Do I even watch Anime? Sayonara Nodame Kai Edition ^_^

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei - Watch the First Episode!
-I've actually read this a lot more than watched, but I have seen a few episodes. A satirical dark comedy about a suicidal Japanese teacher who just can't take society anymore can't push himself over the edge, but he attempts to every so often. He also teaches a class full of students who each represent a social problem in Japanese society and this only confirms his decision to die. Pretty much the opposite of what all you lolicons out there want eh?



Nodame Cantabile - Watch the First Episode!
-I took notice of this anime because of its opening theme. I haven't gotten a hold of the manga so the anime had to do. A male college student majoring in piano has dreams of someday becoming a conductor, but due to a childhood accident he is too afraid to ever get back on a plane. How can he be a famous musician if he can't go to Europe to show his true skills? During his days at college he meets a girl who is also excellent at the piano yet she doesn't actually read the music sheet, she plays by ear. This is pretty much shojo yet I do appreciate the more mature setting and the fact that this story does go beyond the college years into adulthood. Also as you can guess the soundtrack is classical music, so give it a try if you love that!



Dragonball Kai - Watch the First Episode!
-Hahaha. Dragonball Z. Good show. Americans grew up on it. I can imagine a lot of Japanese kids growing up on it too as the Z arc aired from 1989 to 1996. 291 Episodes. That was big boy stuff for action animes until One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach came by, the latter two even took inspiration from the series. A big problem with the Z series was that they talk too damn much. Well for the 20th year anniversary Toei announced that they would begin rebroadcasting Dragonball Z under the name Kai because they will be remstared for HDTV, have rerecorded voice work from most of the original cast, re-edited footage to closely follow the manga (less talking), damaged frames removed, and new OP and End sequences. If you have anything bad to say about this then eat a %@! then go watch Gossip Girl.

Sam's been busy!?!?! Kawaii!!

So I've been writing a lot less these past 3 weeks because I've been working very hard on some other projects. I'll write about what I've actually been working on once the results are in, but I just wanted to shed some light on my absence. Oh, this game is also the reason and I know none of you played it because you're too cool.



An article in Play magazine with some interesting interviews made me want to write about how most Japanese developers are starting to seriously lag behind other developers in both creativity and diversity, especially in the RPG elements, but it looks like I'll have to save that for another time. Oh well. u.u



Don't be mad. I enjoy Final Fantasy! ^_^

Patapon 2...DOWNLOAD ONLY?!

Patapon 2, the sequel to last year's critically acclaimed PSP game (and one of my favorites) will not be on a UMD. What started out as a rumor has been confirmed on IGN that Sony will be releasing Patapon 2 for the PSP via download only. If reserved at a store then you'll actually be purchasing vouchers that allow you to download the game. The game is coming out May 5th so make your decision to buy it soon. If you still haven't tried out the first game yet and you own a PSP then I recommend you go get it. It was $20 when it came out last year so you can probably find it for cheap now. It also sports an amazing soundtrack. You'll be beating to the rhythm all day long.

Now march onward then! Pata-Pata-Pata-Pon! Reach into your wallet for the cash! Chaka-Chaka-Pata-Pon! Buy the game! Pon-Pon-Pata-Pon! Run home and play it! Pon-Pata-Pon Pata!


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Do I Even Watch Anime? Lucky Rumble Edition ^_^

Hehehe....Yes I do...it's just old. T_T

-I decided to watch some School Rumble this week and man did I splurge. I finished both seasons and their OVAs but not without good reason. The show is about Tenma Tsukamoto, a girl in high school in love with a mundane boy with no personality at all, and Harima Kenji, a high school delinquent who's in love with Tenma. The clever romantic comedy follows these characters and their classmates and knows how to deliver the punch lines at just the right times. If you're looking for something to laugh at this show is amazing and I promise you will enjoy it.
School Rumble Episode 1!


-While School Rumble is great for casual anime viewers, the most otaku based folks might appreciate this in a different sense. Lucky Star is a casual comedy about four high school girls just trying to live their daily lives. The references to japanese culture and anime is ridiculous and very appreciated. I know I've already spoken about this before, but I'm finally getting to watching the last couple of episodes to the series.
Lucky Star Episode 1!


This might be considered old anime to some, but you must always make sure to go back and watch any gems you might've missed. ^_^x

Anime? Psh. I got my Manga :D

Manga.

I know we like to play video games. That's expensive though. We also watch anime and we either pay for that too or take advantage of the fact it's not licensed in America yet. Then we have manga, which also has the same problems as anime in the sense of people aren't really buying that so either.

While I understand that not everyone has money I urge people who are interested to at least go to their book store and skim through some manga. It's definitely a different feel than reading it online. If you don't know what to buy and are scared to spend $8 on some random manga then I recommend picking up a copy of the new Yen+Plus magazine.

