I have no picture to relate to this post so here is Yuno with a mustache

As some of you may or may not know, Aeroblip, our good friend here at AAP, has taken on the role as blog writer for Desu Ex Machina. Aero was also kind enough to invite me on to be a part of Desu Ex Machina’s Anime Power Rankings. If you don’t know what Anime Power Rankings is, it’s a weekly survey done by Kevo, the founder of Desu Ex Machina, formulated to see how each anime ranks every week. These surveys are done by anime bloggers around the internet who are invited to be a part of Anime Power Rankings. If you want more info on Anime Power Rankings, go here. I am really excited to be a part of Anime Power Rankings. It’s something I’ve been following for a little while now and it has actually helped me in finding different shows to pick up based on it’s ranking each week. That, and it has gotten me to be a bit more motivated in watching airing shows when they release and not letting them sit in my folder for weeks. With that said, my first participation in Anime Power Rankings will be when the rankings for Week 8 of the Winter season are posted this Sunday. I will be posting my actual results here on the blog. So keep a look out for those every Sunday

The spring chart of 2012 has actually been out for a few weeks now but I’ll post this first version of it now for future reference. Will keep updating this post as the charts get updated. Anyhow, definitely looking forward to Sankarea’s adaptation and the 2nd half of Fate/Zero. Spring should be a fun time.

UPDATE: Wow! What’s all this new crap on the chart? The Thomas Train? What in the hell is that doing there? Also cool to see some interesting new shows on that chart.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE!! I hope you are spending it with the one you love most. And if you aren’t, then have fun spending another day alone like I am. But hey, at least you don’t have to waste all your money away buying chocolates filled with toothpaste, roses that are going to die within a week, and a frilly card that plays Barry White music that your significant other is  just going to throw away the next day. But I’m not here to tell you how you aren’t going to get any today. I’m here to spotlight some of my favorite couples in anime, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day.

Couple #1

Senjogahara Hitagi and Araragi Koyomi. I start off with these two because it was this couple that made me want to make this post in the first place.  I, like many others, took a liking to these two right off the bat in Bakemonogatari. Senjogahara is a very dominant, straight-forward, and yes, sexy female character. Araragi is a multitude of different characters wrapped into one high school boy. Seeing the two of them form a relationship so early on in Bakemonogatari was a bit intriguing. I didn’t know what to expect from seeing the two of them as a couple. But as the show progressed I saw something really special. Their personalities almost fed off of each other. Senjogahara would make snide but smart remarks in a calm fashion to Araragi just to see him squirm while Araragi would  rebut back denying anything that she said as his ahoge goes wild. But not only are their back and forth verbal battles a joy to watch, it’s also their deep, though provoking conversations that add that extra flavor to the relationship. It feels like I’m watching two polar opposites, yet at the same time I see a couple that know each other better than many married couples. Actually, you could just go watch episode 12 of Bakemonogatari and that would pretty much sum up why I love these two. Now if only we could get more of this in Nisemonogatari.

Couple #2

Holo and Kraft Lawrence. A couple very similar to Senjogahara and Araragi. Holo is your everyday wolf deity with a quick wit, sharp tongue, and cast iron liver. Kraft Lawrence is an ordinary traveling salesman put in an extraordinary situation with a brain set on economics, and an eye for the best deal possible. So what makes them such a catch? Once again, it’s the charisma and the chemistry between the two. Holo is always at the ready to knock Kraft down a couple notches while Kraft retorts with a remark that lights a fire inside Holo. It’s the ongoing battle between the two on this journey North that eventually sparks some romance between both of them. At first Kraft is embarrassed to show or say his true feelings about Holo, to which Holo pokes fun at his lack of confidence. But in the second season you see him open up and show more affection and see a smile come on Holo’s face every time he does so. I really do love watching the two of these characters. I could watch an entire hour of these two converse with one another and not get bored with it because of how amazing the chemistry is between them. Having said that, THIRD SEASON WHEN????

Couple #3

Nino and Ichinomiya Kou (who I will be referring to as Recruit). Recruit is your rising young CEO and businessman. Nino is homeless and lives under a bridge. Two people at opposite ends of the spectrum.  And what brings these two together? Why, the most cliche of situations of course. Recruit gets his pants taken away by teenagers who tie it to the top of a bridge. As he tries to retrieve them, he meets Nino fishing on the same bridge. Recruit falls into the water in his attempt to retrieve his stolen pants and Nino saves him. Since the Ichinomiya family motto is “Never be indebted to anyone”, he repays Nino by vowing to help her “experience love” and living with her under the bridge. See, completely cliche. I think the greatest part of this whole relationship is that Nino is oblivious to pretty much everything. She has a velvet bed in her cardboard box of a house, yet she sleeps in the drawer under the bed. She has a hard time remembering anything so she relies on Recruit to remind her of a lot of things. This leads Recruit to become the teacher of everyone that lives under the bridge. The only thing she excels at is swimming and fishing. Yet Recruit falls for her. The more time he spends with Nino in the circus of a community that is under the bridge, the more in love he is with Nino. I guess you can find true love anywhere, even under a bridge.

Couple #4

I know a particular somebody who would be absolutely furious with me if I didn’t include Aisaka Taiga and Takasu Ryuuji on this list. And for good reasons, because this is the greatest love story ever told.  You have Taiga, a girl who lives on her own and can barely cook and clean for herself, and Ryuuji, a boy who lives at home with his mom, cooks like a top chef and cleans as if he has OCD. These two characters showed no interest in each other, yet decided to help each other out in their attempts to be with two other people, but ended up being together in one of the most heart-warming romances I’ve ever watched. I loved watching these two grow closer and closer together. It was kind of like witnessing the build up to a fight. You see two people start getting in each other’s faces and bad mouthing one another. Then push comes to shove, they exchange punches and you have the makings of a good ol’ fashioned beat down. And as the witness you see it slowly escalate and then all of a sudden you are seeing two people beat the shit out of each other. And the whole time you have a build up of excitement to the ultimate conclusion to which you respond “YES, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO HAPPEN!!”. Yeah, that’s pretty much how I felt about Taiga and Ryuuji’s slow build up of their relationship and the eventual conclusion of them being together.

Couple #5

Eugenie Danglars and Albert Morcerf. Two childhood friends forced into marriage because their fathers are big important figures in society and have tons of money. Two kids from aristocratic backgrounds. And the strange thing about them is that even though they were childhood friends, they have no feelings towards each other. At least at first. It isn’t until they find out how corrupt and twisted their own families and surroundings are that they finally realize that they only have each other. It’s when this eventual collapse of everything around them happens that they realize that they truly do love each other. I would go more into how certain events and people get in between them getting married and how that only brings them close together, but I don’t want to spoil Gankutsuou for those who haven’t seen it.

I left off two other couples from this list. Those couples being Furukawa Nagisa and Okazaki Tomoya and Kuronuma Sawako and Kazehaya Shouta. I leave Nagisa and Tomoya off because their relationship is surrounded by so many spoilers it makes my head spin and I left Sawako and Shouta off my list because I love Kimi ni Todoke so much that I could make a post in and of itself. So I will just leave it at this. Now if you will excuse me, I am off to go re watch every episode of Clannad with Kotomi in it. That and probably play more Katawa Shoujo. Cause why the hell not?

Danbooru link
Pixiv account

Today, I wanted to highlight one of my favorite comic artists ever. Their name is Bomber Grape, and they primairly do touhou works. However, the comedy itself is so out there and funny that you don’t need to know the characters to enjoy it. Bellow is a comic i’ve crapily type-set. If you enjoy this, please read the rest of the artist’s work.

See all of Bomber_grape’s comics, organized for your viewing pleasure here.

Click image for full size

I usually keep reviews of anime and manga to the podcast, but School Days was something very different for me and I felt like I couldn’t express what I really wanted to say about this show into words, so I’ve decided to create my first review for the blog. School Days started off as any typical romance would: Boy likes girl, boy gets with girl, with the help of boy’s friend (who is also a girl), and a relationship progresses. But School Days is not your typical romance. School Days is something completely different from what I was expecting and, for better or for worse, introduced me to a twist on a genre I have taken a great liking to for a long time now. So without further a due, let’s get right down into what makes School Days what it is.

Spoiler Warning: This post will contain EXTREME spoilers for School Days

School Days is an anime done back in July 2007 based of a visual novel of the same name. It’s the story of Itou Makoto, your average ordinary high school boy. His story starts off with him taking a liking to a girl who commutes on the same  train that he does, our other main character Katsura Kotonoha. It isn’t until later that his new classmate, Saionji Sekai, finds out about his new crush and decides to help him in his efforts to be with Kotonoha. Sekai introduces the two of them and over time the two decide to date. Makoto feels indebted to Sekai for what she has done in bringing Kotonoha and him together so he asks her if there is any way he can repay her for her efforts as he waits for a rendezvous with Kotonoha. Because Sekai has acquired new feelings for Makoto in her attempts to bring the two together, she plants a kiss on Makoto. This is the start of many, many things to come. Because as the story progresses, Makoto becomes swallowed up in his own sexual desires towards the other characters of the show, which leads him to dig himself into a deep, dark hole which he will never be able to climb out of.

I took a liking to this show at first. As everyone knows I’m a sucker for a good romance. And this had the beginnings of what I thought was going to be your everyday romance. I was played for a fool. This is not your ordinary romance. This is something far more than that.  I got something much more painful and sinister. So let’s dive right in to what makes this show what it is, starting with:

This mother fucker right here. Itou Makoto. This guy is the epicenter of everything that goes spiraling out of control in this show. Why is that? Because this guy is a Grade – A ASSHOLE! Makoto cares nothing for the feelings of others. All he cares about is which girls is going to touch his penis next. And before anyone makes the argument “But he’s just a high school boy with normal desires”, I’m gonna have to ask you to keep it to yourself. I was once in high school myself and had some of the same desires as he did. But I wasn’t going around fucking everyone in school, not caring about what consequences it would entail. I had class, respect for women, a computer, and a right hand.  But it’s not just the fact that he sleeps with everyone, it’s the fact that he does it all while pretending to care about Kotonoha and letting others tell him how to run his relationship. Makoto is not a man. He is a shell filled with nothing more than the desire for sex. He will anger you so much that you will be able to open all of your own jars.

