ana0119

Still watching this. It's so full of fluff, I practically don't need to pay attention... Nice.

Anyway, they reached the Grand Line and started the Baroque Works fiasco. Basically, they arrive on an island and meet their plot coupon, a princess they decide to return to her country and help liberate/save it. Buuut before they can get her there, they have to pass through several other islands, which means we get two arcs in the middle of an ongoing arc.

It's annoying. We have Vivi hanging around and the Alabaster thing hanging over our heads, but instead we take a detour (<- not really, it's on the way, but it feels like this) at Little Garden and Drum Island. The problem, I suppose is that I didn't really like either arc. Little Garden was just a set up for Mr. 3/Mr. 5/Ms. Valentine's Day/Ms. Goldenweek boss battle, which wasn't really one I enjoyed anyway. Oh, and there were suddenly giants. Boring.

Drum Island was Chopper's intro arc.... Meh. Chopper's kinda cute, I suppose, and they do need a doctor for their crew, but he doesn't really do it for me. I guess he feels a little... overdone? It's like, it's not enough for him to be a talking reindeer, he has to be a reindeer with a blue nose. Just for that extra little kick of misery. And then he's rejected and shot by humans, and then his mentor is dying of an incurable disease, and then he accidentally feeds his mentor a poisonous mushroom that will kill him faster, and then his mentor gets killed by the evil king. Just... really.

Anyway, I also didn't like his gimmick. The seven transformations seem excessive, especially since most of them are just partial mixes and really don't require names anyway. Also, his most "human" version looks kinda meh.

So Drum Island arc finally ends. Ep 91 marks the return to the Alabaster/Baroque Works plot, thank goodness. It also, hilariously, has a recap of the arc storyline thus far, in case the viewers forgot that there was actually a larger plot going on. (Ostensibly, it was for Chopper.) (Also, first appearance of Ace. ....Not sure of feelings.)

(Also, Zoro looked really cool in the Drum guardsmen coat, from ep 83. Nice.)

Went to see the Avengers movie. It was good. So happy to see all the familiar faces, Iron Man and Cap'n America especially. Some parts were a bit lost on me since I haven't seen the Thor movie yet. Loki's helmet is really dumb looking and Thor didn't get a lot of screentime, but he was cool when I did see him. Much cooler than I expected. Loki was kinda... hm, sad? Well, sad for him, since he's totally lost his way. He's not even enjoying being evil and crazy the way most villains do. He's just... completely astray. Screwed up.

Of course, Captain America was pretty awesome in that solid, steady way, but still with enough worries about being totally at sea so far in the future. Tony was great as always. I really do like him so much. Surprisingly awesome was Bruce Banner. I haven't seen any of the Hulk remakes, but I heard they were all "meh" anyway. I know Steve/Tony is the traditional slash pairing, but I really prefer Tony/Bruce. They had a much stronger subplot, in my opinion. (If anything, Steve and Thor get along better...) Tony's attempts to get Bruce to lighten up and their geek-ness was pretty nice.

Speaking of subplots, Natasha and Clint were amazing. They're side characters, really, but I always have a soft spot for the human, non-powered people, and they really kicked ass. Also, their sideplot was pretty nicely done. They had a subtle love-love vibe that I really liked. And they were kick-ass. That's very important.

I really appreciated the way most of the Avengers got their own side stories or character arcs, and how they came together in the end. The weakest was probably Thor, but his attempts to talk sense into Loki were pretty sweet and sad. Cap'n's was probably the second weakest. He did a lot, but most of it was very straightforward. However, you could extrapolate that he found a place for himself, which was his biggest sticking point. It just wasn't made explicit. Natasha and Clint had my favorite arc, but it was probably right in the middle. We got Natasha's past, a bit, and her drive to get Clint back, and Clint then went on to pull himself together and fight against Loki 'cause it was personal. Tony and Bruce probably had the strongest arcs, Bruce a bit more, really. Tony just acted like Tony - an ass who likes to be flashy and flaunt his well-earned genius, but who also redeems himself in the end. Bruce really had the most emotional growth, I'd say.

(And the SHIELD folks did their own things too. Fury is a magnificent manipulative bastard, a Knight Templar type I can really respect. Agent Coulson was also pretty cool.)

Anyway, the truly impressive point is that all these characters were fitted into one movie. It came together well, I think.

I read the One Piece manga ages and ages ago. I got through the Arlong arc, but not any further.

