Review...

Yes, another monthly post!

This time I will quickly review the anime Samurai 7 which I recently finished (in a rush since I have to get it back to the Library for the other 10 people waiting for it!)...

I saw Kurosawa's Seven Samurai quite a while ago, but there were parts in this anime that gave me a feeling that they came straight out of that movie. There are only vague similarities though. Samurai 7 is set on some other futuristic world where the system of social order has become similar to fuedal Japan. The premise is the same as the movie though; seven samurai are hired to defend a village from bandits. It went well beyond that though.

Pros:
If I was going to recommend any action anime to a non-anime watcher it would be this one hands down. There is a great deal of well coreographed fight scenes as well as much to do about bushido code and such. It has just the right amount of comedy to offset some of the graver material within. The mix of CG and animation is awesome. The designs of environment as well as tech stuff is pretty cool.
The chara are fleshed out pretty well.

Cons: Not many.
I would haved liked a different ending, but this being a samurai series, it required a samurai ending to it.
I was not happy with quite a few of the non-main chara designs. Heads and facial features were rather obnoxious on some of them.

I would definately recommend this to anyone! I rated it a Masterpiece on ANN...

Yes! I do want to update this...

So, here I am again. It's only been two months this time! My goodness, I see that there's been at least a bit of activity with 7400+ views...it's motivating!

So I'll do what comes natural and update my Top Ten lists on the sidebar...

In the Top Ten I'm Watching there are a number of new anime that I really would like to recommend!

Toradora!, Kemeko DX, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Kannagi, and Hyakko .

Check out the ANN links for them to see what the stories are about! Well, I am still lazy...

In the Top Ten I've Seen list I added Outlaw Star (see description in this post) which I rated a Masterpiece on ANN! It's awesome old school sci-fi with a bit of mysticism...

Since I'm getting more hits here than I expected, I'll be sure to come back soon with some more updates!

Yeah...wish me luck... :D

Older anime...

Outlaw Star - I got the first two DVDs from the Library. That’s up to episode 9. I have to say that for an older series, it’s pretty good. These two partners (the main chara and a kid) in a do-it-all business are hired by an outlaw in disguise to be her bodyguards. They fight off pirates until she reaches a secluded warehouse where she attempts to double cross them. Failing in that she tskes them with her and her prize; an android girl that was in a case at the warehouse. It seems the android is the key to a new and powerful ship. Tracked by pirates they find the ship and due to an unexpected plot twist, the main chara becomes owner of the ship he dubs the Outlaw Star…

The thing that got me really interested in this series is that the weapons used by all are pretty cool and the minor details that really good science fiction has, the sequences for take off, having to have a ship registered and pay for port fees, ship maintenance, and properly stowing gear, etc. That kind of stuff makes it much more interesting.

A detractor is that annoying shot sequence whenever a new scene or the cut screen initiates. It’s obnoxious!

Overall I’m ready to watch more to see where this adventure takes the two (well four with the girl and the ships AI; oh, yeah, there’s five with the samurai lady…).

Anime watched!

Nogizawa Haruka no Himitsu - At first I thought this was just another fanservice anime, but, man, it's really cool! This somewhat ditzy but altoghether gifted young HS girl has a secret; she's an otaku! Yuuta (who seems to live with his Onee-san and a teacher; both alcoholics...) finds out but instead of rejecting her as most others would, he respects her hobby and befriends her. There is a great deal of comedy as Yuuta gets dragged along into her world while they attempt to keep it a secret from the rest of thier school...The fanservicy at home moments at Yuuta's house aren't played out too much. as a bonus she has an adorable 14 year old (although she looks more like a Japanese 12!) who's a bit craftier than Haruka and wears shimapan! Check this one out; I'm on ep 3. Subbed by BakaWolf-m.3.3.w...

EDIT: I had to delete the images off this because Photobucket banned me! Whatever...

Recently...

I want to post something but since I spend quite a lot of my free time watching anime, I might as well post what I've been up to...

Recently I watched eps 23 - 30 of Armored Trooper Votoms. It's about a natural born soldier who is infatuated by a vision of a beautiful geneticly engineered PS (Perfect Soldier). The series revoles around his search for her and the mechanations and politics behind his universe. Chirico Cuvie is the man.

