Manhwa Reviews - Need a Girl

Manhwa Name : Need a Girl
Authors: Rue, Byung-min (Story) & Bahk, Hyun-Joon (Art) 
Serialization: Chance

Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Romance, School, Shounen
Status: Ongoing (10 Volumes in Country of Origin)

Published: 2007 to ?

Translated So far: 59 Chapters (8+ Volumes)

Before starting to read this Manhwa, you need to ask your self a question? Are you ready to read a Manhwa in which 3 out of the 4 main characters are really huge perverts? I mean their goal of living each day is to somehow looking at girls' undergarments and making attempts at filling them up. In fact they spend most of their time talking about sex-related things and how to get sneak peeks at girls. May be this doesn't feel like your your cup of tea? Well, have I mentioned the fact that this manga is so damn funny with the awkward situations these 3 and the other guy, the manly-man-generally-good guy gets in. There are really some laugh out loud moments with quite a good art style and seriously twisted and funny point-of-view of some characters. There is also so many misunderstandings and accidental groping and the funny thing is the authors present everything in a very unique way. Well decide for yourself if you wanna read about such a bunch of losers but trust me you will not be able to keep from laughing.

New Anime Review - Gingitsune

Anime Name - Gingitsune
Aired - Oct 7, 2013 to Dec 23, 2013
Episodes - 12
Produced By - Diomedea, Pony Canyon
Staff - Shin Misawa (Director), Sayori Ochiai (Original Creator), Naomi Ide (Character Design), Tatsuya Kato (Music)

This is why I like animes, after getting thoroughly disappointed by watching something with excellent animation and music fall way beyond mediocrity due to lack of originality, unnecessary fan-service and a crappy sense of humor; getting angry at yet another butchering of a video game adaption into a utterly stinking pile misdirection and lack of effort; and laughing at a purely unrealistic and shameless attempt at seinen through yet again short skirt wearing superhuman schoolgirls, I get to experience a show like Gingitsune. This anime is not trying to achieve any new grounds and actually does not attempt at anything other than simplistic beauty, tries to teach us some values with so refined subtlety and courageously realistic presentation of the relationships that we observe and gain just by leading our everyday life.

Retro Manga Review - Cowa!

Manga Name : Cowa!
Author: Toriyama, Akira (Story & Art) 

Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

Genres: Shounen
Volumes: 1 
Chapters:14

Status: Finished 
Published: 1997 to 1998

Is there anyone even remotely interested in Anime & Manga who doesn't know "Akira Toriyama"? Despite all its shortcomings, flaws and cliches "Dragonball" is undoubtedly one of the most influential manga/anime ever? But does all of these people know that Toriyama also wrote quite a few other mangas? "Cowa!" is one of these others and one of the best of these. This is definitely a kids manga, it does not have any complicated plot, no over the top action elements and no fan service that shounen now a days are famous for. This is just a cute adventure story with some simple funny moments and typical yet quite likeable characters. And its only 1 volume (14 chapters) of material, so a must read for any Toriyama or even shounen fan.

New Anime Review - Kyoukai no Kanata

Anime Name - Kyoukai no Kanata
Aired - Oct 3, 2013 to Dec 19, 2013
Episodes - 12
Produced By - Kyoto Animation, Sentai Filmworks
Staff - Tachi Ishidate (Director), Nagomu Torii (Original Creator), Chise Kamoi (Original Character Design), Minori Chihara & Stereo Dive Foundation (Theme Song Performance)

This anime is a prime example of how far excellent music can take a mediocre or even boring story. It also has nice animation but music is by far its strongest aspect by a very clear margin. The show is also a prime example of how not to use pointless filler and how a boring and directionless first half of a show can hamper a not-that-bad second half greatly. It has weak characters, quite stale humor, nice animation and excellent music and a story that could have been told in may be 6-8 episodes dragged into 12 episodes of chaos. But as a whole the music alone makes it a have a nice aftertaste somehow.

Newer Combo Videos - Kof XIII Hwa Jai CMV Bald,Drunk & Proud

My longest combo video so far. These combos were really hard to do, the timing is just so crucial in most cases. It was specially frustrating when about 20-25 secs into a combo I messed up the timing of 1 move by 1/4th a sec and the combo broke. But Hwa Jai was fun, hope to see him in the next King of Fighters (if there ever is one).