I still think that's the best arc so far.

Now I'm watching the anime. Got through Loguetown and the first filler, which means the Grand Line is just about to start. This is where it gets more serious, I suppose.

But still, it's a really fun, pretty light-hearted adventure series, despite the sometimes dark character backgrounds. (I mean, Sanji and Nami have nasty backstories.) It's all about "pirates" who travel around, see exotic things, people and places, and occasionally fight them.

The nakama bend is really strong with this one. Super, super strong. I guess the closest I've seen would be maybe Monster Hunter Orage. In terms of setting, it's a bit like Hunter x Hunter, with weird people, weird animals, weird places, all mixed together for fun. But Hunter x Hunter is... creepy in some parts, while One Piece is really much more light-hearted and humorous.

Anyway, I like all the characters in their own ways, but my favorite is definitely Zoro. Of course I like the serious stoic guy, hahaha.

The animation is pretty meh. Very simple, with somewhat deformed character designs. But it's got a kind of charm to it...?

Still cheesy as hell, but the episodic stuff is done much better, I think. The greater emphasis on characters and general plot progression, as opposed to stupid moral teaching helps. We got WillyKit and Kat's backstory, which was about what you'd expect, except that apparently their mother was alive when they ran away. Also, Tygra's backstory, which was... biblical. As in, stole was inspired by biblical stories of all kinds. (And, apparently, Lion-o's mom died in childbirth. ....That happens a lot in fiction. In fact, according to fiction, having a kid is practically a 2 in 3 chance of dying. The other 1 in 3 is just falling in love.)

Pumyra... hm. Kinda hot. Kinda... abrasive. Which is also kind of hot. Her voice is surprisingly gravely. Wasn't she the girly girl in the original series? And now she's a tough as nails gladiator. .... Not sure how to feel about that. My own gender role biases run deep.

Oh, and I'm kinda glad the whole Tygra-Cheetarah-Liono love triangle got swept under the rug. It was annoying. But I don't think there was ever any real resolution. We had that episode where the ape and the jackal were introduced, where Cheetarah decided which side of the hostage dilemma she's on (my feelings -> mixed; on one hand, she just gave up and allowed herself and her king to be killed, no plan, no resistance, just surrender to death; on other hand... not like Lion-o had a plan either, they were already losing three-on-three and now down to three-on-two), Lion-o is in full resentment mode, but then the next episodes are about him almost dying, which led to ~revelations~ and now he's too busy being all kingly to get miffed at her leading him on, Tygra winning at things yet again, and being turned down by his first crush.

After the near-death stuff, we have Tygra's backstory, where Lion-o is very nice, making it pretty clear he's moved on. ...Then again, he never really did blame Tygra (for "winning"), but rather Cheetarah (for leading him on). I'd be against blaming the girl, normally, but in this case... yeah. She led him on, but by accident it would seem. And it was pretty clear Lion-o was only taking it as badly as he was because it was Tygra, who was always the preferred one.

But I don't think there was ever a real resolution. The villain intro/hostage episode ended very ambiguously, with tensions running high. The trials also started there, but they never addressed Lion-o's feelings about Cheetara et al, so the point just got dropped.

Well, it was annoying, so I'm not too upset.

Pumyra the gladiator... still can't get used to it. Weird. Seriously weird.

So the Hunter exam arc finally ends in a really weird way.

The final exam is a tournament where you only need one victory to pass, so the one to go on to the next match is the loser. But you only win by having your opponent surrender, no killing or KOs. Basically, everyone has to resort to torture or psychological warfare.

Gon wins by being so stubborn that his opponent is afraid of accidentally killing him before he surrenders. After that, it's over pretty quickly, and the whole thing is summarized to him after he wakes up.

Not much else to say... Next is an arc about Killua's crazy assassin family, I guess. I'm not planning to continue right now though.

Anyway, I did find it funny how a bunch of rookies made it through. It's almost as bad the Naruto chunin exams, where pretty much all the teams that made it to the finals were total noobs.

Watched the first season of the Hunter x Hunter 2011 remake.

It's based on a manga by the guy who did YuYu Hakusho (which I very faintly remember watching). It's about a boy who wants to become a "Hunter" - which is apparently like a really highly qualified, accredited mercenary. They're all insanely powerful, to match going after crazily powerful monsters and equally powerful criminals. The first twelve episodes are all about the Hunter exam, and it's not even over yet (ep. 13 is just recap).

