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Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero review

“Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero” is a rather odd submission in the swords-and-sorcery genre. Whereas most of them have our erstwhile hero taken from his warm bed and friendly confines and getting  plunked into a situation where he has to catch up pretty damn quickly or become worm food (“The Familiar of Zero” is one like that), this one starts at the end.

Akatsuki Ousawa, the hunky hero up there, has come back from the land of Alayzard, having defeated the demon lord of that land. As his dying wish, that lord wanted Akatsuki to take his daughter Myuu (can you find her up there? Hmmmmmmm?) back to his land so she could live a normal life. They both enroll in Babel, which is a training school to help harness these magical people and their powers, so that they can be used for good.

Now here’s the funny thing: Akatsuki has no magical powers. Everything he does is both sheer will and his experience. Myuu has some degree of powers, but they are unfocused. Now, they all wear wristbands that help harness their natural powers to conform to their abilities.Continue reading

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medaka-box-abnormal-review

When the first season of “Medaka Box” came out, I really like the tales of this rather extraordinary girl believing that she could help all people, despite how craven or churlish or selfish they were to begin with. I got a bit concerned regarding the season-ending arc with Unzen (he’s the runty white-haired guy with the evil grin at the far right), but the promise of the second season seemed bright. Promises, I guess, are meant to be broken, and “Medaka Box: Abnormal” makes sure there aren’t any pieces to pick up.

At the Sandbox Academy, there is the mysterious Class 13, which is filled with Abnormals: people with very special abilities. With Unzen in hospital for a while, there is a vacancy in the class (man, what a tough school) and Abnormals who haven’t attended class since the Hiroshima Carp last won the World Series decide to show up and help push forth the Flask Plan. This is a plan to create the perfect human being (yeah, we all know where that ends up. Hasn’t succeeded before, won’t succeed now. PS, the Carp went 61-71 last season).

In order to put a stop to this, (uh, the Flask Plan, not the Carp) Medaka and Crew (the three in the lower left) seek out advice from Meguro Kurakami, Medaka’s…..older brother? Why hasn’t he made an appearance before this? (Blue hair, upper left). Aside from learning of the existence of an older brother (who is a major pervert and has a sister fixation), we also learn that he was an early administrator of the Flask Plan, but no longer believes in it, so left it all behind.Continue reading

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to-love-ru-review

In the world of anime, there are two kinds of aliens. There are the mean, nasty, ugly ones that will rip you apart like you are a loaf of fresh bread. They are usually slopping over with testosterone and have abandonment issues, but they will still kill you dead, dead, dead. (Don’t invite them over for scones and lawn darts, OK?). The second kind of alien are very cute and cuddly female aliens with a pair of twin moons that would stop a supernova. “To Love-Ru” is certainly no different than “UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie”, “Heaven’s Lost Property”, “Waiting in the Summer” and/or “Cat Planet Cuties” in this approach. (Hmmm…..why does this introduction sound so familiar?)

For this go-around, we tell the story of Lala Satalin Deviluke (and her first name is both a noun and an adjective), the First Princess of Deviluke, whose family rules the Galaxy (move over, Darth Vader!) However, being royalty has its problems and she is being forced into a marriage for political gain. Disliking all her suitors, she flees, but the Deviluke army is in hot pursuit on her gorgeous and ample behind.Continue reading

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Cat Planet Cuties

In the world of anime, there are two kinds of aliens. There are the mean, nasty, ugly ones that will rip you apart like you are a loaf of fresh bread. They are usually slopping over with testosterone and have abandonment issues, but they will still kill you dead, dead, dead (Don’t invite them over for scones and lawn darts, OK?). The second kind of alien are very cute and cuddly female aliens with a pair of twin moons that would stop a supernova. “Cat Planet Cuties” is certainly no different than “UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie”, “Heaven’s Lost Property”, “Waiting in the Summer” and/or “To Love Ru” in this approach.