Kof XIII and Music used in this video are property of their respective owners, they were used without any view of profit. All combos were performed on keyboard; no tools, cheats or hacks were used.
I tried to record mostly new stuff or improved/modified version of old combos published elsewhere.
This video is dedicated to "Persona" & "DarkChaotix" for their inspiring effort in making Kof XIII combo videos for the last 2-3 years.
Info -
BGM - "Earth Rocker" by Clutch
           "Faunus" by Blood Ceremony
           "Nerichagi [Korea Team BGM] from Kof '01 OST
Dedicated To - Persona & DarkChaotix
Special Thanks to - cyberfanatix.com, combovid.com, orochinagi.com & ultracombos
Hope you enjoy this.                            
If you do you can watch my earlier solo combo videos (both for obscure SNK fighting games), recorded and edited and uploaded by armison -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELx3n3GPIY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYc7n40
PS 1 -
If you want more cmv from this awesome game & other awesome cmv's please check out the following channels.
old channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/personaworld
new channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/personaentertainment
http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkChaotix187
PS 2 -
1. If you want to request combos for any characters or any pc fighting game you can request it on the comments. I will try my best to fullfill your requests.
2. If you want to see the transcript for these combos also you may request in the comments, then I will upload it.
3. Please do check out my blog of "Reviews & Stuff" and leave your comments -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com

New Metal Reviews - "Dawn of the End" by Hatchet

Album Name - Dawn of the End
Band Name - Hatchet
Genre - Thrash Metal
Label - The End Records
Release Date - March 5th,2013
Line Up -
 Travis Russey - Bass
 Julz Ramos - Guitars (Lead), Vocals
 Eli Lucas - Drums
 Clark Webb - Guitars


For people like me who got introduced to metal with thrash bands like Metallica, Megadeath, Kreator, Slayer thrash has died or it seems dead now a days. The genre pioneers are somewhat tamed, as some lost their way and some are caught on the loop of creating same type of music. Actually there is a new wave of thrash metal in my own country which is sadly going in the wrong direction with too much modern influences (although there are a few good acts). To be honest, I was not really expecting to hear a great thrash record in 2013 but Hatchet surprised me with their relentlessness speeding guitar work and blazing solos, and reminded me once again why I got into metal in the first place.

New Book Review - Board Stiff by Piers Anthony

Book - Board Stiff
Writer - Piers Anthony  
Series - Xanth #38
Published By - Premier Digital Publishing

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you netgalley and Premier Digital Publishing for this opportunity.
This is my first experience with the world of Xanth, I have been meaning to check out this series for a long time and even have the hard copy of the 1st book but somehow never got around to it. I knew this had to be a funny fantasy and a standalone book as well, but that was about the only thing I had to expect from this book. So after finishing this I have to say the book was funny and a quick read but it had many flaws too, which made the journey a bit boring as well as too predictable at times.

Manga Reviews - Kamisama ga Uso wo Tsuku

Manga Name : Kamisama ga Uso wo Tsuko
Author: Ozaki, Kaori (Story & Art) 

Serialization: Afternoon

Genres: Drama, Romance, School, Slice of Life, Seinen 
Volumes: 1 
Chapters: 5

Status: Finished 
Published: Mar 25, 2013 to July 25, 2013

Sometimes the cover really doesn't convey the story in a book and sometimes short things can really have a long story to tell, this is really one of those occasions. When I first started this manga I thought it will be short and sweet (or was hoping) romantic story, but now I can gladly say it was so much more. I am really amazed at how much the writer really was able to convey in just 5 chapters. While there is a bit unrealistic nature in some aspects of the slice of life it is without a doubt a unique manga and definitely one of the best of 2013 with its completeness. Now a days in the age of shameless fan-service & seinen's only really being good when they have lots of action and really not new stuff to look forward to this was a breath of fresh air indeed.

New Anime Review - Senyuu 2

Anime Name - Senyuu 2
Aired - July 3, 2013 to Sep 25, 2013
Episodes - 13
Produced By - Ordet, LIDEN FILMS 
Staff - Yutaka Yamamoto (Director), Robinson Haruhara (Original Creator), Ushio Tazawa (Character Design), GRANRODEO & Hiro Simono (Theme Song Performance)

Senyuu 2 was the sequel of Senyuu, which was a very unique short which is mostly focused on mocking other shounens and the general fantasy setting as a whole. The season 2 somewhat deviated from the 1st as it tried to focus a bit more on story and as a matter of fact that sacrificed some of the wacky humor that the show had in the first season. It also introduces a bunch of new characters who might not be as fun as the old ones as a whole but some of them truly are very funny.

Anime Movie Review - Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone

Movie Name - Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
Aired - Sep 1, 2007
Episodes - 1

Duration - 1 hr. 40 min.

Produced By - Studio Khara, Gainax 
Staff - Hideaki Anno (Director, Script, Creator), Yoshituki Sadamoto (Character Design, Animation Director), Ikuto Yamashita (Mechanical Designs), Shiro Sagisu (Music) among others.

