On a side note, I just picked up "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure", and I must say its the most fabulous thing I've ever seen.


Anybody who doesn't know about "K-on!" shouldn't be called an otaku, its that simple. "Kampfer" is a pretty awesome ecchi gender-bend anime that really changed the way on how I view things. Its a great ecchi experience as well as a pretty comedic one. "Kami-sama no memochou" is probably a mystery drama anime with tons of intense and interesting moments. Its definitely worth checking out if you're interested in the mystery genre.



K-on!

To be perfectly honest I can just put all 5 girls here and be done with it, because they are all so awesome and likable. Its impossible to dislike any of them really, because they fit so well together. But if I have to choose....I can only narrow it down to two.



I've always imagined her as a badass drummer on stage.

Well, here's my favorite. Given how awesome all 5 of the girls are, its really hard to choose, but I like Ritsu the most, for a few reasons. Reason 1, of all instruments used in the anime (or in any band in general), I love the drummer the most, because of the heavy beats and sounds it generates. Being the drummer, Ritsu has already earned tons of love points from me. Oh, she acts like a tomboy and is incredibly adorable on top of that? Score, that's it for me.


Out of the 5 girls, I love Ritsu and Yui's personalities the most (they are practically the same thing). They are both slackers, lazy to the bone, and the way they portray it all the time in sync is just so adorable. Also, as the club president, I like how she completely doesn't give a f**k for a good portion of the anime. Practice? Screw that, tea time!


Also notice how she picks on Mio so much (pretty much her best friend), or as a matter of fact, on most of the club members (minus Mugi, she's impossible to pick on). She acts like an irresponsible big sister, and that just adds on to her lovable factor. Oh, and being cheerful helps. Finally, as the caption for the above image states, I see her as as badass drummer on stage (a cute, badass drummer).



Azu-nyan looking cool~

If there's someone else I love as much as Ritsu, its Azusa. Our underwhelming freshman has always needed more love in my opinion, as she is pretty much the only one who tries to take things seriously, I find her extremely adorable! She's just the kind you would pity because nobody on the club would learn their lesson despite her constant attempts to push them into practice.


Azu-nyan. Need I say more? That is practically her nickname throughout the entire anime, and I'm sure anyone who watched "K-on" would have replayed the segment where she has cat ears on and goes "Nyan!~" MULTIPLE times. Azusa is just adorable, you'd want to hug and squeeze her to get the moe-ness out of your head.


Yeah she plays the back-up guitar, and while I don't really like that role in the band, I can't say that it pulls my love for her down. Despite everything, I do feel a tint of sympathy for her. She's the one left behind while Yui and the others graduate. Sure she has ton-chan, Ui and Jun, but things have to be tough for her. And you know that final scene in the movie and final episode of season 2? Still makes me want to shed a tear every time.



Kampfer

"Kampfer" is kind of a self preference thing. People would find the gender bending thing as Natsuru transforms into a girl kind of sick....but I do find female Natsuru to be one of the sexiest non-existent females up to DATE.....I kind of already spoiled my favorite character didn't I?


I WAS SO TEMPTED TO POST A MORE SEXUALLY  ATTRACTIVE PICTURE!


Natsuru will make an appearance in a pervertic post in the future, you can bet on it. For now, let's just say she...or he, is my favorite character for "Kampfer". Well I'll just refer to Natsuru as a she here, because lets just face it, everyone likes her as a girl. As sexy as can be, Natsuru brings on the heat to the already sexy series.


In a universe like "Kampfer", where its pretty much stated that Kampfers can only be girls as they battle each other, Natsuru's fate was sealed in a funny way. Right from the get go since episode one, you will start to like Natsuru for his sad yet hilarious fate. Turning into a girl as a guy...I would say is a good and bad thing, depending on how you look at it. The way Natsuru handles it is just hilarious!


As a kampfer, Natsuru fights like a mage of sorts, launching fireballs and such during battle. While I do think Shizuka has the best fighting style of the Kampfers, Natsuru does hold up well in second place. Still, the best part about liking Natsuru is seeing how she handles everyday girl stuff, because almost everything she does ends up being hilarious or just smoking hot.



Kami-sama No Memochou

Welcome to the world of mystery! I must admit that I have never seen much mystery anime or play many mystery games. Like how "Phoenix Wright:Ace Attorney" was my entry point to mystery for games, "Kami-sama No Memochou" was my entry point to mystery for anime. Let's all clap for the loli!




The NEET thing to do indeed!

Alice is nothing less you could ask for in a loli anime character. Being cute is a natural, but she's tsundere and  a genius. In fact, she's no less than the smartest damn character in the entire anime. Even though being a NEET is a bad thing, she makes it look like a good thing and shows that she can help people despite being one, through the powers of being a genius.


Alice, despite being a little girl, is a very respected girl. She is called "female boss" or "big sister" by "The forth"'s gang members, and everyone treats her well as her clients. She is very much a backline person, as she usually leaves the heavy work to everyone else as she camps in her little room, doing research and...you know, nerd things.


