Eye - Window to the Soul

Figure: Figma Character:  1. Strength  2. Sinon  3. Izayoi Sakuya Series:  1. Black Rock Shooter  2. Sword Art Online II  3. Touhou Project

sharing this cool photoset because I just finished reviewing the series :)

Samurai Shojo

Figure: Figma Character: Honda Futayo Series: Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon

Review Anime - Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon

Story set in a vast otherworldly fantasy world can be a total fun to watch. It can be awe inspiring and engaging because of its otherworldlyness and complexity. That such setting is also the setting for Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, or its translation, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, is an anime series produced by Studio Sunrise, adapted from a series of light novels written by Kawakami Minoru. The story is... well rather complex, especially because of the backstory of the setting. Kawakami Minoru is prolific, and he has design such a vast story verse, with its own timeline and history. Horizon is not the only series he has written, there are other series he has wrote that set in the same world, but on a different timeline, and so reading that series is perhaps encourage in order to fully understand the setting.

I guess I’ll just skip the complex backstory because its just to looooooong to explain it here and go directly to the main point of the story of the anime. The story is about a young man named Aoi Toori, who is trying to confess his love to a female android name P-01S, however a bad incident happen and P-01S got taken away before Toori get a chance to do it. And what’s worse, P-01S is sentenced for death penalty because she is heavily connected to the incident. Still determined to confess his love, Toori then leads his friends to go to battle in order to save P-01S and to confess his love.

As of this writing there are two season of Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, however this review will only cover the first season. Well then, now lets review; “Judgement”

Animation – 8.5/10

Its Sunrise Studio, so one can expect good things when it comes to the animation. Considering the sci-fi setting of Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon,  and Sunrise’s experience with animating the Gundam franchise, its a good match. The animation is good, and the special effect is even better, combining some CG effect with 2D animation very nicely.

Art – 9/10

Fore me, the thing that reaaally hooks me to this series, is its design. The design of the world of Kyoukai Senjou of Horizon shown in the anime is gorgeous and inspiring. The setting is like a combination of hi-tech sci-fi like those in StarTrek and StarWars, fused with some medieval western building and traditional feudal Japan’s wooden architectures.

The character designs are also good, still keeping with the sci-fi design peppered with some traditional medieval element of the setting. And its also a multiracial setting, its not just humans, but there’s also things like ghost or incubus or dragon, heck even a blob of slime. I do like to snicker at the design of the females in Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, its like in that world there are only 2 cup size exist, A and Z.

Story – 6.5/10

Now this is the weakpoint of this anime. The scale of the setting is big, and the core of the story is not too bad. But, there is one weakness of this anime, and that is, exposition. Exposition is used to give information about the background of setting and characters. Unfortunately, this anime is quite lacking when it comes to that part.

Although it certainly looks good, the story only gave very little explanation about the inner working of the world of this anime. Which is why, when I watch it the first time, I have no idea on what is going on in the story, and not in a good way. I need to re-watch this anime for more than 3 times to understand what is going on, and that is along with reading the wikia of the series, and even then, there are still some parts that I still don’t understand till now.

Yes sure its rather epic in scale, its vast and complex, and certainly looks awesome, but if the inner working and information about the background of the setting is not given then the story can be too hard to follow. If a proper explanation and exposition is given, and so making the world more understandable, it can make the viewer more immerse in it. Just because the title is Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere doesn’t make it good if the viewer feel like they are in a middle of nowhere.

Sound – 8.5/10

The music is also good. Fitting with the modern sci-fi setting, the background music are mostly techno. It can be happy and energetic on comedic moment, and can be militaristic on big action scene. And to represent the feudal Japan element, there are also some traditional oriental music as well.

Uniquely, there are 2 ending song for this anime. One song is happy and funny, that played when the story of the episode ends at a happy or hopeful moment. And another, a rather depressing sounding somber song when an episode ends on a cliffhanger or desperate moment. The opening music is also good, quite techno, again, and also energetic in an adrenaline pumping sense, fitting with the epic scale of the setting, and ironically sung by the voice actress of P-01S, Chihara Minori, who displayed emotionless and monotone act for the character. Its like a complete 180 for her.

Besides that, there are also 2 insert songs that I like that is actually the same song but are sung in 2 different style entitled, Tooshi Douka. On normal version it is sung by P-01S in the story, although the explanation is not given about what the song truly mean in the story. And also the awesome techno-pop dance remix version of it, sung by Saito Chiwa, as a background song in her fight in episode 9. I’m a little sad that they only use it once because its just so cool.

My Overall Value – 7.5/10

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon is an awesome looking anime to watch. And a headache to understand. The story is hard to follow, like the viewer is only given an incomplete puzzle, but the cool setting and quirky characters can hooked the viewer to try to understand more on the series.

Plus - Very cool looking design and animation - Cool music and insert song

Minus - Not enough exposition is given to make the viewer fully understand the story

Should you try this? Why Not

Despite the hard to follow story, the animation and design makes it recommendable enough to watch. Its highly recommended for sci-fi fans, especially hardcore sci-fi ones. And also for those who like epic fantasy or fantasy adventure story.

Review Anime - Seitokai Yakuindomo*

Comedy story can be a hard thing to do well. It can be even harder if a comedy story rely or focused only on the joke and not really on plot or character development. That is my first opening sentences for the review of Sex Humor : The Animation… I mean Seitokai Yakuindomo. Now, here, I will review the second season of Seitokai Yakuindomo, or as its called, Seitokai Yakuindomo *(bleep)… yes that really is the title.

Seitokai Yakuindomo* is still produced by Studio Gohands, like the previous season. The story is also still continuing the previous season, and that is the story about the sexual humor filled life of the students and members of the student council in Ousai Academy; Tsuda Takatoshi the vice-president of the student council, Amakusa Shino the student council president, Shichijou Aria the secretary, and Hagimura Suzu the accountant, along with other students and teacher.