And this is what makes him the best character in this show. It’s this characters non-stop hurtful actions that make you hate him so much. Its watching this character make an almost seamless transition from a shy boy with a crush for another girl to a prude that only thinks with his dick that makes this show what it is. Sure, he may show some remorse towards the end of the show, but it is all too late at that point. He has shown his true colors. His actions have already been set in motion and what he has done cannot be reversed. But it’s not just Makoto that gets the award for the most spineless, hateful character. It’s everyone in this show. It’s characters like Kiyoura Setsuna whose only objective was to Makoto to be with Sekai before she moved away, even if that meant sleeping with him to get him to break off his relationship with Kotonoha. It’s characters like Kato Otome, Makoto’s friend from junior high who wanted nothing more than to be with Makoto and stopped at nothing to do so, even if it meant that the “relationship” was one-sided.  And it’s everyone else’s actions that cause you to show the utmost sympathy to the only kind-hearted character this show had to offer:

Watching this show makes you want to jump through your computer screen, hug her and tell her that everything is going to be ok. There were times in this show where I wanted to close my computer and never finish this show for the sole reason that someone like her had to go through the constant casting away from Makoto and bullying from everyone else. But it was her determination to say to everyone else “Makoto is my boyfriend! All of you are wrong!” that made me stick with this show. It was her hope, love, and blinded judgement of the one hurting her the most that helped me push forward to the end of this show. But those feelings were also what brought Kotonoha into a deep, deep depression, and this show to a twisted turn I didn’t expect. But before we get to that, let’s go over the events that lead to this twisted turn of events.

Now I could go into all the details that lead to this turn of events, but if you are reading this you already know what happens: the dinner, Makoto making out with Kotonoha in front of Sekai, Makoto telling Sekai to get an abortion, and Sekai finding out that Makoto threw out her dinner. All of that leads to this

My co hosts Dave, Vensito, King, and Gabe can back me up when I say that I laughed my ass off when Sekai killed Makoto. He got his just desserts. He finally got what was coming to him. Karma. But the journey doesn’t end there. Kotonoha comes to visit Makoto and finds him dead. But she shows no sadness. No tears. Nothing. Instead she texts Sekai with Makoto’s phone and tells her to meet her on the rooftop of the school. Sekai arrives there to a duffel bag sitting on the bench. As she walks towards it, Kotonoha reveals herself, asking if Sekai did go along with the abortion. Sekai gets upset with her about this, her questioning of whether she is really pregnant, and when she states that she is Makoto’s girlfriend. Sekai always wanted to be Makoto’s girlfriend. Which is odd seeing as Sekai was the one that set the two of the up to begin with. She goes on to tell Kotonoha that she did everything for Makoto’s sake. “And for what?” she asks. Kotonoha tells her to ask Makoto herself, directing her to the duffel bag. When Sekai finally looks into the duffel bag, a look of shock and horror come to her face, and she gets sick to her stomach. Kotonoha then wants to confirm whether Sekai really is pregnant. So she lunges at her with a bloody saw. As Sekai pulls out the bloody knife she used to kill Makoto, she stops her, and cuts her throat, killing her. Which leads up to two dead characters. At this point I’m pretty much in a disarray. But what happens next is what really hits me the hardest.

I almost fell out of my chair at this scene. Finding out the truth to Sekai’s pregnancy in this fashion is what got to me. And the way the show presented it was extreme. If it wasn’t for the fact that the very next scene was Kotonoha on her boat holding Makoto’s head in the middle of the ocean, I probably would have sat in a daze for a good hour. And then the ending starts to play. And I think it is over there. But then you get a little snippet at the end of the ED, with Makoto saying this:

“I noticed that she rides on the same train I take at the beginning of the Second Semster.”

“The only things that I know about her are that she’s in the class next door.”

“She seems to like books, and always reads them on the way home.”

“Although it was only a small discovery that we rode on the same train everyday, it’s just that being able to gaze at her,Katsura Kotonoha, from afar, a little bit,…”

“…brightens my School Days.”

All the while showing the rest of the characters going about their lives at school as if nothing happened, and ending on seeing a sakura leaf landing on Makoto’s cell phone sitting on the benches on the roof of the school. It has honestly been a long time since an ending to an anime hit me that hard. Not emotionally, or even a surge of excitement, but with sheer shock. As I said earlier, I thought this was going to be your everyday sort of romance. It turned out to be something entirely unexpected.

At first, I had no idea what kind of score to even give this show. I was in such a shock by what I had experienced that I literally couldn’t even sleep after finishing it. That last episode sat in the back of my mind for the next 24 hours. Finally, after a week of contemplating, I settled on a 7/10. It took some thinking to finally realize that I actually appreciated what this show had done. It is a romance like I’ve never experienced before. Romances I’ve watched before, and loved, are boy meets girl/girl meets boy, boy and girl get together, rainbows, flowers, unicorns, love, etc. All that shoujo-y stuff I love so much. This started off being like that, but took a dark turn I never saw coming. And I’m glad I was able to watch this, so I could experience a different romance that what I’m used to. And to wrap up this review, I leave you with this:

I don't care who you are, this is funny

Danbooru link
Pixiv account

Hell once again.  Today I am highlighting an artist i’ve been following for a few months.   The artist is Moto Murabito.  What I find most appealing about this artist is the fact that their art is traditional.  No computers, just the old fasion canvas and paints.

below are some of the artist’s work.

Director Shinichirou Watanabe, who has created notable works like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, is directing a new series, Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope). Yoko Kanno is also on board for doing the music. Some of her well recognized work can be heard in shows like Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, and Aquarion. It already looks pretty interesting to me. With Kanno and Watanabe combo returning again, it looks like it could be a solid show.

Warning: This post contains minor to major spoilers for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (general).

As a sort of branch to my personal philosophy that I’ve yet to put into words, a few characters in anime came to mind that seemed relevant to what it is. There are quite a few things to factor in when thinking of a truly well written character, and to name a few they could be development, personality, motivations, and goals. One thing about characters that I truly admire is their actions in accordance with their ideology. Normally, characters tend to follow the general flow of the narrative they’re in, reacting dynamically to what happens around them, whether it’s an impending evil, or a common day-to-day adventure. The characters that I come to value the most are the ones who aspire to become the catalyst of that very flow, which distorts the direction of the future to their liking for whatever reason they may have. Following is a short list of characters that I believe to be candidates to fit this category.

An explanation to the qualifications that a character meets to make this list is in order. The only requirements a character must meet is an action that causes a significant influence on the people and/or environment in that characters’ respective universe. Each of these characters has his or her own rationalization, or reason, for committing these actions. These characters have fulfilled both requirements to a grand degree, having made a great action that changed history in their favor, and a proper reason to justify it.

It should be no surprise that Light makes it on this list. Only by chance, Light makes his arbitrary decision to cleanse the world of evil with the only means he has; the Death Note. As much of a whim his decision may have been, his vision was clear from the start, and stops for no obstacle that dare get in the way of his aspiration to become a God of the new world he wishes to create. Light has no doubts or hesitations for his actions and the destination he needs to get to.

Shinji is almost a hit or miss entry to this list, but if you’ve read my other post on my thoughts of Evangelion, it makes a little more sense. Speaking from the point of view of the original work, Shinji doesn’t form his world view until late in the show when he’s sick and tired of what’s expected of him. After absolute exhaustion on his psyche, Shinji completely destroys everything in the world. His father, Gendo, could easily make this list, but Shinji’s actions are a result of Gendo, and postdate him. Shinji takes the most dramatic action to shift history.

Arguably, the person who belongs on this list is Kamina for being the motivation of Simon. But regardless, watching the show will suffice to be an explanation. Nonetheless, Simon fits the requirements to be a character of reason. Under the oppression of those above him who disregard their voices, Simon and Kamina lead the movement up towards the heavens where they aim for all mankind to be one day. Simon’s sheer determination to move forward through his tribulation proves to be that of a commander of fate.

Father, not Hohenheim, is certainly a worthy pick for this list. Created as nothing more than a tool for a greedy man to cheat death, Father, originally known as Dwarf in the Flask, broke from his boundaries in the pursuit for knowledge, for freedom; something that is completely understandable as a desire for anything living. Father’s methods are deplorable to the rest of the world, and it’s no surprise when the lives of thousands is nothing more than a pointless and mundane means to an end. He created Alchemy, distorted government, engineered war in his favor, aimed to deceive and murder millions, and even absorbs God, all to become a perfect being with the goal of ultimate freedom.

Following Father comes Edward. Edward starts out as nothing more than a child. As a direct consequence of the actions of Father, and to that end, Hohenheim, Edward’s world view changes. His only goal in life is to regain his bodies back, and to understand the meaning behind his mother’s death. While this seems innocent and small-scale at first, Edward’s endeavors quickly escalate to a world-wide scale. There’s no doubt that Edward is the reason for the movement against Father and the insurrection against the government. And because Edwards causes are the consequence of Father’s, the two both make it onto this list.

For someone who’s only observed the actions of others around her for the duration of the entire narrative, Madoka seemed like an unlikely candidate for this list. After thinking about it for a little bit, it seemed to make sense. Madoka, essentially, let others make decisions for her, while observing them and their trials. When she begins to experience her own troubles, and gains an understanding of the situation at hand, she makes a decision that she thinks to be the best solution. When she gains the opportunity to make her wish, she essentially rewrites the laws of the universe. What better way to change the course of history than to change its logic? Madoka’s causation was for the greater good of her kind, and earns her place on this list.

Lelouch Lamperouge exemplifies the very essence of what this list represents. Without the mere supernatural element of Geass, Lelouch is nothing more than a human. His only resolve in life is to make the world a gentle place for his little sister, Nunally, suffering from blindness and the inability to walk. As a human, he becomes a symbol of equality, and liberation for the oppressed. Under the guise of Zero, Lelouch becomes a military leader to lead the movement towards an egalitarian society, so to fulfill his desire of creating a world ideal for Nunally. He stands neither on the side of right nor wrong, but moves only to his ideology. One of his many philosophies is to commit evil to confront a greater evil, and uses it to rise up to the position of emperor of the world, where out of pure benevolence, creates his ideal world. Lelouch moves with a confident stride, falters very little, and reaches his goal with an adamant stance. He is the most worthy pick for this list, and is the quintessence of a commander of fate.

It’s important to remember that characters of anime are a lot more than just a character. They’re people. Whether they’ve been gifted with powers beyond human ability, or they’re nothing more than a bug underground, they’re people with ideology, fueled by motivation and consequence, who aspire to take action and use their world view as a basis for how they want to exact their influence on the world around them. It’s this aspect of characters that make them the most human.