She rarely, if not ever goes out, but if she does, its a big deal. Its nice to see how everyone gets worked up over a little girl like her, its nice to see actually. Alice puts the word "loli" to a newer term, as she proves that being a loli, doesn't mean you have to be another one of those little girls that cry and suck up to main characters. You go girl!


Peace.



Opening songs
OP 1 (Season 1) - Watashi Ni Dekiru Koto (Yoko Ishida)

OP 1 (Season 2) - Egao No Maho (Yoko Ishida)

Ending songs
ED 1 (Season 1) - Bookmark a head (Strike witches)
ED 1 (Season 2) - Over sky (Strike witches)


Genre: Action, Magic, Science Fiction

Episodes:12 per season



Same deal with "Rosario + Vampire", I'm reviewing both seasons of "Strike Witches" at the same time because I do think that it is pointless to do 2 reviews separately as they are basically the same thing.


And just so you know, I will get this out of my system first. I love "Strike Witches". Like if there was an all-girl anime that I would absolutely love, this is it, and I don't think there are much others like it that can hope to compete. Yes, its that good, at least to me anyway. A great cast of characters, combat that isn't completely butchering to the series, and just tons of fun to watch overall. If you're one of those guys that totally loathe anime with no guys in it (like "K-on" or "The Idolm@ster", for example), you're probably not going to like this as well, but its still worth a damn good shot in my opinion. 




OI HARTMAN!! OKIRO!

Both seasons have incredibly cheesy opening songs, but it fits in this case and I kind of enjoy them to some extent. The opening for season one is "Watashi Ni Dekiru Koto" by Yoko Ishida, and right off the bat you can sense the cheesiness. Still, it sounds good and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Same to the opening for the 2nd season, "Egao No Maho" also by Yoko Ishida. I actually find it better than the season 1 opening, with a little extra tint of epicness. Not much, but its worth a mention.


As for the ending themes, they are all sang by the cast of the anime. The ending for season one is "Bookmark a head", and it sounds a little cheery, too cheery for me. It is a little bit catchy, but not to the extent of some others songs that sound a little like this. "Over sky" is the ending for season 2, and I must say its much better. It has this "Super Stream" feel that makes it feel pretty catchy.



Rating: 8.5/10



It has everything you'd need in an anime like this. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this anime, and I did not regret it. The girls were so damn likable that you'd almost think that this was "Idolm@sters" but instead of singing they shoot down alien robots and air craft (kind of like that "Idolm@sters" mecha spin off anime). You will grow to like almost everyone towards the end, and throughout both seasons, a good equal amount of screen time is given to all the girls so that we can all grow to like them. Its also a little bit of an emotional thrill ride at times, and packs some funny moments to go along with everything else. The final bits of each season were so brilliant that they themselves could easily be watched over and over ( I preferred the final episodes of season 1 over season 2 myself).



You don't say.

The star of "Strike Witches" goes by the name of Miyafuji Yoshika, a happy-go-lucky girl from middle school who just likes to help people. She is training to become a successor to the Miyafuji clinic, which specializes in the use of healing magic. Yoshika has magic powers, though she isn't that good just yet. She has been living in turmoil ever since the disappearance of her father. One day she finds blueprints and learns that her father is dead. Another girl by the name of Mio Sakamoto introduces herself and wants to bring her to Britain to fight against the Neuroi, a rising threat that has been dangerous to the world. Seeing Yoshika's power and potential, Sakamoto takes her to become part of the "Strike witches", a squad of witches made to destroy and combat against the Neuroi. 


This would be VERY easy to recommend to ANY male otaku. Along with everything good that I just mentioned, it has a BOATLOAD of fan service, and well, us guys will enjoy that kind of thing. I mean FFS, not a single girl in the entire show (well, at least the majority) is wearing any pants! Panties! Panties every motherf**ker. If you're into the theme of a sci-fi world where loli and hot chicks team up to destroy aliens while flying around in mechanical flying boots, what are you waiting for?


Peace.

Its been over a f**king YEAR since the last villains post for gaming. I won't say I forgot about it, but screw it, here are more villains from more games. As usual, this is MY opinion, you may or may not agree, so let's just get to it.


Spoilers for the following games:


Disgaea 4:A Promise Unforgotten
Final Fantasy 13-2
Dishonored
Tales Of Graces F
Corpse party:Book of Shadows/Blood Covered



2000 attack points!

5.Nemo
From: Disgaea 4:A Promise Unforgotten


First up in the 5th place is Judge Nemo from "Disgaea 4". First off, when you look at him, you get am evil feel out of him, but nothing major. If anything, he looks just like a scheming businessman or just a wacky con artist? What gets him here?


Well first off you won't get to see him at all much in the game, at least for the first half of the chapters. When you do see him appear after the takedown of the nether world president, he starts to reveal his major evil plot. He isn't much of a pushover. He's not a demon, he's not an angel, and he despises human on top of not being one, what is he excatly?


