Hanging Gardens

Some early Winter 08 Anime Impressions

2008-01-08T17:18:00.000-08:00

It's a new season of Anime in Japan and I've watched multiple episode 01s of various series. Thus a quick run down of how I feel.

H20 ~foot prints in the sand: This has definite potential so long as they put enough focus on the promising story. I have hopes it will turn out well.

Rosario + Vampire: This should be called Rosario + Panties + Vampire. A very bleh first episode and all it had going for it was Moka who now that I think about was just a pretty face anyway. I will not watch anymore of this.

Aria the Origination: Same feel as the previous seasons. Thus I'll stick with it.

Spice and Wolf: It has me interested, so I'll see how things go. Wolf Girl, I definitely like.

Minami-ke Okawari: It's not bad, it's just different. That's how I feel right now. I'll continue to see how things go, but it's decent so far.

True Tears: This is definitely a series for me and I'm already quite fond of Noe Isurugi. I'll have to remember to pay close attention to this one.

Night Wizard / Sketch Book ~Full Colors~/ EF ~A tale of Memories~

2007-11-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

Among the shows that I'm watching that are part of the fall season three of them truly stand out for me. Any of them could fall apart yes, but right now at least they're so worth it. I'll go through them one at a time with an image related to the said series above it. Night Wizard the Animation is a series about a girl named Elis who discovers she is a Wizard and given the task of collecting Jewels as part of a mission to defeat a dreaded enemy. It's the type of show that's considered generic and yet it works. Probably in part because it is generic. I can be relaxed while watching. It's just got this aura about. Plus I rather like Anzelotte, but I've grown to love Bell Zephyr even more. She's just totally awesome and you can see her in the above image. Note that she's on the right with Rion to her left. Sketchbook ~Full Colors~ is a very relaxing series about a girl named Sora who goes to an art club at her school. The members of the club are quite fun to watch and it just has that feel that puts one at ease. It has to be one of my favorites of the season. Ah yes the girl in the picture happens to be Asaka Kamiyu who is quite cute. EF ~A tale of memories~ is a mixture of three separate and yet connected stories. It has bishoujo, romance, drama, and can be a bit artsy in terms of the images. It's very interesting series that quickly grew on me. It's just simply amazing and I continue to wonder how these threads they set up will be resolved. So yeah it deserves a definite place in my top 3.

Lucky Star

2007-09-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

I've recently finished a series known as Lucky Star. Essentially it's mixture of comedy, parody, and slice of life. It stars a girl named Konata and focuses on a variety of other girls. All of which are awesome in their own way. The show has a relaxing feel to it and is very steady in terms of its flow. It also has an addictive opening song. One that I've watched way too much. Hopefully the series will get licensed by a decent company. I'd be very interested in how a potential dub would turn out. In any case while I like all the girls in general. The one I'm most partial to would be Misao. She's pretty. I love her fang. The tan looks good on her. Plus her voice is just very cute and quite attractive for some odd reason. Hopefully her English voice will be the same way. She better have an English voice. Ah yes the waiting game for a license begins.

The changing of the guard in a series.

2007-08-27T16:32:00.001-07:00

To explain what I'm talking about, I'll use Pretty Cure. Pretty Cure introduced us to Honoka and Nagisa. They became the established leads of the series. After which we got the direct continuation Pretty Cure Max Heart which added Hikari to the mix. However then came Pretty Cure Splash Star. Which was akin to an alternate universe where we got two new girls Saki and Mai. The next Pretty Cure which starts the story over yet again in another alternate is called Yes! Pretty Cure 5! and has of course five new girls this time. Nozomi, Rin, Urara, Komachii, and Karen.

Changing of the guard can be rather tricky. People get used to the older cast and are very suspicious of the newer cast. However I'm going to be blunt here especially in terms of Pretty Cure that in many cases changing the guard is for the best. Simply because you can't drag out things forever.