This is the 1st of 4 movies (3 released so far) that are to be made as remakes of the somewhat legendary mecha anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion". While I haven't watched the show I was meaning to check out this movie for quite a long time & really was expecting a lot from it as a matter of fact from all the hype over the internet, but also had a bit of irritating fear that it might not turn out to be as good as it promises to be. Well, it had its flows but it is also an experience to be greatly enjoyed indeed.

New Book Review - Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

Book Name - Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Writer - Devid Sedaris
Published By - Little, Brown and Company

It's like you started a book wanting to read something and hoping to like that aspect and then ending up liking something else from the book entirely. I started reading this cause I was expecting something very funny in the veins of "Shit My Dad Says", but instead ended up liking it for the serious stuff and the travel stories.

New Book Review - The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black

Book Name - The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black
Writer - E.B. Hudspeth 
Published By - Quirk Books

Have you ever read a fictional biography where for some of the initial chapters you really thought it was a real character? Well, that is what happened to me with this book. About 1/3rd of the way through the first part of the book I stopped reading and searched for "Dr. Spencer Black" on google and wikipedia to get real info on him and found out he was a fictional character. This was a rather new experience for me.

New Book Review - Snake Agent by Liz Williams

Book Name - Snake Agent
Writer - Liz Williams
Series - Detective Inspector Chen, Book 1  
Published By - Open Road Media


First things first, I Got this book free from NetGalley for a review, so thank you netgalley for this opportunity.
To be honest, I am not really a fan of Urban Fantasy, in fact sometimes I even go out of my way to avoid the genre as a whole. But with this book i really read some good stuff about this on the internet and am interested in books with an Asian setting (as I am from Asia), so I decided to give it a try. And after my own read I can gladly say it didn't disappoint at all.

Newer Combo Videos - Kof XIII Sie Kensou Mini CMV Vol 2

Released my Kof XIII Kensou Mini CMV Vol 2, got even more ideas left though.

Kof XIII and Music used in this video are property of their respective owners, they were used without any view of profit. All combos were performed on keyboard; no tools, cheats or hacks were used.
I tried to record mostly new stuff or improved version of old combos published elsewhere.
This video is dedicated to "Persona" & "DarkChaotix" for their inspiring effort in making Kof XIII combo videos for the last 2-3 years.

Newer Combo Videos - Kof XIII Sie Kensou Mini CMV

Finally its done, hopefully I can do more new stuff from Kof XIII

Kof XIII and Music used in this video are property of their respective owners, they were used without any view of profit. All combos were performed on keyboard; no tools, cheats or hacks were used.
First of all you can see that I didn't do any combos from lots of well known set-ups to stun combos, its because I tried to record mostly new stuff or improved version of old combos published elsewhere.
This video is dedicated to "Persona" & "DarkChaotix" for their inspiring effort in making Kof XIII combo videos for the last 2-3 years.

New Anime Review - Hataraku Maou-sama!

Anime Name - Hataraku Maou-sama!
Aired - Apr 4, 2013 to June 27, 2013
Episodes - 13
Produced By - White Fox
Staff - Naoto Hosoda (Director), Satoshi Wagahara (Original Creator),
Atsushi Ikariya (Original Character Design, Chief Animation Director)

What if the devil lost almost all of his power and was forced to live in modern world? What if the hero came to defeat him and was actually a really bad tempered yelling girl? What if the devil didn't really have any skills and was forced to work as a part-timer at MgRonalds to earn his living? Yeah, it really sounds like a hilarious situation and that's how this anime is. The writer does try to throw in some random romance or emotional stuff but this show really shines through it's comedy mainly and on that regard it really is one of the best comedies of 2013.

Manga Reviews - Ace of Diamond

Manga Name : Ace of Diamond
Author: Terajima, Yuuji (Story & Art) 

Serialization:Shounen Magazine (Weekly)

Genres: Comedy, School, Shounen, Sports
Status: Ongoing (39 Volumes in Japan)
Published: May 17, 2006 to ?

Translated So far: 143 Chapters (16+ Volumes)

This manga is still ongoing in Japan and I have read the translated chapters from various groups, so first of all I would like to thank all the groups responsible for translating this manga without whom I would not have been able to read it at all. Thank you guys and hope you continue translating this.

Sports mangas are usually written to cater to a specific fan of the sports related and frankly I had never been a fan of Baseball. I somehow felt like reading some of the mangas of the fall 2013 animes before watching the shows and somehow picked up "Ace of Diamond" cause I felt like reading something about sports. While this hasn't really blown me away and quite typical in its setting as far as I can tell yet somehow it does what it tries to do quite well and after reading the translated chapters I am quite hooked and waiting for the next chapters.