Anyway, I was surprised by how it just jumped into its first arc, the exam. I'm used to these kinds of shows having some kind of wind up, one-episode kind of things. I mean, the YuYu Hakusho manga started with a bunch of silly adventures by ghost Yusuke. The anime skipped this, but it still had a short "getting used to" period. Before the first detective stuff, Yusuke had to come back to life and stuff. Here, we're just thrown in, in the sense that it's all one continuous arc.

I'm also surprised by how childish the presentation is despite the pretty grim content. Sure, it's a sort of "become a master" set up, with a big test that kids can take. But people die. Quite a bit. Gon and Killua are both the cutest, most cheerful kids I've seen in a long time, but while it's cute, it also comes across as incredibly creepy. Everyone else is having breakdowns and getting killed, but these two go "It's fun!" Very creepy. Cool. But creepy.

But yeah, the show it presented in a really "kid" way. We have narrator recaps at the start and end of every episode, for goodness sake. And the music! It's so... Ghibli. Except cheesy. (Also, I'm watching on crunchyroll, and right now they're running these anti-smoking ads... my god. This cheerful music and cheesy character designs, interspersed with "smoking will give you heart attacks!") There are a couple tracks I like though.

Hm... beyond that, as I said, I like Gon and Killua because they're really cute and it's amusing how easily and cheerfully they handle everything. So far, only Hisoka has managed to get anything but calm and happy out of Gon (who was apparently excited anyway). We're talking about being alone in a foggy forest with a psycho clown who could and probably will kill you with a smile. A creepy smile.

Leorio is cool too. I kinda like awkward useless guys like that. Also, I always have a soft spot for the sane, "normal" character. Those glasses are pretty charming too. Not much interest in Kurapika, but nothing bad either.

So, anyway, kinda fun show, if you can put up with the kiddy presentation. It goes really easily too. Doesn't require much attention.

PS: Forgot to add. The animation is really nice when it comes to movement. It's an action series, so there's quite a bit of jumping and such once in a while, and it looks really nice. Like when the green hair second stage examiner jumped off the cliff. The motion is very, very smooth.

I started this series ages ago, but now I finally finished it. Somehow, it reminded me of Bleach, especially in the main character...

Anyway, the premise is a combination of magical world and scientific world, with lots of far-reaching plots on both sides. In Academy City, psychics can be created through Science. Meanwhile, all the major churches of the world have branches to deal with magic. Science side doesn't know about magic, but magic side hates science.

The main character has the power to nullify any magic of psychic power with his right hand. (Psychic are implied to be another, incompatible kind of magic.) He meets a girl who contains the knowledge of 103,000 magic books and after that it's all downhill. He's got the usual hero complex, and most arcs involve saving some girl he met a day ago (if that).

I kinda feel like the science/magic sides aren't integrated well, especially in the beginning. Most arcs are firmly one side or the other, favoring magic. While the science side has a pretty nice cast, they're all pretty much branching out from Mikoto, who even has her own spin off. To be honest, she and her cast feel pretty separate from magic events. All their appearances in magic side plots feel like cameos, and the same for Touma's appearances in the science side plots.

There are some later arcs about the magic side wanting to destroy Academy City, but you could do the same by just saying it's a special place in a magical sense, like, I dunno, ley lines or something. Mikoto (and maybe Accelerator) are pretty much the only psychics who show up anyway. The science thing is more like background decoration.

Another point... there is a really cool scene in the first arc, where Komoe-sensei has to perform a magic ritual to heal Index. And it's amazingly creepy. Index gives instructions in a soft monotone while coughing up blood. She arranges figurines on a table and asks Komoe to sing. The lights dim, and a spectral figure appears. Komoe kicks the table in surprise and the entire room shakes. Index explains that the room is now tied to the figurines on the table.

I can't explain what it is, but that whole scene is very magic to me. It obviously has rules, but those rules don't make any sense. It's the coolest magic ritual I have seen in a long time. Magic after that is generally more explosive in nature, as well as way more widescale. There isn't the same sense of dealing with something that follows a totally different logic.

Anyway, I really liked that.

It's pretty hilarious how practically everyone Touma fights eventually returns as an ally. The only exceptions are the alchemist from the second arc and the evil priest from the ice fleet arc. That is all. Seriously. The same actually happens on the science side by people who were converted by Touma (expect that evil scientist from Last Order's intro arc). Just... think about that. The "death" rate here is pretty Bleach. There are more girls thought, proportionally, and their proportions are far more flat.