Seriously I love Pretty Cure/Pretty Cure Max Heart. I'm extremely fond of Nagisa , Honoka, and Hikari as they've given many great moments. However there are only so many times they can essentially repeat the process. Plus with the way Max Heart ended any continuation would have ruined things. Especially since the ending more or less finalized things in my view.

Sure there is the idea of just increasing the size of the cast. Which can indeed work in some cases. It certainly does work for Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha which is an awesome series. The size of the cast did indeed grow quite a bit in StrikerS. Yet from the episodes I've seen of the series they manage to both focus on the old and the new characters rather well.

However in the case of Pretty Cure and some others series it's better not to have the old cast compete with the new cast. Simply because it only leads to one over-shadowing the other in the long run. In other words it can be far more effective to create a clean slate. Have it so the past series is the older cast's moment of glory and the current series is the new cast's moment to shine. Hence why the right decision was made with Pretty Cure Splash Star and Yes! Pretty Cure 5!

Then again as a person who has played several RPG series where two games in the same series can have completely different casts I've probably become used to the idea of the changing of the guard. I'll admit there will always be part of me that wants to see more of the past characters, but I'm also glad to meet new ones. Besides I figure it this way I can always re-experience something again. Ie re-watch an anime, replay a game and you get the idea.

As long as I am on the subject of Pretty Cure I'll provide a link to the image that show the various Pretty Cures that have appeared and by that I mean all of them that I know of. So you have been warned. In any case just click here

The return to being active? Even if it means talking to myself.

2007-08-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

I'll admit I've been rather lazy about posting to the blog, but I've more or less decided I should actually start discussing things again regardless of who may be reading. Perhaps I feel inspired or more likely I'm bored. In any case I'll mainly stick to discussing stuff along the lines of video games and anime as per usual. Granted it's hard to say how long this active thing will last. Maybe I can think of at least one thing to post besides a claim I'll be more active. Finally I don't expect to play catch up and discuss everything I've done during the hiatus, but I expect to be a bit more open about things in general. Besides I think forced catch up will back fire. So in short I'll see where things go. Also think of this as a test post.

Sasami Magical Girl Club Episodes 1-10

2006-06-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

As a good way of testing out my blog, I'll speak a little bit about this series. Now mind you I've been watching it untranslated and relying on for summaries of the episodes. So I can't really get into details. However before that the above image is of Anri Misugi if you need to ask. In any case I have to say I absolutely love this series. Now let's go through a few things. This series was deemed as "terrible" before it even aired. Due to the younger designs and the fact it wasn't going to be a clone of Magical Project S or Pretty Sammy OVA. To that I say good. Granted I love Magical Project S although the OVA was meh. In fact I'd love to see more MPS. However that's only if it's going to be a second season. If they are going to start yet another alternate universe. Which SMGC is. Then I say they may as well actually make it different and not just rehash things again. In this way we get a nice change of pace. Instead of just Sasami and Misao, we get three other girls added to the mix. Tsukasa, Makato and my current favorite Anri herself. I like her in let's just say multiple ways. Misao actually gets a role besides being a depressed tool of someone else. If anything it's good there is no Pixy Misa in this series because she'd over shadow everyone. One thing to note is this. The series seems to be less about being a magical girl, but rather instead about learning to be a magical girl. Rather than start off in the first episode "transformed" and destroying "love hating" demons of darkness. Instead Sasami eventually along with the other girls become part of a club to get guidance from Washu in terms of their magical abilities. I do worry how the series will end. Especially given that there are only three episodes left and there is a chance they may try to bite off more than they can chew in the remaining three episodes. However if they manage to keep things focused and let the conclusion be something reasonable in context. This will turn out to be one of my favorite series of this season.