Well Nemo is actually a phantom, a living regret of his past self of sorts. He tries to destroy Earth for fueling his hatred (like 99.5% of other villains in the world), through a lot of ways, and while doing that he was trying to tax and control the netherworld through the distribution of hate energy. Through the many chapters you will see his hatred bear fruit and learn to grow some sympathy, as he does look like a sad demoralized demonic monster towards the end. He was cool during the final boss battle though.



That's what they all say.

4.Caius Ballad
From: Final Fantasy 13-2


Next up on 4th place is Caius from "Final Fantas 13-2". He's a simple dude actually, and when you look at him you'd say, "a hippie Siegfried wielding a copyrighted Soul edge made in China"? That's the vibe I got anyway, so lets get to him.


Caius appears throughout the game so many times, its not even funny. The first fight against him was easy, but subsequent ones got harder and harder VERY quickly and he WILL kick MASSIVE ass if your party isn't strong. Like Noel and Serah he is a time traveler, but unlike those 2, he treads across the different times for a different purpose.


Caius is the previous guardian for Yeul, and he has not put down his duty yet even though Noel already took the new place as one. Yeul is under a curse where she is to predict the future and eventually die from having all these future predictions (the same thing Serah is experiencing throughout the game). Caius is trying to stop that, and he goes to all these worlds to try and save all these Yeuls....failing most of the time, A valiant effort indeed, hes quite a noble villain.



Well I couldn't find a good picture, don't look at me.

3.Admiral Havelock
From: Dishonored


3rd place goes to Admiral Havelock from "Dishonored". All who play the game know this shaggy man for the complete asshole that he is. He might not be a very powerful villain (in fact you nail him like all other normal dudes in the game), but he is a shrewd one nonetheless.


Havelock is one of those guys you can read from miles away. Right off the bat you KNOW he's going to become evil at SOME point in the game. But anyways, he starts off with this welcoming posture and demeanor as he welcomes you into the part of the loyalists. You'd think he was just going to help you and brief you through missions as a friend and mentor. After all, he saved you from prison right?


Wrong, it was all to make use of your abilities in order to seize himself a high position. After you take down the lord reagent he gets rid of you, trying to cast you away as he takes credit for EVERYTHING you have done, as well as wanting to turn you in, the "assassin" of the queen, to earn even MORE praise. Still, the power hungry faggot couldn't keep his power, so he killed Pendleton and Martin, but still succumbed to his deeds in the end. Asshole.



Welcome to the land of Bishonen.


2.Richard
From: Tales Of Graces F


2nd place goes to Richard from "Tales Of Graces F". I really do like Richard, even after all he has done, I'm quite damn sure many of you do too. And even though, technically, Lambda is the true villain, it IS Richard you are fighting, so lets just go there.


A pretty charismatic young fellow if you ask me. Richard is a prince, and as a prince, he IS to succeed the throne. However, everything fell to shambles as his uncle desperately tried to take the throne. Richard's father, the former king, got assassinated, and Richard knew he was next. After a successful attempt at poisoning Richard, he fled for the catacombs, but succumbed to it. That's was where everything changed.


Lambda possessed Richard, and Richard could not let go of Lambda as his host. He sympathized with the otherworldly visitor, and through that they made a pact of friendship as he worked together with Lambda to build a better, ideal world by erasing the old one (like 99.9% of all villain in the game). He went around the world, absorbing eleth to further strengthen himself for his plans and to weaken the other parts of the worlds. And the final confrontation with him was just excellent to boot.




I absolutely love this guy, believe me.


1. Yuuya Kizami
From: Corpse party series


For first place today, its going up to Yuuya Kizami from "Corpse party". I wanted to give it to Sachiko, but I'll save her for another time (you know she's coming out sooner or later). Being the awesome sick dude that he is, lets see what he has.


Kizami is a sick fellow by heart, and you can see that in "Book Of Shadows" as they explain his past. Since he was a kid, he looked into a different side of things. He killed animals, beat up kids and took pleasure in all of it. He thought himself different from the others, and yes he is. When he got sucked into Heavenly Host Elementary, he was in for the time of his life. Lets go through his deeds.


We can never forget his pedophile chase against Yuka, that crazy man wanted a little sister through sheer force of obsession. If Yuka gets caught, Kizami can be seen tying her up and torturing her before he finally kills her (although he doesn't do it eventually). He is also responsible for the murders for most of his schoolmates. Fukuroi got beaten up bad by the crazy hammer guy, but Kizami finished him off. He caught and killed Mitsuki, he killed Kurosaki (his best friend) for talking back at him, and he beat up Tohko while she was trying to be nice to him. A crazy, violent bastard to the very end.