Couldn't find a picture to relate to this post so here is Ushio sitting on a dango

I have been throwing around a certain idea for the past year that I’ve been wanting to do. This is something I’m sure every anime blog writer has done already by now and I believe it is time that I do the same. I’m talking about creating a list of my favorite anime’s of all time. Now I made a top 25 sometime last summer, but I sort of threw that together haphazardly  and find myself looking over it all the time questioning whether or not this list is accurate and changing it constantly. So I’ve decided that this year I’m going to do it right and put some serious time into creating this list. And by serious time, I mean re-watching a lot of anime. There are a good number of shows on the list I’ve already made that I haven’t watched in 3 or 4 years. So I have a good amount of work ahead of me because not only to I want to do  this, but I want to do it right. And when it is all said and done, I will post my results here on the blog for all to see. And hopefully, my fellow blog writers will join with me in sharing their top lists as well. Same goes to you readers out there. So keep a look out for this way down the road.

Alas it is here, the 2011 end of the year awards show! Anime Afterlife Podcast hosts, DavetheZombie, Vensito, Gabe, Lerxst, and blog writer, Richard, give the annual awards to the anime shows and movies of 2011. It’s a long listen (about 2 and a half hours long), but we had a lot of fun doing this awards show. (Just imagine if we had guests on, yikes). Sorry if I seemed low tone this show, I was incredibly sick (still am too), but I did my best to put some spirit into the show.

Download: Anime Afterlife Podcast End of the Year 2011 Awards Show

Listen here:

Warning: This post contains severe spoilers to the Evangelion franchise.
No, this is not an analytical post as to why the Rebuilds are a sequel to Evangelion.

Evangelion was and is important. Yes, because it’s a big contribution to the industry. Yes, because it’s a precedent in the mecha genre, and for anime in general in numerous ways. Yes, because it’s cool, and full of religion and mystery, and for its psychological structure. What else makes it important, and where do the Rebuilds of Evangelion stand?

When Eva was made in 1995, there was a lot going on across the globe, and more importantly, it was the Lost Decade of Japan. First of all, the 6.8 magnitude Great Hanshin Earthquake claiming 7000 lives. Then the gassing of the subway in Tokyo which injured 6000 Japanese citizens, and killed 13 of them, led by Shoko Asahara, leader of the Aum Shinrikyo religious movement, which later lead to the siege of Asahara, causing the hi-jacking of Flight 857 demanding his release. (Also there was that comet that caused mass suicides here and there). On top of it all, Japan was getting hit with the peak of the economic depression spreading across Europe to the far East in Japan. As you can see, Japan was going through a lot of crap. The average Japanese man, woman, and child must have had a lot going through his or her head. In a nation focused so intensely on hard work, academics, and employment, the failing economy, employment, the diving morale of the nation with the numerous incidents one after the other, people were most likely falling into depression. To the Japanese business man, whose life depends on the wealth of the nation, this is the absolute worst.

When people are put in such a position, where they can’t truly solve their problem (such as a depression) it’s more than likely he or she will find some way to take their mind off of the world around him. Much like the great Red Scare in America during the 20′s around the time movies started to boom, people would walk into a theater for a nickel, have the lights shut off, and walk into a whole new world. In Japan, anyone could turn on the TV and find something interesting here and there. Not to say that every suffering businessman and women, student and trainee, and angsty teenager in Japan actually did so, but Eva was there for anyone who thought to turn on the TV at the time of its broadcast block on TV Tokyo. Past the surface, Eva is a show of responsibility and commitment, freedom of choice, life and death, personal escape and pleasure. Without paying attention to the super-natural, the characters are easily relatable.

Asuka is psychologically damaged (like most of the cast) after witnessing the death of her mother, like many Japanese children and adults would have felt seeing their loved ones murdered by religious cults, or fell victim to the natural disaster of the earthquake. Misato tries to escape her troubles and stresses with sex. Giving the audience material that they could relate to was most likely Anno’s intention. Speaking of which, the shows existence itself is proof the the state of mind of the people, or at least the mind of Hideaki Anno himself. We all know that Anno at the time was going through his own personal troubles while going through the national problems at the time. Anno poured his insanity and anxiety’s into the show, which is probably close enough to how many other Japanese felt at the time. Evangelion was their escape. It was like the show understood them, and sympathized with them.

Shinji is a wimp; we’ve all heard that (albeit you’ve probably heard it in a more vulgar manner). He is, arguably, (once again, despite the supernatural elements) the most relatable character of the show. After being thrown into an unfamiliar place in an increasingly unpleasant situation he was not ready for, he withdraws into a comfortable space, such as music, or distancing himself from others. Over time, he grows attached to the other characters, seeking support and help from others (You Are (Not) Alone), much like any normal human would want to do. He also demonstrates parental neglect and rebellion. Eventually, Shinji gives up, and quits, much to the breaking point of the pattern that the MC wins a pyrrhic victory. To that end, Shinji destroys everything, literally, in order to avoid all his troubles, all his responsibilities, so he can remain in his own solitude (minus Asuka) and sanctuary. This is not possible (again, not literally) even in the metaphorical sense, so it’s somewhat of a loose end in the overall theme.

On the surface, the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy is a redux of Eva, and arguably it’s a sequel. In the words of Anno himself, Evangelion is a story of repetition, and the Rebuilds attribute to that element. About 15 years later, the whole cast of Evangelion returns with a vengeance, with new attitudes, new characters, and a (more or less) new plot. Anno, in the aforementioned source, wanted to make the story so that the protagonists face their challenges again. The original left off with loose ends, with Shinji having successfully run away from his adversity, but in the Rebuilds he returns with less of his withdrawing attitude, and walks with a confident stride. It seems like Anno wants to personify the ability of man to come back from defeat and face his problems.

The most interesting things about the Rebuilds are the titles. Unlike Funimation’s translated titles (You Can (Not) Advance, You Are (Not) Alone, You Can (Not) Redo), the original Japanese titles bare more meaning. The Japanese idea of Jo-ha-kyū (as in the titles, Evangerion Shin Gekijōban: Jō/Ha/Q (A stylized Kyuu)), roughly translates to Beginning, Breaking, and Quickening. This is the cycle of process beginning, slowly rising in pace, and ending swiftly, likely referring to the adversity that our protagonists encounter (responsibility, to name one), instead of running away, which Shinji did not fail to accomplish.

Evangelion had value, and it still does. Anno kept the ball rolling by staying with his viewers and connecting with them on a level they may not have noticed themselves. And to top it off, he’s got himself two decades of a nice cashcow.

More to come (maybe). The Rebuilds aren’t done, and neither is Anno.

We all know the feeling. One of these days, you’ll feel like every anime you watch anymore just sucks and you can’t stand it. It’s this “rut” you just can’t seem to climb out of. Nothing satisfies your tastes. Nothing can keep up with your standards and everything just pales in comparison to the great shows you’ve already watched. Being in an anime rut just fucking sucks. Where did things go wrong? How it can be fixed? Never fear, my friends. I am here to help. Here are some suggestions I’ve come up with to get people out of this little rut.

Even anime mocks hipsters.

Problem 1: I can’t stand anime anymore. It’s no longer fun to watch anymore.

Diagnosis: You’ve been watching way too much in such short time. You’ve had your fill of anime and then some.

Suggestion: The most obvious answer for this is simply take a break from it. Overindulging in anything can produce poor results for you. Do something else in the meantime like, playing a video game, read a book, or watch a movie. Once you go back to a different medium, you may begin to realize how much you missed them. “Movies are amazing! Books are fantastic and imaginative!” The same can be said for anime. After taking a long break from it, you might miss all of what you loved so much about it. “Anime really is amazing! Look at these crazy awesome action sequences!” It’s putting the art of rediscovering these things into practice. Taking it into moderation allows you to find more enjoyment and pleasure into these mediums. It’s also part of learning to appreciate the smaller details as well. Going back to anime, you may begin to notice the background a little more, or the tone of music used in a certain scene. I take it into moderation myself. At most, I get just 5 episodes of anime a day (usually less than that). Why? Because I’m not a masochist and I don’t torture myself by forcing episodes on myself each day.

GRRR MOE SHIT MAKE MANLY MEN MAD

Problem 2: There’s too much MOE SHIT in anime. Where’s all the MAN shows?

Diagnosis: You’ve been watching way too much of recent stuff nowadays or for whatever reason, you only picked up these “moe shit” shows yourself rather than any other.

Suggestion: Shonen shows are a good start. Some of the most manly animes out there are purely shonen shows. Granted they don’t have the deepest stories, nor the best written characters, but they do have their advantages. For one, they can be pretty exciting to watch. Who doesn’t want to watch characters get smashed into buildings or decimate their foes with some godly power of theirs? It’s all good dumb fun. And second, they’re long, and by god are they very long. Some of the most popular ones are still running nearly 350+ episodes long with seemingly no end in sight. That’s just enough to give you plenty of time with “manly shows” to watch and get over the “moe shit”. And if you really want to get mature about it, there’s plenty of seinen shows to keep you occupied like Lupin the 3rd, or Ghost in the Shell. There’s assuredly enough to at least last you 5 years (or 2 if you’re a freak about it).

Huh, a rerun of Cardcaptors is on.

Problem 3: Everything airing nowadays sucks.

Diagnosis: Again, you’ve picked up way too much airing shows for your own good.

Suggestion: Drop the ones that don’t highly interest you at the moment. Pick up anything else you’ve dropped or put on hold, after the season is over. The reason for this, is that watching a show weekly and marathoning it, can be two very different experiences. Watching shows weekly can be stressful and tiresome, and may lead to bitter attitudes on the outlook of the airing shows. This isn’t always necessarily due to the quality of the shows themselves, but you yourself have put too much weight on your back. It can be frustrating waiting week after week to watch a show you have little interest in, and get it over with. It can also be encumbering watching overhyped shows, and just be constantly be annoyed by the fanatics that it psychologically drives your brain to switch to the far end of the opinion spectrum. ‘God guys, its not that GOOD‘. Watching anime shouldn’t be treated as a chore or a job. Relax and take it in small steps at a time. If you feel like you’re not watching enough during a season, go back to the shows that aired last season, or better yet, go back to the show that have ended years ago. With all the hundreds upon hundreds of well-received anime out there, I doubt you’ll run out of great content any time soon. You think I jest? Detective Conan is running on 630+ episodes. Yeah, try catching up to that.

Doesn't matter how late you are. Put a piece of goddamn toast in your mouth.

Problem 4: I’d want to watch anime, but I simply don’t have the time for it!

Diagnosis: You’re preoccupied with too many things on your plate. Jobs, school, social life and so on keep on getting in the way. What the fuck to do.

