otakunick anime reviews (dog days)

Well in my last review i was less then enthused about the show i was reviewing but this time I'm going to review an anime that i really enjoyed from the maker of the Nanoha series Tsuzuki, Masaki, that's right today I review Dog Days.

Now way back in the beginning of the season you might remember me doing a first thoughts review on this anime. So I don't need to really get into the story if you never read that review click hear to read it.

But if you have read it you might remember me saying that even though this show starts out happy go lucky and carefree that Tsuzuki, Masaki usually finds a way of darkening the story around the mid to late episodes. As I predicted he would end up doing just that around episode 7 or 8 the show takes a darker tone and keeps it until episode 10 when the major threat is resolved, leaving us with 3 episodes of the carefree show right? Well not exactly though it's not as dark as the final conflict the story ends up throwing us one more curve ball to try and make us feel bad for the male lead. Before ultimately resolving that problem as well so we get the usual Tsuzuki, Masaki happy ending motif.


So what am I trying to say is this show played out just like most of Tsuzuki, Masaki previous shows. It starts out carefree with the lead having a fate-full encounter then shit hits the fan half way through. Then there's a tear-full goodbye then a ray of hope for a Reunion. Formulaic? Yes, but it works for story's like this.

Now I would not say this is a show everyone should just go out and watch, sure I liked it but that is because i like the formula it follows, I liked it in Nanoha and i liked it here. I know though there are a lot of people who do not like it and I can see why they don't. All in all the shows just playing it safe never really stands out to anyone other than its core demographic but I do have to say at least give it a try you never now you may end up liking it as well.

otakunick anime reviews (A-channel)

Well guys it's that time again one of the spring anime season has wrapped up and I'm here to give you my thoughts on it and let me just say if this review doesn't make you want to go out and watch this anime right now I really wouldn't be surprised. A-Channel really has to be one of the most plain anime I have watched in years and this is coming from a guy that watches between 10 and 20 anime a season but I still do opt out of some though.

A-Channels story revolves around the everyday life of four high school girls: the flighty Run, the reckless Tooru, the timid Yuuko, and the level-headed Nagi. Doesn't sound all the interesting right well that’s because it isn’t the one sentence really sums up all 12 episodes of this anime it really just feels like they plopped us right into the daily lives of these four girls and honestly I really don’t see a reason for anyone to rush out and watch this.

The animation looks good most of the time but they use this weird chibi-esque like face on all the characters but don’t make the body’s chibi, couple this with the characters already looking like noodle people and your just waiting for one of there necks to snap under the weight of their massive heads. I'm shore this worked in the manga because they’d crop into just the heads but for anime its just awkward.

Now the music is good that is if they didn’t use an insert song each episode to pad out the length of the episode, having one or two insert songs in an anime isn't that bad but seriously why every episode it really more of a hindrance then it is help.

So to wrap things up on this short review I really cant see why I didn’t drop this anime its easily one of the weakest series this season with no real redeeming features and I really don’t see any reason to say watch it so this ones really up to your own discretion guys.

Gundam The Origin to be Animated

Okay everyone that reads this blog or listens to the podcast knows just how big of Gundam fans we hear at otakuhome are and while I don’t think I need to say that we had a negative reaction to Gundam Age because of the direction it took. It's decision to go for the younger demographic and in fact I even thought that sunrise was thinking of abandoning the fans that built up the studio to what it is now since all we've had for serious Gundams as of late was unicorn though great having to wait SEVERAL months at a time for the next ep is a killer. Fear not older Gundam fans we also get a new series much like the kids that will be watching Age now if you didn’t read the title (though I don’t know who wouldn’t read a title before reading a blog post) your probably asking yourself what’s the new gundam for older fans well I’ll tell you my friends as of today June 25th the "Gundam The Origin" manga has been given the green light for an anime. Yeah that’s right in this month’s Gundam Ace magazine sunrise has officially announced that "Gundam The Origin" will be getting an anime and this comes straight from the top from sunrises president Kenji Uchida himself.

Now then some of you who aren’t new fans of Gundam but aren’t exactly the oldest of fans are probably wondering just what is "Gundam The Origin" well it’s a serialized manga in Gundam Ace that started back in 2001 which retold the original gundams story with some slight differences. The real reason I’m so excited about this is because we will be getting a updated version of 0079 in which Gundam fans that want to know where Gundam started but can’t quite handle the old 70s art this is also the first time a Gundam anime will be getting a reboot from a manga.