Retro Combo Videos - NCC Samurai Showdown Tribute Requiem

My newest combo video is a request from someone and has combos of various Samurai Showdown games from the Neogeo era.

All games and Music in this video are property of their respective owners, they were used without any view of profit. All combos were performed on keyboard; no tools, cheats or hacks were used.
Info -
BGM -
"Girl of Revolution (Charlotte Ending)"
"Tuna (Galford)"
"Ground (Earthquake)"
"Sinister (4 Jin Masaru Kachi Demo)"
       - From Samurai Showdown OST
Dedicated To - 0supermoose (who requested a Samurai Showdown cmv)
Special Thanks to - combovid.com & the forum members there
Hope you guys enjoy this.
If you do you can watch my earlier solo combo videos (both for obscure SNK fighting games), recorded and edited and uploaded by armison -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELx3n3GPIY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYc7n40
PS 1 -
Most of these combos were a product of research during when I was trying out SS3, SS5 & SS5sp for flashy Genjuro stuff & fooled around with other characters out of boredom. SS1 & SS2 combos are something I tried out after "0supermoose" requested a SS series cmv. This cmv is kind of a left-over plus request thing and is dedicated to - 0supermoose.
PS 2 -
1. If you want to request combos for any characters or any pc fighting game you can request it on the comments. I will try my best to fulfill your requests.
2. If you want to see the transcript for these combos also you may request in the comments, then I will upload it.
3. Please do check out my blog of "Reviews & Stuff" and leave your comments -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com

New Anime Review - Senyuu

Anime Name - Senyuu
Aired - Jan 9, 2013 to Apr 3, 2013
Episodes - 13
Produced By - Ordet, LIDEN FILMS 
Staff - Yutaka Yamamoto (Director), Robinson Haruhara (Original Creator), Ushio Tazawa (Character Design), JAM Project (Theme Song Performance)

Shorts are quite rare in Anime, and as like majority of the shorts Senyuu is a gag or comedy short in its core. But what is unique about this show is that it is based on a fantasy settings which is even more rare in shorts. Unlike many other shorts Senyuu has one other criteria that is although it tries to parody the fantasy world setting in overall it also tries to have a continuity (rather then being self contained episodes) and tries to tell a short yet somewhat coherent (somewhat comes to mind mostly due to ridiculously comic sequences) story. And that is what I find enjoyable and also an appreciable effort for this series.

Manhwa Reviews - Annarasumanara

Manhwa Name : Annarasumanara  

Author: Ha, Il-Kwon (Story & Art) 

Serialization: Naver

Genres: Mystery, Drama, Romance, School, Slice of Life, Psychological, Seinen 
Volumes: 3  
Chapters: 27

Status: Finished 
Published: Jul 2, 2010 to Dec 31, 2010 

Day to day our society is becoming more realistic, more competitive & our lives are becoming more and more structured, directed toward a certain goal. To prosper in this world there is quite often no room for what one want's but almost always our path is focused towards what we need to do to be a respectable member of the community. In this modernized viewpoint there is no room for someone who does not want to grow up, children are forced to build up their life focused towards being a successful professional, whether they want to be that or not. Annarasumanara is the story of someone deciding to not grow up, its the story of never forgetting or giving up one's dream, the story of what this pressure can do to someone & the story of the beauty of magic in its many forms in our modern society.

Retro Combo Videos - NCC Vol 4 Rebirth

My newest combo video & first multi-game combo exhibition. Hopefully there will be more in the future.

The song and the games used on this video are all property of their respective owners and are used without profit.
This is my first multigame combo exhibition, hopefully more will come. All combos were performed on keyboard; no tools, cheats or hacks were used.
Info -
BGM - Unrest - The End of Raging Winds from "Etrian Odyssey 4 Super Arrange Version"
Special Thanks to - combovid.com, orochinagi.com & cyberfanatix.com
            for quenching my thirst for Kof and other fighting game combos, still.
Hope you guys enjoy this.
If you do you can watch my earlier solo combo videos (both for obscure SNK fighting games), recorded and edited and uploaded by armison -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELx3n3GPIY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYc7n40
PS 1 -
1. I believe the AODK combos are the first combos of this game ever published, they are 100% legit, you need opponent life at red to perform super move in the game & when you fall on flamed are you can't block till the flame quenches, I used this trick among others for the combos. I might do transcript for these combos in the future.
2. Some other combos from other games need specific set-ups, timing & conditions but all are totally legit. If you have any question regarding any combos please don't hesitate to ask.
3. Some of these are totally new & others are improvements over previous combos/set-ups ( I used my combo video collection on my Hard disc & youtube to do my research on that).
PS 2 -
1. If you want to request combos for any characters or any pc fighting game you can request it on the comments. I will try my best to fulfill your requests.
2. If you want to see the transcript for these combos also you may request in the comments, then I will upload it.
3. Please do check out my blog of "Reviews & Stuff" and leave your comments -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com

Fall 2013 Animes To Watch For

Instead of doing reviews for stuff  or combo videos this is a new kind of post for me. This time I am gonna post about the animes that I am interested to watch of Fall 2013. These are strictly my views, so you guys may agree or disagree, but please feel free to give your comments & opinions regarding this post. The animes are in alphabetical order & is not listed as per any other category.