Happy 7 Final Thought

2006-01-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

Well this has definitely become one of my favorite series of 2005. Now don't get me wrong. It's not flawless. For one thing it should have been 26 episodes. It's definitely hurt by the 13 episode format. If the series had been 26 episodes, it would have felt less rushed in some areas. Plus they could have focused a bit more on the back story. Finally Lucky 3 wouldn't have been a one shot deal. Or maybe they still would have been. Okay flaws aside, I love the series. It's rather fun to watch. Plus it in some ways it felt like a nice change of pace. From the fact the harem is already established to the fact the main female is not the one kicking ass and taking names. I also happen to like the over all cast. My favorite character in terms of the seven members of Happy 7 is of course Kiku Sarasugawa. In terms of Lucky 3 it's Mimi Masuko. Simple as that. Now then I just need to wait and hope the series gets licensed by someone with a heart. If it does get licensed it will be extremely high in my priority list. In some ways I think this series was made for me. I'm definitely glad that I was motivated to watch it.

Grandia, La Pucelle Tactics and Backlogs of EVIL

2005-12-17T05:36:00.000-08:00

After putting the game off for years literally I finally finished Grandia. Yeah it's silly, but work with me here. Over all the game was decent. Not great mind you but decent. The battle system was rather nice. I also liked the cast of characters. I just wish the game was less "linear" and there was more Sue in the game. Okay more Sue and Leite. Since those two were my favorite in the game. I'll decide who I like better later. Also I've started on La Pucelle Tactics. What can I say? I've wanted to play that game for awhile. What can I say? I sort of liked Rhapsody. Disgaea was nice. I also liked Phantom Brave. So go figure I'd want to try La Pucelle Tactics. So far I like the game, but like Disgaea and Phantom Brave it will probably have a lot of focus on stats which can get tedious. Although in the end it's all about Prier. She's awesome. Nothing like hearing her say "Repent", "You suck", "Confess", and etc. Either way I definitely have a decent size back log of games to complete and/or ultimately decide to never finish. Thousand Arms, Suikoden, Grandia 2, Romancing SaGa (5 Quests Left), Lunar 1, Lunar 2, Evolution 2, Wild Arms, Wild Arms 3, Dragon Quest 8, Xenogears, Xenosaga 2 and a bunch of other stuff. Problem is motivating myself to play certain games and I reply some stuff too much. Heh the back log is only going to get larger.

Happy 7 is officially awesome

2005-12-10T13:17:00.000-08:00

Yeah that's right. Episode 10 just confirms it for me. Amano has been a refeshing change of pace among main magical girls. Often the main magical girl of the series will transform during the first episode. She may have problems at first, but eventually she gets thing settled and starts murdering by the second or third episode. Yet Amano is different. Sure she has some special power. Yes it was obvious she would eventually transform. However she didn't just transform right off the bat. Instead she played the role of the side girl to the magical girl(s). Granted Amano is still the main, but the point is for all purpose for several episodes she was more like the side kick. So through out the series I've been waiting for her to transform to turn the group into Happy 8 or should I say Crazy 8? The show did what I expected and threw me for a loop. Yes Amano does transform, but she's not a member of Happy 7. She's a member (leader) of Lucky 3! Her two best friends Nene and Mimi are also part of the group. It's like Amano and her best friends are your average side characters in Mahou Shoujo wanting a piece of the action. Of course Kikunosuke who is clearly jealous of Lucky 3 if you ask me. Well he has to be. Yeah erase the memory of your competition why don't you? Heh then again Happy 7 was kind of schocked over it too. So maybe they're also jealous. Still I love Lucky 3 and hope the blink is a sign they didn't lose their memory. Besides Amano is the main female and she has to fight in the final battle. So she may as well bring her allies along for the ride. Heh so three episodes remain before the series. So the only thing left is finding out more about Kokuanten, hoping Lucky 3 appears again, hoping for a flowing full henshin scene. As well as of course seeing the brat's true power and true form. Yeah I'm certain that brat as I like to call the main villain has a true form.

Happy Seven the TV Manga

2005-11-20T04:48:00.000-08:00

This series is essentially Bishoujo Sentai over all. The idea is that a goup of seven girls and one guy deal with evil spirits. Partially related to bad luck as far as I can tell. Each has of course their own transformation scene. The main female is a girl named Amano who for certain reasons end up meeting up with the seven err eight anyway.