I first ran into this show at an anime convention, but I came in halfway through the first episode, it was subtitled and I never got to see or discover the English title, so it took me a bit of time to find the show. The manga from which it derives is called “Bombshells from the Sky” and these ladies certainly have some large-caliber lovelies. So, it is set in the future, the completely unfathomable year of…..2010. 2010? Really? We were promised flying cars and we don’t have them and now, we are to have buxom beauties from Betelgeuse coming down from the heavens and THAT didn’t happen either. Man, the future sucks!Continue reading

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Muv-Luv Alternative-Total Eclipse-review

So, it ended up being another giant fighting robot show, but it started out with better promise, so I stayed with it.

“Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse” (and that is a mouthful of a title) looks at an alternative universe of our world and it starts in 1967.

The moon has been colonized (thanks to the Japanese) but is set upon by the BETA (Beings of the Extra Terrestrial origin which is Adversary of human race). This is the best we could come up with? Anyway, we spend six years battling them on the moon, but to no avail. They make landfall in Europe in 1973 and begin a methodical destruction of the world, moving east. We leap ahead to 1998, when Yui Takamura (far left), attending the Kyoto Royal Guard Academy, is training to be a TSF pilot (Tactical Surface Fighter).

Things turn dire as Korea is overrun and the BETA makes a play for Japan. Despite their best efforts from all involved, Yui’s crew is wiped out and Japan falls.

It is now three years later and Yui is a Lieutenant in the Japanese Imperial Guard. She goes to Alaska with a new weapon to defeat the BETA and train new pilots. One of them is Yuuya Bridges (that guy) who dismisses his Japanese heritage. He is a good pilot, but has a chip on his shoulder, owing to the abuse he absorbed because of his mixed heritage. Joining them from Russia are the Scarlet Twins, Cryska Barchenowa and Inia Sestina, who have a secret all their own.Continue reading

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linebarrels-of-iron-review

OK, for a person who dislikes giant fighting robot shows, why did I watch another giant fighting robot show? Well, call me a hopeless optimist, but I am genuinely wishing that I can find a giant fighting robot show that works. Like an honest lawyer, I know there’s one out there, but I haven’t see it as of yet.

OK, it’s the slight future (2016) and Kouichi Hayase (Mr. Intense up there) is bullied and set upon by other students, as bullying is both a Japanese tradition and an anime trope. One day, after school, feeling lost and forlorn, he takes a short cut through the nearby forest and manages to get a GFR to crash into him (not like he is there with semaphore flags, P-L-E-A-S-E L-A-N-D O-N M-E). He awakens to find a naked girl next to him (that’s the clothed one up there, Emi Kizaki). He takes her home and learns he has partial amnesia. Then, other GFRs attack the town. He discovers he can pilot this one and uses it to defeat the enemies. Nest, he learns the shocking truth: he is dead. The machine revived him, but now the two of them share control of this robot.Continue reading

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Bodacious Space Pirates

What would you do if you discovered that you were more than you thought you were? “Bodacious Space Pirates” (or, “Minisuka Pairēts”, which translates out to “Miniskirt Space Pirates”. Uh, can we pick a title and stay with it?) tells the story of Marika Kato. She is a high school girl living a rather ordinary life as a member of the space yacht club and having a part-time job at a high-class retro café. Oh, it’s the future (couldn’t you tell? That really tall guy with the horns is not being Gene Simmons in a Kiss tribute band) and space flight is normal, like Greyhound Bus Lines normal. OK, you got me, bus lines aren’t really all that normal. Maybe space flight isn’t, either.

Then she learns a secret: Gonzaemon Kato, recently deceased captain of the pirate ship Bentenmaru, was her father. As his only living descendant (that we can prove. Pirates really can’t be trusted), she is to be the next captain of it. But she hasn’t even graduated high school yet and finals are coming up! And who will cover her shift at the café?