Peace, more to come. You know it.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Girls as guns? (Upotte! review)


Opening songs
OP 1- I.N.G (Sweet ARMS)

Ending songs
ED 1- Himekuri (Kaori Sadohara)

Genre: Action, Slice Of Life

Episodes:10



School has started for me once again, and my thus my shitty life continues. Ever thought of girls, that are guns? We have definitely seen shit like that, stuff like Zanpakutos and weapons from "Soul Eater" being impersonated by something looking like a human. Such is the world of "Upotte!", where girls, who are also guns, attend a military school where they are taught the basics of shooting, handling, and world history. Its a strange world, believe me when I say its completely insane and nonsensical. But in the world of anime, nobody really cares, and at times "Upotte!" may seem really stupid, but you can't deny the charm that it manages to portray. As long as you like cute and adorable girls, "Upotte!" will still draw you in.



In a show where girls are guns~

Song wise there is nothing much to say here. Both songs aren't really to my liking and its pretty expected. The opening song is "I.N.G" by Sweet ARMS, and its a pretty normal peace loving girly song. Its nothing that I would like, but it still fits the overall mood and theme of the anime pretty well. The ending song is "Himekuri" by Kaori Sadohara, and its a slow easy-going song, nothing special here. Once again it fits the anime, but it isn't really to my liking.


Rating:7.0/10


Its a decent anime. Its not bad, but its kind of redundant at times as they do a lot of stupid things that are pretty much unnecessary. It has its share of serious and stupid moments, and to be honest, even though its a light hearted anime, it does a better job at doing the serious sections than the stupid ones. It tries too much to be something like "K-on", but lacks sheer moments of comedy or stupidity to make things funny, most of the time its just comparisons of boob sizes. You can think of "Upotte" as an inferior "K-on" but with guns, because that's what I can best describe this as.



Prepare for war people.

Funko is what she is called, FNC is her name (as if that made any damn sense), and she is a gun...as well as our main character. Funko, like all the other girls in her school, have always wanted to be held by another strong individual that they admire, and for her, that's the new teacher that just enrolled into their school. Ever since she saw him at first sight at a festival, she has dreamed of being held by him. So begins her new school life with a new teacher, alongside her friends that she likes to fool around with, as they shoot stuff and throw stuff. 


"Upotte" is really another one of those pointless anime that you watch for no apparent reason. You can get by  its sheer randomness and illogical sense of reality. At times, it can be really funny and interesting to watch, while other times it just gets silly. "Upotte!" is those kinds of anime that will get you nowhere, but there's also no reason not to watch it.


Peace.

Saturday 16 March 2013

Dengeki Gakuen RPG:Cross Of Venus

Gamespot Score:n/a

My Score:7.5


(+)Pros: - Playable heroines from various anime will be sure to excite majority of the players (well this is why you're playing the game), - Tons of unrelated cameo appearances, - Simple combat system that is easy to get into, - Collecting cards can be addictive and card support system adds depth into combat, - Visiting the worlds of various anime can be fun and exhilarating.

(-)Cons: - Boss fights are rather lazily made except for a certain minority, - You'll be backtracking into certain worlds multiple times, -Rather short for an RPG.


Gameplay time: 10-20 hours





I am actually surprised to see how little love this game has been receiving! Being a DS RPG featuring the appearances of multiple popular anime heroines is just a recipe for greatness. Well, as a means to attract fans, at least. As its a rather simple game, it packs a good deal of content that can please fans who are into the "Dengeki bunko" series of light novels, most of these that become popular anime, otakus can easily find their worth here. However it is still a JAPANESE RPG, so if you don't know Japanese, an English translation or YouTube video walkthroughs can really save your bacon.




The story talks about a nameless high school student as he stays late in school to investigate a rumor revolving around a ghost girl that was proposed by his friend, Kizuna. Turns out that this girl was Shana, and it seems like she was investigating a space time continuum regarding the worlds of different "Dengeki bunko" light novels. Before he knows it, the main character is thrown into the world of "Iriya No Sora" along with Shana, and they fight through the various hostiles that attack them. After that, its explained that an organization is trying to screw around with these different light novel worlds to change how the stories goes, and its up to the main character and the various heroines that join him to stop the impending evil.




Wait, what?

When we talk about a crossover game, its obviously a game that was made for the fans. When you look at "Dengeki Gakuen RPG:Cross of Venus", the first thing that catches you is the appearance of all these different anime heroines that you may or may not know about. We have heroines spread across from a ton of franchises, Shana from "Shakugan no Shana", Kana Iriya from "Iriya No Sora", Kino from "Kino's journey", Index from "To aru majutsu no Index", Haruka from "Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu", Taiga from "Toradora!", Dokuro from "Bokusatsu tenshi Dokuro-chan" and Misao from "Asura Cryin". You may or may not know all of these (I didn't know 3 of them when I started), but it makes up for an even greater purpose when you wish to know more about these characters if you don't already know them.


Despite these awesome girls being playable, you also get a ton of cameo appearances of characters that appear FROM these franchises. Like lets say, Yuji from "Shakugan no Shana" or Touma from "To aru majutsu no Index". A ton of characters, ranging from side ones to main ones to villains, make their stay in this game, and its a pleasure to see them included....EVEN if they aren't directly playable (you get some of them as cards for support). This really makes me why its so hard to make a crossover game with the perfect cast or crew....



