Initial Impressions: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

December 7, 2011
Posted by DarrenW


Ahahaha! Finally, the ECCHI that everyone has been waiting for!
Yes, a classic ECCHI that almost everyone is able to recognise just from the opening, "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai"!

Okay, so its ECCHI, but what's the story? Well, first things first, have you ever wondered what would happen if you have NO FRIENDS? Well what do you do? That's easy! Just join the "Neighbour's Club"!

Poster for Neighbour's Club

What's that? Well basically, its a club that helps promote its members to have more friends. From episode 0, it looks awesome! Everybody's having a good time together, and enjoying themselves as best friends...

Kodaka Hasegawa

All right, let's cut the crap. Starting from episode 1, everything changes. It begins with our protagonist, Kodaka Hasegawa, who has recently transferred to the St. Chronica's Academy. Unfortunately for him, he has no friends, due to his inherited hair from his mother, and his fierce looking eyes.
  
Yup. All that equates to looking like a Yankee (Bully).
   

Kodaka's sister.

So how did all this Neighbour stuff come up? Well, one day, Kodaka 'accidentally' finds the equally lonely Yozora Mikazuki... talking to her imaginary friend, "Air Friend" (OMG). They then realized that both of them have no social life. So they decided to form the Neighbour Club! With 2 members...

Yukimura Kusonoki, a guy.

Sena Kashiwazaki

Well, the good news is that in the later episodes, 5 new members join the club! Woohoo! But... They all have their 'problems'. Firstly, the arrogant and drop dead gorgeous Sena Kashiwazaki, who has no female friends due to her popularity with all the boys. Secondly, the girly Yukimura Kusonoki (Yes, the one that is always in the maid outfit), who looks and acts like a girl but isn't one... Thirdly, the TEACHER, Maria Takayama, who is some 10 year old nun that looks COMPLETELY LIKE INDEX (same voice actor as well). Fourthly, the young scientific genius Rika Shiguma, who gets excited over weird stuff... And lastly, Kodaka's sister, who by far is one of the more normal characters, even though she dresses up like a vampire.

Rika Shiguma gets
excited over robots...

Yeah, so as usual, ECCHI animes don't have enough significant plot lines for me to discuss, and in this anime, it follows the theory. Hahaha. Though for theme, I would say they do portray people with no friends well, and that the anime is able to explain why so. One of the more valid observations is that this anime is able to make you laugh a lot. Although it does include the usual random plots for one episode, it's certainly a good watch if you feel like letting loose of those stressful plot animes and just wish to watch something funny.

Yozora Mikazuki

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai premiered on October the 7, and 10 episodes have premiered so far. (Sorry for the lateness) and there are 12 episodes, with 1 OVA next year. It's been fansubbed by Doki, Chihiro and Mazui.





Enjoy your ECCHI,

Index-san

Maria-san

I do apologize if our reviews have been late recently. This is because I just came back from the Philippines doing voluntary work. Yes, I left 2 days after the camp ended.
And expect more delays because I'm going overseas next week!
   
Next Review: I'm Slacking'!!
   
DarrenW

Initial Impressions: Guilty Crown

This review has been updated. For "Final Impressions: Guilty Crown" Click here


November 20, 2011
Posted by DarrenW

Yea yea, I know its 6 episodes into the season! This review is super late. Wanted to hand it over to MedusaS because she's watching it as well, but he was like "I already did a review!!"

Anyway, let's get down to business, with 'Guilty Crown!'

Well, just from watching the first episode, you can tell that Japan is under siege. Well, the truth is, it is now the year 2039!

Well, the fact is, in 2029, Japan has been plagued by a virus called 'Apocalypse Virus', which is this very crystal-like growth that can kill a person. With this, Japan plunges into a state of chaos and confusion. This is where the international organization, GHQ, steps into Japan. The GHQ conducts research to rid people of the virus, however, executes martial law (Forced Government) upon Japan and controls it under its own interests.


Until 10 years later, that is...

In 2039, a new organization, called the "Undertakers" or "Funeral Parlor" as some call it, begins operations to rid GHQ of its 'sick' control. People are getting killed and injured, even if they are innocent, and lives continue to be destroyed. Anyone who opposes GHQ gets this: Endlaves, fighting robots that are controlled by human minds.

The Undertakers.

Ouma Shu

So the undertakers go by any means to obtain weapons of mass destruction. This is where our protagonist, Ouma Shu, comes in. An image & video designer that just goes to school, he accidentally wanders into an abandoned building and bumps into...

Inori Yuzuriha

Inori Yuzuriha!

Epic run through fire.

Yes, the girl that is now popping up on a lot of other anime & manga websites. While on a mission to deliver 'Void Genome', or translated, 'The Power of Kings'. An extremely powerful weapon, which has to be consumed by an individual...

And thats when Shu breaks it in an epic struggle...

And now Shu has the ability of VOID GENOME, which is one of the most EPIC and SICK powers I have EVER seen. Shu is now able to extract powerful weapons based on people's 'soul/personality' from his right hand, and kill his opponents! OMG its so awesome!!