As of this writing Seitokai Yakuindomo* contains 13 episode, and with 3 OVA episode, and this review will cover those episodes and OVAs because like in the previous season, the OVA feel more like a continuation to the anime series. Well then, lets shot the review in;

Animation – 8/10 The animation got a step up compared to the previous season. Its not a big step up, but still a step up nonetheless. This season added few more smoother quality animation moment for comedic effect, or just to showoff.

Art – 8.5/10 Like the animation, the design also has a step up. Again, not a big one, but it still a good step up. The Character design is still the same, but the environment looks even more beautiful. Sure the first season already has good scenic environment, but they added in more of them in this season.

I also want to comment on the rising quantity of visual fanservice. I don’t hate it or anything, but personally I think the charm of Seitokai Yakuindomo, is that there is very little visual fanservice, because the ecchi-ness is more in the talking. So by adding more visual fanservice, I think it becomes like a generic ecchi anime, when at the previous season its unique because the ecchiness is more in the talking rather than the visual. Although its still tame compared to many other ecchi anime out there. Luckily though, its not too much, and the ecchiness is still focused more in the talking.

Story – 5.8/10 The story, I admit, still mostly the same. Its still sex humor filled slice of life. However there is an improvement in the story. Not in the comedy though, they are still hit or miss, and are still mostly sex jokes.

The improvement here, is that there are more development in the character relationship compared to the previous season. Sure they are still not the main point of the story, like the previous season, the character and relationship development are still at the back seat, but its still nice to see more development in the characters.

The negative though, is that there is no resolution to the development. Because the anime ended quiet open ended. Also, the story flow is not wholly chronologic because sometimes it will go to past moment so suddenly, making it confusing at times.

Sound – 8.5/10 As expected from having a *(bleep) in the title, the censor sound effect has become more varied and funny cmpared to the previous season.

The music still use many BGM from the previous season, but also adding some new soundtrack. As usual, its slice of life tune that can be fun or relaxing, especially when combined with the gorgeous environment.

I don’t know if I am getting use to the voice acting or maybe the quality itself has risen, but I think the voice acting in this season is better and funnier compared to the previous one. Its not much, but I do enjoy it more than the previous season, and I already like the voice acting in the previous season.

For the opening and ending song, I like it, even more than the opening and ending of the previous season. The opening is still quite similar, and at first I think it’s the same as the previous one, but as I hear it more and more, I came to like it even more than the opening of the previous season. The ending song has a different feel compared to the previous season. While the previous one is quite rap and really quick, this one is sung in a heartwarmingly slow yet also energetic way, by the voice actor of Shichijou Aria, Satou Satomi, and I love it. It become my favorite song in this series.

My Overall Value – 6.9/10 Seitokai Yakuindomo* is still as enjoyable as the previous season. There are some negative parts for sure, but it also have many improvement compared to the previous season. Overall, I still enjoy watching it.

Plus - Even more gorgeous backgrounds with better animation - Enjoyable voice acting and good musics - More character development

Minus - The character development doesn’t have a satisfying end (or even an end for that matter) - Again, The joke can be a hit or miss

Should you try this? Why not

For those who like the previous season of Seitokai Yakuindomo, they will enjoy this one too. ecchi anime fans looking for fanservice scenes will probably be quite happy thanks to this one having more fanservice. and also, again, for those who want a simple slice of life show to kill time that you can just watch without thinking too much, and or to relax the senses thanks to the beautiful background.

Review Anime - Seitokai Yakuindomo

Comedy story can be a hard thing to do well. It can be even harder if a comedy story rely or focused only on the joke and not really on plot or character development. And it can be even harder if it focused on a specific kind of joke. And then there’s Seitokai Yakuindomo.

Seitokai Yakuindomo, or SYD, is an (ecchi?) anime produced by Gohands studio. It tells the story about the sexual humor filled life of the students and members of the student council in Ousai Academy. These members are; Tsuda Takatoshi, our main protagonist and resident straight man and the vice-president of the student council. Besides him there’s also Amakusa Shino the student council president, Shichijou Aria the secretary, and Hagimura Suzu the accountant, along with other students and teacher.

So far, the anime series has a total of 2 season, each has 13 episodes, and 2 series of OVA, the first OVA series contain 8 episodes that came out between the 1st season and the 2nd season, and the 2nd OVA series that currently contain 3 episodes, that came out after the end of the 2nd season. It’s a strange structure in my opinion because when I watch it the 1st OVA series feel like a continuation of the 1st season but not really a midquel to the 2nd season. Because of that, I decided this review will be for the 1st season and the 1st OVA series into one. Well then, lets shot the review out;

Animation – 7.5/10 The animation quality is standard in a surprisingly good way. The quality of the animation is efficient and effective, delivering just the right amount of movement and flow of animation in each scene, not too overly smooth but also no stiff and awkward movement, unless its for comedy effect.

Art – 8/10 The overall design is good. This anime is really nice to look at, from the characters to the settings.

The character design is colorful and gives a refreshing and upbeat feeling when I watch them. And what I like even more than the character design, are the design of the background, like buildings and environment. The way the lighting and shades are reflected in those backgrounds makes it look beautiful.

Surprisingly, I don’t mind the #mosaic# censorship in this anime, because it can also add the comedy effect. Because unlike some other ecchi anime that like to over-censored some fanservice scenes, Seitokai yakuindomo’s ecchiness is more in the talking than in the visuals. It actually surprised me that there are not much visual fanservice in this anime.

Story – 5.5/10 Okay I will admit that the story is quiet boring and uninteresting. This anime’s story is pretty much a slice of life with 69 slices of sex jokes. In fact, sometimes I call this anime “Sex Humor : the Animation“

Nothing really major happen to the cast and their development as a character is almost nonexistent. Their relationship with each other characters may develop, but its reaally really slow and really takes a back seat to the humor, which can be a bit irritating at times.

