"Kannagi" episodes 1-7 thoughts

One anime that caught my attention awhile ago was Kannagi due to its premise and artwork. I kept putting off watching it due to other commitments (school, music, SWTOR, ext.) but now that I have plenty of time I am around half way through the first season (assuming that it will continue later on).

The first thing I noticed when watching this show is that for high schoolers (they are high schoolers correct...?) these characters look too...young. It's the same issue I had when reading and watching Mahoraba where the characters just do not appear to be as mature looking as they should be but hey every artist has their way of drawing so I cannot really complain. Besides the character models, the show looks pretty good. The backgrounds look fairly developed, there are no generic looking backdrops, and the sunset scenes are pretty well done. In the sound department, so far I like all the voice actors and the music fits well enough (for J-pop that is). I especially like Nagi' voice (just personal preference). The characters unfortunately fit in the generic, cookie cutter personalities (tsundere, yuri, ext.) but its not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoy the character interactions so far because every convo has moved the story forward in some sense. Nothing has felt unnecessarily added in just for laughs.

So far I would have to say that I am enjoying the anime for what it has offered so far. A lot of plot elements are starting to come together and I just hope that the ending works well. I only hope it doesn't begin to stale out (much like many slice of life anime before it).

Anime Currently Watching

This is actually the first time that I have bothered to watch currently airing anime in a long time so the weekly wait for new episodes is just KILLING ME -___-
Currently on episode:

1. Kannagi Ep. 7 of 13 Done!
2. Kaze no Stigma Ep. 15 of 24
3. Kokoro Connect Ep. 6 of ?
4. Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru! Ep. 5 of ?
5. Yuru Yuri (season 2) Ep. 6 of ?
6. Tari Tari Ep. 1 of ?

Favorites at the moment are Kokoro Connect and Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru! because even though they are simply school life/harem stuff, they both have interesting twists and plot devices that set them apart from other slice of life shows revolving in a high school setting.

Real Talk: WTF happened to "Bleach"?

I'm not afraid to admit that the beginning of Bleach (pretty much everything up to the conclusion of rescuing Rukia) was in my honest opinion one of the best forms of entertainment I had ever experienced. There was so much energy, great plot devices, characters and visual elements that had me so glued to the series. I remember when I first started watching it I just couldn't let myself get away. In my first sitting, I think I watched at least twenty episodes with out skipping any parts. I was just so engrossed in what was going on that I even convinced my friend (who had no desires to watch anime) to watch a good chunk of the show with me. I had never been so attracted to a series with so much promise.

Then...it started going downhill (in my opinion). The next arcs (both fillers and faithful content) just seemed to keep dragging on and on. Yes there were some epic moments such as Ichigo going Bankai a couple times but that was really it. All the excitement of taking on the entire Soul Society to save Rukia just diminished. The saving grace that almost brought me back to an acceptable amount of interest was the Arrancar and Hueco Mundo arcs which, once again had so much promise that eventually led to an anti-climatic conclusion. It just felt like there were so many unanswered questions and plot holes left behind every arc.

I'm complaining a lot; the show is decent but it should of been amazing. I haven't really read the manga so I cannot say it also follows suit but there is just way too much dragging down this anime for me to say its a masterpiece. If you want to watch something really amazing, watch the first 63 episodes of Bleach then STOP.

"Onani Master Kurosawa" Manga Review

THIS IS NOT AN H-RATED MANGA BECAUSE THERE ARE NO H-SCENES WITHIN THE ENTIRE MANGA. YOU WILL NOT SEE ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULDN’T SEE ON TV.

A quick Google search of what Onani Master might translate to might veer you away from this manga but I strongly encourage you first read my review. What this manga has in store for you is a short but amazing story of redemption.