You're nothing but a video game normal enemy in a giant world of video games, its fine.

The combat system is fairly simple, there's really not much to speak about here. The four buttons of the NDS are as follows, a guard button, jump button, attack button and skill button. Attacks are the staple here as you use these to beat up enemies, they can be chained into skills to do more damage but since you are only allowed one character on the screen at once but you can have 3 characters in your party, this means you get to switch characters mid combo. Hitting an enemy with a combo, then switching to another character to extend that then switching AGAIN to the third character for MORE hits can be pretty satisfying. Though different characters have different fighting styles so there are a ton of factors that have to be taken into consideration. Guard and jump are self explanatory, though you cant guard against certain boss attacks.


During battle you are also allowed a support character, and while they don't fight directly in battle they allow the use of cards that you collect throughout the game. These cards are pretty fun to collect, buy and create. Most represent something out of a "Dengeki bunko" novel but there are some with characters on them so its like collecting a trading card game or something. You can tap these in battle anytime to eat some MP from your support to get aid in battle like heals, stat boosts or just to damage the enemy. And while enemy types aren't the best they are (they could have been a LITTLE more creative here, just saying), the worlds you visit ARE from "Dengeki bunko" novels, so if you are familiar with a certain franchise, visiting the world there, could be exciting.



Let's not stray off too far shall we?

One major gripe I have about the game is that the boss fights (with the exception of a small minority) are pretty lazily done. They all revolve around the same tactic to destroy your ass. Try to hit you with normal attacks (which are so FEW in variety), then when they drop to a certain health level, they use their super move which is godly powerful and somehow can take off a huge chunk of your HP. Honestly, most of these are too easy, though are are a small few that provide a decent challenge. Also you will be backtracking into some worlds way to frequently. Its okay to go to the same world multiple times, but at least change the layout of the freaking map! The game also clocks in rather short for a RPG. Even with time spent on walkthroughs and translations, the game only clocked in at about 15-18 hours, which is SHORT for a RPG.


This game is a complete breeze if you understand japanese (possibly cleared under 15 hours), otherwise its a little above that. "Dengeki Gakuen RPG:Cross Of Venus", despite having a stupidly long name, is a fun and sustainable RPG while it lasts. It has a simple battle system, so everyone can get into it, and cameos will keep pushing fans onward. If you know about the "Dengeki bunko" franchise and have some sort of connection to it, you'll enjoy this game, even if you don't know most of the characters. Otherwise its a decent entry point to the world of "Dengeki bunko" light novels.




Happy gaming.

"Hey man what're you doing with such an old game!??"

Well it doesn't fking matter does it. "Persona 3" is about 7 years old now but I really couldn't care less. It's one of the best games I have ever played and that will remain as a fact. So here's a post featuring the awesome group known as SEES.

*SPOILERS*



BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY

Name: Minato/Hamuko
Traits: Versatility, Wild card
Rating:10/10


Main characters in the SMT games have always been about the player. Its the same here, whether you're playing as the handsome beast Minato or the incredibly sexy Hamuko, you're in control. These protagonists wield the power of the wild card, and they can practically use everything they want. They switch personas in battle, taking ANY role they wish, be it a physical DPS, a team buffer, a magic user or healer. Switching these roles mid-battle and assisting/covering for your party's weaknesses is what makes our protagonists such insanely powerful fighters.



Well characters like her appear in all RPGs

Name: Yukari Takeba
Traits: Wind attributed, Magic DPS, Healer
Rating:9/10


Well I'm not biased, no I am not. Yes, she is THAT good. She is the only character in the game to have "mediarahan", which completely heals up your entire party. She is crucial to your team if your main character does not have a persona with "mediarahan". While she might be a little under leveled throughout the early levels of the game, sticking with her will really benefit you later on.


Yukari's persona is wind attributed, that just means she gets destroyed by electric type enemies. It may not be a good idea to put her in the same party as Aegis, as a single electric spell will fry both of them. She has great magic damage as well, since her magic stats are pretty much sky rocketed, she can easily fit into that magic DPS role as well whenever she's not on healing duty.



Typical best friend .

Name: Junpei Iori
Traits: Fire attributed, Physical DPS, Buffer
Rating:5/10


Get this straight, I do not like Junpei, not at all. All he is is another bad-mouthed faggot that gets jealous whenever the main character achieves another great feat. Early on he is a good source of damage, but in my opinion, he misses out on so much bosses due to story events that he falls so much behind. Its hard to care about him really, because he pales so much in comparison to Akihiko when you get him.


I don't use much Junpei, so don't look at me. He is fire attributed, that means he gets blown up by ice attacks. He uses a great sword, so if he misses a swing, there's a good chance he will go down, leaving him open. He grows to have some hard hitting physical damage skills late in the game, while being someone who can buff the team as well.