Sound – 8/10 The music and voice actors is nice and certainly has done their job well. Like I said before, the background environments are beautiful, and this anime really like showing off those beautiful backgrounds with incredibly nice and fitting music. The ending song is not my favorite, but the opening really is among my favorite song because its like the anime itself, its funny and energetic, and being sung by the three voice actors of the main characters, the student council members of Ousai (minus Tsuda tho).

Speaking of voice actors, I watch the anime in Japanese voice (I don’t think there are any English dubs for this anime existed) and I love how they are voiced. Each characters have the perfect voice actors voicing them, in terms of voice range/quality and acting.

Surprisingly, again, the *bleep* censor managed to add the comedy effect. Like I said, the ecchiness of this anime is more in the talking than in the visual, but even when the joke is censored, for me, the censor itself is also a joke, thus instead of bothering me it makes joke funnier. A good thing, considering that this anime ejaculate sex jokes like a machine gun.

My Overall Value – 6.5/10 Seitokai Yakuindomo really surprised me. Because, even though the story is bland and the joke can be a hit or miss, yet the visuals and music and the voice acting surprisingly manage to win me over and keep me watching it and even rewatching it again and again.

Plus - Gorgeous background and nice looking character design - Fitting music and nice song - Good and funny voice acting

Minus - Bland story and character development - The joke can be a hit or miss - Because it focused on sex humor and not much else, its not for everyone

Should you try this? … why not I am conflicted because although I like this anime, its hard to try to recommend it. This anime is pretty much only for those who want to watch comedy or like dirty jokes, although ecchi anime fans looking for fanservice scenes will probably be disappointed. Or for those who want a simple slice of life show to kill time that you can just watch without thinking too much about character development or relationship, and or to relax the senses thanks to the beautiful background.

Beautifully cute & elegant artwork of one of my favorite character, Saber from Fate series, by Sakimichan :)

My take on saber lily, Experimental piece, not my best, but at least i got a bunch of practice from this ! Thnx guys !

Normal versions, psd, high-res JPG, Vid process ►https://www.patreon.com/posts/3241072

EDIT: This post is inclusive to ALL art forms.

Likes can only go so far for artists. Artists may exclusively upload their artwork to tumblr, or don’t have the time to use other sites and prefer tumblr over deviantART due to its simplicity, but the tagging system can make it harder to navigate. Many artists on tumblr tag with high-traffic tags or use their own tags to prevent tag clogging which eventually become lost. That’s why it’s very important to reblog an artist’s work. 

I’m not trying to push you to ruin your blog’s aesthetic or something, nor am I saying that “you must absolutely reblog your favourite artist’s work or you’re trash”, all I’m saying is if you truly want to support your favourite artist, instead of just liking their posts, try to reblog them once in a while. The more reblogs they receive, the more exposure/notes/followers they may receive, and it’s just one of the easiest ways to show you care about them.

*This does not mean to reblog unsourced artwork or works reuploaded to another person’s blog without permission (re:stolen). Nor does this mean to reblog artworks without the artist’s consent, even if this case is slim.

Review Anime - Barakamon

Like movies or novels, anime is a media that can tell many genres, from heart pumping action, to thrilling horror, to gut wrenching drama. But there is a genre very often used in anime, and that is the Slice of Life genre. Stories about people living their everyday life. Sometimes it can be rather mundane, but sometimes it can also be heartwarming or relaxing. Barakamon, is one of those anime.

Barakamon is an anime series by animation studio Kinema Citrus, adapted from a manga by Yoshino Satsuki. It tells the story of a calligrapher, Handa Sei. A talented but impulsive young man, Handa punched an old curator who criticize his work, because of that, his father sent him to a rural village in Gotou islands to “cool his head off”. Handa try to use this chance to contemplate and to find inspiration in order to find his own calligraphy style, but the locals, especially the children, really like to get involved in his life.

And so, lets review, Barakamon;

Animation – 8/10 Barakamon, overall, has good quality animation. There are some part of the animation that’s bad, but its minor and not distracting. Because it’s a slice of life anime, it doesn’t really need to have complex animation, but when the situation and mood is just right, then the animation quality will nicely bump up to elevate the moment, like when Handa is receiving an inspiration and creating a calligraphy based on that inspiration.

Art – 8/10 The overall design is quite good. The character design for the children are not too overly cute or moe, while for the young adult or teenagers are not too pretty boy/girl-esque like in many other anime. The part that I really like though, is the design of the setting. The rural area of Gotou islands in the anime is very beautiful and picturesque, from the household, to the beaches, the mountain, and other places in it. And all of them are modeled from the real life Gotou island. I really praise Kinema Citrus for being able to present the rural setting of Gotou island so beautifully. However, there is another important main star beside the character design and the setting design, because it is also connected to the story, and that is the calligraphy. The calligraphy that Handa create really looks interesting and unique. For more explanation of this part, I will explain it in the story.

Story – 8/10 The story is pretty much Handa’s enjoyable character development as he interact with the residents of Gotou island. Its really fun seeing Handa’s interaction with the residents, especially to the teenagers and children, where it’s the source of most of the comedic moments in the story thanks to Handa’s own childishness. Handa’s interaction with Kotoishi Naru, is really endearing and funny to watch. But its not all comedy though, as there are some dramatic moments in the story. Its not the kind of drama that bring tears to your eyes, but still a good one, because the drama parts are the moments where Handa really develop his character to become a better person. Its heartwarming and satisfying to see Handa, who is prideful and impulsive guy in the beginning, slowly realizing his own flaws and slowly becoming a more decent person thanks to interacting and bonding with the residents of the island. And all of that character development also gives inspiration to Handa and what allow him to develop his own calligraphy style. Do you ever hear what happen when your favorite artist got an inspiration from an event in his/her life to create his/her work of art? Well here in Barakamon, the viewer really get to see what Handa experienced that makes him received an inspiration, and then create his calligraphy. We really get to see the symbolism behind his work.