Suggestion: Read manga. Honestly, it’s the best alternative. Most anime nowadays are derived from a manga adaptation. Since manga chapters are usually 20 pages or so per chapter, you should have no problem getting through it easily, especially if you’re a fast reader. Mangas usually carry the same story, if not better than their anime counterparts. If you’ve read the manga, there’s really not much reason to watch the anime which would take up an even greater amount of your time. Yeah, you’ll run into an issue with original shows, where most have a manga adaptation that’s hardly caught up, but that’s nothing a little patience can’t handle, right? But let’s say you’re desperate to just watch the damn shows. Well one of your options is allocating your time carefully. If you have a small break between your job and your school life, make sure you either have a mobile device or a laptop that has pre-downloaded episodes. Yes, it’ll take you weeks to finish even a one-core show, but at least it’s better than not watching it at all! Hehe.. eh.. In all seriousness, make time for yourself as best as you can. It won’t be an easy task, but you’ll get your anime fill each day.

Problem 5: Anime is no longer original. It’s all the same shit in the end.

Diagnosis: You’ve become too narrow-minded. You look more at the similarities between shows rather than what’s different.

Suggestion: Look hard and take a good look at what you’re watching. Some shows will share a similar premise, but more often than not, they’re fairly different as a whole. Don’t mind if you’ve already heard a voice actress act similar in another show, or if the Ali project opening starts up the same way as the rest of the Ali project openings. Look carefully at the other details and find out what separates this show from the rest. If you want to get really technical about it, look hard for the most odd looking shows. An art style strike your fancy or maybe it turns you off? Either way, it caught your attention and might be worth a look see.

Weird shit like this is a turn on. Trust me.

If you find any other solution, by all means, go for it. You’ve gotten out of the rut once, you can do it again.

Hey guys, we’re getting close to the day of the recording of our End of The Year Show (likely tomorrow) for 2011. We decided to change a few categories up from last year, taking out some of the unnecessary ones. Anyhow, it should be a fun show, so look forward to listening to it. Unfortunately, we’re not accepting guests this year as we already have a full house this time. Still, we encourage people to share their choices in the comments below!

Our categories are:

1. Best OP
2. Best ED
3. Best Soundtrack/Music
4. Best Male Character
5. Best Female Character
6. Worst Character
7. Best Seiyuu
8. Best Art-style
9. Most Original Show
10. Best Season
11. Best Surprise
12. Biggest Disappointment
13. Most Improved
14. Most Overrated
15. Most Underrated
16. Guilty Pleasure
17. Worst Series
18. Best OVA/Movie
19. Best Comedy
20. Best Drama
21. Best Action
22. Best Slice of Life
23. Best Overall Series
24. Best Anime from Another Year
25. Most Anticipated Series

I also feel so sick these days too. Coughing and sneezing up so much mucus makes me look like this:

It might be odd to end something as we start off the new year, but I think it’s best to lay these music video mondays to rest. Why? Because A) I’m running out of music videos to post and B) I just don’t think they’re that much of importance to post anymore, nor does anyone seem to care about em. I’ll probably come up with some other weekly segment to replace this one too. Anyhow, this (probably) last music video is ‘ Amai Koibito’ by Daisuke Kishio, or better known as the ED to Detroit Metal City. I know I’m in the minority when I say I enjoy this sappy song over the hardcore metal songs of DMC, but fuck it, it’s so damn catchy.

A tune for 2011:

Goodbye year 2011! We shared great times together in anime. We laughed, we cried, we had some of the best days with anime. So many things have happened since this year began. We became mad scientist, because it’s so cool. We fought witches and lost our innocence. We were trolled by aliens and restaurant workers alike. We gambled with our lives on the line. We made friends,  not many, but the few that mattered most to us and played visual novel games together. We fought valiantly for half priced ben-tos because they looked so damn delicious. We became superheroes and stayed by each others side to the end. We said our goodbyes to our deceased friends and moved on in life. We had plenty of fun with robot school girls and little scientist girls. We raised our little aunts ourselves so they could have a great childhood. We failed tests together and awed at our androgynous friend. Was it a he or she? We’ll never know. We came, we saw, we conquered the opposite sex to relieve them of their inner demons. We dealt with vampire kitties, gender identity, and a resolve to tell our crushes our true feelings. We ate mayonnaise chicken, and sang with idols. We helped friends save them from themselves as we were thrown into tvs. We saw a whole new colorful life where we could live the life of someone and learn from their mistakes and new worlds where we traveled to return our deceased loved ones to the living. We fought alongside servants to obtain the holy grail and achieve our sole wishes. We risked our lives to be gods and fought amongst each other as we attempted to predict the future. We shared the same fate and bared through the same punishments together. We reclaimed the present, for the sake of the future with the power of will.. and money. We fought alongside demons despite our differences, and even signed contracts with them to be used as our personal servants, so sadistically. We became zombies and we were adored by magical girls and vampires. We raced past the redline becau- UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ. 2011, you were a damn good year for anime. I’ll never forget the fun experiences and times we shared together. So long and thanks for all the fish.

Happy SUNRISE (<= Gabe edited in this part because he’s a little cockmonkey)　Birthday to our co-host, Lerxst, who turns 22 today! Why, even his waifu, Kotomi Ichinose, has come out to give him a present and wish him a happy birthday! CODE GEASSWe hope you have a great one! Now let us drink! Kanpai!

Anime Afterlife Podcast hosts, DavetheZombie, Vensito, King of Hearts, and Lerxst, and blog writer, Zekana, join us for another show and talk about what they’ve been watching for the past few weeks. The show includes Zekana’s review of Princess Tutu, Lerxst’s review of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, King’s review of Kara no Kyokai 1st movie: The Garden of Sinners, and Dave and Ven’s review of both seasons of Kaiji.

Download here: Anime Afterlife Podcast Episode 36: The Xmas Time Show

Listen here:

Show Times:

News: 00:01:13

What are you watching/reading: 00:11:27

Zekana’s review of Princess Tutu: 00:33:00

Lerxst’s review of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0: 00:43:54

King’s review of Kara no Kyoukai Movie 1: 00:56:36

Dave and Ven’s review of Kaiji S1 & S2: 01:05:36

Christmas have passed and I was truly inspired by Lerxst’s Twelve day of Christmas posts, since the Holidays break is still young for me and New Years just around the corner. I thought I should make some resolutions and share it on the blog, since the transition to the new year is a time of new promises and commitment. What should we look forward too in 2012? This Podcast has been running for a little bit over a year now and still growing little by little. What’s in store at Anime After Life this 2012 and what should you expect from us or the community?

This is an art represenation of me brainstorming... As you see, it isn't going well.

Well as a blog writer of this site I have to sit down back to the blueprint and think on what to write or think of what’s to come next. I know I made a lot of promises, such as trying to promote AAP on Youtube and making video reviews. Yet I still haven’t manage to put up a review since I haven’t done much to contribute to that project… Yes, yes I know I should of had at least one by now, but real life situations keep getting in my way. Tell me how hard is it to work; 184 hours in two weeks, complete your finals, fail one class, and trying to find a place to move at the same time? But I’m all fine chilling in Nagano prefecture Japan with my father at the moment, I need this break… I’m pretty sure, the rest of group has their share of finals, crams, struggles and work.

• College and Moving, This is going to be the hardest for me…. I know this will be have to be top priority. This will cause problems and it did so last year. I will be living on my own, from on till I can finish School and this is the only place I can be to pursue my bachelors without costing to much. I don’t know if I will be using broadband internet connection, but I’ll make sure of it. If things don’t work out, I will leave the states and go back home…
• Work has been the majority of my life, it’s the thing that puts food on my table and pays the bills every month. Sadly my old position is given away. Luckily I’ve been interviewed by a couple places and I’ll be able to start working after new years. I don’t know how much it is going to take out of my studying or hobbies.
• Video Reviews, I will try to put up a video review at least sometime in January. My first review might be a dud, with Audacity recording and bad mic audio along with having it to be edited on Windows 7 Movie Maker; since that the only thing that isn’t crashing on me. Har har har Sony Vegas….
• K-On! The Movie just recently aired in theaters in Japan, I promised my K-on Crazed Cousin from the Philippines that if she comes by during the new years. I will watch it with her…. Painfully without subtitles, but for the hell of it.
• Seiyuu of the Week! I noticed no one made a Seiyuu of the week post the past few months. That I apologize for and will make a future post ASAP!
• Conventions? Hmm… I’ve been invited to Anime Detour 2012 Minnesota with some friends. I guess it’s my time to shine with my poop Photography skills and chance of trying to get some interviews with some people in the Anime Industry.

C'mon Pikachewbacca! Get to the Millennium Pidgeotto!

Travel has been great, I got to see the Philippines for the first time and met another cousin of mine who enjoys some good Anime. Sadly the Phillippines was short moment, but the memory lasts forever. I flew to Nagoya, Japan to visit my Uncle, Aunt and my newborn Cousin. NO NOT UNCLE DOJIMA AND COUSIN NANAKO!  Nagoya has probably has to be one of the best places to see Feudal shrines, palaces and site seeings, but too bad that was a short moment. For the majority of the Winter break, I’m in Nagano Prefecture where me and my mother was born. Where my Father currently reside, teaching English at Japanese public schools. This is the fruit of my development into Japanese Culture and start of watching You’re Under Arrest! back in 1995. Oh the memories…. Well I will be back home somewhere after New Years.

I hoped everyone had a great Christmas, spend time with their families, and exchange presents! Have a Happy New Years everyone! Or soon to be…

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope everyone’s having an excellent winter break so far. In spite of the holidays, I decided to post ‘Jin Jin Jingle Bell’ by Sasaki Nozomi, instead of something anime related. You probably might recognize Sasaki from her song in Beelzebub, Papepipupo. Anyhow, I wish everyone had a very great Meri Kurisumasu, and will have a Happy New Year as well.

I was not always a blog writer/host of Anime Afterlife Podcast. I started off as a measly guest on episode 2 with Gabe. Later on, I made my second appearance as a guest on episode 10 with Jose. And soon after that I became something of a regular on the podcast. I had become a regular not only on the podcasts but also on the daily Skype calls. I was around so much that by the end of the winter season earlier this year, Dave allowed me to become a blog writer for Anime Afterlife Podcast where my first post(aside from my introduction post) was my Spring 2011 impressions post. It was a short while later where Dave not only made me a co-host for the regular show, but allowed me to start up my own side show, Anime Movie Friday. And the rest is history. This is my favorite thing from this past year. Being able to talk to Dave, Vensito, King, Gabe, Zekana and Richard about anime on almost a daily basis(because when they aren’t talking about anime they are talking about Marvel vs. Capcom or whatever other shitty button masher fighting game they play) is some of the most fun I’ve had this past year. Whether it be Gabe and Ven arguing over some marginally dumbass topic that truly has no right or wrong answer or just listening to the bunch of them rag on each other about what they like/dislike and their opinions on anime, it just never gets old. So if I have never said this before, I will say it now: Thank you to all of my co-hosts and fellow blog writers Dave, Ven, King, Gabe, Zekana and Richard for one, allowing me to be apart of everything that goes on here at Anime Afterlife Podcast and giving me a medium in which I can spout everything from my distaste for Sunrise to my love for everything Kimi ni Todoke and Kotomi, but also just being great friends. You may not know this, but you guys truly do have an influence on not only what I watch, but how I watch anime. If it wasn’t for you guys I wouldn’t be the anime otaku I am today. So here’s to hoping for a great year in anime in 2012 and another great year for Anime Afterlife Podcast(hopefully with more podcasts).