I was interested in this series at first mainly because the girls were cute. However over all it's a lot of fun. The series isn't ground breaking, but it feels well extremely honest. Like it's saying "We're Bishou Sentai and we're proud of it.". I've currently seen up to episode 7 which is the best so far and really increased the show's favor with me.

What's interesting is that when each character transforms his or her demeanor and etc changes. Ie for example Kikunosuke the main male of the series untransformed has a none serious look to him. His eyes are closed and he doesn't seem to have a care in the world. Yet transformed, his eyes are fully opened and of course he seems to have a tougher look to him. I kind of like this aspect because it makes the transformation(s) in this series go beyond simple costume changes.

Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song (Again)

2005-11-09T23:18:00.000-08:00

In the end my Hawke party ended up being Hawke, Claudia, Guella Ha, Diana and Captain Silver. Works for me. I'm now playing as Sif with a party of Sif, Darque, Albert, Patrick and The Minstrel. Heh the idea of events that can close over time is not so bad. For one thing because I missed my chance to get Captain Silver in Aisha's quest, I had something new to do in Hawke's quest. Even more important is the fact it's a reminder you are not the center of the universe. The villains are not going to always wait for you to save the day and on the same token you're not the only one able to save the day at all. Although you can run into problems where you wonder why event X can close, but event Y has no time limit. In any case it's definitely good to do a few things in this game. Vary who you use each time. Don't do stuff the same way every time. Heck even vary what quests you do. It's a lot more interesting to do different quests each time than it is to do all the quests in one sitting. Still in the end it would be nice if the game had more variety between the quests. However I have Unlimited SaGa and SaGa Frontier for that aspect. Speaking of which while the final battle in Romancing SaGa is nice, I still prefer Mythe's final battle in Unlimited SaGa. Something epic about it.

Romancing SaGa (Minstrel Song)

2005-10-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago, I finally got Romancing SaGa for the PS2 which is remake of the "Super Famicom" game. A game never released here for the Snes. All I can say is this version is much better than the original. I don't mean just because of graphics or the fact it's in a language I can understand. Everything is better. Well except for the lack of Natalie. What really stands out is the battle system. It's a lot more defined and involved than the original battle system. The original battle system was manageable yes, but honestly wasn't that great. I love the BP system because it makes defend and using weaker attacks a very useful strategy over all. I've completed Aisha's quest and I'm currently working on Hawke's quest. I plan to try to do things a bit differently because it would be boring to do everything the same way each time. I'm looking forard to some characters more than others. I sort of am thinking of saving Claudia for last. Since she other than Aisha is the quest I really want to play. What can I say? Aisha is cute and Claudia is pretty. So I guess maybe Aisha, Hawke, Sif (To get her over with), Albert, Jamil, Barbara, Gray and Claudia maybe. I'm not sure yet, but Hawke is definitely second. In terms of characters so far I love Myriam the most with Farah a close second. Although I'm trying to vary my party a bit. So I plan to use a completely different party for Hawke. Hawke, Silver, Diana, Guella=Ha and another main, but not Barbara since I used her for Aisha. In any case it's nice to finally be playing this game. It's a miracle. Now if only another miracle would come up and give me Romancing SaGa 3.

Akahori Gedo Hour Love-ge Final Thoughts

2005-09-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Well I've just recently finished this series. Over all it was extremely enjoyable. I just love the concept of it. A series that is two series in one literally. Plus both being magical girl series in a sense just made it even better. Episode 13 had the series end exactly as I'd hope it would end. Although obviously I'd want more episodes and etc, but then again I'd probably say that for any series I like. Character wise from Love Pheromone, I personally like Aimi better than Kaoruko. She's quite fun. While from Gedou Otome Tai, my favorite is of course Maika followed by Kanashi then Yuko, then Utano and finally Otone. Although I love all the girls in general.