Sound – 8.5/10 The sound is my favorite part of this anime. I really looove the opening and ending of the anime. The opening, Rashisa by Super Beaver, is not only has a nice energetic melody, but also really nicely connect with the story, as its about asking what it means to be your “self”, reflecting how Handa is trying to find a calligraphy style that can represent his “self”. Then there’s the less energetic but beautiful ending song, Innocence by NoisyCell, that reflect Handa’s character development and his interaction with Naru. The BGM has two kinds of melody. The first are the ones for the comedic slice of life parts of the anime. This part fit nicely with it by having a rather fun but relaxing melody, almost like a children’s music. The second, and the ones that I like even more, are the ones for the dramatic moments, like when Handa is having a character development and or about to receive an inspiration. It really elevate the scenes and makes Handa’s character development even more enjoyable to watch. Then the voice acting, which is very very endearing, and also rather unique. Why? Because this anime has a lot of children characters, and the anime doesn’t use adult or teenage voice actors, but real children voice actors. The quality is varied, but I still praise Kinema Citrus for this decision as it makes the characters more authentic. Besides them, there are other 2 voice actors that I really like. First is Ookubo Rumi as Tamako. Tama’s character is calm but can be snarky, and also has a hidden hammy passionate hot-blooded side, and Ookubo Rumi manage to voice her well, showing her versatility. The second one is Ono Daisuke as Handa. His performance adds even more enjoyment to watching Handa’s character. He makes Handa’s childishness even cuter than all the children characters.

My Overall Value – 8.5/10 Barakamon is a really nice and heartwarming slice of life anime. Watching this anime really feels like having a vacation for the mind. Despite having a drama element in the protagonist’s character development, the comedy and the beautiful setting makes it a fun yet heartwarming experience.

Plus - nice and beautiful setting - heartwarming music and adorable voice acting - enjoyable characters and good character development

Minus - the quality of the voice acting for the children characters can be a hit or miss

Should you try this? Definitely This anime is a must watch for fans of comedy and or slice of life anime. And also for those who are interested to have something relaxing to watch.

Review Movie - MadMax Fury Road

The use of CGI in an action movie opened up many new possibilities, expanding the visual entertainment. But then what about action from stunt work or practical effect? Seeing actors or stuntman fighting, falling, rolling, hanging, and other actiony stuffs can add more suspense and awe because its not CGI effect, its real people in that dangerous scenes, they are hurting themselves and risking their life for your entertainment. Well, MadMax Fury Road got it covered.

Created and directed by George Miller in all of the movies, MadMax movie series started in 1979 with the first madMax movie, with the second one, Road Warrior, in 1981 and third, Beyond Thunderdome, in 1985, and then with this newest one, the Fury Road, in 2015. The story of Fury Road is about the adventure of “mad”Max Rockatansky in a barren post-apocalyptic Australia (as if Australia can’t get any deadlier), as he teamed up with a woman named Furiosa to help a group of sex slaves fleeing from the clutches of a tyrannical warlord named Immortan Joe.

As I said before, this movie is a part of the MadMax movies series, but for this review, I am just going to review the Fury Road movie. And be warned, this is coming from someone who has not watched any previous madMax movies. Well then, lets review this lovely mad movie.

Acting – 8.5/10 The acting is really good. Everyone and everything in this movie can really go loud and bombastic when the scenes need them to. Especially the antagonist, Immortan Joe, the only thing more bombastic than his looks is his charisma. Here’s a little trivia, the actor who played Joe is the same guy who played the main antagonist in the very first Madmax movie. But they are not the same character, and I don’t think they are related. Tom Hardy as Max is cool and stoic, but when he is angry or panicking when he was chased or trying to save himself from a bad situation, he really look convincing. Watching him panicking, I can really feel rooting for him, wishing for him to be able to make it and survive. Charlize Theron also gives a good performance. Like Max, she can be calm, but when the situation need her to be badass and in control, she really can be badass and in control. And her crying scene, is one of the more powerful moment in the movie. As I watch it I can feel her disappointment and sadness at the reality she is facing. My favorite performance though, comes from Nicholas Hoult as Nux. Seriously, this guy is a total fun to watch. I watched him acting in Warm Body as an adorable zombie, next in X-Men First Class and Days of Future Past as an adorable badass geek, and then here in Fury Road, where he played a hyperactive nutcase that can still be badass and adorable again.

Design&effect - 9/10 The movie looks… orange. Not that it’s a bad thing though, I don’t mind it, it really emphasized the post-apocalyptic setting of the movie. The action, like what I said in the beginning of this review, is mostly stuntwork and practical effect while the CGI is used for background, and man it looks badass. Watching the movie and seeing the behind the scene of it really impressed me. The amount of effort they do for the stunts and the practical effect is incredible. The guitarist playing his flamethrowing guitar on top of a speaker truck, to swinging pole guys, and rolling exploding cars, all of it is not CGI. Its really an adrenaline pumping action. And speaking of rolling exploding cars, all of the custom cars in this movie just look so awesome. There are dozens upon dozens of custom vehicle here, and each of them really signified the word MAD in MadMax. If the stunt action is adrenaline pumping, then the cars are jawdropping, and seeing both the stunt action on these mad vehicles is an incredible spectacle. I think MadMax is to car chase action, what The Raid is to martial art action.

