Friday, January 31, 2014

Fairy Tail

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Teens

Emotional Response: LOL that was pretty funny!

Myself in Notes, 2014

This list was inspired by Lorraine Hansberry's series of birthday notes, written annually from when she was 23 to 33. You can see these candid, intimate glimpses of her life on at the until March 16th.



I LOVE:

Thursday, January 30, 2014

The 2013 Retrospective: The Absolute Best and the Worst of the Rest

Sasuga title there.



Great job, me.

TOP TEN: BEST ANIME OF 2013

Considering what it gave us-ATTACK ON TITAN- it might come off as a little odd for me to suggest that 2013 wasn't the best year in anime. Maybe its just me; but as great as a lot of the anime i came across were, every once in a while i like sitting down, watching anime and being blown away. And that didn't happen in 2013 besides three or four titles.

A shame, really, when you consider the potential so many series that premiered or completed in 2013 possessed; yet most of them just didn't really hit home. Or maybe my standards are a little skewed, here's to hoping for an epic 2014.

Anyway, my top ten anime of 2013; i will try to break the pattern and keep it brief.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

New figmas, GunPlas and more from the March 2014 issue of Hobby Japan Magazine

The March edition of the Monthly Magazine has finally been released and new scans from the magazine previews several new figures, toys and model kits that will definitely hurt some wallets and bank accounts.



1/144 HGBF GM Sniper K9

Monday, January 27, 2014

Voice Actor Ichiro Nagai Passes Away

Anime voice actor Ichiro Nagai passed away on January 27, 2014 at the age of 82. Nagai had collapsed in a Hiroshima City hotel; he was taken to a hospital, but he passed away. As of this writing, the cause of death is unknown, and police are investigating the matter.



Nagai provided voices for many character during his career, including:

Sunday, January 26, 2014

My Top 13 Nerdy Moments of 2013

Pardon my tardiness to the yearly retrospect club. Being punctual with my writing wasn't one of my new year's resolutions, unfortunately. However, writing in general was, and this is definitely a great time to reflect on all things that made last year special. Since I'm a self-proclaimed nerd and otaku, I figured it'd be fitting to specifically celebrate all things nerdy that were the highlights of 2013 for myself. I always like to feel "good" to be a nerd, instead of ashamed or reserved, and upon looking back on the year, I even found it a struggle to narrow it down to 13, which is a great sign that I'm living a great life as a nerd. This helps me feel that there's nothing wrong with my lifestyle, and that it can carve as deep of memories as anything else out there. So without any more delay, before I ramble on to 2015, let me proudly share my defining moments as a nerd in 2013!



13. STREET PASSING BRANDON JONES, THE NARRATOR OF GAMETRAILERS.COM

I'm Watching 10 Anime: 13 Episode Checkpoint!

Welcome back, everyone, to my marathon of what is "almost" too much anime for me to handle. I watch anime differently from most people. I don't prefer to just follow one series at a time and then move on to another. Instead, I like to pick 10 anime at a time and watch them all equally one episode at a time. It's a process that has several benefits such as never getting bored of one particular anime when it hits a bland arc, as well as keeping my attention to a maximum thanks to the pure diversity of what I'm watching. Last time I wrote about my experience 7 episodes in, which I felt was a decent time for my first impressions and you can find that blog



The 13th episode of an anime tends to be one of three things. Either it's the finale of a short season that hopefully delivers great closure, the conclusion of an arc in a continuing series leaving a cliffhanger to come back for more, or it's a pointless, completely off the beaten path beach episode. Why must there always a beach episode?! Because of this, it's the perfect time to stop and reflect on each of these anime and if they have won me over at this point or not.1. FAIRY TAIL

Winter 2014 Anime

It's a new season of anime and with it, fans are crawling out of the woodwork to look for the next Attack on Titan, or Sword Art Online. While nothing here has the same amount of hype that those two anime do, there are actually a few respectable ones that, with enough luck, could turn into something truly memorable. This particular post is about the brand new anime that aren't continuing from something in a previous season. The fresh newcomers that are vying to be the next astounding series. I wish I had the time to watch all of them, but the least I can do is give my input on the ones that I am following or tried to watch. Let's get right into it.First off let's quickly get the three out of the way that I dropped.