BlazBlue: Alter Memory

 A fighting game anime, as you know from my blog I am a big fighting game fan, and BlazBlue is definitely one of the better games of the new emergence of fighting games. More to boost my expectation is the fact that the game also does have good storyline, which is quite rare in the fighting game genre. It is also from Arc System Works who are also the makers of Guilty Gear, this company is also particularly know for there good sense in background music and over all rocking soundtracks, so I am also hoping for something good in that aspect.

Diamond no Ace

 Ok, what's so special about a sports anime you might ask? Aren't they all kind of generic with the protagonist goes through match after match to learn beating all & tries to be the best in the business, has a few rival who him beats at the end etc etc? Well I would say this anime is almost like that, but as I have read through the translated manga I can also tell you not quite, this is a bit different, yes the hero is very much alike most other hard-working shounen heroes, yes other cast members are also quite like typical shounen cast, but despite everything somehow the characters are all quite likeable & one other thing this manga did was made someone like me who never watched a single Baseball game interested in the sports. And there is also the fact that this anime is made by Production I.G. So I expect a top notch animation too. 

Golden Time

 Though I am not actually that much of a romcom fan but I am interested in this for 3 reasons & 3 reasons only; one, it is done by the writer of Toradora , I really loved that light novel; two, for the fact that this anime is not on a school setting for once, its on a college; three, I started reading the first volume of this light novel (translated, from baka-tsuki, thanks guys, visit this awesome site people & support them) & so far it feels quite unique and enjoyable & the writing style is quite good (the translation is top notch too, thanks to baka-tsuki again).

Kill La Kill

 One of the most hyped shows of this season. And why not, it has got the oh so popular combo of school & action. And its also form Trigger who were behind "Gurren Lagann". I am interested in this for Trigger's involvement cause honestly I had my share of the mentioned combo so if not for Trigger I would have though it might not be anything special.

Log Horizon

 I will watch this cause I love rpg's, I love them very much & there is so much memory of me spending countless hours on rpgs. So I believe I do deserve to spend hours watching shows based on rpgs too. I do hope this will be good though & that these feels more like playing a game than watching a show. And somehow I am almost quite certain that this show will not live up to my expectations. Oh well, one can dream, can't one?

Pupa

 This is the story of the brother & sister Utsutsu and Yume Hasegawa. One day Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly & her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis, she turns into a creature that eats human. Her brother struggles to find a way to restore her to normal. Tell me that synopsis doesn't interest you? This anime gives me the vibe of psychological horror that I enjoy so much in my TV shows and animes. I really have high hopes for this show, but sadly no one knows when this will air or even if it will. 

Btw, I still haven't found any sites to download the translated first volume of this manga, so if anyone can point me in the right direction I will be very much grateful.

These are the shows I am mostly interested in this season. I might also watch Coppelion (seinen+post-apocalyptic, could be good), Kuroko no Basket 2 ( Production I.G. & have heard good things, have to watch the first season before though), Magi: The Kingdom of Magic (the premise is promising, need to watch the first season though),Kyoukai no Kanata (second most hyped show of the season), Yowamushi Pedal (this season I am somewhat feeling like watching sports shows somehow).

So that's about it, hope this season turns out to be a good one & hope to do reviews of some of the shows in the future.

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister.

Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister.

Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister.

Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister.

Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=19315#F4FfyEYw3VSGLPGU.99

New Anime Review - Uchouten Kazoku

Anime Name - Uchouten Kazoku
Aired - Jul 7, 2013 to Sep 29, 2013
Episodes - 13
Produced By - P.A. Works
Staff - Masayuki Yoshihara (Director), Tomihiko Morimi (Original Creator),
Kouji Kumeta (Original Character Design), Toshiyuki Inoue (Animation Director), Yoshiaki Fujisawa (Music Score)

In this day & age it's sometimes very hard to find something original, the anime as a form of art has now become so generic & predictable with typical shounen & typical ecchi spewing around us from all direction that it is really hard to remember sometimes that this is not only a form of entertainment (or rather shameless fan service) but it is also a form of art. And fortunately there are still anime's like "Uchouten Kazoku" still being made to remind us just that.