Story – 7.5/10 After good acting and incredible effects, next is the story. And I think its quite good. The setting is good, the flow is good, the characters are also good… But, I do feel some problem with it. There’s minor one like Nux’s character development, that feel a little too forced. But there’s also major one, like about Max’s role in the movie. I think Max need more important roles in the story. Here, his role is more like “the viewer’s eye”, and not much else, while Furiosa not only drives the plot, but her character is shown better compared to him. I’m not complaining that Furiosa is being the protagonist when Max is the title character, but that, compared to her, the viewer are only been given enigmatic hint about Max’s characters, like the nightmare hallucination about the little girl. It was only shown as flashes and not in details. I heard that the story about that little girl is told in the miniseries prelude comics. Personally I think its better to tell that little girls story in the movie instead, because atleast it can give more depth to Max’s characters.

Sound – 8/10 The music in the movie is quite good. Its not among the best movie music I’ve ever heard, but mostly its good enough to accompany the scene it appeared in. Some background music however, stands out. The first, is when Immortan Joe is mobilizing his warboys army to capture Furiosa in the beginning of the movie. The awesome drum beats sound as the camera show The badass vehicle Joe’s warboys army rode, and then continued with that badass guitarist rockin the scene while the guitar spew flames. The drum beat really can pump your adrenaline as you watch that scene. The second, is when Furiosa is crying. The scene can be spoilery so I’m not gonna go into detail, but it just felt heartbreaking after seeing how badass and commanding Furiosa can be before that scene, and then seeing this vulnerable side to her character.

My Overall Value – 8.8/10 MadMax Fury Road is such an enjoyable movie to watch. I am awed by its action, and George Miller’s effort to make the action look that awesome. Some parts of the story got its flaw, but man, the action and the characters more than makes up for it.

Plus - Awesome stunt action - Nice looking setting with many potential to be expanded - Badass characters and vehicles both in action and design

Minus - Some characters are not handled to its full potential - Some parts of the story can be unsatisfying

Should you try this? Definitely This movie is a must watch for action movie fans. This may be a MadMax movie, but because Max is not the central character, and that the story revolves more around other characters, those who have not watched other MadMax movies can still quite enjoy it. Not sure about MadMax fans though considering Max is not the central character here. I’m also recommending this movie, maybe surprisingly, to racing fans and or car enthusiast, considering the many awesome looking custom cars in the movie.

Review Anime - Toaru Kagaku no Railgun

Or its translated title, “a Certain Scientific Railgun” As you can see from the similar title, this series is a manga/comic spinoff of Toaru Majutsu no Index (which I have also reviewed, just click on that title for the review) and also animated by studio J.C.Staff.

The protagonist of this spinoff is Misaka Mikoto, the 3rd strongest esper in Academy City with the power of electricity, thus earning her the title of the eponymous Railgun. The story, is about the adventurous everyday life of Misaka and her friends. Among the important ones are; Shirai Kuroko, Misaka’s crazy and funny but dependable lesbian roommate (yes you read that correctly) with the power of teleportation. Uiharu Kazari, Kuroko’s colleague, a hacker with weak esper power. And also Saten Ruiko, the normal human and Uiharu’s best friend who like to flip Uiharu’s skirt (yes you also read that correctly).

Again, like the Index review, I am going to review only the 1st season of the Railgun anime here.

Now, lets spark this review;

Animation – 8/10 Good quality of animation, better than Toaru Majutsu no Index infact. I don’t know if its because of a raise in popularity, thus a raise in the amount of budget, or maybe because the story has more action element in it, but the overall quality of the animation is better than its original series. In any case, I am satisfied with it.

Art – 8.5/10 The art quality is pretty much the same as Majutsu no Index. It still has the beautiful background of the scientific Academy City. The overall quality of the character design however, have different plus point than Index. This spinoff are about exploring the scientific side of the Toaru-verse, and because of that, there are no cool looking magician characters like in Index. There are only characters from the science side here; like police in uniform, scientist in uniform, school girls in uniform, quite mundane compared to the magician/magic side characters. However, those characters have a better, detailed appearance here than in Index, despite the mundane design. So its like losing some positive quality but improving the ones that are still there.

Story – 8.5/10 The story is the strong point of Kagaku no Railgun. I really like how the story is structured. The structure differentiate itself from Majutsu no Index. Index’s plot structure is a few episodes forming a story arc, and after that it moves to a new story arc, quite simple. Railgun’s plot structure however, are episodic at first glance, but are subtly interconnected, and as the story progress, those connection are highlighted, showing that those episodic stories are actually a build up to a big story arc, making a bigger impact. Except episode 13, which I think is the weakpoint of this anime. I don’t mind the fact that it’s a fanservice breather episode, I just think the placement is awkward because it comes after and before a rather serious episode without any connection with anything. The characters are also handled quite different here. Index has a rather huge cast of colorful characters, like a big rainbow. But in Railgun, even though some new characters appear, the main points are the 4 main characters that I explain in the beginning, and each of those characters like little rainbows by themselves, thanks to the development of these characters. Unlike Touma who is a badass but doesn’t really develop himself as a character, Misaka is developing herself as the story progress. I also especially like Saten Ruiko. Being the only normal girl while her friends has super powers. The story nicely showed her feelings and development to that situation, and her development also influence Misaka’s development. I heard her voice actress won an award thanks to this role, and after watching Railgun, I approved it, congratulation to her.

Sound – 7.5/10 The music is also good, slightly better than Index again. The background music pretty much use the same music from Index, and again, like in Index, I find them also quite easy to ignore. What makes the music here is slightly better than Index however, is the opening and ending song. For the opening, its still J-pop with techno, but in Railgun the techno part is toned down just a little bit, and also with changes in melody. Unlike Index’s opening that has a sort of mystical supernatural feeling, the opening in Railgun is more upbeat and energetic in comparison, and I love it, both of the opening. For the ending, the second ending song is my least favorite. It’s a strange reversal because in Index, its second ending song is my favorite. In my opinion, this is maybe because, I love Railgun’s openings and the heartwarming first ending song, titled Dear My Friends. That song really signify the friendship of the cast, and goes to give more impact when its played again as the final closing song, and as the title of the final episode.