He is one sexy man, believe me.

Name: Akihiko Sanada
Traits: Lightning attributed, Physical DPS, Buffer, Debuffer
Rating:7/10


As my main in "Persona 4:Arena", I really do like Akihiko. In "Persona 3", he's not bad, but he gets out done in my opinion. He's a way better Junpei, that's for sure. You get him early on and he's a pretty strong powerhouse. He deals good physical damage, has "Dia" to help you with recovery, and with him the 2nd block just gets so much easier.


Akihiko is lightning attributed, wind type moves destroy him (correct me if I'm wrong here). He uses fists, which is kind of cool. His persona strength growth is high, so expect him to hit hard on physical type skills. He also does a very good job at buffing your team and debuffing the enemies. 



Yes, she's hot too.

Name: Mitsuru Kirijo
Traits: Ice attributed, Magic DPS, Healer
Rating:8/10


Mitsuru is the queen of sexiness in "Persona 3", and she gets the nickname "Ice queen" a lot, for obvious reasons. Mitsuru joins your party extremely overpowered in my opinion, but as the game stretches, she's just an ice attributed Yukari without the godly heal. Still, there is little refuse the sexy queen of SEES to join your party.


Ice gets melted by flames, so keep her out of the fire. Mitsuru uses a rapier, but that's not the focus here. Her persona magic growth is high, so its natural that she does very good magic DPS. She also excels as a healer, gaining all levels of healing with the exception of "Mediarahan". That's the only reason why she's rated one point lower than Yukari. She's still f**king godly, just not as godly as Yukari.



I totally dig robot chicks

Name: Aigis/Aegis
Traits: Physical DPS, Buffer
Rating:7/10


Up till today I'm not too sure about her name. Was it Aegis? Or Aigis? Wtf man. Ah well a quick YouTube video should get me sorted out easily. Anyway, Aigis (I'll use this term for now) is the very definition of bull charging. Know those big brawny dudes in RPGs with huge weapons that usually join your party? Aigis functions exactly the same as them in battle, she mops the floor with insane physical DPS.


Aigis is a robot, so she gets shocked up bad by electricity. She doesn't really pack ANY magic DPS on her at all, but her physical DPS is perhaps the best in the whole game. Multi-hitting painful attacks that wipe out boss health bars like nothing...that pretty much defines what she is. She isn't good for anything else really, other than her insane raw power. She probably does more damage than anyone else in the game.



Woof

Name: Koromaru
Traits: Dark attributed, Fire Attributed, Physical DPS
Rating:6/10


I love the dog. He's so likable in so many ways, but he really isn't much use in battle. There is a reason for that, don't look at me that way! Koromaru is incredibly speedy, and he depends on mudo to one shot enemies. In my opinion, that kind of thing on a character is already pretty bad, because he is entirely luck based.


Its good to note that he has no weakness other than hama (I may be wrong here), so he can take elemental hits from enemies. He can do fire damage and some decent physical DPS as well, but the point here is that he is a luck reliant character. If his mudo skills wipe out entire non-boss themes, he works great for clearing shadows. But against bosses...not so much.



Why didn't we get to see him in P4:Arena? I want to see grown up Ken!!!

Name: Ken Amada
Traits: Light attributed, Lightning attributed, Healer, Magic DPS
Rating:8/10


Believe, I hate kids as much as the next person, but Ken is freaking useful in fights. He may be a snotty brat, but he's a damn useful one. He's the opposite of the dog, he is light attributed, and a part of him relies on hama to one shot enemies. But unlike Koromaru, Ken has more up his sleeve that can be easily considered overpowered in the game.


For one, his persona has nice magic growth, meaning that he gets to deal nice lightning magic DPS. Like Koromaru, he has no weakness other than darkness, so he shakes off elemental attacks. PLUS, he gets the ability to HEAL. He learns every heal spell other than "Mediarahan", in other words, he's just like Mitsuru. But in more ways than one, he is actually more USEFUL than Mitsuru.



And we're done! No Shinjiro here, because we all knew what happened to him.


My Party
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Main character
Yukari
Mitsuru
Ken

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The rest in ranking
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Aigis
Akihiko
Koromaru
Junpei

-------------------------------------------------------


Peace out for now, more RPG parties to come in the future!





Persona motherf**ker


Opening songs
OP 1 - Paradigm (Eufonis)
OP 2 - Kimi Rhythm (Masaki Imai)

Ending songs
ED 1 - Kokoro no Kara (Team Nekokan)
ED 2 - Cry out (Team Nekokan)
ED 3 - Salvage (Team Nekokan)
ED 4 - I scream Chocolat (Team Nekokan)


Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy, Supernatural 

Episodes:17



I had to hold this one back because of the 4 additional CANON episodes that came out at a different date. I must say that "Kokoro Connect" feels like a pretty average anime at first, it least it pretty much did to me. It just felt like 5 average boring high schoolers participating in daily club activities. Well, stick with it. These 5 go through some pretty intense and weird situations, changing their characters overall and opening new sides to their personalities that we would have never guessed. Very soon, you will grow to like these 5 students, and in the end, it finishes up well as a series, making us viewers feel very satisfied. From the start to the end, your love for the characters increase with each episode, and that deserves a shout out.