Video Game Music Review - Persona 4 The GOLDEN OST

Album Name - Persona 4 The GOLDEN OST
Catalog Number - SVWC-7859
Released On - June 27, 2012  
Composed By - Shoji Meguro, Atsushi Kitajoh
Arranged By - Shoji Meguro, Atsushi Kitajoh, Kenichi Tsuchiya
Published By - Aniplex
Performed by -
  Shihoko Hirata (01,02,10,14)
  Rie Kugimiya (05)
Lyrics by -
  Benjamin Franklin (01,02,10,14)
  Yuichiro Tanaka (05)

The soundtrack of a remake of a PS2 game into a PS vita game, thats about says it all. Now first of all credits to the publisher that they put on the effort of putting on a whole new soundtrack (almost, except for 2 track actually) for this game. This OST is composed of 5 vocal tracks & the rest are instrumental among which two are arrangements of existing persona 4 themes ("Never More ~Welcome Home~" & "Shin Mitsuo Tensei"). I have some bad experiences regarding vocals in video game OST & is not actually very keen on the idea. So I was quite reluctant to pick this up at first, but due to a few good reviews I finally decided to check it out. And guess what my fears were almost correct, and the vocals do disappoint but does that mean that the whole album was disappointing. Well, not exactly.

New Anime Review - Gin no Saji

Anime Name - Gin no Saji
Aired - Jul 12, 2013 to Sep 20, 2013
Episodes - 11
Produced By - A-1 Pictures
Staff - Tomohiko Itou (Director), Hiromu Arakawa (Original Creator), Jun Nakai
(Character Design), Shusei Murai (Music Score)


Ah, one of the most hyped anime of the season. Why? Not only is it adapted from a commercially successful, award winning & critically acclaimed manga but also it is written by the famous mangaka Hiromu Arakawa who is responsible for the world famous FMA. So how was the anime? Does it live up to the hype? And how can a manga based on life on agricultural school be this famous? And most of all how come a mangaka who wrote such an action based title as FMA write this? Let me just say that whatever else this anime does it proves (or tries to actually) that you can be a person who doesn't have a clear goal in life or any vague idea what you are gonna do with your life even if are surrounded by ambitious people and it is not always bad; and most of all it proves that book-worm nerds can be cool even when they are acting all moronic & stuff.

New Anime Review - Blood Lad

Anime Name - Blood Lad
Aired - Jul 8, 2013 to Sep 9, 2013
Episodes - 10
Produced by - Brain's Base 
Staff - Shigeyuki Miya (Director), Yuuki Kodama (Original Creator), Masaki Mayuzumi and Toshiyuki Sakae
(Art Direction), Kenji Fujisaki (Character Designs)

Oh, damn, those vampires again, it seems they are everywhere, and why am I complaining when I am reviewing a vampire anime? First lets make it clear I picked up this only for the fact that it seems like it would be a comedy and for the Seinen tag. Turns out it is mostly a comedy anime but I don't understand why its Seinen? This is typical Shounen manga with damsel in distress formula with a supernatural comedy twist, but definitely not Seinen ( some uncalled for ecchi doesn't make Seinen, sorry), so stop advertising false information.

Retro Combo Videos - CCC Vol 1 Super Muscle Bomber

This is my newest combo video on youtube now, from the game "Super Muscle Bomber/Ring of Destruction/Slammasters 2", a classic cps-2 game.

Info -
All games and Music in this video are property of their respective owners, they were used without any view of profit.
Most of these combos were recorded a few years ago, only some done recently and some had a bit changes.
No hacks or tools were used but occasionally Player 1 Infinite energy cheat was used to get player 1 in rage mode.
BGM - "Love's Vagrant" (from Bravely Default Flying Fairy OST)
          "Attack Of Delusion" (from Attouteki Yuugi Mugen Souls Attouteki Soundtrack)
Special thanks to "KIREEK" from sftchina for his awesome combo video for this game (which I saw from youtube but can't currently find the link). I only did combos for some of the characters cause he already exploited most of the mechanics for combos of this game.
And special thanks to Maj@Combovid.com for still providing us with awesome combo video new. Check out his mind-blowing site if you like fighting games.
Hope you guys enjoy this.
If you do you can watch my earlier solo combo videos (both for obscure SNK fighting games), recorded and edited and uploaded by armison -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELx3n3GPIY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYc7n40
PS 1 -
If you want more combos for this nice game please check out awesome combo video from sftchina performed by "KIREEK" (Sorry I can't provide the link cause I can't find the video on any site, I have it on my hard disc if any of you want it PM me & I'll send it to you). 
PS 2 -
1. If you want to request combos for any characters or any pc fighting game you can request it on the comments. I will try my best to fullfill your requests.
2. If you want to see the transcript for these combos also you may request in the comments, then I will upload it.
3. Please do check out my blog of "Reviews & Stuff" and leave your comments -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com