My Overall Value – 8.5/10 Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manage to avoid the problem that I had with Majutsu no Index. Unlike Index that try to tackle the concept of magic VS science but  doesn’t manage to make it all the way through, Railgun just tackled and explore the sci-fi side, and has done it quite effectively. In my opinion this anime got a little bit of everything, from mystery, fantasy, drama, comedy, action, all mixed into a nice proportion. Not to the level of being the best, but still good, and personally for me, to be a good satisfier after being a little disappointed with Index.

Plus: - Exploring the already cool setting of Majutsu no Index even more - Very interesting main characters and their developments - Nicely structured plot development (except for episode 13)

Minus: - Episode 13.. Here’s an advice, switch the order of episode, watch 12, then 14, then 13, Its better that way - Has a bit of everything in a nice mix, but although above standard, its not really the best series there is

Should you try this? Definitely Toaru Kagaku no Railgun is a highly recommendable anime, even more so than Majutsu no Index. Unsurprisingly, I recommend this for sci-fi fans. And also for those who have watched Index and feeling a bit disappointed, like me. I also recommend this, for those who want to give non-anime fans a show to watch as a sort of gateway show to introduce them to anime, because of the many elements in the story and because of the good development of both the plot and characters.

Thank you based internet

HAVE YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER ON YOUR DESKTOP that you can *sorta* interact with!!

DOWNLOAD HERE, instructions inside. Credits go to /u/SciresM on reddit and SciresM on SerenesForest.

https://mega.co.nz/#!Jl8C2bCS!Cof4Yk45cTEP1ODkClZhhstEcXlIVKazXroY7MoPEs0.

Couple of gif’s linked below image.

Don’t worry about the names, it’s how gfycat makes them.

http://gfycat.com/ShowyFrighteningAmphibian

http://gfycat.com/ShockingBasicApe

Review Game - Feed My Zoo

Mobile games for smartphones has become something big, thanks to the advancement of smartphone in our everyday life, making almost all people to carry smartphones wherever and whenever they are. It can be something small and simple, to something big and complex. It can be something just to kill time, to something very addicting. This time I will review a mobile game by the name of Feed My Zoo. A puzzle game developed by MagicBean for Android system. The premise of the game is simple, like its title, its a game about feeding animals in zoo. It can be downloaded for free here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.haswood.magicbean.feedmyzoo&hl=en Now then, lets feed this review;

Gameplay - 7.5/10 The gameplay is surprisingly challenging. Don’t let the cute design fooled you, the game really challenge your brain in quick thinking and multi-tasking because of the timers. There are not one, not two, but THREE time limit in the game that players need to watch; the time of the round on the top right, and the time of the animal’s satisfaction shown as heart meter, and the time of the foods that are random and unexpected. For the puzzle itself though, its not too difficult. just simply matching 3 same kind of food, but you also need to match it with what the animals want or they will not be satisfied.

Art - 8/10 The design of the game is cute, cartoony, and colorful. I like the overall design, from the zoo to the animals to the foods.

Story - 1/10 There are some games that doesn’t need or doesn’t rely on a plot or story, and this game is one of them. Its a puzzle game with an excuse plot, meaning that It doesn’t go into details with the story because the story bits are just there as a broad strokes excuse for the gameplay and for some entertaining comedy. So yeah you won’t find out why the food got eyeballs and why did the carrots look fat and round like oranges and seem to emotionlessly looking straight into your soul.

Sound - 7/10 Music is simple but with nice beats in it. The sound kind off invoke something like an upbeat tribal music to my ear, which quite a nice fitting with the setting of the game in my opinion.

My Overall Value - 7/10 Overall, Feed My Zoo is a not a bad game. The concept of the puzzle gameplay and structure is not really original, but Its above mediocre in terms of quality thanks to its difficulty that makes it a good challenge to play. However, you need internet to play this game. If you are not connected to the internet, then unfortunately you can not play it at all.

Plus: - The design look charming and adorable - The puzzle gameplay is nicely challenging

Minus: - You need to be connected to the internet in order to play it

Should you try this? Why Not Especially for those who are looking for a game with colorfully cute design, and especially for those who are looking for a challenging puzzle game.

It has been some weeks since the first time I played this game, and a few days since I played it the second time. This game is so short, yet has an impact in my memory, that I don’t really mind if I play it again sometimes later. If you like a psycho test to know some things about yourself,...

*goes to bed for five years*

Review Anime - Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Story about making story is an interesting concept to use. In the world of manga, Bakuman maybe the title that pop in everyone’s mind when it comes to that kind of plot. But Bakuman is for a shonen(boys) demographic.. what about the Shojo(girls) demographic? Enter Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, or Monthly Girl Nozaki is a slice of life romance comedy anime series adapted from a manga by Tsubaki Izumi and animated by studio Dogakobo. It tells the story of a high school girl named Sakura Chiyo, who confessed her love to the boy that she like, Nozaki Umetaro. After a misunderstanding however, Nozaki instead see her as his fan, and in the end, decided to make her his assistant, helping him in his work as a mangaka. Thus begin the comedic story of Nozaki and Sakura and the people around them.

Okay, first I will confess, I also stupidly misunderstand the story of this anime before I watch it, because when I saw one of the promotional picture I thought this will be a story like Nodame Cantabile but with manga instead of musics, with strange minded female lead and snarky male lead who frequently scold her. I am soo wrong. The story is not like what I thought. And what do I think of this anime? Lets find out..