As I already know the original story of Gundam I’m more looking forward to seeing the slight differences that the origin throws in there such as seeing how Char went from Casval Rem Deikun to Char Aznable and stuff like that. There are some things I’m worried about for instance two of the main characters VA'S from the original anime are no longer with us Hirotaka Suzuoki voice of Bright Noa who died on August 6, 2006 and Yumi Shitsukawa voice of Sayla Mass who died on February 28, 2003. Now some of you are probably thinking what’s the big deal can't they just recast them. In short, yes they can but these two VA have been considered the defacto voices for the characters for over 30 years recasting them could cause some major anger among the fans if it’s not done right, granted I still think Sunrise already knows this and is looking for VA's with the closest possible voices to the originals as they can. Also to illustrate a point during Zeta Gundam Yumi Shitsukawa (Sayla Mass) was on Safari in Africa so they rewrote the story to take her character out and change some events because they didn't want to replace her voice actress.

Now with all that said and done I hope you all will give this new anime a chance and look forward to a hopefully episodic review of Gundam The Origin.

(editting done by cloudsora)

otakunick sci-fi reviews (Falling Skies)

Hey guys after not watching freaking anime for a while this week and really only having two things to actually talk about I decided to post this. One being the surprisingly good new TNT sci-fi show Falling Skies and two being the barely good enough Green Lantern movie now then I'm sure you know what I'll be review even without looking at the title of this.

That's right Green Lantern... oh what nope, Falling Skies it is lol

Falling Skies tells the story of the aftermath of an alien invasion. It follows a group of survivors who must band together in order to fight back against the invading aliens. The group, known as the 2nd Mass (for "Massachusetts" now do you see why im choosing to review this), is lead by Boston University history professor Tom Mason who, while in search of his son, must put his extensive knowledge of military history into practice as one of the leaders of the resistance movement.

Now the fact that this series takes place in MA is not the only reason i chose to review it over The Green Lantern it really has a solid story and characters and some nice action. The first two episodes did not have the most action in them due to the fact they where more about introducing us to the world and its players which, it did really well as the 2 hour season premier got 5.9 million viewers making it the #1 premier of the year thus far.

Now i cant actually dive to deeply into this series as its just starting but i can say this from the first two episodes alone i have been hooked its a solid start to what appears to be a solid show.

otakunick anime reviews (bakemonogatari)

hey guys i know a a few days late with this but life has been keeping me biss so hears a a short review to hold you guys over

now i am shore most people have at lest herd of bakemonogatari and if not The story centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who has recently survived a vampire attack, and finds himself mixed up with all kinds of apparitions: gods, ghosts, myths, and spirits.

your probably wondering why my synopsis was so shore and thats because this show is dialog heavy to the point ware more then one ep was nothing but two charters sitting around and talking nonstop for a hour and a story get advanced so fare that if i go into details it cud ruin a rely good show and as of late id rather not do that so all i will ad is that thare are 5 arcs in the story each dealing with a new girl and a new spirit related problem with araragi helping them thew it in one way shape or form so yes this is a harem anime at its core but dune in a way you would not expect at all

now aside from the story the other thing that sets bakemonogatari apart is its art i would not say its bad infact i like it in the slow moments of the show (witch make up a god 95% of the show) the art looks fantastic but when thare is a fight or sum thing like that you can rely see whare shaft was tiring to cut corners and save money granted the fights no mater how few there were looked good but there where times ware i notest decreases in quality

but sum thing shaft didint skimp on was the music each art has its own OP witch sounds great i personaly like the first and last ones the best

so over all i say give this anime a tire especially cunsitering it will be getting a prequel witch will explaine the events of a certen golden week every fan of the anime that has yet to get thare hands on the light novel have been whating to know about

Konami Drops A Lot of Good News

Ok so for the past few days Konami has been giving us a lot of information about games they are releasing and to be honest I could not be more psyched.

http://www.gamingexcellence.com/ps3/news/3405.shtml

I'll start off with the most recent news to get me excited and that is that Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, and Zone of Enders HD Remakes. Now Silent Hill will be getting 2 and 3 remade which are arguably there two most popular Silent Hills. Me Personally I'm Happy about this but I would have liked to see the first being remade as well. Metal Gear Solid will be getting 2, 3, and Peace Walker remade now I'm a little annoyed that the first wouldn't be remade because graphically and gameplay wise its the most in need and also with its age less people have played it that have played the rest of the series. Now while I'm probably the most excited to see MGS be remade Zone of Enders being remade gets a close second. Zone of Enders will have 1 and 2 being remade, kind of a no brainer there because there's only a 1 and 2.