Day 12 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Anime Afterlife Podcast

Oh, and Merry Christmas to all of you. Hope you got everything you wanted! And be sure to check out our End of the Year special which will be recorded in the coming weeks(yep, I just made a shameless plug).

Let me introduce you to my friend Ian. That’s right people, I have actual friends. I met him at my place of work over a year ago. We hit it off pretty well when we first met because we were both into video games and what not. But I was a little hesitant to let him in on my love for anime and manga. But when you know someone for over a year, eventually you open up and let them in on things you wouldn’t originally tell them. So when I told Ian about how I did an anime podcast and watched anime/read manga on a daily basis, he took a bit of an interest in it. I would go about telling him about different shows I was watching and trying to get him to watch some. Eventually, he came around to accepting a recommendation. I first recommended him Baccano. And of course I recommended him the dub, because Baccano dubbed > Baccano subbed. He watched it and told me he really enjoyed it and said he was surprised that anime had the potential to be that good. So I told him that if he liked that, he would love Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. And I know that I’ve talked up FMA: Brotherhood like no other, but it is my favorite anime of all time so it’s kind of hard for me not to. He accepted my recommendation and I let him borrow my FMA: Brotherhood Blu ray volumes. A week later he returned them to me and told me that Brotherhood was one of the greatest things he had ever watched. I’ve been recommending him animes to watch ever since.

Now, why did I tell you this story? It’s simple. I got someone into anime. I got someone who had no prior experience with anime and got him to like it. It’s pretty amazing when you accomplish something like that. It’s kind of fun to watch some good anime and then hand that off to someone you have gotten into anime and letting them enjoy in that experience as well. It’s kind of like my whole spiel on trading anime with my co-hosts. You get someone to watch one of your favorite animes while the other gives you one of theirs. Only in my situation with Ian, he doesn’t watch any anime other than what I give him. Which has it’s own reward I suppose.

 
Day 11 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Forcing Recommending my friend Ian anime

Black Friday. A day where all the rude assholes of the world go out on the town to buy up a ton of shit they don’t need. Right Stuf went above and beyond just regular Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. After their Black Friday sales, on December 1st they did the 12 Days of Savings. Pretty much what went down was every day Right Stuf would put a large number of animes/mangas on sale. And I’m talking insane discounts. Princess Tutu for $14, the Spice and Wolf light novels for $35 and so on. It was an incredible 12 days. Or at least, I thought it was 12 days. Right Stuf then went ahead and extended their 12 Days of Savings sale until December 21. 21 days of amazing deals. I dove head first into those sales, and came out with these:

Ghost in the Shell 2.0 on Blu ray, Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Edition (which is now out of print), and both Eden of the East movies on Blu ray/DVD. And Right Stuf was even nice enough to send me an Air King keychain and Selecao car decal with my EotE movies. I ended up dropping around $65 for all of that. It was fucking glorious. Right Stuf is now my one and only place to buy anime and manga. I fucking love that site.

Day 10 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: The amazing Right Stuf deals

As you may not be aware of, I didn’t do a post yesterday. I blame my shitty work schedule and the fact I’ve worked 30 hours this week and it’s only Thursday. I’ve been a bit tired. But you aren’t here to read about me whine about my personal life, you’re here to read about my favorite things this year in anime. So I’m mashing Day 8 and Day 9 into one post. Doing this will cause this post to be a tad long. Don’t like it? Well, the door is right there.

Day 8

I have watched a vast number of shows this past year. More than I actually even anticipated I would. And through watching all these shows, I’ve come to learn something about myself: I have a vast liking for anime with good, interesting art styles.  And I watched two in particular that had art styles I would like to spotlight, starting with the anime displayed above, Mononoke.

I picked up Mononoke on a whim. Saw it on MAL and decided to give it a watch. But I was not expecting the art style from the picture on MAL to carry over to the anime itself. To give you and idea of how this show looks, here is an actual scene

Now, I liked Mononoke for its story telling alone. But what gave it that extra push from a 9 to a 10 and landing it a spot as my #11 favorite anime of all time was the art style. Its use of a vast array of colors was enjoyable to look at on its own. But what really sold me on it, and this is something I didn’t realize until around episode 4, was that everything from the characters to the backgrounds looked as if they had textures to them. It gave it that old, weathered feel to it as if it was an old world Japanese painting. It was this unique look that really captured my attention. If you like really good art styles in anime, then look no further than Mononoke (that is if you can handle some crazy stories about abortion, incest and the sort). And just to emphasize it a bit more, here is Mononoke in action.

The second anime I watched this year with an art style that I believe to be one of more pleasant and down right beautiful to look at is this:

If you don’t know what anime I’m talking about just by looking at this then you haven’t been watching anime this year. So for all of you out there that have been living under a rock, this is Redline. Just like Mononoke, Redline is colorful mess. The characters and world of Redline is so nice to look at that after I finished the movie, I went back and watched it again without even paying attention to the subtitles. All I did was look at every single detail and color with such awe. And the cherry on top of this art style is what went into making this movie. Production for Redline started way back in 2002. The movie was completed in 2009. And here’s the kicker: the movie is completely hand-drawn. Seven years of hand-drawn goodness. No CG. Just a man and his pencil(or pen or magic markers. I honestly don’t know how anime is done, I just like watching it). Just like what I did above with Mononoke and to emphasize how good it looks, here’s a trailer.

Day 8 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Art Styles

Day 9

I’ll try to keep this part brief so that I don’t have a stupid long post. One thing I have come to enjoy this past year is something some of you out have probably done with your fellow otaku’s: sharing. That’s right. I’m talking about trading anime with one another. I have actually just recently gotten into trading anime with my fellow co-hosts Dave, Vensito and Gabe as well as guests of the show. What I have really come to enjoy about trading anime is not only you sharing some of your favorite shows with others, but also getting an incite on your fellow tradee(?)’s favorite animes are. Or the person you are trading with is a complete dick and give’s you some shit anime like MM or Code Geass.  I started this a couple months ago with Dave, Vensito and Gabe in a Skype call after recording a podcast. The three of them decided to go on a mass trading frenzy with each other, which made me feel left out. So like that annoying kid on the playground who has to be apart of every single game of hide and seek and asks “CAN I JOIN?”, I did just that. I made trades with the three of them that night. But I just couldn’t stop there. I went on to make trades with Jose, Aero and Zach as well. I’m not really sure what it was that got me to make a massive trading spree like that. I think it’s what I mentioned above about getting others to watch your favorite anime while you watch there’s. That or I’m some sort of weird masochist and I get my kicks off other people telling me what I should watch. Or I just got bored with airing anime and wanted someone to recommend me some good shows. Who knows. All I know is that I’ve taken a liking to doing this and hope to do it more in the future.

And if you are wondering why I have a picture of Working!! at the top of this post, it’s because Gabe traded me that and I gave him Ga-Rei: Zero which I’m pretty sure he hasn’t watched past the first episode. He’s been too busy not watching anime anymore and playing visual novels. Douche bag.

Day 9 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Trading anime

K-ON!

Say whatever the fuck you want, I liked this show. It was cute girls doing cute things. Nothing more. Nothing less. And that’s what I liked about it. Sure I do like shows with good story, character development, interesting settings, etc. But every once in a while I like sitting down and watching a show where I don’t have to think about all of that. I like watching shows where I can just turn my brain off and enjoy what is happening for the sole fact that it’s just fun to watch. And that is essentially what K-ON! is to its core. I mean, what’s not to like about this

No? Well how about

Still no!?! Fine, well what about

Ok I know what all of you are thinking

It’s true. None of you give a shit about K-ON! WELL I DO!! I think its a good show. Its a fun show.

It’s true. AND NO, THIS ISN’T A POST TO DUMP K-ON PICTURES. Ok well maybe it is. But that’s beside the point. The point is is  that K-ON was enjoyable, one of my favorite shows I watched this year, and I’m also looking forward to whenever the movie will be put out.

Day 7 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: K-ON!

Anime Weekend Atlanta

I do realize that I have made a post about this but if I were to skip over AWA as one of my favorite things of the year, then I might as well not call myself an anime fan. Anime Weekend Atlanta was quite possibly the most fun I have had this entire year. I met some really cool industry people like Vic Mignogna and Brina Palencia. I sat in on panels for Funimation and Aniplex as well as the panels done by Vic Mignonga, Brina Palencia and Todd Haberkorn. Not only did I see some people apart of the anime industry, but I also met some new and old faces. Meeting new people and seeing some old friends of mine I haven’t seen in years was probably my favorite part of AWA. But for the most part, it was meeting new people that I enjoyed the most. I know that I spend endless hours on Skype talking anime with my fellow co-hosts and discussing anime on our podcasts, but there is something about meeting a complete stranger and having long winded discussions about anime that gives you a new found appreciation for it. Now, I didn’t get to meet a whole lot of new people because I was too busy going from one event to the other and mindlessly venturing around  the dealers room, but there were two guys I met on the first day that I chatted with for a good number of hours. It was after all the main festivities of the first day and I went into the connecting hotel where all the anime screenings were held, sat down at the bar and just started having a few drinks. The two guys were sitting to my right discussing anime and whatnot. After about 20 minutes one of them turns over to me and introduces himself and the three of us started talking about all the things we did that day and just anime in general. This started around 10pm that night and the next time I check the time it was about 2 am in the morning. We then parted ways and sadly I didn’t see them again after that. Now, I don’t have a whole lot of friends where I live, let alone friends who are into anime as much as I am, but sitting there for those 4 hours talking anime with people who love anime just as much as I do was not only the most fun I had in a while but brought so much joy to me.  It’s such a wonderful feeling knowing that people who live in my area (my area being the metro Atlanta and Atlanta area) have the same love for anime as I do. It’s because of people like that that I do this podcast and go to conventions and anticipate going to next year’s AWA.