Similar to Shonen Jump (but without the uber mainstream titles you've already read) and Shojo Beat (but not overflowing with girl-only manga), Yen+Plus is Yen Press' potpourri of some its freshest manga hitting the shelves. It contains 11 main titles that it serializes everything month and sometimes includes previews of new manga that month such as Black God or Legend. The 5 main manga titles; Nabari No ou, Sumomomo Momomo, Bamboo Blade, Higurashi: When They Cry, and Soul Eater. The other 6 titles are a combination of OEL and manwha titles including Sarasah, Pig Bride, One Fine Day, Maximum Ride, Nightschool, and Jack Frost. It's rated older teen and is a mix of shonen, seinan, and shojo comics which should be able to thirst any tastes you have regardless of age.

I understand you're thinking "thanks for titles, I'm totally going to get the scnaslations now." Well sure you can do that and some of you probabaly will but if you love the media so much why not support them? While there will always be DVD junkies who will buy the english release of anime once it's released here the print market is totally different. Magazines are differnt and are doing poorly as is manga. Turn Cartoon Network on and tell when you see anime that isn't Bakugan. Doesn't really exist does it? Good thing we still have Syfy (LOL), but they've had their anime roots since the early 90's. I'm not saying pay $25 for 4 episodes of anime, just $9 for 11 solid titles in over 200 pages of greatness!

New Games Every Week! The Chronicles of Blade: Galactrix Anthology Edition @_@

What if you came on and there were no games...and then the same next week...and then again? Would you cry?

-The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - X360/PS3/PC
-The Godfather II - X360/PS3/PC
-Ninja Blade - X360
-Puzzle Quest: Galactrix - X360
-Flock - X360/PS3/PC
-Samurai Shodown Anthology - PS2
-DSi comes out this week!

Pick of the Week!
The DSi coming out is a pretty big deal and if you still haven't gotten a DS then you should probably pick up a DS Lite as it has the Game Boy Advance slot and the DSi does not. If you don't care about that GBA slot then take a look at the DSi, it has 2 cameras, an SD Card slot so you can play your music...and it's $40 more than the DS Lite. I do advise trying out the older Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords instead of the new one, the game is an interesting fusion of puzzle and rpg elements, you'll be quite surprised on how good it actually is.

Do I even Watch Anime? Welcome to the Reborn! Edition ^_^

-A friend forced me to watch Reborn!, but I'm happy he did as I soon took a liking to it. In short the story is about a boy (who is almost undeserving) named Tsuna learning that he is in fact next in line to become the boss of a powerful Mafia organization. To prepare Tsuna to become a respectable man the organization's best hitman, Reborn, is sent to "tutor" him. This idea is pretty fun and not seen so much in anime nowadays so I really appreciated it. I also love the touch of Italian music that is played every so often. In terms of popularity this anime resembles Shaman King and One Piece and definitely deserves a watch if you like fun comedic Shonen Jump material!



-Welcome to the N.H.K. was a japanese novel, written at the start of the century, about a young hikikomori who realizes that his isolation from society is really just a conspiracy an evil organization is doing to convert more otakus into hikikomori! What I have codenamed "The Japanese Catcher in the Rye" this book has been adapted into an eight volume manga and 24 episode anime. After reading the book it had hit me so hard that I needed more and so began watching the anime. It's amazing and if you don't know the true definition of otaku, DMT, lolicon, and internet suicide then maybe you'd like to keep living in your innocent life and just watch the anime. If you think you're up for it please read the novel. They're both amazing, just tailored to different outlets.



Note: I know you all pretty much know he has one, but Mike has finally made his own blog about anime! I don't cover the subject as well as he does so check it out when you'd like. http://theasianmike.blogspot.com/

Not an April Fool's Joke! New Tales Games!

Regardless of what current-gen system you own (except Xbox 360 LOL) there will be Tales games to saturate your thirst. Sony fanboys have had their fun. Now even Wii owners may be thrilled to hear this news. Tales of Grace (Wii) will be coming out in Japan this Winter and a US. announcement should be expected as this is a main entry into the Tales Series. I felt the need for two posts since the last one was just for fun.


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Nintendo has finally come to it's senses!

Nintendo fans have recently felt abandoned by Nintendo as the casual giant has been releasing not so hardcore games. Fan of Mario? Play some tennis. Fan of Zelda? Take a ride on a train. Fan of Metroid? New controls for an old game! Fan of Pokemon? The same crap again! Fan of Starfox? Who's Starfox? Fan of Wario? No warioware for the new DSi. Even Fire Emblem fans just got a remake. At least Starfy is coming right guys?

I guess Miyamoto was playing Wii Music when he cut his finger and realized something. Blood makes everything better! So he spoke to Sakurai about apologizing to the hardcore gaming crowd and thus Super Smash Bros. Brawl X: Extreme is born.

If you want to see the video click here!


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