PUPA (DROPPED)

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Recap 2013

2013 passed in a blink of an eye. I took a few hours to recall anything good or bad, or something I could proud of that I had done last year, but sadly I could not think of any. What a sad life, I live like a salted fish. x.x



2013 was not the best also not the worst year for me. I got to do what I wanted to do, but also had done things I regret doing and things I regret not doing. It was a year that was so peaceful, not much happiness, not much sadness. The relationship between my family members and I has neither changed for better nor worse, just the number of times I talked to my family were getting less, it meant that the dispute were getting less too.

Winter 2014 Episode Rankings

Slowly but surely catching up! I had hoped to post this mid-week, but watching anime episodes took priority over writing about them, as I neared another big milestone - according to Anime-Planet, . For the last few years, this has increased by . I'm pretty happy with those figures.



It sounds less impressive when you scale it down, howeverthere are 24 hours in a day, only two hours of which is anime time on average. Surely I can improve on that?

Friday, January 24, 2014

2013 Review (Movies)

Hmm I wonder if anyone is still reading my blog. Yea it has been dormant for a long time since I uploaded my Egypt & Turkey photos, thanks to the lack of motivation and time to share my trip experiences. Firstly, nobody bothers to read blogs anymore, with Facebook being 100x more interesting. Secondly it is really time consuming to upload the pictures and add captions. Sigh...



This is probably my last blog entry before I put the blog into sleep. As usual, my annual review of songs and movies. I have already uploaded my song rankings in FB (Cannot upload in youtube due to copyright issues), so I'll just present my movie rankings here.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

TV Show of the Week: Hunter x Hunter!

Original Photo

This show is really entertaining! You get to watch a young kid, Gon, grow up and mature whilst traveling the world trying to find clues to the whereabouts of his father. Gon's father, Ging, is a top class world renown Hunter and planned that his child would become a hunter to find his father. The whole show is pretty much Ging's test for Gon so that one day Gon can surpass his father completely. Throughout the show Gon is tested, having to use his intellect and strength to conquer the trials that are placed before him. During the Hunter's exam, Gon meets his dear friend Killua. Killua belongs to a famous assassin family and was raised to be the top assassin in history by his father and brother.


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

ANIME REVIEW: FREEZING VIBRATION-LARGELY POINTLESS

Freezing is like nothing i have watched before, in that no other anime has yet to try my patience as much as Freezing and Freezing Vibration.

I watched the first Freezing anime in one night, well, really, less than a night; more like a few hours of my night. Am not even sure what kept me glued to the screen, except the fact that it was two in the morning before i finally closed the chapter on an anime i hadn't plan on pursuing further.

The question here becomes why i would bother watching an anime that kept my hand stuck to the first forward button. Some episodes i watched more of, whileothers were a mere blur; whatever the case if i am going to give this anime one compliment, it will be that i was that determined to finish its first season, to know what happened at the end, and that didn't change for Freezing Vibrations-which i blew through in under two hours.

Sentai Filmworks announces acquisition of MAGICAL WARFARE

Powerful magicians run rampant in the streets, and one more is about to enter the fray in Sentai Filmworks' latest acquisition, Magical Warfare. This 12 episode magical action series is directed by Yuzo Sato (Hunter x Hunter: Phantom Rouge, Kaiji)) with series composition by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Miss Monochrome, Princess Resurrection), art direction by Jirou Kouno (Phi Brain, Amnesia) and animation production by the iconic Madhouse Studios (High School of the Dead, Ninja Scroll).



Synopsis: The last few years haven't been easy for Takeshi Nanase. His parents are remote and distant, his little brother seems to despise him and even his relationship with Kurumi, his so-called girlfriend, isn't exactly romantic in nature. In fact, for two years the only real high point in Takeshi's existence has been studying the Japanese sword-fighting technique of Kendo, and that's unlikely to be something that will have any practical application in the real world. Or so he thinks until he discovers an unconscious girl in an unknown uniform in the school hallway.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Looking to 2014

This year is coming to an end very soon. Less than two weeks. I don't know if this year has been really, really long for me or not. It's tough to say. They say the years get shorter as you get older, but right now last year and this year don't seem all that much different. If there is anything that really marked 2013 then it was the death of Hummer, one of our cats. I suppose I do get overly attached to animals because I prefer them to most people because most people suck. On the other hand I have yet to meet a dog or cat that I didn't feel a certain kinship with. Mostly cats, though. I suppose this proves that I should not be the one to give advice on how to properly socialize with people, but if you need to get along with your cat and don't know how to then feel free to give me a shout out.