Dragon Quest

2005-09-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well recently I've signed up for the demo for Dragon Quest VIII. Hopefully I'll be getting it soon in a few weeks to see what it is like. In any case I've joined http://www.slimeknights.com/slimeknights/index.html in order to read the forums and see what people are saying about the game. Although it seems a lot more involved than I thought. It's basically a place to promote Dragon Quest VIII which is good because the game needs promotion. In any case I'm mainly interested in the game because Dragon Quest was my first RPG. I lost track of the series and well it will be interesting to see how things have come along. Although perhaps I should consider getting around to playing Dragon Quest III the GBC version.

Akahori Gedo Hour Love-ge

2005-09-24T01:10:00.000-07:00

I love this anime. Actually it's made up of two series that are separate and yet connected. I'll explain. You have Zettai Seigi Love Pheromone and of course Sore Yuke! Gedo Otome Tai. The usual idea is half the episode is taken up by one series while the other half is taken by the other series. The opening varies depending on which series is shown first. The concept of two series in one is actually an interesting idea. It allows the viewer to see two sides of the story as opposed to one. Obviously being two series in one, they cross over in a sense multiple times. However let's get to each series using just the names Otome Tai and Love Pheromone for short. Love Pheromone is about Aimi and Kaoroku trying to use their position as allies of justice to become popular. The only problem is the two are prone to anger and cause a bit too much destruction. Which obviously paints them in a very bad light. I personally love Aimi the most out of the two. She's a lot of fun and well I'm partial to her hair and body. Even if she's not as well endowed. Otome Tai is about five girls who want to be evil as a promise to their father. They eventually get the ability to use magical powers. The problem is they aren't very evil. Ie they are too good for their own good or well in this case too good for their own evil. Personally I like this series slightly more, but probably because of more main females. If I had to pick a favorite. Perhaps Maika or Yoku, but I do like the other girls as well. I've seen up to 12 episodes and so far so good. If episode 13 which I've heard is the final episode ends decently then this will have been a series truly worth watching. I especially love what happened in 12, but I'm not saying anymore than that.

Xenogears

2005-09-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Currently I've been playing Xenogears. The human battles are nice. I do like the idea of saving up AP to do death blow combos. It gives a choice in strategy over all. However I don't care much for the mech battles. So far they seem to boil down to trading hits and hoping my damage lets me win. Seems to me the main strategy is whether or not to use boost. In other words I like the human battles much better. Story wise the game is decent so far. Although I do wish the battles would be more interesting. Especially in terms of the gear battles. They have yet to wow me over all. Still I'll keep playing the game slowly but surely. This is definitely not a game that I'm going to rush my way through. I say this because if I play it too much the style of the game will start to bore me. Just like Xenosaga, I doubt I'll replay this beyond messing around with an end save. Speaking of Xenosaga, I still need to play Xenosaga II. Xenosaga I was okay, but truth be told the game was a bit of a let down. To be fair it was the first game so the second may be a good sign as to what the series will truly be like. However I'm not likely to play it that soon. Especially since I have other games to consider.

Phantom Brave Sort of Final Thoughts

2005-09-07T01:24:00.000-07:00

I've more or less completed the main game of Phantom Brave. I'm not really in the mood to level up, level up and er level in order to do the side stuff. Still over all it was a pretty good game. Nice story, decent battle system and an just plain good. Only thing is getting stronger can feel a bit tedious sometimes. Either way I'm glad I got the game. I'll eventually go back to it later, but I want to take a break from it. Ie to avoid burn out and of course so I have something to do on it later.

TP+KF (All Grown Up) or Couple Fans scare me.

2005-08-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

In any case apparently KC has decided one of the All Grown Up episodes will involve the Kids finding a heart shaped etching that says TP+KF in Chuckie's basement. Thus given the idea that Tommy likes Kimi more so than first thought. Of course it will probably turn out that TP+KF does not stand for Tommy Pickles+Kimi Finster. Personally if it is not going to stand for them, I hope it stands for something relevant. Like maybe Chuckie has a relative with KF as his/her initials besides Kira and Kimi. Either way this has mixed reactions. Including some that are ready to flame and whine if the result doesn't turn out the way they want. Which is sickening to me. I mean I have my preferences when it comes to any series including this one. However in the end your chance of getting the couple you want is not very high. If anything the most common couple is "No one gets together ever", but that's another story. In any case all I know is that I'm more interested in what happens rather than what I want to happen. Although I'm really hoping they'll start airing the next batch of new episodes in September or at least in October.

