DC++

Let’s start the ball rolling!

Who will win Junichi’s heart in Da Capo Second Season?
Would you even care?

This post is a DCSS analysis post. I’ll keep track of all the craziness, on how much these Da Capo girls love the boring male lead. I’ll reward each DC girl with points depending on the events that happen. And to keep things crazier, I’ll do this in the prententious and entirely fictional DC++ programming language! Don’t take the programming thing too seriously though, it’s just for presentation purposes. And of course, the point system is entirely my bias, so it’s just my personal analysis on who leads the race.

Please do check this post often because it continually updates.

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As of Episode 10:

Current Tally:
Kotori = 24 (+20 +3 +2 +2 -10 +3 +3 +1)
Aisia = 29 (+1 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 -3 +3 +3)
Nemu = 33 (-5 +3 +30 -3 -5 +10 +3)

Kotori is extremely side-character lately. Nemu seems that way as well in the latest episode. Looks like the new D.C.P.S. characters will share the limelight with D.C.S.G. new character Aisia, although it seems that despite episode 10 being a Tamaki episode, Aisia shares or steals the spotlight from her. I want another Tamaki episode, so I hope the format for this second season is the same (bring in a filler ep. or two for each character, then also a ‘dramatic’ finale ep. for each character towards the end.)

Mako = 4 (+2 +1 +1)
Miharu = 7 (+2 +2 +3)
Moe = 1 (+1)
Alice
Nanako = 3 (+3)
Tamaki = 4 (+1 +3)
Izumiko
Mystery Girl
Sakura = -4 (-5 +1)
Yoriko = -4 (+1)
Kasumi = -5

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^define major girls {
[kotori]high contender for junichi’s heart, and one of the most popular bishoujo ever[/kotori]
[aisia]new contender, a magician, and temporary maid of the junichi house[/aisia]
[nemu]previous winner, has just come back, the school nurse, and still asakura-imouto[/nemu]
}

^define minor girls {
[mako]my favorite DC girl, may she not be in junichi’s evil love arms[/mako]
[miharu]banana freak, nemu’s most active yuri lover[/miharu]
[moe]mako’s sister, has the best body proportions, has the worst mind sanity[/moe]
[alice]new DCPS girl, has amazing acrobatic abilities, has the most quiet reputation[/alice]
[nanako]new DCPS girl, manga addict[/nanako]
[tamaki]new DCPS girl, some kind of traditional japanese girl[/tamaki]
[izumiko]she’s the pink bear[/izumiko]
[mysterygirl]probably some of you know already, but i’ll keep this as a mystery for now[/mysterygirl]
}

^define hiatus girls {
//note: The hiatus girls (including Nemu) start up with -5 points in the tally.
[sakura]a previous major contender, currently nowhere[/sakura]
[yoriko]the ever-loved nekomimi maid, maybe still a cat[/yoriko]
[kasumi]a DCPS girl, seems like she’s not around yet[/kasumi]
}


^ events {
[miharu]Well, the banana incident left Miharu a bit of banana-phobia. I’d give her points for waking Junichi up sometimes.[/miharu]
[kotori]Definitely Kotori has the lead here. We see her walking home with Junichi, which I assume has been an everyday affair. Even taking a bath in his house… whoa! Definitely posing to be one of Junichi’s major heart grabbers![/kotori]
[aisia]First appearance. She says “I’m hungry, falling into Junichi’s arms. Kotori saw the whole thing. Hehe, did it cause Kotori some bit of jealousy? Dunno, but I’ll give her a point up.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[miharu]2 points[/miharu]
[kotori]20 points[/kotori]
[aisia]1 point[/aisia]
}


^ events {
[kotori]She’s been trying to find Junichi here, and even helps him out for Aisia’s sake.[/kotori]
[aisia]Very quiet girl. She’s trying to find Sakura’s grandma, with the help of Junichi.[/aisia]
[sakura]Because of this, maybe memories of Sakura linger on with Junichi, so I’ll add her a point.[/sakura]
}

^ deliberation {
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[sakura]1 point[/sakura]
}


^ events {
[aisia]O MY GAWD! An extreme change of personality, Aisia becomes a maid! Junichi is Goshujin-sama![/aisia]
[nemu]All of Junichi’s thoughts about Nemu is bugging me quite a bit. I’d give her 3 points this time, based on how often he thinks about her… for almost 3 episodes already.[/nemu]
[mako]Mako’s not very happy that Aisia is living with Junichi, so Aisia stays with the Mizukoshis for a while.[/mako]
[moe]Well… she helped out a bit so… one point.[/moe]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[nemu]3 points[/nemu]
[mako]2 points[/mako]
[moe]1 point[/moe]
}


^ events {
[aisia]Another Aisha-centric episode. She thinks the school is some kind of Hogwarts, and invokes magical chaos all in the name of her beloved master.[/aisia]
[kotori]Helping out. I think she’s being continually pushed away these days.[/kotori]
[tamaki]Offers to help find Aisha.[/tamaki]
[mako]Helps find her too… and continually gets angry with Junichi (a little sign of affection)[/mako]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[kotori]2 points[/kotori]
[tamaki]1 point[/tamaki]
[mako]1 point[/mako]
}