"The Metal Gear Solid HD collection is set for a November 2011 release, while the Zone of Enders HD collection will be released sometime in 2012. No release date was given for the Silent Hill HD collection."

I'm a little less enthusiastic about the dates due to Skyrim coming out 11/11/11 but the earlier they come out the better I guess but the best of the news has yet to be said and that is;

"Also in a surprise announcement, the games will be released for PS3 and Xbox 360. Both games will be getting full HD upgrades as well as Trophy and Achievement support."

Both HD Consoles will be getting these releases and I don't know about you but ME personally I'm Psyched to play all these games on the Xbox 360 and hope they continue to re-release with Microsoft consoles, in terms of marketing this could not be a better move because this is an almost completely untapped market for Konami's Major Franchises.

The rest of the news is about Kojima's new project for Data transfer:

"Kojima also unveiled a project he has been working on called "Transfarring". This will allow gamers to seamlessly transfer their saved files back and forth from their PS3 and PSP...

...Kojima also went on to saying that he hopes to improve Transfarring to where players can bring PS2 data to the PS3 and the NGP. He also wants to bring PS3 data to the NGP as well.

The PS3 versions of the Zone of the Enders and Metal Gear Solid HD collections will both be Transfarring enabled."

While it is a great idea its not really that... helpful that it really warrants much excitement.

Now all this news actually comes from Konami's Pre-E3 Press Conference and While I am going to post it... it is also an hour long video about ALL their current projects so some news is not as great as others.



Now as much as I'd like to sum this up it would need a bunch of different posts just for the one video so I'd like to ask you to watch it instead because honestly its awesome!

otakunick reviews DR who franchise (the three doctors)

   
  hey guys i am back to give you another DR who review this time on a older DR who story DR who the three doctors but before that let me give you a little run down on how this is posable in DR who the doctor is from a race called the time lords now the time lords have a trait that alows them exstremly long life spans and that is they have 13 lives when a time lord dies he insted morphs into a new body and once all 13 lives have been used thats it they die for good(tho in sum cases sum time lords finds ways around that ) ofcorse this is just sum thing the creator came up with to exsplane why the DR was being played by sum one els but in the end it created sum nice storys and plot ponts 


not to the plot just like my waters of mars review this will be a complete over view so Thar will be spoilers

A superluminal signal is sent to Earth, carrying with it an unusual energy blob that seems intent on capturing the Third Doctor. In the meantime, the homeworld of theTime Lords is under siege, with all the power sustaining it being drained through a black hole. Trapped and desperate, the Time Lords do the unthinkable and break the First Law of Time, allowing the Doctor to aid himself by summoning his two previous incarnations from the past.

Unfortunately, the First Doctor is trapped in a time eddy, unable to fully materialize, and can only communicate via viewscreen, but the Second Doctor joins the Third in investigating the origins of the creature and the black hole, while UNIT headquarters faces an attack by the gel-like alien creatures.

The First Doctor deduces the black hole is a bridge between universes, and the other two Doctors allow the TARDIS to be swallowed up by the energy creature, which transports them, Dr Tyler, Jo Grant, Sergeant Benton and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart into an antimatter universe created by the legendary Time Lord Omega. Omega was a solar engineer who created the supernova that powers Time Lord civilization, but was considered killed in the explosion. In actuality, he had been transported to the antimatter universe, where his will and thought turned the formless matter into physicality. Trapped, due to the fact that his will is the only thing maintaining reality, he vowed revenge on the Time Lords who left him stranded.

It is clear that the exile has made Omega quite insane. Along with his revenge, he has summoned the Doctors here to take over the mental maintenance of the antimatter universe so he can escape. However, the Doctors discover that years of exposure to the corrosive effects of the black hole's singularity have destroyed Omega's physical body - he is trapped forever. Driven over the edge by this discovery, Omega now demands that the Doctors share his exile.

