Exclusive Insanity

K (anime)

Fri, 06 Jun 2014 18:18:22 GMT

I recently watched the anime series K. Originally this was going to be one of my workout anime, but I ended up just marathoning episodes. It was actually pretty good, and I ended up liking the main character more as it went along (he was kind of meh at first), although he got overshadowed by more interesting side characters IMO. Thirteen episodes was definitely not enough time to properly develop all of them, but I still found them likable, so good enough, I suppose. The various novel and manga prequels probably flesh some of them out more.

Speaking of manga, I went and read Memories of Red, because I like the Homra characters a lot, and goddamnit, now I totally ship Fushimi x Yata. Why is their angst so delicious? Fushimi acts like kind of a creepy psycho whenever he and Yata meet up in the anime, but in Memories of Red there was so much internal conflict. Those two just can't understand each other - it's almost painful to watch.

Also, I apparently decided to start watching this series at a really good time, because the Days of Blue manga is still ongoing, there's a manga adaption coming out for the Lost Small World novel (Fushimi x Yata backstory - more angst!), and the sequel movie, K: Missing Kings, is out in a month.

Here's hoping it all gets translated.

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Nagi no Asukara

Mon, 19 May 2014 18:20:47 GMT

It's funny, I can normally write a LOT without trying when I see a bunch of flaws in a series, but when it comes to the ones I really like, I usually have to actually think to find things to say (y'know, other than "this was really damn good, and everyone should watch it").

I just finished watching Nagi no Asukara, which was a really lovely series. I mean that literally, too - the art is beautiful, the scenery and colors and animation... my eyes were happy, let's just say.

The story was pretty engaging too, if you don't mind the endless series of crushes and complications that come with these kinds of pre-teen "growing pains" shows. I thought it handled itself well there, for all that you may have seen something similar somewhere else. The addition of the ocean city and the land city and their conflict and everything tying into a plot about change, feelings you can't control, and acceptance made things interesting.

( Spoilery comments under cut )

All around, a very good series, and I recommend giving it a try.

Convenient video with all op/ed (note: spoilers in the second op/ed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9uMeTPWwVY

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To Aru Majutsu no Index and other stuff

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 20:03:08 GMT

Random update, and I'll get the dull stuff out of the way first.

My sister emailed and apologized to me for the things she said. I'll be honest, I'd already forgiven her. I love my family a lot, even if I don't feel like I fit in well. I was thinking about emailing her, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't feel like I owed her an apology, so it felt like I'd be fishing for one from her. So I decided to wait and see what happened, and apparently that was the right way to do it. Anyway, the time between when she sent the original emails and when she sent the apology was about a month. It's the longest fight I have had with one of my sisters, but I don't feel like it created a gap between us. I'm known for holding grudges, but this time I wasn't really angry - mostly just sad. I was really happy to hear from her.

Cody and I started watching a series called To Aru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index), which is pretty decent at six episodes in. The world and setting are interesting and I found the storyline compelling. The main character is sympathetic enough that I want to continue watching to see what happens with him, although some of the secondary characters don't have me convinced yet. I've noticed a couple of issues with pacing and exposition, but that's mostly due to the sheer volume of knowledge you need to take in about this world and the powers and curious things going on. Most of the episodes I've watched have managed this without too much awkwardness, with one very, very glaring exception.

( Spoilers for episode four, in case anyone was planning on watching )

Anyway, aside from that episode, the series has been pretty okay. I'm enjoying it, anyway, and I'm kind of excited about the fact that it's got a lot of episodes (and I've heard that the side story to this one, which is also two seasons long, is actually better). Here's hoping we don't see any more awkward episodes like that one, though.

As usual, here are the opening and ending videos for the first half of season one if anyone's curious about this series:

OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQIzb72IATU
ED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=choP8rCAJZY

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Sword Art Online

Sat, 06 Jul 2013 19:02:59 GMT

So Cody and I finished watching Sword Art Online last night. It was a good series! The theme of gaming and MMOs doesn't hurt it any, in my opinion! Both of us wanted to play after we finished - luckily, the beta for FFXIV was up, so we logged in to explore around for a bit.

As I've seen everyone say, the first half was noticeably better than the second half. However, for the most part, I still enjoyed the second half. With one very notable exception.

This is going to be a 'duh' for anyone who knows me and has seen Sword Art Online, but yeah: Asuna's treatment in the second half of the series.

I mean, we get this decently strong female character, who - while not being groundbreaking or anything - can hold her own in a fight and whose skills the main character - who is the epitome of the l33t gamer - respects. And she refuses to bow out of a fight because she wants to protect him as much as he wants to protect her. Better yet, she has the skill to do it!

And so, clearly, the best thing to do with this character is to make her essentially a princess in a tower waiting to be rescued for the whole second half of the series.

Such a disappointment.

And I will also say, outside of a spoiler cut, that the second half of this series would benefit from a trigger warning for the sexual harassment in it. Those scenes made me uncomfortable. The ending battle was the worst, but those "scientist" things? WTF, seriously? None of it was even necessary! The villain's "experiments" should have been enough to want to take him down. It seemed like a lame excuse to put fanservice of Asuna out there in various compromising positions - and, of course, to fuel Kirito's angst and rage in that last battle. Terribly, terribly degrading.

( Spoilery stuff under here )

For all these complaints (and I know they're pretty serious ones), I still enjoyed Sword Art Online. It was a fun series that still managed to take itself seriously and tug at the heart strings here and there. The art was pretty, the theme of the series and how it carried off that plot was actually pretty good, and it made me want to game more. Haha!

Now let's get a series like this with better overall character development and a more active, strong female protagonist!