Other things: Index's fight with the golem was pretty cool. Also, the way her dress ended up having really high slits when she took out the safety pins was really... tantalizing. I also like how Index bounces in the first opening of the second season. She's a pretty good character, actually. I wish they'd use her a little more. I really don't like the designs of the evil nuns from the Book of Law arc, especially their leader Agnese. Those stupid high sandals, that stupidly short skirt... Seriously, those bare legs destroy her character for me. (And she's a nun?! A Catholic nun!)

I'm pretty sure Misha is a male name, by the way. But then so are Michael and Gabriel (which ever that was).

So.

Cool show, pretty fun to watch. Science stuff doesn't add much though, despite the coolness of the science side characters. Makes me want to watch Bleach.

PS: Forgot to add! Great music. Really good action/battle themes. I really need to find some of those tracks.

Brave 10. It's about ninjas, with some Sengoku Basara-level "historical" characters. In fact, it's a lot like Sengoku Basara, though less crazy than the first season and less boring than the second.

Basically, Sanada Yukimura gathers 10 (mostly) ninja warriors in some overarching plot to control the forces of gods/nature. Meanwhile, other historical warlords move to gain those powers for themselves.

The action is pretty good, and the story moves at a pretty good pace too. Apparently, some pretty large chunks of the manga were cut, but I couldn't really tell where. The only really weak spot (to me) was how they recruited the last two warriors, especially the pirate guy. It really felt totally random. Almost RPG-like. But whatever.

The characters are pretty fun, if very stereotypical. I was surprised to like Isanami as much as I did. She's the token shoujo lead, but she's pretty cute and her life genuinely sucks enough that you can sympathize with her. I just don't see her with Saizo in a romantic way though. Sure, she's deeply attached to him, but there's no UST. When a girl crawls into a guy's bed repeatedly, but never once blushes, even when others assume wrong, or thinks about his nice abs, that is not a romantic relationship.

Sasuke is very cute. Very, very cute. Saizo tries to be a jerk, but never really manages much past gruff. He always ends up doing the right thing, so I really like him, jerkiness and all. Kamanosuke... There is so much hoyay there that I don't even want fanfic. Rokuro... well, he's a nice butler. And Basara is leaking over, so I'm predisposed to like Yukimura and Masamune.

I think Kakei is the hottest. What, shut up.

Oh, and there's the other three. But like I said, it feels a bit like they're just filling out the number requirement.

Anastasia is a class all onto herself. If only because she's a random Russian super hot big breasted woman... who also happens to be an Iga ninja from childhood. How does that work? Do we care? No. No, I do not.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's a one-season show, so now they have to wrap everything up in 3 episodes. I hope it works out.

Reminds me of Yugioh, except with puzzles. It's a thing.

(It's a lot less slow and drawn out too. No three episode card game.)

But if you want to talk about a show where low budget is showing... Some of the characters get so off model, regularly, it's just amazing. And yet, I have plenty of fun watching... It's so ridiculous, with all the "PUZZLE TIME~!" stuff. It's an absolutely ridiculous show, but at least it doesn't take itself seriously. The character designs really grew on me and the music is nice too.

Basically, everyone is obsessed with puzzles, to the point of making special "Philosopher's Puzzles" which hold incredible prizes, but are also killer traps. The main character is obsessed with solving puzzles, to the point of basically doing nothing else. He gets a magic armband that stimulates his brain to make him think/solve puzzles better.

His entire school is run by a man obsessed with puzzles too, and his childhood friend runs with a crazy organization out to gain the "Puzzle of God." He manages to make some friends with other genius types at the school. It's actually kind of cute. And his childhood friend/love interest is pretty cute too.

Episode 6 definitely stands out. The background is the armband making Kaitou's emotions go haywire, exacerbating his emotional traumas and making him unable to solve puzzles anymore. But the sheer hijinks mostly make up for the lame premise. The way nobody even blinks when a middleschooler tranquilizes Kaitou and chains him to a table. (His table has inbuilt restrains and everyone is okay with this!) And Gammon is actually kind of okay - the blushing at the end! Hahaha~ (But screw ep. 8. I hate "nature is so great!" aesops.)