The Doctors escape briefly, and offer Omega a proposition. They will give him his freedom if they send the others back to the positive matter universe. Omega agrees, and when that is done, the Doctors offer Omega a force field generator containing the Second Doctor's recorder, which had fallen in it prior to the transport through the black hole. Omega knocks the generator over in a rage and the unconverted positive matter recorder falls out of the force field. When the recorder comes into contact with the antimatter universe, it annihilates everything in a flash, returning the Doctors in the TARDIS to the positive matter universe. The Third Doctor explains that death was the only freedom anyone could offer Omega.

With the power now restored to the Time Lords, they are able to send the First and Second Doctors back to their respective time periods. As a reward, the Time Lords give the Third Doctor a new dematerialization circuit for the TARDIS and restore his knowledge of how to travel through space and time.

now then as a fan of DR who in genarol i have to say i loved this story but at the same time i can say that if you hate old looking shows then this is not the DR who for you being that it aird from 12/30/1972-1/20/1973 and rely shows its age but for a show of its age it also looks good one thing that all the old DR who shows have in comen is that they never had a big bugit but still looked great now then with that sed i rely do think if you whant to get into DR who this is not the place to start youd get to cunfused so watch sum of the new DR who or sum of the older stuff get info and then watch this but at sum point make shore to watch it

otakunick reviews DR who franchise (waters of mars)

hey guys i know i do not Normaly do more then one review a week but i recently lined up almost all the DR who series up in netflix and i will be doing a on going series of reviews starting with 2009s DR who the waters of mars but befor i give you the run down of the story let me just exsplane why DR who


you see iv been a DR who fan since 2005 the adviser of my high schools sci-fi club introduced me to it thew the clubs work DR who and the collectors (witch apparently is accepted into canon by a lot of the fan base) after watching this short maby 30 minet long movie on youtube(still thae if youd like to see for yourself) i started watching the new DR who series when it came out in fact all the sci-fi club did we had weekly showings of the new eps but after leving the high school i only fallowed dr who passivity because i did not have the drive to go looking for the masiv back log on the net but thanks to netflix i can finally watch all the DR series and subsequently review them  


now onto the plot be wordn this will be a detailed review so it will contain spoiors 
 the story starts with the Doctor wandering the Martian landscape in his spacesuit, the Doctor is detained by the inhabitants of the human colony Bowie Base One, under the command of Captain Adelaide Brooke. During his interrogation, he learns that the date is 21 November 2059. According to future history, on this day the base was destroyed in a nuclear blast, and Brooke and her crew were all killed. This event is fixed in time, as it is the catalyst that inspires mankind, including Brooke's descendants, to explore and expand throughout space and make peaceful contact with extraterrestrial lifeforms. The Doctor, unwilling to interfere, decides that he must leave Mars.

However, a crisis is developing: two colonists, Andy Stone and Maggie Cain, have been infected by a strange life form which changes them into zombie-like creatures capable of gushing copious amounts of water from their bodies. The virus soon spreads, with Andy passing on the condition to Tarak Ital. After Maggie is safely secured in the medical wing, the organism present in her body reveals its desire to reach Earth, a planet rich in water. Adelaide and the Doctor determine the virus came from unfiltered water taken from the underground glacier used in the biodome portion of the base, and the remaining crew are not yet infected; the Doctor suspects the virus was contained in the glacier centuries before by the Ice Warriors. The crew decide that it is too dangerous to remain, and plan to evacuate in an escape shuttle. Before departing himself, the Doctor informs Adelaide that she must die today, on Mars, if history is to unfold as it should.

As the Doctor is making his way back to the TARDIS, Andy and Tarak mount Bowie Base's outer shell and exude water, which cascades into the control centre and infects Steffi Ehrlich and Roman Groom. Maggie also breaks out of isolation and infects Ed Gold, the shuttle pilot and Adelaide's second-in-command. Before the condition takes a hold over him, however, Ed manages to trigger the shuttle's self-destruct mechanism, which kills him and traps the infection on Mars but also leaves the surviving crew with no means of escape. Witnessing the explosion, the Doctor is overcome with defiance against time itself and turns back to save the others. The Doctor tries various methods to fight the water but they are all quickly undone. Since it seems inevitable that history will follow its set course, Adelaide activates the base's self-destruct sequence. However, as a last resort, the Doctor uses Roman's remote-controlled robot, GADGET, to access the TARDIS, operate its controls and transport the ship into the control centre, rescuing Adelaide, Yuri Kerenski and Mia Bennett before the base is destroyed by the self-destruct.