Animation - 7.5/10 Solid animation in terms of quality. Because its a normal slice of life anime, the scenes in general are mundane, so it doesn’t really need complex animation. Overall, it has a rather mediocre but nice flow of animation. At times though, it can also flow smoother than normal. The anime also has good special effect, reflecting effects generally appear in Shojo manga, like bishie sparkles or bishie flowers effect.

Art - 8.5/10 The overall design of the setting and backgrounds and characters fit nicely with the tone of the story. Colorful and cheerful and nice to look at. Although its a story about making shoujo manga, the design is not overly shoujo. Sure the manga scene still use a general shoujo design, but beyond that, it use a design that is not like a general shoujo character design. For example, the male characters (and one androgynous female) are slender and pretty, but not too slender and the face is like a good balance of beautiful and handsome. My favorite character design though, is for Sakura Chiyo. Her design and expression is just soo cute, nicely reflecting her cheerful personality.

Story - 8/10 The story is entertaining thanks to the comedy and characters. The story is a slice of life romance comedy, with focus more on the comedy aspect compared to the romance aspect. A little ironic because the plot is about making a romance shoujo manga. The jokes are about deconstructing tropes that are usually used in shoujo manga, and also about the wackyness and quirks of the characters. Speaking of characters, I looove all of the main characters. Related to what I said previously, at first I thought Nozaki is the snarky straight man while Sakura is the weird minded one, but after a I watched it, its actually the other way around. Nozaki’s hilarious devotion to his work makes him the weird one, while Sakura is (usually) the straight man. But its not just them that I like, but also their friends, and the pairing of these characters. There’s Mikoto the gullible flirty tsundere, Kashima the princely playboy who is paired with Hori the tsuntsundere senpai, Seo the oblivious tomboy who is paired with Wakamatsu the adorable kouhai. Despite the good comedy and characters though, there are some things that drag the point of the story down. One, is that the relationship of these pairings are not developed to the fullest. Understandable because the original manga of Nozaki-kun is still not finished, so probably the anime studio can have the option of having season two or more. And two, is that this anime doesn’t treat manga creation as serious or detailed as in Bakuman, though it is presented in a light and fun way.

Sound - 8.5/10 For the songs and BGM and voice acting, I love it. The BGM fit really nicely with the setting. At times energetic, at times calming, at times romantic. Its kinda general slash of life-ish musics, but still accompanied the scenes very well. The opening and ending is nicely catchy. The opening song, Kimi Janakya Dame mitai, sound jazzy and upbeat and also got a really nice acoustic, while the ending song, Uraomote Fortune, sung by Sakura Chiyo’s voice actor, sound as adorable as Chiyo herself. For the voice acting, they are good and solid and charming. Out of all characters though, 3 stands out to me. First is Nakahara Mai as Kashima, who I don’t really like at first because I think she sound too girly, but overtime I grew to like it, because when funny scenes come, she manage to act it hilariously. Second is Okamoto Nobuhiko as Mikoto, who manage to act such colorful character nicely, going from flirty playboy to a tsundere. Lastly, is Ozawa Ari as Sakura Chiyo. I am probably start to sound like a broken record now because, she just sound soo cute and adorable, however she also can act as a snarky straight man when the situation need her to be one.

My Overall Value - 8/10 Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is quite an unexpected anime for me. It surprised me in two ways. First because its different from what I imagined, and also because of its unexpectedly entertaining funny quirky characters.

Plus: - The comedy is really funny and entertaining - The overall design is nice to look at - The songs and music are catchy in a good way and also nice to hear

Minus: - The relationships of the paired characters are not fully developed - Those looking for a detailed and serious manga making story like Bakuman may be disappointed because that aspect is not treated as serious as in Bakuman

Should you try this? Why Not Especially for fans of romantic comedy story or just comedy in general. Although those want a more romantic story will probably feel a little disappointed by the relationship development.

Review Anime - Hoozuki no Reitetsu

Storytelling has many element. Some story have plot development, some have character development, for this anime though, it has setting development.

Hoozuki no Reitetsu, is an anime series animated by Wit Studio that aired in 2014. This anime tells the story of the Hoozuki, a cool headed Oni(demon/ogre) who worked as the right hand man (and occasionally, punisher) of judge Enma in Hell, as he solve various problems and interact with many interesting characters in it.

For those who don’t know, Wit Studio are the studio who animated the gargantuan Attack on Titan anime, and this is Wit Studio’s animated series after Attack on Titan. When I heard the news and reading the premise, I think maybe Wit decided to work on something small as a way for them to take a little rest after working on Titan. But how did this anime series really go? Lets find out.

Animation - 7.5/10 The overall quality of the animation is solid. Normally the animation quality is averagely good, not too overly smooth unless the scene need it to be, and although there are some bad animation, its little in quantity and not distracting.

Art - 8/10 This is the part where the anime is quite interesting. The character design doesn’t really look like a typical anime. The characters are strangely round at the facial structure. Not really my favorite character design, but strangely also manage to grabbed my attention thanks to its colorful and vibrant design. The design of the setting though, grabbed my interest and also impressed me in the way they are presented. This anime is set in Hell, and although Hell like in Christianity also exist in this anime, the main setting is Hell from Japanese/Buddhist Mythology. And this anime present it by incorporating Japanese art culture element into the design. How? by making the overall design of Hell look brushy like a traditional Japanese painting. I will say, that is a very nice cultural touch, and manage to give me a strange yet refreshing feeling when I watched it.

Story - 8.5/10 The story part is the most interesting part of this anime for me. Related with what I said at the beginning of this review, this anime's plot and characters are used to develop the setting, which is why I called this anime to have setting development. This anime not only present hell in the way it is designed, but also in the storytelling by giving exposition and explanation about the setting as they told the story. For the story itself, the structure of the story is more like a slice of life/work com with satirical joke. Subjects ranged from human behavior and cultures, to playing or subverting tropes of mythological characters who appear in the story. Overall, even if the joke does not make me laughed, it still manage to entertain me thanks to the interesting subjects of the joke.