Now that I’ve covered that aspect, let’s talk about the Dealers Room. Boy, did I not spend a whole hell of a lot of time in the Dealers Room. If I had the money, I would have bought everything in that damn room. There was just so much cool shit in there that I just didn’t have enough money to get everything that I wanted. And I learned something from this past AWA. I learned not to spend most of my money on anime/manga and spend it on the more unique items in there. The reason I say that is because on the last day after more than half of my spending money was gone, I stumbled upon a dealer’s table with some really unique anime t-shirts imported form Japan. And man, there were some fucking awesome t-shirts there too. I wish I would have seen that table earlier that weekend and bought some of those shirts. Oh well, there is always next year.

 I realize I didn’t add any pictures to this post only because all my AWA pictures are in the actual post I made months ago which I linked above. Having said that and to wrap up and repeat myself again, AWA was an incredible experience. I cannot wait for next year’s convention because I have already saved up money to go in September 2012.

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Anime Weekend Atlanta

Ah, Saturday morning cartoons. If you were a 90s kid, you must’ve experienced the joy of waking up early every Saturday morning to watch the cartoons you loved. It was the only reason to get up at 8 am in the morning. You grabbed your bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (because who doesn’t love CTC?), cuddled up in a soft blanket and sat up close to the television screen. Saturday morning cartoons were a treasured past time that almost every kid looked forward to at the end of each exhausting school week. But one of the most amazing things about Saturday morning cartoons was that they had anime. Oh yes, they were among the many blocks on channels that introduced little kids to the world of anime. Of course, I wasn’t aware they were called anime. They all seemed to be grouped together to be generally recognized as “children cartoons”. Each channel had something new and interesting to offer when it came to anime. So when two shows you loved aired at the same time, and some fancy technology like DVR didn’t exist yet, you had to keep switching back from channel to channel between commercials to get as much of each show as you could.

Among the cartoon channels I watched back in the day, there was Kids’ WB. They had plenty of well-recognized and highly-watched shows like Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures. But one of their most watched shows was Pokémon. Oh man, Pokemon. Every kid on the schoolyard went batshit crazy over the series, and when schools began to ban it, they started smuggling cards behind the buildings. It was definitely some hardcore shit. I’ll admit, I went crazy over it as well. I collected some cards despite never bothering to learn the game. I collected merchandise, ate food with Pokemon marketing. Anything that had anything to do with Pokemon, I had to have it. I’m not sure when I stopped watching Pokemon. I was certainly sure it was past the episodes that contained the original 150. Afterwards, I just stopped giving a shit about every Pokemon afterward. (With the exception of Pikablue – I mean Marill)

Kids’ WB also had Yu-gi-oh, which a lot of my classmates were into as well, but not me. I really tried to get into the show, but could never understand what was going on, and the character designs freaked me the fuck out. I’m sure it was a good show in its own right, but just not for me. The WB also aired a show called Cubix: Robots for Everybody, which had just the weirdest, and admittedly some pretty god awful CGI. This was in the early 2000s though, so it was expected to look like crap. For some reason however, I bought a lot of kids meals to get the parts to build my 6′ Cubix figure, which I actually still have today. Why? Dunno, maybe I thought robots were fucking cool or something back in the day.

Don't judge me.

Back to shit I care about, Kids’ WB also had Cardcaptors Sakura which was quite the surprising and well-entertaining mahou shoujo show (though not my first). This was one of the few shows I watched with my sister (the others being Sailor Moon, Pokemon and Hamtaro). Cardcaptors had a unique concept for a show, where almost every week, there was a new kind of ability or power that Sakura would gain with each card she…captured. Erm, anyway… the show didn’t air for very long, unfortunately. No one in my class besides myself, even knew about the series. Regardless, it still remains one of my treasured childhood shows.

Moving on to another biggie of a channel, there was Fox Kids. The best thing on Fox Kids to watch, was Digimon. Digimon is my absolute favorite childhood show, and even to this day, I could remember how exciting it was to watch Digimon. Fox aired the first three seasons of Digimon (you know, the ones that mattered), and every other season afterwards was given to its bastard son, Jetix. Digimon had an excellent dub, with characters that had personalities that gave much life to the series. Again, I was also in the minority when it came to debates on Pokemon vs Digimon with my classmates. They called it a ripoff, but they were wrong. Oh, so wrong. Digimon had specially designed monsters and villains, along with an engaging plot from start to finish. Though I didn’t have anyone to share the experience with, I still fell in love with the series, and the movies that came along it.

Battle of the Century

Fox kids also had a show called Monster Ranchers, which I ironically assumed was a Digimon ripoff, but turned out to be pretty different. I only caught a few episodes of Monster Ranchers somewhere in the middle of the series but never followed through it properly. Oh well. Finally, there was a show called Medabots. Yeah this show was silly and generic as shit, but I still found it somewhat legitimately enjoyable. Robots that had little keys to activate them and were used to fight against each other, was a pretty bland idea for a show, but I still have a few good memories from watching that show.

And now we move on Toonami. Ah yes, one of the biggies. Although Toonami was just a cartoon block on Cartoon Network, it was definitely one of the most popular ones when it came to anime. The show that would usually come on were things like Rurouni Kenshin, the Dragon Ball series, Gundam and so on. The ones I did watch the most was Dragon Ball and uh.. Hamtaro. Now I never got around to actually finishing Dragon Ball. Whenever I tried to catch it when it was airing, it was in the middle of some arc and I could never properly follow the story. But of the ones I did see, the tournament episodes were among my favorites. As for Hamtaro, I’ll admit I did watch a lot of its episodes. Yeah, I was pretty young when it aired so that shit was just up my alley. For a show where mildly retarded hamsters ran around and had silly adventures, it was somehow entertaining. I can’t exactly explain the appeal of it at the time, but it sure was somethin’. There are some other shows I should note here that also aired on Toonami like Bobobo-bo-Bo-bobo or whatever the fuck it’s called, and Zatch Bell, but they never really caught my interest. Every once in awhile, Toonami would also air Miyazaki movies like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and whenever they came on, I would get excited to watch them, despite having seen them many times. Toonami was just incredible in the 90s (and early 2000s), but sadly it is no more. Rest in peace, Toonami.

There’s one other block of shows that aired on CN, and it goes by the name of Adult Swim. Adult Swim had a variety of mature, and well-received shows like Paranoia Agent, Samurai Champloo, Yu Yu Hakusho, and .hack. Again, I would only be able to see the episodes somewhere in the middle of the series so never really caught on to some of these shows. I did however, go back to some of them recently and view them in their entirety. One of these days I’ll get to finishing Hakusho. But one of the most memorable things that aired on Adult Swim that I did watch entirely, was Akira. Akira was a straight up awesome watch, and despite not knowing what in the hell what it was about at the time, I was fascinated by the glorious amount of destruction that occurred in the movie. Sadly, Adult Swim doesn’t air as much anime as it used to. Presently, it usually airs only Durarara, and Bleach (and occasionally FLCL), and while those aren’t bad shows per se, it’s just sad to see them be what is left of anime on Adult Swim.

And the last one I must mention here, and as it pains me to say it, there was 4kids. Now I know 4kids TV has bad rep for being one of the worst dubbing companies for anime, and for pounding their licensed shows with down-right unnecessary censorship (and I do agree), but I must admit, they did introduce me to some shows that I would’ve never picked up or heard of, if not for them. My favorite show on 4kidsTV, was Shaman King. Although Shaman King has some pretty corny writing and an upfront racist looking character, I admired the lore of the series. Kids fighting against each other by using the ghosts of historical warriors was a pretty neat concept, and the whole show revolved around a tournament to see who would be the next Shaman King. I can’t say this show was absolutely special and spectacular, even from a kid’s point of view, but it was still legitimately entertaining in its own right.

Honestly, this show had pretty good action scenes.

And so on there were other shows like Kirby’s Right Back at ya, which was pretty…. not good. Silly show that understood little about the actual game and felt about as awkward as watching that travesty Mario Bros movie. Same goes for their other video game adaptation, Sonic X. I really really hated Sonic back then, and I still do now. I tried watching X for the first couple of episodes, but it had just downright poor quality. Looking at their MAL pages, I’m surprised they even had that many episodes, despite not being very popular. Speaking of weird shows, they also aired Ultimate Muscle, which was not too bad? Yeah it had wrestling and wrestling was manly, but what in the hell was with these character designs. The humor was also really raunchy, relying on fart jokes and whatnot. But the main reason anyone watched this show, was for the fights and fights only. Every week, Kid Muscle would fight someone who had a unique way of fighting and Kid had to come up with new tactics and strategies to beat them. It was interesting in a way, though I never completely followed this series through. The last thing I want to mention from 4kids, was their licensed show, One Piece. Yes, I know they butchered the show with silly censorship and poor dubbing, but regardless I did watch a few episodes. I did find the series interesting, but got rather confused by the way they ordered their episodes. 4kids did indeed take out episodes completely which not only threw the audience off, but gave them a misguided direction of the progress of the series. I only managed to watch 5 or 6 episodes before I gave up on its dub. Eventually, I’ll go back to the original series and watch it properly for once.
Did you have any beloved Saturday morning anime cartoons? Tell us in the comments below!

Anime movies in 2012

5 days ago Anime News Network reported that Mamoru Hosoda, the director for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and director/original creator for Summer Wars, is creating a new film to debut in July 2012 titled Okami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki, or for us English speaking folk, The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki. Its about a woman named Hana who falls in love and marries a “wolf-man”. After marrying, Hana gives birth to two wolf children, Ame and Yuki. The four of them must live in secrecy from the rest of society in a corner of a city. When the wolf man dies, Hana moves away to a rural town removed from the city. This. makes. me. SO. HAPPY. It’s like Japan has been listening to my hopes and dreams for a new Mamoru Hosoda film, AND HERE IT IS!! And not only is this movie coming out next year, BUT SO IS THIS:

FUCK YEAH!! EVANGELION 3.0!!! Slated for Fall 2012, and with just this and the trailer at the end of Evangelion 2.0 to go off of, who the fuck knows what kind of mind fuckery could go down in this movie. And I know what all of you are thinking: “But Lerxst, we won’t get any sort of release for these movies for like another 2 years.” Yes, I am well aware of this travesty, but that doesn’t mean I’m not excited for these movies. Just the fact that they exist and are coming out soon makes me all the more happy.

Oh, and the Berserk movies. I feel if I didn’t mention that I would get yelled at by Vensito or some other Berserk fanboy who might stumble upon out blog. So YAY BERSERK!!!

