Anime, Manga, Video Games & More, For Today's Generation
Review
Anime Review: Spice and Wolf – Complete First Season
Sep 10th
If you don’t know what you’re getting into, Spice and Wolf can seem a little daunting at first. The very first episode, and just about every episode that follows it, is basically 24 consecutive minutes of people talking. Mostly about economics. Medieval economics at that. Sounds boring, yes? Well, surprisingly, it isn’t.
This is due entirely to how fascinating the characters and their relationships with each other are. Lawrence, being a merchant, always looks at things in terms of money. Either making it, spending it, or keeping track of the debt Holo has racked up during their travels. He always keeps somewhat detached from things, never really showing much emotion no matter what’s going on around him. That is, until it seems like Holo may be in danger, during which time he is genuinely panicked and gets irritated when the people he tries to seek help from don’t act quickly enough. Over time it becomes clear that despite his behavior he has started to develop genuine feelings for Holo and cares about her deeply.
Holo herself is a rather interesting character. Despite being a several hundred year old deity, she behaves more like a child. She gets excited about food, going so far as demanding Lawrence take her to another city for a chance to eat apples pickled in honey. She tries to act the part of a deity, by talking big about herself or belittling humans, acting like she’s not interested in anything they do. But this only makes her seem like a child attempting to impress someone by bragging. All this bragging and boasting serves to hide the fact that she’s really just lonely, having been stuck watching over one particular wheat field for many years, and having no real contact with anyone.
Game Review Double Feature: Espgaluda II and Do-Don-Pachi Resurrection
Sep 9th
Since my first experience with a shoot-em-up (“shmup”) game by the developer Cave, I’ve been quite eager to play more from their catalog. I was very surprised and excited to learn that Cave has two of their games up for download from Apple’s App Store. Those games are Espgaluda II and Do-Don-Pachi Resurrection. At first, I was a bit skeptical, and I thought to myself “How does one control a shmup game without a D-pad?” but then quickly realized that the powerful touch screen on Apple’s devices solves this problem easily. Blending together some impressive controls and graphics unlike those ever seen before on an Apple handheld, these games make for some very pleasant and affordable entertainment you can take with you when you’re on the go.
Visual Novel Review: Kira Kira
Aug 24th
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to start your own band? The good times, the fame, and the hardships you’d go through with your friends? Would it strengthen your friendships or pull them apart? And in the end, would it all be worth it? In Kira Kira, you can get a taste of what it’s like. With an array of routes to choose from each involving different characters and some deep emotional moments, this visual novel is a lot more than what it appears to be. You may even be tempted to label it as trash simply because of its romantic elements – but that would be a shame, because that would be disregarding the story as a whole, and a huge disrespect to its creators.
Kira Kira follows the story of Shikanosuke Maejima, a student attending Oubi Academy in Tokyo. Shikanosuke is a mediocre student with no real aspirations in life – he just wants to get through high school. Three of his female friends, Kirari, Chie, and Sarina, are members of the Second Literature Club. Due to lack of interest, the club is set to be dissolved at the end of the school year. In an effort to save the club, the three girls and Shikanosuke decide to put on a live rock performance at the school’s cultural festival. Through the help of Murakami, a close friend, the group is introduced to punk music and they decide that is the sound that they want to go for. The band members set out to learn their instruments while simultaneously learning the history of punk music and the true meaning of “punk.”
Manga Review: Samurai Deeper Kyo
Jul 12th
Each one of us has read that one manga that just went on for too damned long. The longer a story drags on, the more opportunity it has to falter and develop weak spots, and many people are too busy or just don’t have the attention span to keep up. So, could there possibly be a manga that defies this unfortunate pattern? Well, if you’re willing to buckle down for a long haul, then the answer is “yes,” and it comes to us in the form of Samurai Deeper Kyo.
Four years after the famous Battle of Sekigahara, a simple medicine man named Kyoshiro Mibu is wandering the land trying to find someone to heal so he can make enough money to eat. He comes upon a woman named Yuya Shiina, a bounty hunter who intends on turning Kyoshiro in for skipping out on a restaurant bill. When the two are attacked by a demon, Yuya discovers that within Kyoshiro lies the soul of a man famous for the slaughter of a thousand men, Demon Eyes Kyo. Kyo has lost his original body and blames Kyoshiro for hiding it away from him, and decides to take over Kyoshiro’s body until he finds his original one. Yuya insists on tagging along so she can turn Kyo in since he has the highest bounty in the area, but that will be the least of their problems as their journey delves into their pasts and into shocking events that threaten to tailspin the country into war once again.
Game Review: Deathsmiles
Jul 7th
Japanese shoot-em-up (“shmup”) games are often notorious for being insanely difficult. In a world where shmups such as Ikaruga and Castle of Shikigami challenge the player to an extreme level of frustration, it’s refreshing to see Deathsmiles. While Deathsmiles is certainly no pushover, it offers hours of fun gameplay across various degrees of difficulty so that players of all skill levels can enjoy it.
Deathsmiles takes place in the fictional world of Gilverado. A group of young girls have been trapped inside this magical land for several years. Jitterbug, one of the girls’ father, is obsessed with finding a way back to the real world, and in doing so, he’s accidentally opened the gates of hell! Demons are pouring into Gilverado, and it’s up to the girls to stop them.
Of course, if you’re playing this game, there’s a good chance you don’t really care about the story; you simply just want to blow stuff up. So let’s move onto the gameplay…
Deathsmiles allows you to choose from up to 5 characters, each of which have their own distinct bullet patterns, movement properties, and familiars. Your familiar is a small creature that follows you where you go and provides some extra firepower to help you out. All the characters seem fairly balanced, and they are all very playable, even for beginners.