Izumo Update

2005-08-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well the rewatch of Izumo is going well. Just one episode left to see. And it's so far as nice as the err untranslated version indicated. In either case Himiko is still my favorite character in the anime. Even more so now that I understand more of what is going on. Hopefully this will get a decent U.S release. If it ever gets licensed.

Phantom Brave

2005-07-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

Well about a couple of weeks ago I finally got access to this RPG called Phantom Brave and started playing it recently. So far it's pretty decent. The story is sad so far, but interesting. I just hope it doesn't become too repetitive in terms of the flow. Of course then again given the nature of the story that aspect may not be avoidable. I'll know for certain eventually. The battle system is pretty cool with the whole idea of having to confine Phantoms and having limited time they can be used. Although I worry that may make the game's main strategy "level up until you can kill stuff before it's too late." Still at least the system promotes using multiple characters. Although I'll probably keep using certain characters each battle while rotating the rest. I know I want to use Ash because of story important and the merchant I have. Maybe I'll also keep using the healer and the witch each time and rotate the rest. I'm not sure eyt.

Thought about episodes being spread out

2005-07-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

As I wait for this Saturday and "Dude where's my Horse" of All Grown Up to air. More like sunday since on Saturday I need to concentrate on Teen Titan's "The End Part III" and such instead. I have mixed feelings about the idea of episodes being spread out. On one hand it gets annoying having to wait weeks or months before new episodes come out. On the other hand it makes the new episodes feel more like an event than anything else. Of course DWMH is considered a special for AGU so it is sort of like an event. Still regardless I've been reading some of the sneak peeks for AGU so I hope it doesn't take too long for some episodes to air. Ah well I'll just have to wait and see.

Izumo Anime Series

2005-06-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

Recently I decided to watch the series Izumo. I still need to rewatch 7-12 for obvious reasons. As in I can't understand Japanese. However I have to say for 12 episodes, it's a pretty nice series. Sure it's not anything dramatic or new, but it definitely works. Especially because of Himiko. She has to be my favorite character in the entire series. My second favorite girl is of course Kotono. I'm still undecided on the other girls. Although I do like Asuka and so forth.

Danny Phantom

2005-06-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

Well in any case one of the cartoons I've been watching is Danny Phantom. It's actually pretty nice all things considered. I do like the way Danny handles himself sometimes and some of the ghosts can be rather silly. As for the whole Danny and Sam couple thing. I'm in support of the two getting together. I know many complain that would ruin the entire series, but I say what's wrong with a show moving foward and taking a risk? Why do series have to stay stuck in a rut in order to work? Besides if you ask me the two are extremely close to being a couple without being one. Also if it follows the formula of most series, they probably won't get together until the series ends anyway. Meaning nothing is going to get ruined due to a lack of episodes to ruin it. At least that's my guess anyway. In any case Memory Blank was one of the better episodes. It finally confirmed how Danny got his powers completely. Among other such things.

Old Blog Not exactly dead

2005-06-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well I found that my older version of the blog is still online with all the past posts. Of course I can't really do anything with it right now. Maybe I should transfer all the posts here later someway. Either way I'll just stick with using this one.

Asagiri no Miko (Shrine of the Morning Mist)

2005-06-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well last sunday I got the final volume to one of my favorite animes ever. Okay so I was a few months late. There were some problems. Still considering how much I wanted the series to be licensed, having all three volumes in my possession now just makes everything better. I mean after all it means I can now experience the perfection of Seiko Rikiishi in the comfort of the front room with the tv. As well as Chika Yurikusa. Still what's the best way to celebrate this.

Resurrection

2005-05-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well I deleted the blog and remade it. As per usual it is named after Hanging Gardens in Unlimited SaGa which is as the game says is "The most amazing of the seven wonders"