Anyway...

As of now this is a list of anime, TV shows, and movies I want to see and blog about next year. While I am sure I will come across more things in the coming days this is what I have so far:

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Seasonal Post: Winter is Here!

THERE ARE QUITE A NUMBER OF ORIGINAL SHOWS THIS SEASON, WHICH IS VERY EXCITING. MOST OF MY FAVOURITE SHOWS HAVE COME FROM IN-STUDIO ORIGINALS. IT'S THE ANTICIPATION AND THE HYPE THAT DOES IT FOR ME; NOT KNOWING WHAT TO EXPECT AND IN SOME CASES, THERE ARE 8 ORIGINAL SHOWS AIRING THIS SEASON (AS FAR AS I KNOW) AND ALONG WITH THESE, HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SHOWS AIRING THIS WINTER SEASON.



IMOCHO: Erm... That sure was an interesting start to the season... It certainly attracted a lot of attention the day it aired. The question is, will this show continue on like this? I know virtually nothing of the source material here so I'm not quite sure what to expect down the line. For its own sake, I hope they wont be pussy footing around its own themes like other shows of this kind. If you're going to go incest then fucking go all the way with it...

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Generalizations are a painfully stupid thing

In one way or another, that was a generalization as well, I guess.



So, as always, take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Lack of Hype

The new Sailor Moon series, set to be a more faithful adaptation of Naoko Takeuchi's manga series has been announced to begin airing worldwide simultaneously on Niconico Douga in July of this year. It's going to be animated by Toei, which I guess they have the money if not the talent to pull off the show, and it seems like my little section of the anime community has been powering itself solely off the hype of the return of this much beloved series. I, on the other hand have spent the last year being a buzzkill and I'm not entirely sure why.

You see, though I've never read the manga and I didn't participate in the great Sailor Moon anime re-watch of the past few years, I completely fit the bill as someone who'd be geeked for the premiere. In the 90s while in primary school I would make sure to get dressed early enough so that we could catch an episode before we had to leave. I had the theme song memorized as well as that silly little speech Serena recited after transforming that I couldn't believe the enemies sat through. When I got to high school and we started seeing Cartoon Network's promos for the "lost" episodes, my friends and I could barely contain our excitement and when they finally started to air, Sailor Moon had its place in our weekly discussions along with Playstation vs. Nintendo 64.

Though finally seeing these episodes I'd previously had no access to didn't thrill me as much as I thought they would have. Maybe it was because I'd already seen the Sailor Moon & the Seven Ballz parody thanks to the boys in my grade, because I'd already heard about these episodes and how they would predictably be censored by friends or maybe because ultimately Sailor fucking Mini Moon made me want to drive pencils into my eyeballs, I'm not sure. By the time I was sixteen years old and about to graduate high school, Sailor Moon wasn't anything more to me than another cartoon.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Short First Impressions: Mahou Sensou, Sakura Trick, Hoozuki no Reitetsu

I'm up for anything that makes kids cry.



Due to obvious reasons, no first impressions on Silver Spoon S2. I'd like to give noitaminA an honorary mention though for airing two pretty decent things in the same time, making this the second best combination of shows after Saraiya Goyou + Tatami Galaxy. Those were the days, folks. MAHOU SENSOU

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Anime Review: Miss Monochrome (2013)

She is a superhuman android, wear shades of black and white, and is accompanied by a robotic friend. She isMISS MONOCHROME.



Year 2013 has been an interesting year of Titans devouring humans, vampiric mecha soldiers and handsome bishonen boys taking over the pool. But if you want to shake up your anime palette just a little bit, MISS MONOCHROME (2013) is the perfect anime for you.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Ranking the Anime of 2013 that Didn't Suck

The 2013 year of anime was a rather interesting one for me. Reason being that it's the first full year I've spent actually watching episodes of stuff the day the subs come out. It also threatened to be the last one since the start of the year felt so bland to me that I only managed to latch on to a couple of non-sequels that quickly turned out to be pretty sucky as well. That said, the year managed to pull up it's bootstraps more and more towards the end and shot out some really memorable titles. For the sake of this list though, since it's my very first yearly roundup , I'll include everything that I saw and dug regardless of whether or not it started in 2013, just so long as it had episodes airing this year.