Sound - 8/10 The music is quite good, and also the voice acting. The voice acting is good and fit with the characters. One of my favorite voice acting and character in this anime is the character Momotaro, voiced by Hirakawa Daisuke. He managed to voice Momotaro in such a snotty bratty way in his first appearance, but then manage to voice him in a wise and slightly gentle way after his character developed, while also manage to voice him as a snarky straight man. For the musics, following the theme of the setting, some of the background music is done in a traditional Japanese instrument, while some other can be quiet modern. For songs, I like two songs from this anime thanks to its catchyness. First is the opening song, sung by most of the voice actor of the cast, and done to make it feel like a sort of educational song about telling the various level and kinds of hell. Again, developing the setting even more. Second, is the insert song titled Caramel Peach Jam 120%, sung by the idol character Peach Maki, voiced by Uesaka Sumire.

My Overall Value - 8/10 Hoozuki no Reitetsu is really one of those anime that intrigue me thanks to its combination of concept. Its a slash of life satirical work comedy about demons in hell who work by punishing human soul. That is one hell(pun intended) of an interesting concept to explore and develop.

Plus: - It explain the setting while at the same time telling story about it in a fun way - The joke can contain many educational points in it

Minus: - The design of the setting and characters can be quiet strange for those who prefer a mainstream anime design

Should you try this? Definitely The theme and design of this anime may not be for everyone, but its one of those anime that I strongly recommended. Especially for those who are looking for something that is stranger than the mainstream anime can offer, or for those who like stories of mythology.

Review Anime - Seitokai Yakuindomo

Comedy story can be a hard thing to do well. It can be even harder if a comedy story rely or focused only on the joke and not really on plot or character development. And it can be even harder if it focused on a specific kind of joke. And then there’s Seitokai Yakuindomo.

Seitokai Yakuindomo, or SYD, is an (ecchi?) anime produced by Gohands studio. It tells the story about the sexual humor filled life of the students and members of the student council in Ousai Academy. These members are; Tsuda Takatoshi, our main protagonist and resident straight man and the vice-president of the student council. Besides him there’s also Amakusa Shino the student council president, Shichijou Aria the secretary, and Hagimura Suzu the accountant, along with other students and teacher.

So far, the anime series has a total of 2 season, each has 13 episodes, and 2 series of OVA, the first OVA series contain 8 episodes that came out between the 1st season and the 2nd season, and the 2nd OVA series that currently contain 3 episodes, that came out after the end of the 2nd season. It’s a strange structure in my opinion because when I watch it the 1st OVA series feel like a continuation of the 1st season but not really a midquel to the 2nd season. Because of that, I decided this review will be for the 1st season and the 1st OVA series into one. Well then, lets shot the review out;

Animation – 7.5/10 The animation quality is standard in a surprisingly good way. The quality of the animation is efficient and effective, delivering just the right amount of movement and flow of animation in each scene, not too overly smooth but also no stiff and awkward movement, unless its for comedy effect.

Art – 8/10 The overall design is good. This anime is really nice to look at, from the characters to the settings.

The character design is colorful and gives a refreshing and upbeat feeling when I watch them. And what I like even more than the character design, are the design of the background, like buildings and environment. The way the lighting and shades are reflected in those backgrounds makes it look beautiful.

Surprisingly, I don’t mind the #mosaic# censorship in this anime, because it can also add the comedy effect. Because unlike some other ecchi anime that like to over-censored some fanservice scenes, Seitokai yakuindomo’s ecchiness is more in the talking than in the visuals. It actually surprised me that there are not much visual fanservice in this anime.

Story – 5.5/10 Okay I will admit that the story is quiet boring and uninteresting. This anime’s story is pretty much a slice of life with 69 slices of sex jokes. In fact, sometimes I call this anime “Sex Humor : the Animation“

Nothing really major happen to the cast and their development as a character is almost nonexistent. Their relationship with each other characters may develop, but its reaally really slow and really takes a back seat to the humor, which can be a bit irritating at times.

Sound – 8/10 The music and voice actors is nice and certainly has done their job well. Like I said before, the background environments are beautiful, and this anime really like showing off those beautiful backgrounds with incredibly nice and fitting music. The ending song is not my favorite, but the opening really is among my favorite song because its like the anime itself, its funny and energetic, and being sung by the three voice actors of the main characters, the student council members of Ousai (minus Tsuda tho).

Speaking of voice actors, I watch the anime in Japanese voice (I don’t think there are any English dubs for this anime existed) and I love how they are voiced. Each characters have the perfect voice actors voicing them, in terms of voice range/quality and acting.

Surprisingly, again, the *bleep* censor managed to add the comedy effect. Like I said, the ecchiness of this anime is more in the talking than in the visual, but even when the joke is censored, for me, the censor itself is also a joke, thus instead of bothering me it makes joke funnier. A good thing, considering that this anime ejaculate sex jokes like a machine gun.

My Overall Value – 6.5/10 Seitokai Yakuindomo really surprised me. Because, even though the story is bland and the joke can be a hit or miss, yet the visuals and music and the voice acting surprisingly manage to win me over and keep me watching it and even rewatching it again and again.

Plus - Gorgeous background and nice looking character design - Fitting music and nice song - Good and funny voice acting

Minus - Bland story and character development - The joke can be a hit or miss - Because it focused on sex humor and not much else, its not for everyone

Should you try this? ... why not I am conflicted because although I like this anime, its hard to try to recommend it. This anime is pretty much only for those who want to watch comedy or like dirty jokes, although ecchi anime fans looking for fanservice scenes will probably be disappointed. Or for those who want a simple slice of life show to kill time that you can just watch without thinking too much about character development or relationship, and or to relax the senses thanks to the beautiful background.