And ironically, it was his mum, Haruka Ouma, which was behind its development.

So now, the leader of the Undertakers, Tsutsugami Gai, takes Ouma Shu to become a member of them, and he begins his adventure of a lifetime, kicking GHQ butt!

Endlaves

Now naturally, people will veer away from this kind of anime, well, because of the ecchi, but do not be afraid! It has been reduced to quite a large extent, and not of those levels of To Aru Majutsu no Index

Index. Wait a minute. Right hand instead of Left, main character says 'Excuse Me!' instead of 'Misfortune!', based in a scientific city, someone who looks like accelerator. Hmmm something is fishy here...

Undertaker Leader: Gai

Well, plotwise, I have to say, its an excellent job, smooth and easy to understand, as well as the fact it is well developed. Many things are shown well and explained well.
Theme? Well its right on target. It's DEFINITELY an action type and sci-fi sort of anime, if that was what it was trying to achieve. And as for atmosphere, well, watch the PV below. And as a bonus, the songs and music used in the anime really complements the mood of the show, of which makes it even more exciting and epic.

Activation of VOID GENOME

All in all, this is an anime that you DEFINITELY MUST WATCH. Throughout this whole 2 years of anime, I personally admit this anime stands out big time. Its going to be one of the best this year, possibly even better than Steins;Gate! XD

Guilty Crown has 22 episodes, and premiered on October 14. It is fansubbed by Doki, CoalGuys, Commie, Tsuki-Hatsuyuki and Darksoul!

And of course, I love the song sung by Inori: Euterpe.





Well, peering through the voice actors, I'm SHOCKED. It has an UNIMAGINABLE amount of voice actors that also come from my other favourite animes!

 

Tsuchimikado Motoharu
To Aru Majutsu no Index I & II

Arugo
Guilty Crown

is ->

Isana Tachibana
Yumekui Merry

Inori
Guilty Crown

is ->

Finnian
Kuroshitsuji

Kouichi Tanemura
Hanasaku Iroha

and

Ouma Shu
Guilty Crown

are ->

Kanade Tachibana "Tenshi"
Angel Beats!

Charlotte Dunoa
IS - Infinite Stratos

and

Sakamachi Kureha
Mayo Chiki!

Mayuri Shina
Steins;Gate

plus

Ayase Shinomiya
Guilty Crown

are ->

Accelerator
To Aru Majutsu no Index
I & II

Kenji Kido
Guilty Crown

is ->

Tsugumi
Guilty Crown

Kirino Kousaka
Ore no Imouto ga Konna
ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai

is ->

Well it's mainly because some people commented that knowing the voice actors makes it more appealing for them to watch. Really? Well anyway, here are your voice actors. But I'm not going to do this again, too tiring.

And I will be away for a week for a camp (No internet... T_T)

Bye!

DarrenW

Initial Impressions: Mirai Nikki

November 19, 2011
Posted by IAmBored

Hello~!

I’m back with another review! I’m totally on track! Finished an ongoing 105 episode anime in 5 days!!! I’m on roll! Yay!

Anyways, this time I’m doing this super creepy anime review. This is totally different from "Kimi To Boku", even though both are set with teenagers for protagonists. MAJOR WARNING: This anime contains bloody scenes, a little ecchi, very violent scenes and a lot of insane and retarded people. It also contains a lot of killings. So it’s basically like a horror movie, except that the story-line is dragged over episodes.

I actually don’t like this anime, it’s totally creeping me out. The only reason why I continued watching is because of the mystery/suspense of it…

Mirai Nikki AKA Future Diary/Wei Lai Ri Ji (Chinese)

Yuno. Started to get scared from
this point onwards...

The story revolves around this 14 year old boy named Amano Yukiteru, AKA Yuuki or Yuki, (depending on the subber) who is thought to be the by-stander or the lonely one. He has a habit of recording down whatever he sees into his phone, which is also his diary. He has an imaginary friend called Deus, who happens to be real 
and is the God of Time and Space.

U MAD?

So this god created this game, called the Diary Game, to choose his successor. There are 12 contestants, all of which holds a future diary. Yuki is the 1^st person to have a ‘diary’; hence he is called the ‘First’. He holds the ‘Random Diary’ that records whatever he sees in the future. One problem is that his diary does not show what happens to him as he is always the by-stander who records things, as such; the diary only shows what he is going to see.

Yuki.

That’s why ‘Second’, Gasai Yuno AKA Yuno comes in handy. Apparently, she holds the ‘Yukiteru Diary’, which records what she sees happen to Yuki in ten minute intervals. In other words, she is a FREAKING STALKER!!! She is also hopelessly in love (more of an OBSESSION) with Yuki so much so that she is willing to hurt or kill anyone in order to protect Yuki. She is one of the main reasons this anime is so creepy.

I agree with the subs.

Anyways, the objective of the game is to be the last survivor in order to be the God of Space and Time. The diary is very important to its owner as it determines their survival. If a diary is destroyed, not only will they lose in the game, they also cease to exist. As such, one of the ways to eliminate the participants is to destroy 
their diary.