Meet the kawai girls of the club!

There are too many ending songs..probably one for each ark, but to be honest, most of them aren't up for my tastes anyway. Let's talk about the opening songs. "Paradigm" by Eufonis is a slow, soothing song that is pretty average in every way. Its not something that I would really like or listen to often. The 2nd opening is pretty good, "Kimi Rhythm" by Masaki Imai. It has this "Aoi Shiori" feel that when you listen to it, you just feel calm enough to settle down and just....do nothing but sing along.



Rating:8.0/10



I was kind of siting on the fence for this one. Before I watched the extra 4 episodes, I was already settled on giving "Kokoro Connect" a 7.5 out of 10. But after the 4 extra episodes, which were wonderfully done, I told myself, f**k it this is getting 8.0. The last 4 episodes did a great job of boosting up the overall score, and I just feel that the entire journey with the club of 5 members just made me love them even more. Character development throughout the entire anime was superb for almost every one of these characters, and just thinking back on the episodes of how these characters grew was just great. And while it is once again an anime that focuses on the theme on friendship, it actually does it right.



I would be happy too, IF I HAD A LITTLE SISTER THAT CUTE


Taichi is another one of those typical high school student main characters. He just wants to help anyone in the best way he can. He's in a club with 4 of his friends, and together they are going to be in some deep trouble. In the middle of club activities one day, their club adviser comes into the room with a sinister face and voice. The possessed club adviser introduces himself as heartseed, and presents the club with a test. From then on, all 5 members of the club will randomly switch bodies with each other, and this eventually caused distress between them all. Will the 5 friends work together to overcome the difficulties that they face? Or will they crack under the pressure and sour their relationship?


"Kokoro Connect" is a great anime with tons of great moments. The bonding between friends is just beautiful in this anime, and the final few episodes are the sections where the anime truly shines. If you'd like a different kind of anime that threads upon the familiar theme of friendship, then this anime would fit right into your expectations.


Peace.

Thursday 7 March 2013

RaiderZ

Gamespot Score:n/a

My Score:7.8


(+)Pros: - Excellent skill based combat, - Encourages party play, - Great boss fight experiences for an MMORPG, - Diverse skill system that allows a certain class to use skills from other classes, - Different armor type choices for everyone, - Actually makes you WANT to craft equipment.

(-)Cons: - Encourages party play, - Hunting for equipment can be a major pain in later levels, - Completely rips off monster hunter.

Gameplay time: -






MMORPGs have gotten quite boring as of late, this I will admit. Its always the same thing here and there. Some games tend to mix things up but there has been no MMO that has really SUCKED me in completely these days (the last one was probably "Dekaron" or "Cabal"). "RaiderZ" is a pretty good MMORPG, its combat system already separates itself from the rest of the pack, and since it practically rips off most of its ideas from "Monster Hunter", you can expect many familiar things if you come from that background. If you always wanted a skill based MMO that is free, now's the time, "RaiderZ" might be your game.


Well "RaiderZ" is one of those games that don't really give a shit about making its story have any impact, because I can't really remember anything worthy of notice. Its one of those games where it just points you to a quest, you go, do it, rinse and repeat. You don't learn much about the mythos or the background story, unless you really do a lot of reading, which really isn't too impressive or disappointing at this time for a free MMORPG.



Welcome to MMO hell soldier.


As I said earlier, if there is something awesome about "RaiderZ" is its skill based combat. As of now, other than "Tera", "Guild Wars 2" or "C9", I don't know of any other skill based MMO other than "RaiderZ". Of course, like most of these other titles, the skill based combat in "RaiderZ" is masterfully made. Like in a good monster hunter game, you have to block, dodge, and attack enemies at the right intervals. This makes for some tight game play even when you're playing against normal enemies. You can defeat enemies stronger than you are, as usual, as long as you have the skills to do it. And since most enemies tend to hit harder than in most MMOs, this is pretty much something you have to master.


"RaiderZ" is also another one of those games that completely encourages you to do everything in a party. Main story quests force you to go into instances which you CANNOT clear alone. But also, in a party, the rewards yielded are always superior to that of a solo player, so its not really a bad thing. And since everyone is split into different classes you get your classic MMO rule in parties. You always need to have a ranged DPS, a healer and your tank. Its like this, and it always will be. This however makes for some extremely well done boss fights. Since this IS a skill based game, bosses take TREMENDOUS skill to beat. You need team work, synergy and communication to take down these beasts, and it is oh-so-fun when you do get to fight a boss like that when your skyping up withing some friends.




The enemy is down! Everyone, time for an all out attack!