The way poor Nonoha gets so much flack for her sweets, which used to be bad but have since become excellent. Nonoha is pretty cool overall. That fanclub, that chop! Kyaaa~

But what's up with those titles? Einstein, Galileo, Edison, da Vinci? Nightingale? Newton? Antoinette?! What the hell is up with that last one?! Although at least that seems to be a POG handlename... (And da Vinci is a guy?! How? Why?! And why give him such a girly name? Should've called him Sam or something ambiguous like that!)

Well, it seems the POG evil puzzle org used to be nice, but then some crazies took over. Actually, might have something to do with how many of the Givers are actually dead, with their puzzle dreams taken over by someone close to them. Although notably, while a nasy killer asshole, Mueller was actually following orders, so he's not the root of the issue. (Heh, Root.) No, that's this Count Pythagoras asshole. And Rook.

Speaking of Rook, could this whole "Kaito is just beautiful~" thing get any more uncomfortable? And the kid is in on it too. Geez. I do think the last couple episodes highlight pretty well why obsessing about your childhood is not a good way to go.

I actually thought this was a one-cour show, so I'm surprised that it's still going. Bah.

Watched the 12 episode series and Let's Plays of the four games (...well, months ago I did, whatever). It's nice to watch things in English because then you can just listen and do something else on the side.

Despite complaints, I'd say the series isn't all that low budget. I wish they had a more interesting opening though. Of course, I also like Nero (him being a stupid cute boy) and so I miss him in the series. And DMC3 Dante, who was so lame, he came all the way around and became funny again. (I'm such a shoutacon.)

One thing that continues to confuse is the timeline. It goes:
DMC3 -> 10 yrs -> DMC1 -> some time -> DMC anime -> more time -> DMC4 -> even more time -> DMC2

We can reasonably say (according to semi-official sources) that DMC3 -> DMC4 is at least 16 years, to account for Nero. So DMC1 -> DMC4 is six years or so. The big question is where the anime goes. Lady hasn't met Trish yet and no one has changed clothes, so you'd assume it's not too long after DMC1. But then Trish says something about "years" of Dante eating just pizza... Let's just ignore that part, shall we?

Anyway, the anime is a little too episodic for me. It doesn't go anywhere either, since it's basically filler between the games. Ending was kinda lame too. But, meh. Could be worse.

It's frickin' hilarious how Patty can play poker. The debt thing is a little overplayed though. Dante's character is also a bit... strange, in parts. He seems a bit depressed and melancholic, until it's time for a demon fight, when he starts psycho-grinning. Like a total crazy man. Hm. Really comes off... inhuman. Creepily so.

It's also a bit funny that Patty, as the most important anime-original character, changes clothes often, while everyone else has just one outfit (especially annoying in Lady's case, since her clothes were cool for a teenager but look weird on an almost thirty years old woman).

I wish we knew more about this alternate Earth or whatever this world is. I mean, Sparda's thing 2000 years ago might be a legend now, but it's obviously had some impact. (They have statues of him in public places!) I postulate that because of the Sparda legend, people are more open to the idea of demons, though it's still not precisely mainstream.

For that matter, is Sparda dead or alive? And what happened to him? He's supposed to be so awesome, so what killed him?

Well, not like it's gonna matter much, since the series is getting a reboot this year! Hahaha!

(Which, by the way, gives me sad-sad Castlevania vibes. Everyone remember how well darker, edgier Lords of Shadow went down?)

One question for the road: did the strawberry sundae thing come from Sparda or something? Since both Modeus and Dante are into it...

EDIT:
Okay, so I liked the anime overall, but I feel it fell short of its potential. The DMC games are action first and foremost, so there's never gonna be much in the way of world building there. The anime could have filled in those holes. Something, anything about Sparda. What place demons hold in everyday life (at the very least there doesn't seem to be a cover up/masquerade going on). What kind of tech levels there are. Does the government do anything at all to combat demons. More about alchemy (it's an important background element in the games). Maybe about blending technology and demonic power (Arius's Uroboros, those demon infested tanks could have been cool).

Also, I don't mind focusing on singular missions (also note that all these missions are small-fry and that's fine), but I wish the missions were better. We don't even get a creepy doll episode! Half of them (at least) I don't care about! I can't even remember most of the missions. And the ones I did like were totally wasted (Modeus and Ba'al).

Not to mention they introduce Alan/Aeron Lowell, who could bind and control any demon short of Demon King level - think of the potential! and without going evil or becoming a demon - and all we get is another lame unsealing and Patty's plot device necklace. Wat.