Story: 9/10
What the title will not tell you is that this manga is a story about redemption for social outcast Kakeru Kurosawa. He (in the beginning) spends his free time taking a “load” off in the women’s restrooms because he feels like it. Weird right? In his head he is in complete control and he doesn’t think he needs any true friends to survive. To be honest Kurosawa is a pretty shitty person at first glance which is exactly why this redemption story is the best I have ever witnessed. As the plot progresses, he little by little begins forming true friendships with classmates Keiji Nagaoka, Magister Takigawa, and many more people while being brought down by Kitahara (another social outcast character). Kitahara who also feels detatched from society more or less makes Kurosawa do certian actions that once he atones for changes and matures him into a very respectable male lead. While the path to redemption only takes 4 volumes (30 chapters), I find it fitting to what it is trying to accomplish. It goes from his daily life to revenge to redemption in such a flowing manner that you will want more once you finish. You start out with shitty Kurosawa, see him get better as a person, falls back to shitty person, then has an epiphany that changes himself completely. It is very hard to describe how well the story is without giving important plot points away so just know that this manga is a lot more than some guy who gets off in the women’s bathroom.

Art: 6.5/10
The artwork for the manga is very much rough sketches with over exaggerated boldness on Kurosawa to show how dark he is in the beginning of the manga. It’s not drawn poorly; it’s just a very original looking style that doesn’t try to “wow” you with amazing vistas. Cheerful characters are drawn lightly and have their surroundings match their moods. The other characters in the manga that are of ill-intent have their facial expressions match their moods quite well. Overall I have been spoiled by great looking manga such as Fairy Tail and Skip Beat so when comparing to this one it just doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

Characters: 9/10
The characters of this manga are a collection of lighthearted and generally good people while also including some who think they are misguided and lost causes. The interactions between the social outcasts (Kurosawa and Kitahara) and the “good” guys (Nagaoka and the rest of his gang) really make the redemption story very enjoyable to watch. You see Nagaoka trying to his heart’s content to include Kurosawa in every event even though he gets the same response every time. I never felt like any of the main characters were generic or not needed to progress the story.

Overall 8.2/10
No matter what my scoring may stray you towards I want you to try this manga out. It starts off with a Death Note vibe but changes and gets better and more interesting as it progresses. It is by far the best story about a social outcast maturing into a fine adult that I have ever experienced. It is very short and can be enjoyed in a day or a week.
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 A very good manga that shows true character development over time. Do not stray away due to the title; if you are bored one afternoon sit down and read this.

"Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!!" Anime Review

 Note: I wrote this review before playing the Visual Novel that it was biased off of
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***This is a spoiler free review***

Never in my life would I expect myself to say, “Man I wish this anime would of stayed a typical stale harem story.” Well brace yourselves because Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! biggest flaw is its attempt to combine harem, ecchi, and terrorist plot elements into a twelve episode season.

Story: 2/10
So the first two episodes of this anime actually lead the show on a promising path. Initially I thought this anime was going to be a school life/slice of life/harem type anime which even though as been done to death is sometimes good to go back to and just enjoy. The first episode showcased a class war while the second puts the characters on an odd job to find a lost dog. The flow between the characters seemed to be done very well but as soon as the third episode hits, they introduce a terrorist plot to the anime that completely…kills it (in a bad way). The anime tries to become super serious and add backstory to some of the characters but unfortunately it just fails. It’s a shame because I was really looking forward to a nice laid back anime.

Animation: 8.2/10
The animation on the other hand came out pretty good. I was lucky enough to get to watch this season on my friends BD copy in 1920x1080 resolution and I have to say…ecchi. There are a lot of scenes where there are some suggested sexual content but nothing that pushes the bar too much. In terms of overall quality of the scenes, it is kind of a mixed bag. The scenes where not a lot is going on is filled with some impressive visuals, however I noticed that the action scenes are filled with some artifacting (which shouldn't happen on a BD copy of the anime...) and some loss of quality. Overall it’s a great looking anime so props for that.

Sound: 6/10
The soundtrack leaves much to be desired but the voice acting is recorded fairly well and also has pretty good actors to back them up. Each character has a unique and well done vocal track. The only issue that really bothers me about the sound in this anime is that the overall soundtrack is just bland and uninspiring.