Another really good thing about the game is the way they handle skills. As I said earlier you pick one of multiple classes and you play as that class throughout the game. In a normal MMORPG, it would end there. You would follow the skill tree that class provides you with an follow it all the way through. In "RaiderZ", once you hit level 10, you get the ability to throw points into skill trees of OTHER classes. Now this is insanely cool. Ever wanted DPS as a cleric? No problem, throw some points into the mage skill tree. Want to be a self healing tank? Put some points into the cleric skill tree as a defender. The possibilities here are endless, and the fact that they let you do something this cool, is pretty awesome.


The choices of armor are pretty similar. You get to equip any type of armor that you craft, though some types of armor only fit to some classes. Still, it doesn't matter. Want to be a priest wearing metal armor? You can. Want to be a warrior wearing cloth armor? Sure. This leads to varying player appearances, instead of taking one look at a guy and say, "Oh, this guy's a mage". The game also gives you kind of like a "Monster Hunter" feel, where you defeat bosses/enemies and they drop materials. You'll want to kill the bosses over and over to get enough materials to craft your armor, it gets pretty addictive early on, and serves as a powerful drive to push you through the grind.



Solo hunting is a pain.

Now onto the flaws, some of which are obvious. First off the complete rip-off of "Monster Hunter" can be a little bit offensive to some players (though I really don't care as long as the game is good), so it should be mentioned here. The encouragement of party play can also be a turn off for anti-social solo players. You NEED to find parties at some point in the game to effectively take on instances, and you NEED to do instances to progress with your main story/quest line. Also since later bosses (the ones after level 20) are majorly difficult and take a lot of effort to kill, repeatedly killing these beasties for materials can become quite a turn-off.


"RaiderZ" stands on its own as a good skill based MMORPG, that's all there is to it. It has a substantial player base to keep the game running for now, and it should be fine as it is. The "Monster Hunter" inspiried theme easily impresses those who dig the original idea, and the skill based combat, combined with the fact that any class can use any skill, pretty much makes this game a little bit more special than the others. Why not give your inner hunter a chance to shine?





Happy gaming.



Opening songs
OP 1 - READY! (765PRO ALLSTARS)
OP 2 - Change! (765PRO ALLSTARS)

Ending songs
Too damn many ending songs to count lol

Genre: Drama

Episodes:25


Well I'll say this straight up to your face, I freaking love this franchise. The moment I laid eyes on the anime and finished it in a heartbeat, I knew that "The Idolm@ster", was a match made in heaven for otakus. I only knew that the franchise existed before I even started on the anime, I knew there was a game for it, and not much else. I didn't think much about it, but now I am a huge fan. The characters of 765 pro are just so freaking likable...I can remember ALL of their freaking names and their individual good moments in the anime....or the songs that I like from them. When you think "The Idolm@ster", think "K-on", only on a much larger scale. A MUCH, MUCH, MUCH larger and more EPIC scale.



Pick your idol! There are so many amazing choices!

There are two opening songs, but since every single episode has a different ending, going through all of them is going to take FOREVER. Both opening songs are sang by 765PRO ALLSTARS, which composes of all the seiyuus of all the idols in the anime. "READY!" is the first opening, and it fits as a nice alarm ringtone to start off your day LOL. Its a pretty happy and upbeat song, if it fits your tastes. I prefer the second opening, which is "Change!". It's way catchier than the first one, and in many cases, it actually sounds even more upbeat and even more cheerful. Both fit the anime pretty well so it does'nt actually matter.



Rating:8.5/10


If you loved "K-on" you will absolutely adore "The Idolm@ster". "K-on" is the only show I can compare this to, because its almost the same thing, except that you have A LOT MORE characters to love this time round. I like the way this anime progressed, because there is love and screen time given to every single idol of the 765PRO agency. There is no shortage of awesome from any of the 13 idols and at times it just feels like everything was written so nicely. It doesn't feel like a harem in any way, so it gives off a different experience rather than it being another generic harem. And since they ARE an idol group, expect songs every episode, an while some aren't really up my ally of interests, there are quite a few songs that are pretty good. There is a little bit of something for everyone here.



I'll take them! I'll take them all!

765PRO is an idol agency that casts 13 wonderful girls, but they are lacking a producer. One day a young man joins in and takes up that role, acting as a mini father figure to the girls. They call him producer, so we don't really know his true name. The main character however, is not him, not to me anyway. The anime seems to have a strong focus on Haruka, one of the 13 idols. Haruka is an airhead who just wants to spend time with her fellow idols, and the story of "The Idolm@ster" is about how the producer impacts them as a group and how they come crawling up from the bottom of the chain, to some of the most successful idols in the country.


"The Idolm@ster" is just pure awesomeness. So many girls, and all of them are so likable, you really can't say no. Sure I do prefer some idols over the others, but overall, everyone has just been amazing, and this was a great entry point to the franchise for me. And while I most likely will not be playing the old idol simulation games, I did pick up THREE of the recent "Idolm@ster" PSP games, and I must say as a music-rhythm game lover, those were pretty good.


Peace.