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Anime movie releases in 2012

Thoughts? Good or bad?

Nisemonogatari in January

Bakemonogatari is a show that made its way into my top 25 favorite animes of all time when I first watched it earlier this year and it is my favorite Shaft show of all time as well. So you can imagine my excitement when news of its sequel, Nisemonogatari, spread across the web in September. I made a post once the news was released with such jubilation and excitement that I scoured the internet for as much information as I could get my hands on. Not much is out right now which makes me sad. All we have is a small description of the show, a PV that leaves you kind of em…….OHMYGODKANBARUINSHORTSHORTS!!!!!!!!

Who the fuck am I kidding I’m stoked for this show to be coming out in the next few weeks. It probably will be the only show I watch this upcoming winter, mainly because I’m planning on watching more non-airing shows in 2012 than airing shows. So until then, I will sit googly eyed looking at this picture.

Day 4 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Nisemonogatari

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is an anime series that I have been wanting to watch for a very long time. I used to watch episodes here and there on Adult Swim late at night way back in the day. How far back in the day do you ask? I remember going to Media Play on weekends and looking at the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex DVDs and wanting to buy them. Yeah, Media Play. Anyone other than me know what that is? No? Well anyways, this past year I finally brought myself to sit down and watch the actual series.

I will say this now, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex isn’t for everyone. There is a large amount of dialogue that makes up this series. So if you aren’t into reading a ton of text or listening to people ramble on for entire episodes,  then this show isn’t for you. I can recall at least one or two episodes of the first season alone that had nothing but dialogue. No action. Just dialogue. However, if you are into deep and well written dialogue between characters that create character and plot development, then look no further than Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The first season starts off at a slow tempo with introducing the members of Section 9 with different cases they take on as an organization. It takes the first season a few episodes to really get into the meat of what its focused on, The Laughing Man case. Once it does get started with that case it switches between the Laughing Man and other random cases the main characters are given. But this really doesn’t throw off the flow of the show in my opinion. The outside cases Section 9 takes on are actually really interesting and fleshed out. And the Laughing Man case itself is just great. There are a multitude of The Catcher in the Rye references throughout the progression of the case which I love because that book is one of my favorites of all time. So having that thrown in with everything else made the first season such a joy to watch

Throughout my experience with the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Vensito would always tell me how great 2nd Gig was compared to the first. So once I finished the first season I immediately started 2nd Gig. And where 2nd Gig differs from the first season is that it starts out immediately with the main case, The Individual Eleven. It also focuses more on the Individual Eleven case and does less side cases than the first season. I won’t say I favored 2nd Gig’s style over the first season’s because I love both seasons, but I feel I got more out of the Individual Eleven story than I did with the Laughing Man. And with a bigger focus on the Individual Eleven I got more of the psychological aspect of the series that I liked seeing. Not only that, I also experience one of the most well written anime’s I’ve ever seen. A majority of what was said and discussed between characters made me sit and really ponder about what was going on and how it all fit in the grand scheme of things. It really was an incredible season and I enjoyed every minute of it. Not only was the season as a whole amazing, but the opening and ending were damn good. Best opening and ending combination for a season of anime ever.

And what kind of Ghost in the Shell post would this be without mentioning the Tachikoma

Day 3 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

THIS. PRETTY MUCH THIS. Ok well not just this. Steins;Gate is one of my favorite shows of the year. It was just so damn good. I loved the characters and all their unique personalities, the plot and all the twists and turns it put you through, and everything else in between. This show, along with a few others, was the most enjoyable show of this year. But when it comes right down to it, everything in this video is pure gold.

Day 2 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: Steins;Gate and the tu-tu-rus

WARNING: This post may contain spoilers to Summer Wars, Evangelion 2.0 and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

MOVIES MOVIES MOVIES!!!!

I have always been a huge fan of movies. And being an anime lover I also love anime movies. I mean, what’s not to love? You can pretty much get the bulk of a story in the span of like one and a half to three hours. And this past year I watched a good number of really amazing movies. A couple of those movies I would say are better than some Hollywood movies that I have listed as my favorite movies of all time. Just to spotlight a few, here are my three favorite anime movies that I watched this past year:

I do believe I have rewatched this movie more times than any other movie I watched this past year. It’s just so good. This movie (along with The Girl Who Leapt through Time and another movie I watched this year) is the reason Mamoru Hosoda is one of my favorite directors. The sheer creativity and amazing CG work in this movie is what sold me. That and the fact that I almost come to tears in this movie as well. And not because of the one sad moment in the movie, but because of the one bad ass moment in OZ. That moment is just so incredible that I just want to cry tears of joy and scream out “FUCK YEAH” to the rest of the world letting them know how great this movie is. The people of the Academy Awards should be embarrassed and ashamed for not at least nominating this film for an Oscar.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Evangelion. But when I heard about the Eva movies I was both excited and nervous. I was excited that Evangelion was being brought back on the big screen, but nervous as to whether or not I would like the new direction they were going to take the story with. After watching Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, those feelings were laid to rest. I loved this movie. I mean, what is not to love about cute girls in giant robots blowing the shit out of Angels? Oh, and all of the over the top psychological mind-fuckery that is also thrown around. Gotta love that shit too. The only downsides to this movie were the lack of Mari and how the fuck did Shinji get back to Nerv that fucking fast? Other than that, I love this movie.

I recently watched this movie with Gabe I believe a couple weeks ago. I honestly never thought any anime movie would top Summer Wars. Boy was I proven wrong. The beginning of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a lot of what I already liked about the series: the characters. I have many series that have some of my favorite casts of characters, but Haruhi is definitely in my top 5. But the characters alone aren’t what make this my favorite anime movie of all time. It’s the moment where Kyon starts having an argument with himself on whether it truly is fun being with Haruhi, and the scenes that lead up to this internal debate. The way it is executed is brilliant. In most series when a character is having an argument or a struggle with themselves, it usually has that character talking to themselves in his/her head and then screaming out something embarrassing in the middle of a crowd or classroom. With this movie, it illustrates that argument by having Kyon’s reflection and a personification of his conscience  badger him with questions and tossing him back into previous scenes. That is what sells this movie for me. That is what makes this movie incredible.

Now these three movies aren’t the only good movies I watched this past year. I also watched Eva 1.0, Redline, The Girl Who Leapt through Time and a laundry list of other great movies. Of course I did watch a couple of not so good movies this year like Clannad: The Motion Picture and Aachi Wa Ssipak. I feel you need to balance out the good with the bad in order to remind yourself that not all things in life are wonderful. Plus it is always nice to watch a bad movie just for the fun of it and to point and laugh at how horrible it is.

Day 1 of the 12 Days of Anime Christmas: The movies

To those who have played Rhythm Heaven on the ds, you may get a kick out of these videos.  Each video contains a remix of a Rhythm Heaven song, with touhou characters and themes added as well.

GBA

DS

WII

this one actually has singing.\/\/\/

In this Afterlife After Hours episode, I am joined with guests and co-host, Gabe, along with blog writer, Richard, to talk about comedy in anime. This podcast episode sure if FAWNY! Ok not really. But listen to it anyway!

Download here: Afterlilfe After Hours Episode 3: The Comedic Show

Listen here:

This week I chose, ‘Cold Finger Girl’ by Chiaki Kuriyama, or better known as the OP to this year’s Level E. At first, I didn’t pay much mind to Level E’s opening as I watched the show, but it definitely grew on me. In fact, the show as a whole pretty much grew on me as I felt pretty uninterested in the show until a few episodes in when it managed to turn things around into an unexpected twist. David Productions is doing surprisingly well this year, as they’re also producing this season’s Ben-to, which is also a whole lot of fun to watch.

Happy Birthday to our co-host, King of Hearts, who turns 22 today! We hope you have a bear-y good bear-day! Oh ho ho. I’m just full of it today. I know King likes this bowl-headed girl in the P4 game, when clearly the best midget is Nanako. But whatever… go eat cake, son.

Akira

I have heard mixed feelings about this movie. Some say its a classic that everyone should watch and others say that the plot is mediocre and that it doesn’t really age well. I guess us here at AAP will just have to watch (or re-watch) this movie to find out how we feel. So if you are interested in watching Akira and being on episode #14 of Anime Movie Friday, either leave a comment here or get in touch with either Dave or myself.

Now cry. Cry because you don’t understand.

Hey you.  Yeah you! You like anime!? You on a tight budget!? Well there’s a website for people like you where you can get the best deals on anime and manga stuff. Props to Lerxst who showed the guys and myself these pretty damn amazing deals on anime at the Right Stuf website. For the first 12 days of December, they’ve been showing these pretty crazy discounted deals on many of the stuff in their store. Including series bundles of Baccano, Soul Eater, and so on. I myself, am eyeing that Blu-ray version of FLCL, but I shall wait for the last day when they will show their discounted items to see what else they have to offer. The sale goes on till December 12th and their products are pretty limited in quantity so hurry while you can to get your hands on a Xmas gift, for yourself or a friend.

That’s right boys and girls! It’s now December and that means Christmas (sorry to any of our Jewish followers out there). This year I will be celebrating the spirit of Christmas by starting something I am titling “12 Days of Anime Christmas”. This is something that other anime blogs like The Cart Driver (a really good anime blog everyone should check out) have been doing for a number of years now so I’ve decided to hop on the bandwagon and add Anime Afterlife Podcast to the mix. The premise for this is simple: starting on December 14th and going all the way to Christmas I will be blogging about all the things I enjoyed about this year in anime. Now this does not mean just all the airing anime from this year. This is also going to include anything non-airing I’ve watched this year, news stories, etc. It will pretty much be anything anime related. I’m looking forward to doing this little project cause there were many things I loved about this year anime-wise and I hope that all of you out there will join me in telling us what some of your favorite things this year in anime were.

This week I chose ‘Chase the Light’ by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, or better known as the OP to Kaiji Season 2. I’m not the biggest fan of screaming music… or autotuning, but this isn’t too bad. I’ve gotten used to it while watching Kaiji’s second season (which by the way is a must watch for the year). I still find myself enjoying Kaiji’s 1st OP way more, but it’s nice to have a chance in pace in music. Fear and Loathing has also produced the new Hunter x Hunter ED, another show of the season I’ve yet to catch up on.

Name: G Senjō no Maō (The Devil on G-String)
Studio: Akabeisoft2
Genre: Drama, Eroge
Year Released: 2008

Here is the first ever visual novel review on AAP. To kick off this groundbreaking development, I’ll be reviewing the visual novel that I haven’t failed to shove down everyone’s throat appropriately propagate to everyone I meet; the long overdue review of G Senjou no Mao. Of course, spoiler free.