The TARDIS materialises outside Adelaide's house on Earth, where GADGET loses his signal completely. Yuri and Mia are shocked by their experiences and depart. Alone with Adelaide, the Doctor explains his reasoning for interfering in set events: as the last of the Time Lords, he is no longer bound by the laws of his race and has total authority over time. Proudly declaring himself the "Time Lord Victorious", he vows that with this power, he can now ensure the survival of pivotal figures such as Adelaide as well as "little people" such as Yuri and Mia. Scolding the Doctor for his new-found arrogance and asserting that "the Time Lord Victorious is wrong", Adelaide returns home and commits suicide. The Doctor's efforts at changing the timeline are mostly undone, although Adelaide dies on Earth rather than Mars, Yuri and Mia live through the events of the episode and the exact circumstances surrounding Bowie Base's destruction are now known to Earth.

The Doctor is overcome with emotion, realising too late that his hubris will have consequences. Ood Sigma then appears in the street. Visibly shaken, the Doctor asks him whether he has finally gone too far — whether the time has come for him to die. Unresponsive, Sigma vanishes, and the Doctor staggers back into the TARDIS to the ominous sound of the Cloister Bell. With a defiant "No!" he begins to operate the controls.

now as this is one of the more resent DR who storys the production values are quite good id say on par with big budget shows hear in the US yes the CG is esay to see but it rely just adds to the charm of the show and the big fuck you the story thows the DRs way rely shows he even the last of the time lords isint above the laws of time and the acting is spot on nuthing felt over the top or anything like that the cast did a good job portraying there charters and setting the mood and speeking of the mood the music is as alwase for the newer DR who rely good most of it i hear in other seasons of the new DR who but thats ok because the OST fits just as well 

all and all i have to say any fans of sci-fi TV shud watch this and if your a DR who fan and havent seen it yet check it out its well worth it 

otakunick anime reviews (blue drop)

  hey guys first off sorry for being so late on the posting my new job has me running around like a mad man and iv had barly anuph energy left in me at the end of the day to take a shower and eat let alone get on hear and type out a review but i am use to it now and will be back on schedule at lest with the blog the podcast is on hold for now just to mutch stuff going on in my life to get every one to geather and do sum thing but thats besides the point

  now then recently i got netflix and iv been watching anime there and they acholy have a lot of good stuff most of witch i have seen but sum i have not and this anime is one of the ones i have not seen blue drop first off let me say this anime is not going to win any awards thow it is defiantly good

  and the storys ware it gets most of its points In 1995, all 800 habitants of the isolated Kamikakushi Island vanished in one night, all but a single girl who lost her memory. The cause of the disappearances was never identified.

Four years later, that girl, Mari, transfers to a girl's dormitory school, Kaihou Gakuen, leaving behind her grandmother who had been her guardian ever since the incident. There, she meets Hagino.

Hagino is the school idol and completes her student council responsibilities flawlessly. The moment she touches Mari’s hand, however, Hagino freaks out, straddling atop Mari, hands aroundher throat. Mari is afraid of and angry at Hagino, who pretends as if nothing had happened while in front of other students, but at the same time, somehow, she is attracted to Hagino too.

[spoiler]
In reality, Hagino is actually an alien who was sent to Earth in order to reconnoiter prior to an invasion. The event on Kamikakushi Island occurred when the 200-member crew of a battleship, the Blue, whose captain was Hagino and the island's inhabitants had killed each other. The Blue was seriously damaged and hidden. Hagino had since blended into human society and continued her reconnaissance.

[spoiler]
Within her school life, while fighting with fellow students, Mari begins to come out of her shell. Hagino has been living a double life, but her encounter with Mari makes her face human beings, and gradually she begins to have doubts about her mission. While the invasion and war draws closer unnoticed, the girls begin to understand each other.

the art is ware the show gets the rest of the points with a nice mix of CG and draw cells the show rely dose a great job of showing just what it is it whant to show tho thar are sum time whar the CG stick out 

as for the OST thar is almost none to speak of but when ever music did play it wasint bad a bit bland but over all fitting unlike the dub i have to say if netflix had the option to watch anime in japanses with subs id change blue drop over as fast as my fingers cud press the buttons but gess that fact that i finishes the show in the ENG dub is a testament to the story

over all i have to say give the show chans but id sagest looking for the DVDs so you can change it over to to japanese dub but regardless id give this show a watch