Manga Review: Fairy Tail (Volumes 1-2)
Jun 30th
With all of the craziness that some of the more extreme anime and manga storylines can bring, sometimes it’s nice to settle into a good old fashioned epic adventure. If you’re looking for something to satisfy that craving, then Fairy Tail is a must for you!
The story starts with a girl named Lucy, a celestial wizard who has the power to summon powerful beasts using her collection of keys. Her biggest dream is to join a magic guild and go on exciting adventures (while earning a pretty penny in the process), and she has her eyes specifically set on Fairy Tail, one of the most powerful and rowdy guilds around. While traveling she runs into Natsu, a fire wizard, and Happy, his animal companion. After they go through a brief adventure together, he reveals that he is a member of Fairy Tail and takes her to their headquarters where she joins and starts on her journey as a guild wizard.
The first thing that I (and many others) thought when I saw Fairy Tail is that the art and feel of the story is very reminiscent of One Piece. It quickly sets itself apart though with a quirky and action-packed storyline filled with plenty of comedy and lovable characters. Lucy is a genuine, believable heroine, and the antics of Natsu, Happy, and the rest of the Fairy Tail crew are nothing short of unforgettable.
Manga Review: Dororo (Complete Series)
Jun 6th
In a time where the “big three” manga are all action-packed epic adventures, its nice to come across a simple, good old-fashioned adventure story that doesn’t go on for ages. If this sounds refreshing to you, then Dororo might be a title to consider reading.
Created by the classic creative powerhouse that is Osamu Tezuka, Dororo starts off with the tale of Hyakkimaru, a child who is missing 48 body parts because his father offered them up to a group of evil demons in exchange for the power to rule over lands. He was found by a man and given prosthetics so that he could function like a normal person, and as an adult he sets off on a quest to find the demons and kill them to earn his normal body back. During his journey he runs into a young boy named Dororo, a self-professed master thief who wants swords implanted into Hyakkimaru’s arms. He refuses to leave Hyakkimaru alone, and so they wind up traveling together and becoming friends as they learn more about each others’ pasts and fight to survive their journey.
When I told a friend of mine that I was going to be reviewing this title, he warned me that I was probably not going to enjoy it given the types of manga I usually read. At first I had felt as if his words were going to ring true, but after getting about half-way through the first book I found myself surprisingly entertained by the simplicity of the tale and the charm of the characters, and that enjoyment lasted all the way to the end of the series, where the ending left me unfortunately very dissatisfied. It’s one of those stories that seems to end without any real resolution, but it doesn’t make the journey any less enjoyable.
Game Review: 3D Dot Game Heroes
Jun 3rd
It’s like a Zelda game on the PS3. Oh, and it’s totally freaking awesome.
3D Dot Game Heroes is one of Japan’s gems recently brought over by none other than the lovable Atlus. The game pays homage to many classic favorites, but mostly to the classic 2D Zelda games — in fact, the gameplay is almost identical. You control a hero with a sword on a quest to vanquish an evil sorcerer who wants to reign supreme over the world. You traverse through a rectangular-shaped world broken into separate “screens.” You’re on a quest to explore various dungeons full of monsters, puzzles, mazes, and traps. You can access a menu screen and select from various items to use. You have a hookshot. A boomerang. A candle. Bombs. A bow & arrows — see the resemblance yet?
This game doesn’t even try to hide the fact that it’s copying Zelda. When I say “copying” I mean that in the most positive way possible, because a game that feels like a Zelda game is a damn good thing if you ask me. Having grown up on classics like the original The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, and Link’s Awakening, playing 3D Dot Game Heroes brought back the fond memories I have of playing those games.
Top 10 Greatest RPGs – #1 – Xenogears
May 28th
Seriously. There is no other game that even comes close to the excellence that Xenogears delivers. With its deeply immersive and philosophical story in addition to great gameplay, graphics & sound, no title is more worthy of being #1 on this list. The word “epic” is thrown around a lot today, but you don’t know what “epic” is until you’ve played Xenogears.
Xenogears was published by Squaresoft and released in 1998 for the original Sony PlayStation. Because the game made controversial statements involving religion, it almost didn’t get released in the US. It was originally planned to be the fifth chapter in a series of six games. Unfortunately, this never came to be, and although it can be argued that the Xenosaga series, which came much later on, ties into the story of Xenogears, those games never quite reached the heights that Xenogears did.
The game opens up with a spaceship drifting through space on an unknown mission. All seems to be going well when suddenly, all the systems on the ship start to go haywire. The security system turns against innocent people on the ship as the message “You shall be as gods” flashes across the computer screens. Unable to avoid the imminent disaster, the ship crash lands on a nearby planet. Having somehow survived, a mysterious lone female figure rises up from the burning wreckage, and our story begins.
Top 10 Greatest RPGs – #2 – Final Fantasy VI
May 27th
What, you were expecting Final Fantasy VII? Nope, sorry.
Long before FFVII came to be, before Cloud and Tifa cosplayers at anime cons were about as common as molecules of oxygen in the air, Squaresoft developed the true master of all FF games. It’s unfortunate that this game ultimately became shadowed by its successor, because it is superior in almost every way.
Due to Squaresoft’s confusing numbering system in the early FF games, Final Fantasy VI was originally known in the US as Final Fantasy III. Released for the Super Nintendo in 1994, this game essentially defined everything I grew to love about video game RPGs: a deep, moving story with a central theme of saving the world; an engaging, partially real-time battle system; and a cast of well-developed characters that have their own unique abilities in battle. Add to this the most evil, conniving, diabolical, sadistic son-of-a-bitch villain I’ve ever seen, and you have one of the best video games ever created.