The Devil on G-String (because I can’t decide whether or not I’d like to keep referring to it in its Japanese name) takes place in modern day Japan for us to witness the cat-and-mouse chase between the awkward and self-proclaimed “hero”, Usami Haru (the main heroine), and the notorious yet elusive Maou (Maou, in the case of this game, meaning Devil) of the underground world of Yakuza and crime. Although, it’s more accurate to say we witness this battle through the eyes of our protagonist, Kyousuke Azai. Thus unfolds the beautiful tale of evil, justice, and revenge.

It’s hard to tell where to start, because most elements of this VN tie in together very well for the most part, but for the sake of this review, I’ll start with story. From the beginning I could tell this story would be a big portion to chew on, and I was right. Although, its fairly deep story (and it’s a long one) is simple in the big picture, but had it not been for the good pacing this VN presents, half of it probably would have flown over my head. Although, I’ll admit the beginning was a little slow. Events flow nicely with each other and it makes sense, there’s no jumping the shark in this game… not much at least. Of course, things get a little more involved and a lot more complex, especially in the later half, but it’s all in good faith because (for the lack of a better sentence) this is a damn good story, and it really means something. The story twists are nothing to scoff at either. Coming from a story that makes you really draw your own conclusions early on, the twists take you by surprise.

A VN would be nothing without art. Although the opinion on what art is considered good changes according to the time, I can say that Devil on G-String will stay on high standing for a long time. The character designs are interesting, the anatomy is right (maybe hands are just a little wonky, but a lot of VN CG has that problem), and the style and quality are fresh. There’s a lot of detail when there should be, a good use of color tone and atmosphere, and all topped off with a nice glow style.

Character introductions are a bit abrupt, but it’s good to get to the good stuff as soon as possible. Including the main girl, we have a total of four heroines (from left to right). Usami Haru, the girl to whom words efficient enough to describe her escape me. Let’s just go with eccentric. Tsubaki Miwa, the girl who goes through every day with a smile on her face and seems to love everything. Kanon Azai, the best archetype to ever grace this earth the almost Nanako the little sister, with a bit of an air-head personality, but we can all forgive that. And finally, Mizuha Shiratori, the bitch the bitch the girl who can’t exactly express her feelings in a nice way (the tsundere). But she’s not all that bad.

As far as character development, the girls don’t do a bad job in their individual routes, but as for the true route it falls a little flat. In their own routes, there are some big changes. Tsubaki goes through a big development, Kanon doesn’t necessarily develop but the player’s perspective goes through some changes. Mizuha, on the other hand, gets her big spotlight in the true route due to the story’s circumstances. The only thing she has going for her in her route is the ending. It also goes without saying that Usami gets the largest development of the group. Aside from the girls, the rest of the cast also get their time to shine, brotag included, and it’s a job well done.

The soundtrack of Devil on G-String is certainly an interesting one. Not only is it well performed, it’s a medley of classical music, though they’re mostly the big names such as Ride of the Vaklyries, Gymnopedies, Fur Elise, and obviously Air on the G-String. For a [self proclaimed] music buff like me, this is a big plus. Although saying it’s well performed is a bit of an overstatement considering half of it is chiptune. Nonetheless, the insert songs I can say are definitely well performed.

For voice acting, I can safely say that this game is solid. The whole cast is well performed, especially when you have people like Jun Fukuyama behind the mic playing the bad boy. That sexy Zero voice, am I right? Not to mention Haruka Kawai as Kanon. Best little sister voice, am I right? Right.

And of course, the system. There’s nothing too terribly special, and there’s enough customization to be comfortable. Everything is in reach and it’s easy to navigate. Nothing too fancy either, but it’s certainly not plain or bland. I suppose it would be considered better than others, but not as good as a system such as Aiyoku no Eustia’s.

However, there is one big element of this VN that falters. The main story and true route is obviously the way to go. Haru’s route is the cream of the crop, and it’s really the crop. So because of this, every other girl’s route falls of the train onto its own deviation. Sure it’s enjoyable if you like the girl, and that’s no problem. But it means to completely derail off the main story. The main arc falls off the face of the Earth when you take another route. So your favorite girl’s route is a big fat lie So if you want to go for your favorite heroine, you’ll have to sacrifice the pleasure of the amazing main story. Although, you’re most likely going to accomplish every route as it should be with all VNs, but it’s still disappointing when they pale in comparison to Haru’s route. Had AS2 made every other route just as monumental as Haru’s route without the true ending that could only be achieved when going with Haru, then this VN would be ten times better than it is now.

The Devil on G-String is a very popular VN and it lives up to the popularity. It’s enjoyable in a lot of different ways, with a killer story, great art, top notch music, nice characters, all with great presentation. It’s a Grade-A visual novel, with little missteps. It’s a great addition to any collection for players, and it’s suitable for veterans, and for beginners (This was actually my second visual novel).

Thanks for reading the first visual novel review of AAP.

Hey, it’s us again! We’ve been really really busy this past month. Nevertheless, we’re striving to get an episode out one way or another. So here’s a thanksgiving treat for the lot of you. Anime Afterlife Podcast hosts, DavetheZombie, Vensito, King of Hearts and Gabe, discuss what they’ve been watching for the past few weeks. The show includes Gabe’s review of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, King’s review of Melty Blood, and Dave’s review of Mirai Nikki. We hope ya’ll have a great Thanksgiving!

Download here: Anime Afterlife Podcast Episode 35: The Gobble Gobble Show

Listen here:

Title: Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Original Soundtrack
Composer: Kow Otani, Hiroshi Shibasaki, and Shion Tsuji
Distributor: Epic Records
Release Date: Oct 28, 2009

8.0s tragic story wouldn’t be the same without its soundtrack. It maintains a mellow tone for the most part, and it has the heart-pounding pieces that should automatically follow even the title alone, and of course the inevitable drama that its premise summons. They’re well done, well timed, and overall it’s a solid soundtrack with several very memorable pieces.

Funimation makes some pretty great dubs but sometimes they just need to work on their marketing. Not all of their marketing is poor, however. In fact, they produced some well designed trailers that do an excellent job in attracting an audience. The Summer Wars trailer and the Eden of the East trailer are edited very professionally, and the music composed for those trailers are an excellent listen as well. However, Funimation can screw up. They can easily mislead an audience with their advertising. What they show you in trailers might not be what you expect at all from a series.

Take this Sekirei dub promotion for the second season, as an example.

Now I have no problem with the dub or with any of its voice actors. The voice acting is completely fine, but how the trailer is put together is what bothers me. The first 21 seconds are edited just fine, showing just what the second season is about. The Sekirei are now labeled as terrorists and are being hunted down. And then there’s this:

The “Boobs are Back”? Is this how we’re labeling the Sekirei now? Why not just say “The Sekirei are back”? It’s almost as if they’re saying, “Hey, you like boobs? We got boobs. Boobies in Sekirei. Hehe. Boobies. Boobies are fun. So watch Sekirei!”. What is with this Sex in the City font and background.. and sparkles? This is just fucking degrading. Yeah Sekirei has fanservice, but it also has great action sequences too as well as a neat concept for a show. No one watches Sekirei for the breasts. Anyhow, what follows after this is 18 seconds of some of the fanservice moments of Sekirei all compiled together. It’s almost awkward in this sort of order. When it appeared in the show, it was there for only brief moments and then it moved on to some more plot. Again, this causes a misinterpretation of what this show is really about.

Alright, seriously now, Funimation. This shit’s getting old.

“Boobies for the win”? Who the fuck are you catering to anymore? 12 year olds? “Hyuck hyuck! Boobies!” Fuck you, I give up. It’s ok that Funimation acts a little silly every now and then, but this is just the wrong idea given about what Sekirei is. It really does sadden me, because I do find it a legitimately enjoyable series, despite the fanservice moments and sillyness involved.

Let’s take a look at the Chaos;Head Limited Edition DVDs they’re promoting:

Alright, right off the bat, two seconds in, there’s already a problem.

“From the Studio that brought you Death Note”. Ok, I’ve fully seen Chaos;Head and Death Note, and I can safely say that they are nothing alike. Yes, they both have murder and yes, they are both psychological shows. But guess what? Madhouse also did Paranoia Agent… which has murder… and is psychological. So do they bring up that!? No. Again, not very alike. You see… it’s a trap. They’ll convince you to watch this show, granted if you liked Death Note, but what they don’t tell you is that this series is mega-shit or  what this series is really about. It’s more or so like giving the audience a clip of the first few minutes of Inception and expecting them to be fully interested in the content. Sure, it looks interesting on the outside, but getting down to the core of it, it’s not revealing its true colors.

Honestly I prefer their Fairy Tail promo videos:

See, now this is great marketing. That narrator’s voice, the techno-ish beat? Remind you of something? Well, it certainly reminds me of those excellent, well-made Toonami trailers back in the day. Ya know, what it was still alive and kicking. This is what promos and marketing should be about. Including some of the greatest points of the show in one trailer without giving too much away. It grabs interest, tells the audience what in the hell the show is about, and accomplishes all the duties a good trailer should.

Those were golden days, man.

So I guess our editor didn’t like our old opening for AAH and went ahead and changed it to the Junes theme from the game, Persona 4. Greeeeat. Just greeeat. Anyhow this week on Afterlife After Hours, I’m joined by podcast co-host, Lerxst, to discuss their thoughts on one core shows, time skips, CGI, and anime recommendations. I suppose we’re branching out into multiple discussions in these kind of shows, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Multiple discussions  are always pretty fun to have. The show originally started out as only discussing one core shows, but somehow other things got thrown into the discussion pot. So there ya go! More content for your everyday Junes, I mean life.

Download here: Afterlife After Hours Episode 2: The One Core Show

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This week I chose ‘Kuusou Mesorogiwi’ by Yousei Teikoku, or better known as the 1st OP to Mirai Nikki. Without a doubt, this song makes my favorite opening of the season. Yes, if you’ve read the manga, then you’ve noticed there’s spoilers up the ass in the opening. But for those who haven’t read it, well then you’re in for quite the treat. I absolutely love Mirai Nikki and this song quite accurately describes the feeling and atmosphere of Mirai Nikki. I swear, I listen to this opening three or four times a day.

Anime Afterlife Podcast hosts, DavetheZombie, Vensito, King of Hearts, Gabe, and Lerxst, along with blog writer, Zekana, and guest, Zach, discuss their top 5 comedy series.

Download here: Anime Afterlife Podcast: Top 5 Comedy Series

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