I finally found the last of and finished They Are My Noble Masters or Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsugi ga Ore de (Kimiaru). It's about a brother and sister who run away from an abusive father and wind up serving a wealthy family with some very comedic members! I loved it and recommend it for it's awesome comedy...

From the new season I watched the first three eps (that's a rule of mine; I can usually find out if somethings worth watching if the first three eps grab my attention, then the next set of three will clinch it for me :D) of Kyoran Kazoku Nikki. Wow, this is one hyper goddess of a cat-girl! Add a bunch of the most misfit children(?) available and a government employee forced husband to play Daddy and you have one of those outragious comedies that still manages to have a moral thrown in each ep for good measure. I'll be watching this one...

On the docket for the evening...the last four episodes of Basilisk!

Whoa! I missed my monthly post for April!! Seriously, I wish I could get my act together and post here more often. It seems like there is just too much internet for me to handle!

The least I can do is 1) update my lists to the right (yeah, right over there!), 2) update my images (also to the right) and 3) leave you with a pic (above) of one of my favorite things...SHIMAPAAAAAAN!!!

Whoa! When did I get 5000+ hits?

Maybe I should update this darn thing more often...

I'll have to find an image to celebrate with...

Yeah, It's my monthly post >_<

I really have almost given up on this, but fear not! I've updated all of my desktop images on the sidebar! No, I really do have three computers, but I only really use one (I have kids you know...)

I'll lay off the promises of posting more here, even though I want to put posts about the anime I've finished watching. I'm so lazy, or overworked, or lazy...

Just go watch some anime, will ya!?

Slacker!

Yeah, that's me. I haven't been very estute about updating this blog because, well, I just don't have the motivation. I've really been up to other things. Therefore, I have now justified myself being called a slacker.

For your amusement I did update my Top Ten Titles I am Watching...

New series post 1

I'm going to attempt (like a whole lotta other anime blogs >_<) to write a quick blurb on which anime i happen to watch when I can here on this wayward blog.

First up is a new series for winter 2008, PERSONA ~ trinity soul ~

The first episode was pretty well done. I was a little confused as to the chara relationships at first (and who was the girl in the beginning!?!), but that worked out by the end (except the girl!). I’m concerned by voice(s) I heard of other chara, but I don’t want to spoil any future plot devices. This show is a different twist on the mecha formula, where instead of mobile suits you get into and fight with, these are mobile suits that come out of you!

The style and music were pretty good, although I didn’t like the OP and some rap was used as BMG, but it did have decent accompaniment.

I’m looking forward to more of this anime.

Two posts and an update..

Two posts follow this one for today. I also updated my Top Ten Titles I'm Watching! list and my Current Desktop Image.

Thanks for dropping by...

Otaku-dom 101 post 13

I now can say that I am a sucker for anything Japanese! I have been following releases of a web comic 4koma called Habanero-tan who is a mascot for a rather spicy snack chippy ring thingy. The whole thing is super-cute and sometimes a bit risque. Here's the latest sequence of translated 4koma:

That powdered red pepper stuff that she accidentally dumped on her udon is shichimi. It consists of red pepper, roasted orange peel, yellow sesame seed, black sesame seed, Japanese pepper, seaweed, and ginger.

I just had to have some! Lucky for me, we have several asian markets around here and I happened upon it at one. So now I have shichimi on my Cup Noodles whenever I enjoy that wonderful soup. I always make sure the cap is on tight thought...

Original images can be found here (in Japanese) with translations available from the good folks at iitran translation Group.

Did I mention I also put Worcestershire sauce in my Cup Noodles?

Otaku-dom 101

I want to continue an old topic I had in my previous blog, “Otaku-dom 101”. So you can see what I’m talking about (and get the whole thing), I’m linking all the older ones below. You may have to resize your browser window to read them. The edges are black and the black text bleeds out in them. I’ll continue in the next post…

Otaku-dom 101 post 01

Otaku-dom 101 post 02

Otaku-dom 101 post 03

Otaku-dom 101 post 04

Otaku-dom 101 post 05

Otaku-dom 101 post 06

Otaku-dom 101 post 07

Otaku-dom 101 post 08

Otaku-dom 101 post 09

Otaku-dom 101 post 10

Otaku-dom 101 post 11

Otaku-dom 101 post 12

That's it...