#13 GATCHAMAN CROWDS I could sum up my feelings on this show, it would be "nice try". Easily the most culturally relevant anime in terms of it's themes today. I still can't help but get the feeling that this show came out a little half baked. There's the lead in Hajime, who I've got a few bones to pick with despite beingsomewhat amusing. The idea of having an unflappable character who always knows what to say, when to say it and never seems to feel challenged in any sort of way is not an ideal main character. That and her whack ass behavior serves as a one-two punch against much of the show's tension. Toss in weak pacing towards the end and you've got something that under-performed quite a bit. That said, I still dug the show's impeccable style, soundtrack, and what the show was aiming for was unique enough to squeeze it in on the bottom. A bit sad that it never really came together as well as it could've. Decent show overall but a bit of a letdown. At least we still got . #12 INFERNO COP I made the mistake of not watching this during the dreary Winter season (asides from the kick-ass fall carryovers).Didn't want to close out 2012 with regrets so I marathoned the shit out of this on December 31st. Really not a whole lot to say other then the writing here is the equivalent of two kids having an an imaginary duel on the playground, I should know since I was one the kids who loved doing that. Inferno Cop is essentially an anime I would've been able to write as a 7 year old combine that with card board cut-outs and zero frame-rate animation and you've got a fucking anime people.

Monday, January 6, 2014

|ANIME REVIEW| Kuroko no Basket Season 2 Episode 13

HELLOOOOOOOOO PEOPLE OF THIS UNIVERSE!

So there's been a little secret that I've been withholding from all of you, much against my will. Not really, I actually mention it in my Goodreads profile, but alright. But this particular secret is groundbreaking and earth shattering and it is....

Drum role please!...

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Received gifts from my awesome friends. xD Hahahahahha, today was so funnnnnnn.:DDDD. Hobbit was good! And the pizza too ~ which I probably wouldn't be eating until next year.xD ToO. MUCH.PIZZA. >:D



Ohhh, and I found out something epic from Nanatsu, J STARS VICTORY VS! Has all the shounen jump characters in a huge fighting game!!

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Hunter x Hunter

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas! I had a quiet couple of days and a nice time with family and plenty of manga and other presents. I also caught up with the movie adaptation of Cloud Atlas, one of my all-time favourite books, and liked it.



This is the last trailer post of the year sees me in a more introspective mood.

Random Thought (January 04, 2014 at 12:08AM)

Random Thought 575



Now for some of My Anime List statistics from 2013. They might not be that important, but I'm just that kind of person who likes to record things.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

TOP TEN: BEST PROTAGONISTS OF 2013 IN ANIME AND MANGA

Preparing a top ten protagonists list is a much harder task than a villains list, mostly because most protagonists stand at the centre of their series and, if one is thatdevoted or excited about a given anime or manga, it can be difficult to remain objective, to choose a hero because of the actions they performed in the year to make them that deserving, rather one's personal adoration of a character.

And that is what i have tried to do, looking at this list that and i put together, trying to determine just which character was really the most deserving of top protagonist of 2013, as opposed to most awesome hero.

That being said i will not say that i achieved objectivity with this list, though i did try. Anyway, this is the list of greatest protagonists in anime and manga of 2013, at least as far as and I are concerned- speaks in his own voice here, it shouldn't hard to separate the two:

Hysterical Penguin's Top 10 Anime of 2013

It seems that an eternity has gone by since I've decided to step out of procrastination's lair. Every season I get the urge to spend an hour or two to review some series that in a way fancied me, although by bad luck I'm still subconsciously drawn by a repulsive momentum from writing. However, the year's culmination vehemently desires an appropriate wrap-up to vent the grumbles of my constantly contradicting frustrations and enjoyment over the course of 4 entire seasons, which are seemingly scarce of stellar caterings.



2013 is indeed a year exhibiting the diversity of an anime as a medium, though that by no means implies a success or drastic juncture in general. In regard to popularity, anime tremendously boomed with Shingeki no Kyojin as it "breached" the cultural barriers, monstrously augmented the medium's name and expanded its territory in a scale far grander than the previous year's famed, abysmal trainwreck that was Sword Art Online. It is with a very narrow serendipity that the year was blessed with potent carryovers from Fall 2012, as it barely dished out the attributes of the medium's capability of becoming masterful, with some exceptions, of course. In any case, it is still a decent sail for anime in the seas of treacherous failed attempts.