For those interested, the opening/closing videos for the first half of SAO:

OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA-ZdNkRBGA
ED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w36jj0F-6pc

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Tales of the Abyss

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:35:11 GMT

I watched the last episode of Tales of the Abyss today - finally. I'd been holding out because Cody and I were watching it together and he wanted to finish the game first, but enough is enough. I wanted to see the rest. So I watched it.

For a game adaptation, it was pretty darn good! Not genius - it had pacing problems that were somewhat similar to the ones I noticed in Sword Art Online, and the character arcs were a touch on the shallow side - but still very enjoyable and engaging. The characters themselves were very likeable, despite Luke being a putz at the start (although the fact that he was such a flawed character might have actually made him more likeable), and the plot was interesting. The action scenes, although a little short sometimes, were exciting and had a nice look to them, and I appreciated the use of spell/action names. Because this is based on an RPG, after all!

Overall, I really had a fun time watching it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a decent sword-and-sorcery anime.

( Cut for spoilers )

Off-topic: there's an open invitation to anyone familiar with the series to guess who my favorite character is. Just guess, you'll probably be right. I can be pretty predictable.

If you're interested in Tales of the Abyss, here is the OP video (incidentally, the same song used in the opening of the game, which is pretty cool). The OP is different for each episode because there's a little preview portion of the upcoming episode in it each time. I couldn't find the ED for some reason... too bad.

OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5UIJ4109uQ

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Sword Art Online (so far)

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:04:01 GMT

I've only seen about eight episodes of this series, but I do have some things to say about it so I decided to go ahead and make this post. My opinion could change later, obviously.

Following in the tradition of the .hack series, Sword Art Online is about a virtual reality MMORPG where players can log in and experience the game as if they were physically there. Like .hack//Sign (and perhaps other titles, but this is the one I know of), SAO is about being trapped in the game with no way to log out. However, in SAO this is global (all players are unable to log out, not just one). Additionally, if you die in the game, you WILL die in real life - and the only way to escape the game is to clear all 99 levels of the main dungeon.

Fans of MMORPGs (and fans of RPGs in general) will probably enjoy this title. It's fast-paced, well animated, has gorgeous music and exciting battle sequences, and there are many things that will be immediately understandable to gamers and make SAO feel like a real RPG.

I am really enjoying this anime, and look forward to watching more (Cody and I are watching together and trying to take our time since it's still airing right now). However! I cannot say it is perfect (far from it) and there are still a few problems I have with it.

( More under the cut )

Anyway, for all of this, SAO is pretty damn entertaining. I'm definitely looking forward to watching more and seeing how this story unfolds!

OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA-ZdNkRBGA
ED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w36jj0F-6pc

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Fantastic Children

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:50:41 GMT

Just this morning, I finished watching Fantastic Children.

It was very good. I'd go so far as to say that it's a shame it's never going to break away from being a "fringe" series, because I found it entertaining and the plot was fairly well thought-out. A lot of people are probably going to be turned off by the art or the title before even looking at an episode, and then more will be turned off by the lack of fast-moving action and the fact that it takes a while before the viewer is able to figure out what's actually going on (although this was really part of the fun for me). But while I wouldn't say this is going on my list of favorites, I was still very glad to have bought it, because it was worth the money in my opinion.

( Thoughts )

In the end, while I don't think this series would be for everyone, it's a pretty enjoyable watch and I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.

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Macross Frontier and the (unresolved?) love triangle

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 17:38:52 GMT

So, I finished watching Macross Frontier a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty good - decent enough plot, and lots of mecha fighting mixed with song and stage performance. Unfortunately, my set of subs would replace what characters were saying with the translation of the singing in the background in some places, which was kind of irritating. But it still really got you pumped when you were watching the combination of a huge battle with lots of explosions and the performance of a good song.

One of the things I'd heard about this series before watching it was that it had a love triangle (one guy, two girls) which never got any kind of resolution by the end, so I guess you were supposed to just imagine the ending with whichever pairing you preferred. I read into it a bit more, and found that there was supposed to be a resolution, but it was kiboshed at the last minute so that they could squeeze that much more money from viewers in the movie remakes by billing them as "resolving the love triangle". I haven't watched the movies, but I do know which girl "wins" based on triumphant shippers gloating over it, and... well. Let's just say I wasn't surprised, because the series might as well have had a resolution in my opinion. The other half of the triangle just felt completely one-sided.

( Spoilerific stuff under cut )

Anyway, the series is really good, and I think most people would probably enjoy it, because the music and the action are pretty awesome.

I'm now about 10 episodes into an anime series called Fantastic Children, which I originally thought was a fantasy-adventure story aimed at kids. Upon watching more than the first couple of episodes, I have come to the realization that this... is most definitely not a kids' show at all. It's pretty good so far, though.

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"Heroes" series

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:49:55 GMT

I have gotten really lazy about posting entries... Oh well. My life right now consists of work, cosplay meetings, and Final Fantasy XIV. It's keeping me busy enough.

I am also in the process of reading a series of books recommended to me by yukinoomoni. I think it's referred to as the "Heroes" series by fans, but it doesn't seem like there is a series title. The first book is called "Resenting the Hero", and it is by Moira J. Moore.

I am currently reading book four, so obviously I like the series.

( Review under cut )

Overall, what would I say about this series? It's good. The plot is solid, the characters are fun, the world is interesting and well-crafted, and there is a strong narrative.

Highly recommended!

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Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:07:02 GMT

I went and saw the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie today with my parents and one of my sisters. I was the only person in our group who hadn't yet read the book. After the movie was over, and we were out in the theater lobby, my sister asked me if seeing the movie made me want to read the book.

( My answer is cut for spoilers )

This is probably one of the many reasons why, if I were to ever try to get a story published, it would never be mainstream adult-oriented fiction.

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