And what DO space pirates do? Well, these pirates terrorize luxury space liners, forcing them to heave-to while all the guests are relieved of their valuables…which is fully covered by the cruise lines. Continue reading

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kokoro-connect

We’re back at school. Again. Again. Man, I have been in school longer, via these animes, than I was when I really went to school. OK, this one is “Kokoro Connect”. The story involves five high school students, from left to right, Yoshifumi Aoki, Himeko Inaba, Taichi Yaegashi, Iori Nagase and Yui Kiriyama, who are all members of the Cultural Research Club. One day, they begin experiencing a phenomenon in which they randomly swap bodies amongst themselves…for starters.  As these five friends face many different phenomena at the whims of a mysterious being known as Heartseed, their friendship is put to the ultimate test.

Initially, it involved what it is like for a girl to be a boy and vice versa, but they also learn secrets about each other they never knew, despite all their time together. To make matters worse, Heartseed (whom you never see; all it has done is taken over another person’s body when he has to communicate with them) lets them know this, and a bunch of other stuff will be happening. This includes not being able to control one’s actions and reactions, as well as deep-seated desires coming to the surface at inappropriate times. The third incident has to remain hidden, as it reveals some plot-changers.

OK, body-shifting is not new. In fact, not only is it a mainstay of science fiction, hentai also seems to like it as well. But for our purposes here, these tests are meant to do two things: allow Heartseed to see how people react to changes in their environment and to determine how strong these friends really are.Continue reading

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eureka-seven-ao

“Eureka Seven AO: Astral Ocean”, takes place about 14 or so years after the conclusion of the first part of it. Ao Fukai (our hero, dead center) is a 13-year-old boy living in the year 2025 in Okinawa, on the island of Iwato Jima with Dr. Toshio Fukai, ever since Ao’s mother disappeared 10 years ago. When a mysterious organization attacks the local Scub Coral, Ao somehow gets mixed up in the battle and manages to activate an enigmatic robot called the Nirvash while it is being transported by the Self-Defense Forces. Later, Ao finds out that the Nirvash belonged to Eureka, his mother, and embarks on a journey to find his mother and learn the truth about his origins.

Or so we hoped.

Because he is able to pilot this ship, he is conscripted by Generation Bleu, an organization dedicated to fighting Secrets, and joins Pied Piper. OK, let me explain. Every time there is a Scub Burst, these transforming robots/ships called ‘secrets’ come down to destroy the Scub. But they also take out the surrounding area, so there is a huge amount of collateral damage by them. Ao joins Bleu to get to the bottom of it all, but runs into more misconceptions and deceptions than ever before. A lifelong friend, Naru (the lovely lady in the upper right) suffers from a condition caused by the Scub but eventually has to turn against Ao.Continue reading

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family_eureka_7

I had a friend tell me that “Eureka Seven” (or, as it’s pronounced in the show, “Erika Seven”) is a really good sci-fi anime. I mean, even the Sci-Fi Channel (now known as Syfy) showed it, and it was really worth watching.

I decided to watch it with him and, quite frankly, I was disappointed with the effort.

The series focuses on Renton Thurston (that rather grumpy one dead center), the fourteen-year-old son of Adrock Thurston, a military researcher who died saving the world. He lives what he considers a boring life with his grandfather in a boring town. He loves lifting, a sport similar to surfing but with trapars, a substance abundant throughout the air, as the medium. He dreams of joining the renegade group Gekkostate. It is led by his idol Holland Novak (the jerk just off his left shoulder), a legendary lifter.

An opportunity to do so literally falls into his lap when a large mecha, called the Nirvash typeZERO, and Eureka (the smiling one off his right shoulder), its pilot and a member of Gekkostate, crash into Renton’s room. Renton’s grandfather orders him to deliver a special part to the Nirvash called the “Amita Drive”, which releases the immense power dormant within the typeZERO called the “Seven Swell Phenomenon”. Afterwards, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate, where he quickly discovers that the behind-the-scenes life of Gekkostate is hardly as glamorous or as interesting as printed in the glossy pages of their magazine, ray=out. Only one thing makes it all worthwhile for him: the presence of Eureka, the mysterious pilot of the Nirvash. Renton, Eureka, and the Gekkostate embark on an adventure that will shape their future as well as the world.Continue reading