New Book Review - All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Book Name - All You Need Is Kill
Writer - Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Published By - Haikasoru / Viz Media

First of all I didn't know this was going to be a Hollywood movie when I started but found out when I was about 1/3rd through (otherwise I might have read some other "Haikasoru" novel).
If you have read the synopsis you know this is gonna be sci-fi time loop story, you know there is going to be action, and you definitely know this book is heavily video game influenced.
And you would be write on all accounts, this is a book where a private called "Keiji" is caught in a time loop after dying and fights the same losing battle against aliens everyday. There is a female soldier from America (so cliche) who is the best warrior for humankind and she kinds of helps the protagonist to understand whats happening, in between there is a bit of background on the enemy, a bit of world building and a touch of romance thrown in.
As it goes it is a kind of story where you always kind of see where the plot is going, yet you are satisfied with the overall result, the progress is quite predictable yet the end is likeable.
My main gripe with this short and fast paced novel is that there is not enough action as was advertised my the synopsis or as was necessary (or may be just not for my liking, but I got this to read action like video games and I didn't get much of that). On the other hand the character building is quite nicely done especially for the main character who progresses through the same trial over and over again to maturity.
All in all it was a short and average read which would have scored a bit higher by me if I had more world building or action or if some of the side characters were not so generic.
My final score is 3 out of 5 stars.

Retro Combo Videos - NCC Vol 3 Fighters History Dynamite

This is my 2nd combo video, from an obscure SNK fighting game called - "Fighters History Dynamite/Karnov's Revenge"

The songs and the game used on this video are all property of their respective owners and are used without profit.
All combos were performed on keyboard; no tools, cheats or hacks were used.
Info -
BGM - "Lies" by Assailant (from the album "Nemesis Within")
           "The Cauldron Of Renascence" by Eluveitie (from the album "Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion")
Special Thanks to - http://www.cyberfanatix.com/ & http://www.combovid.com/
            for quenching my thirst for Kof and combos, still
Hope you guys enjoy this.
If you do you can watch my earlier solo combo videos (both for obscure SNK fighting games), recorded and edited and uploaded by armison -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELx3n3GPIY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYc7n40

PS 1 -
Sorry for same stage on all the combos, I tried many things to change the stage but just couldn't in vs mode. I didn't record 2-3 infinite combos cause they are already published on various videos on youtube. And also I couldn't record a few combos because I wasn't able to repeat them for recording.
If you want more combos for this nice game please check the following videos -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DSVVjcUo7k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0gcVaG1TOc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhGcoB5h008
PS 2 -
1. If you want to request combos for any characters or any pc fighting game you can request it on the comments. I will try my best to fullfill your requests.
2. If you want to see the transcript for these combos also you may request in the comments, then I will upload it.
3. Please do check out my blog of "Reviews & Stuff" and leave your comments -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com

Video Game Music Review - Re:Birth II / Romancing SaGa Battle Arrange

                                                  

Album Name - Re:Birth II/Romancing SaGa Battle Arrange
Catalog Number - SQEX-10327
Released On - August 29, 2012
Composed & Arranged By - Kenji Ito
Published By - Square Enix
Musicians - Masaru Teramae, Atsushi Enomoto, Yu "masshoi" Yamauchi, Noriyuki Kamikura, Reiko Tsuchiya, Masahiro Makihara, Kenji Ito / 寺前甲 / 榎本敦 / 上倉紀行 / 土屋玲子 / 牧原正洋

Japan is the land of rpg's and we as non-Japanese speaking people often miss out on some of the true gems of this genre due to absence of ports of some of these games into english language versions. Romancing SaGa is a trilogy whose only english port was the ps2 remake of the first game which makes us almost unable to enjoy this series. But that doesn't mean we need to miss out on this rocking arrange album which comprises music from the total of the series into this solid 10 track rocking album.

New Book Review - Doors by Daniel Brako

                                                                                 