So the story continues with Yuki trying to be alive and Yuno helping him. They formed allies and killed many people in the process.

Damn right you are.

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Romance (sort of)

Theme: One of the lessons I learnt it to do whatever you need in order to survive or protect the one you love, including: Lying, kidnapping, fighting, treason, backstabbing and killing. And this lesson learnt is TOTALLY RIDICULOUS AND HORRIBLE!!! I really do not like the theme of this anime. Seriously, they should rate it to be PG-13 or higher. Some of the scenes were totally gruesome and I skipped those really horrible ones. Oh, and there is rape, but it wasn’t exactly shown (don’t worry, I prove-checked it) but there are hints and underwear scenes. OMG!!! I totally hate these kinds of animes!!! ESPECIALLY ECCHI!!!

Hate this ep. Massive killing spree.

I think this is the first anime that I have absolutely no characters that I like. In my opinion, Yuki is a wimp, Yuno is crazy, and the rest are just psychotic and plain retarded. The anime is totally not funny at all, so do not think you will laugh. And DO NOT watch this anime in a dark room, especially when it is raining… I did that and regretted. TOTALLY. Well, the anime is usually alright, until some diary owner shows up, then everything starts to get creepy.

In conclusion, this is a seriously scary anime that I had to get out of my system by watching some comedy...

It aired on 10^th Oct 2011, and has currently 6 episodes.

Enjoy the PV!

And now I am going to write the next review…. HAHAHA :D

Hint for next review: Fairy!!!

Till next time!!! :D
  
IAmBored
  
Editor Note: Geh, why am I the only one still having school!!!! T_T
FayeA

Initial Impressions: Kimi To Boku

November 18, 2011

Posted by IAmBored

GOMENANSAI!

Wow! I haven’t been able to watch anime for like 3 weeks. So I wasn’t able to write a review. Well, why? 
[1] My computer is super slow. Takes about 5 hours to load an episode (O_o) But the internet connection is wayyy better now. PHEW. 
[2] My brother had exams, so I’m not supposed to ‘distract’ him. 
[3] My project that takes up majority of my time.

So I guess by the time this is uploaded, my project presentation should have ended and I would have more free time to do whatever I like. :D

Ok. I’m running short of time so I shall make this review sweet and short  :D Let’s go!

L>R: Kaname, Chizuru, Shun, Yuki and Yuta.
All CROSS-EYED!

Well, this is an extremely light-hearted anime that revolves around school life and friendship and adoration (a bit). There are 6 main characters, twins Yuki and Yuta Asaba. Yuta is older. Shun Matsuoka, Kaname Tsukahara, Chizuru Tachibana and Masaki Sato.

The story revolves around the memory and current life of the four friends, Yuki, Yuta, Shun and Kaname. The four met in pre-school and are in the same high school now. Yuta is mature and more out-spoken than his brother. Yuki is more indifferent and has some sort of brother complex thingy. (Shown in manga)

Shun. A GUY.

Both enjoy pissing Kaname off with their dry humour. Shun is the feminine one. I thought he was a girl at first! He sounded like a girl too! (Unless there is a problem with either the speaker or my ears) Kaname is considered the smart one (geeky looking) and is short-tempered.

The other 2 characters are introduced later. The girl, Masaki (crazy girl, watch and you know why), is shown in the 2^nd episode and Chizuru (half Japanese) in the 3^rd episode. It takes too long and gives major spoilers if I explain about them.

Masaki & Shun.
Don't they look like 2 girls?

[Theme] Light-hearted, teaches about friendship and school life.

[Plot] Quite okay. It is a little funny at times but not the LOL kind, more of a dry laugh kind. It is a little random though, because the episodes are not exactly linked with each other, so no one really knows what would come out next. (The titles of the next episodes doesn’t help and I hate looking at previews because it makes me impatient) But it generally is well elaborated without the feeling of vagueness if you view it per episode wise.

My impressions:

[1] Yuki reminds me of my ex-classmate in the sense that nothing interests her and is a huge fan of mangas. My ex-classmate is also like Yuki as both only takes action if there is a benefit or benefits to be reaped. Both also hate to wear uniform and twig it whenever they can. So I guess he is one of the only characters that I can sort of understand.

[2]  I DON’T LIKE THE ART! The people drawn have crossed-eyes. Well, anime characters are supposed to be perfect, no? I don’t really mind real-life cross-eyed people, but in a reality world, it kind of freaks me out and the worst is that all of them have the same problem! Now how is that possible?

[3] NEKO alert! I love anime cats! :D I realized for some freaky reasons, every single anime I watch to date has some cat or cats in it, whether random or not. REALLY FREAKY! :O But I hate real life cats. They give off the don’t-come-near-me-or-I-will-bite vibe, so I usually stay away… Anyways, in this anime, it is random appearance.

Kimi to Boku premiered on October 4th.

HAHA:D

Well, the PV. ENJOY!!!

Alright! Back to my stupid project!
Ciaos XD

Hint for next review: Diary XD (Will be out soon!)


IAmBored