not one that I usually watch, I will say that I enjoyed watching it. This is Clannad, a slice of life anime that was released originally as a visual novel for the PC in 2004 and was adapted into an anime and released in 2007-2008 by Kyoto Animation. It has 23 episodes, 22 of which are normal while the last one is a special OVA based around an alternate timeline where two different main characters are dating instead of how it normally worked. The series has a sequel series called Clannad After Story which is considered one of the greatest anime series of all time, but we will get to that one later. The opening for the series is "Megumeru ~cuckool mix 2007~" by Eufonius. So, here is my review of the series Clannad.
So the next anime that I took a look at is the popular anime called Eureka Seven. Started back in 2005 by Bones studios, the anime runs for 50 episodes and later that year was made into a manga series. After finishing it's run in 2006 it won best anime series in the 2006 Tokyo International Anime Fair and won other awards as well. Put into the Sci-Fi genre it is based around action, comedy, and romance all rolled into one. From what I can tell, this anime is very well known and is very popular worldwide. Due to the length there were a few opening songs, the first being "Days" by the band FLOW, the second, "Shounen Heart" by Home Made Kazoku, the third was "Taiyo no Mannaka he" by Bivattchee, and the last one was "Sakura" by NIRGILIS. So here is my review on the widley acclaimed anime called Eureka Seven.
OP 1 "Days" by FLOW
(Apologies, I could not find a good video of the Second opening for Eureka Seven, and that one was my favorite too :(, look it up it is "Shounen Heart" by Home Made Kazoku
Kaze no Stigma, also known as Stigma of the Wind, originally started out as a light novel series that started back in 2003. While the series was also adapted into an anime by Gonzo, the novels were still being created up until the death of the author in 2009 leaving the story itself unfinished and thus, the anime could not be fully completed as well. However, that does not mean that the makers of the anime had to completely leave it up to a cliffhanger. Well they kinda did, but it wasn't as bad as some others that I have seen where they stop the series even if it does continue (*cough* Rave Master *cough*) but I digress. At 24 episodes this series has a lot to offer, action, comedy, romance, incest (kinda), magic, ...wait, did that just say incest? Yes, this series does seem to have something like that in it, and while it may not be what it intended to be, that's almost how it came across. Anyway, we can talk about that later, so here is Kaze no Stigma. The opening for the show was "Blast of Wind" by Sario Kiuiji and the endings were "Hitorikiri no Sora" by Sario Kiuiji, "Matataki no Kiwoku" by Ayumi Fujimura, Yuka Inokuchi, and Shizuka Ito, and these are kinda random for which episodes they go with they just kinda switched back and forth and then they have a random third ending for just episode 12 which confused me but it was "Tsuki Hana no Inori" by Sakai Kanako.
Alright, so the next anime that I will be looking as is Sacred Seven. Made by Sunrise in 2011, the show is short, only having 12 episodes in it and while that being that short can prevent an anime from being good, I think that mindset has left me especially after having seen [C] and Black Rock Shooter which are both shorter than this series. Now after watching this series I can say that having a short series does not make it bad at any rate and sometimes can be a good thing when you think about how shows could be if they were longer and you wonder if they could hold themselves up or not. In any case, this show had one opening and one ending, and halfway through the series they flipped them and played the ending as the opening and the opening as the ending which was pretty cool. The first opening was "Stone Cold" by FictionJunction, and the ending was "Kiseki" by Yuuki Nanri. So lets take a look into the short but good series of Sacred Seven.
This is a fun one. So the next show that I am reviewing is an anime called [C]. Well actually the full title is [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control but most people just call it [C]. Anyway, the show was made in 2011 by Tatsunoko Production and was released through TV. The show lasts 11 episodes, so it's kind of a short one. The opening song is "Matoryoshika" by NICO Touches the Walls and the ending theme is "RPG" by School Food Punishment. So, lets dive right into [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control.
The next anime that I watched recently was the first season of the show Phi-Brain Kami no Puzzle (Phi-Brain Puzzle of God). This show was produced by Sunrise and the first season was aired in 2011-2012. Since then, they have had another season go by in Phi-Brain Kami no Puzzle Orpheus Order Hen and that was a success as well and a third season is planned for 2013. With the usual running times for episodes at a half an hour each, the series' opening was "Brain Diver" by May'n and the ending was "Hologram" by Natsumi Kiyoura. So here is a look into the first season of Phi-Brain Kami no Puzzle.
So, the next anime that I will take a look at is the series known as Chaos;HEad. This anime came to be through a series of events. First a graphic novel was made for the PC (don't ask me why). Then a video game was made for the PC and ports were later made for the Xbox 360 and PSP and PS3, iOS, etc. From the plot of the game, they came out with a manga adaptation which later was made into the anime that we see here. Yeah, really crazy trip for a story to go. Anyway, the anime adaptation was made by Madhouse and was aired on TV in 2008. The opening to the series is "Find the Blue" by Kanako Ito, and the ending for the series was "Desire Blue Sky" by the same artist. So, here is my review of the anime series, Chaos;HEad.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