Book Name - Doors
Writer - Daniel Brako
Published By - Momentum/MacMillan
First things first, I Got this book free from NetGalley for a review, so thank you netgalley for this opportunity.
This book is about a psychologist name David Druas, who one day faces a sudden change in the illness of one of his previous patients, this guy (Hans Werner) starts seeing doors everywhere which lead to other worlds, to make his patient understand the falsity of his delusion David undergoes the same ritual as he and then the unbelievable happens as he starts seeing doors too.
Then all hell starts braking lose as psychologist David uses his scientific mind to try to reveal the mystery of the doors, but its harder than it seems and things start to happen in breakneck pace. In the course of the events David suddenly comes to know his patient is dead and you guessed it, he turns out to be the prime suspect.
The book is quite fast paced, some of the characters are quite likable  (including the main) and there is not a dull moment in this sci-fi thriller. Bit by bit some of the truth behind the door gets revealed and in a way that is quite interesting. But to be telling the truth I somehow liked the first part of the book more and it is just damn short, the plot should have been a bit more expanded in my opinion & the multiple worlds behind the doors should have been presented with more details in some sequences.
Some of the characters are quite skillfully written but a few are just not elaborated or developed enough for my liking.
In the end I would like to say the writer did indeed had a nice story to tell and although the ending was quite predictable it leaves room for more (maybe a sequel? or sequels?), I wish the book was much longer but I am happy as long as the writer decides to write more books on this world with these characters and I'll definitely be on board for the next books from him.


Final Verdict - Due to some small shortcomings that I mentioned earlier, this gets "4 out of 5 stars" from me.

Newer Combo Videos - Street Fighter x Tekken Vol1

 This is my first video on my own (that is I am the combo maker,recorder and editor).

Info -
BGM - "The Spirit Chaser" from Battle SQ OST
Special Thanks to - http://cyberfanatix.com/
            for introducing me to combos and making me wanna be a combo maker
Also to - Doopliss & borawser  for some of the ideas for the combos ( check out their channels, they really rock at combos)
              http://www.youtube.com/user/DaDoppen
              http://www.youtube.com/user/borawserboxer
Hope you guys enjoy this.
If you do you can watch my earlier solo combo videos (both for obscure SNK fighting games), recorded and edited and uploaded by armison -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELx3n3GPIY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYc7n40RKVI
PS -
1. If you want to request combos for any characters or any pc fighting game you can request it on the comments. I will try my best to fullfill your requests.
2. If you want to see the transcript for these combos also you may request in the comments, then I will upload it.
3. Please do check out my blog of "Reviews & Stuff" and leave your comments -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com/

Retro Anime Review - Serial Experiments Lain

                                                                           

Anime Name - Serial Experiments Lain
Aired - Jul 6, 1998 to Sep 28, 1998
Episodes - 13
Staff - Ryutaro Nakamura (Director), Yoshitoshi ABe (Original Character Design), Chaiki J. Konaka
(Screenplay), Yasuyuki Ueda (Producer)

Unlike most other animes at that time, SEL was not based on any manga or light novel, it was an original. Let me at first tell you that this is definitely not the only criteria that makes this anime unique. Firstly I would like to say that if you want a fast anime with lots of action or generally lots of things happening this is not for you; if you want an anime with romance or ecchi this is not for you; if you want an anime that starts with a bang from start and keeps on its definitely not for you; and lastly if you think after watching this you will soon forget the plot and get on with your next on watch list I say at the beginning its not that forgettable. This is an anime that makes you stop and think, makes you ponder the reality surrounding you and most certainly makes you question your beliefs. And if you think of the time when this aired that was and I think still is one of the most unique traits of any anime.

Retro Video Game Reviews - 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

                                                                           

# Game Name - 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
# Publisher - Aksys Games
# Developer - Chunsoft
# Platform - Nintendo DS
# Genre - Visual Novel, Graphic Adventure

Visual Novels or Digital Novels already has a thriving market in Japan, but this genre is quite unknown yet in rest of the world specially the west. Usually many good visual novels never get a English language port because of almost absence of any market. But yet somehow Aksys Games decided to port this gem. First of all I wanna thank them for the courageous move, otherwise people like me who doesn't know Japanese at all would have missed such an experience.
Visual Novels are actually like reading a virtual book where you get occasional choices which effect the outcome of the story or you get some puzzles to solve to progress through the game. Actually to be honest this is my first experience to be ever playing such a game. I stalled it for a bit but I am glad I finally played this. Now lets get to scoring by category.

Retro Book Review - Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

                                                                    

# Book Name - Nine Princes In Amber
# Series -  Amber Chronicles, 1
# Writer - Roger Zelazny
.....Sometimes you come to some books by which you can not help get amazed at the geniuses of it writer, you can't help want to read more from.....
.....I have heard lots of praises of this series on the net and wanted to read it but just couldn't start as there was many new books to read, but fortunately I have finally read this as with a group and this is amazing. The book first starts as a kind of pulpy detective books of 50-60 then suddenly everything changes and speed turns over. I was amazed by the beautiful world building done in this blinding pace. At least the book slows down a bit after chapter 8 but by then you are so into the sentiments with the main character that you can't slow down yourself and at last the book ends with promises of something to look forward to in the next books and seriously I can't wait to get into the next one.....

# Final Verdict - 5 out of 5 Stars