Characters: 6.5/10

In terms of my overall enjoyment with the characters of this anime I have to say that I did love some of the characters. The ones that stood out to me the most was the sex crazy Shina, the main character Naoe, and the shy Mayuzumi who uses a keychain to communicate with others (thinking that it is a god). Everyone else however comes off as generic and, “Oh I remember someone like her from like five other anime.” Generic doesn’t always mean “bad” but for this anime it just seems like they didn’t try to push the character development enough to get these said generic characters out of the typical cookie cutter descriptions.

Overall: 5.7/10
Overall I really, really, really wanted to enjoy this anime because the initial episode really gave me hope and had me hooked. It turns out however that a weird and unneeded plot device can and will run an anime with subpar character development and average sound. It’s hard to recommend this to anyone but hey if you need to kill some time at least it’s not horrible.
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Its a decent anime...but go play the VN instead :D

Real Talk: "Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai!" Visual Novel

NOTE: THIS DISCUSSION IS DIRECTED TO THE VISUAL NOVEL NOT THE ANIME ADAPTATION.

Throughout my life I have had a certain liking to the Japanese culture with the biggest and most prominent sources of this enjoyment coming from anime and manga. After watching the anime adaptation of Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai!, I felt as if it was very lacking and not very fair to the female cast. I learned from some other people that the anime was biased loosely off of a critically acclaimed visual novel. I also found out that for the most part it had an English translation so I thought to myself I would give it a try.

This being my first Visual Novel game, I honestly did not know what to expect. I thought the lack of animation would make it boring and unappealing in the long run but boy was I wrong. From what I can tell they have the same voice actors as the ones in the anime which was a big plus in the entertainment department. The animation was actually very well done even though most of it was still images of different facial expressions and...positions.

Another thing that I really enjoyed was the ridiculous amount of content in the game. The first half of the game (which does not play a huge part on which route you take) took me at least 5+ hours to complete (even when skipping through most of the convos. When you finally get to choose who to chase after, there is still plenty of content for each character. After playing through almost all the routes, it is very hard to pick one character I enjoyed more than the others. Each character is unique and has very different personalities from the others of the cast. Wanko (the red head) is fun, energetic, and innocent (...lol) while Chris (the blonde) is very uptight and gets embarrassed easily. The short and sweet is that no matter who you choose, you are most likely going to like the end result.

One thing that I was not expecting was the large amount of hentai in the game...It seemed that once you made your confession to the character you choose, it was only a matter of time until the inner sex freak was awoken in all the girls. Yes all the girls eventually get super freaky :D. It's not a bad part of the game...just was very surprised when sweet innocent Wanko suggested some...positions.

I could go on all day about this game but pretty much my base thoughts have already been laid out. Whether you are accustomed or new to Visual Novel games, I STRONGLY encourage encountering this one. Its full of pretty much everything you would want in a quality anime plus some...nice scenes.

Real Talk: "Sankarea"

I am going to use these "Real Talk" posts as a discussion about some topic. It will not necessarily be a review but just my general thoughts about an anime, manga, whatever.

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So Sankarea in case you do not know is a manga and anime that revolves around our main protagonist Furuya who is just crazy for zombies and horror films. He eventually runs into Sanka (person in above picture) and she dies. He makes a potion and now she is a zombie.

That's a rough summary of the first chapters/episodes in case you needed the background. I am going to mainly focus on the anime since that is the one I had the most beef with. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the anime for many reasons (one being that it is actually very faithful to the source material). It's animation is very crisp and beautiful, the voice acting is very well done, and the characters (for the most part) match their counterparts in the manga. For me though (maybe I am just weird) it doesn't feel as impactful as the manga.

When I first read the manga I was amazed at how original, interesting, and overall enjoying it was to read. I honestly could not leave it until I cached up with the releases. When I heard an anime would be releasing soon biased off of the manga, I went nuts. When the first couple episodes were released, I found myself liking it...A LOT. The characters seemed to fit perfectly and the animation was very well done. As the show progressed however I began to lose interest. Maybe it was because I already knew what was coming up or that the pace seemed a little too slow. I really do not know why I didn't enjoy it as much as I should of.

Either way the show is very decent and if you haven't been keeping up with the manga I encourage you give this anime a try. You might enjoy it more if you do not read the manga yet because while it does follow the storyline well, the pace is very slow. Look for a review in the next couple weeks.