^ events {
[aisia]Yet another Aisha episode! Gets in some… sticky situations with Junichi. And instead of goshujin-sama, Aisha calls him as Junichi now.[/aisia]
[kotori]Helping them out of their sticky situation.[/kotori]
[mako]Helping them out as well.[/mako]
[nanako]One of Nanako’s manga characters definitely looks like Junichi. She blushed when Aisia noticed it.[/nanako]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[kotori]2 points[/kotori]
[mako]1 point[/mako]
[nanako]3 points[/nanako]
}


^ events {
[nemu]Ah… yes! The so-called ‘evil’ has returned to haunt the DCSS crew! Junichi’s coming back to his sis-con![/nemu]
[kotori]The shock on Kotori’s face! Plus the cold shoulder! It’s a negative for Kotori fans![/kotori]
[miharu]Junichi seems unusually happy that Miharu has some kind of love life. Of course it’s a misunderstanding, but her yuri-complex just rose with Nemu’s return. As butterfly effect I’ll give her some points.[/miharu]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]30 points[/nemu]
[kotori]-10 points[/kotori]
[miharu]2 points[/miharu]
}

^ notes {
– Why is Mako not so close to Nemu this time around? In season one Mako used to be one of Nemu’s best friends. Ooh, she seems so distant this time. I’m afraid Mako’s slowly turning into the sidelines. And being Suginami’s fight-partner for so many episodes already… the shame. I want a Mako-centric episode NOW!
}


^ events {
[nemu]A misunderstanding tipped her down a bit, but I think it’s never major. Misunderstandings always happen with Junichi and Nemu anyway.[/nemu]
[kotori]Aah… good strategy. Keeping your enemies closer eh? Kotori gives Nemu a little ‘yoroshiku’ on their pet talk.[/kotori]
[aisia]Aisia talked a bit of sense to Junichi, so her ratings go up this time.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]-3 points[/nemu]
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
}


^ events {
[nemu]The misunderstanding continues, and it even brought about the Dark Nemu accent. While Junichi realizes his mistake toward the end, Nemu is burying herself deeper into despair.[/nemu]
[kotori]Keeping her enemies closer again, this time, she talks to Aisia. Kotori is very, very sneaky. At the same time, she doesn’t involve herself on Junichi and Nemu’s conflicts. Smart.[/kotori]
[aisia]It’s Aisia’s first slip. She tried to do something amusing in the heat of an Junichi-Nemu fight, with bad effect.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]-5 points[/nemu]
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]-3 points[/aisia]
}

^ notes {
– Dark Nemu is in full Force this episode. I like the way she talks when she does that. It’s so formal and at the same time angsty.
– I really, really hate that Mako isn’t even concerned about Nemu’s problems. Her character doesn’t seem to be carried over from the first season. What’s with that?
}


^ events {
[nemu]Nemu and Junichi finally made up! Are we back to incest mode?[/nemu]
[aisia]Aisia helped solved Nemu and Junichi’s mini-fight.[/aisia]
[miharu]Miharu helped too.[/miharu]
[yoriko]Yoriko’s master appeared.[/yoriko]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]10 points[/nemu]
[aisia]3 points[/aisia]
[miharu]3 points[/miharu]
[yoriko]1 point[/yoriko]
}


^ events {
[nemu]Spent so many days watching DVDs with her nii-san. What bonding! (half-sarcastic)[/nemu]
[aisia]Thought that miko powers = magic. Annoyed the baseball team, but at least had a bit of good result.[/aisia]
[tamaki]Showed off her miko powers! Go Tamaki![/tamaki]
[kotori]She’s… just… there.[/kotori]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]3 points[/nemu]
[aisia]3 points[/aisia]
[tamaki]3 points[/tamaki]
[kotori]1 point[/kotori]
}

^ notes {
– This seems to be the start of a filler arc surrounding the new characters which were not in the first season. As a result, minimal point system will be attributed because this does not concern Junichi too much anyway.
}

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This is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

summer of the others

This is the ‘others’ group of anime that I’m gonna watch this season.

This and the [loli->summer-of-loli] group constitutes 8 animes in total, double my limit. I told myself I shouldn’t be over this limit. I’m going on overload.

Da Capo Second Season
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One of the biggest bishoujo game based anime just got even bigger! Double the girls, double the service, double the fun! The D.C.P.S. crew is here! For anti-Nemu and anti-Sakura fans this is also a treat, they’re not appearing (yet), and new main character Aisha is as adorable as… well… any other girl who says “goshujin-sama”. Kotori takes the limelight, and my favorite girl Mako remains a sideline (boo).

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid
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It’s darn good. The animation masters Kyoto Animation is at it once again, in what could be equated as FMP1 + Fumoffu = FMP:TSR. It has the mecha goodness of the first series, and seemingly also the hyper comedy of Fumoffu! Could anyone ask for more?

Shuffle!
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Humans, gods, and demons live in harmony. This dorky guy gets a “taste” of all of them. A god family and a demon family suddenly live beside you, and within each is a girl whom you should pick from to be a wife! How more lucky can a dorky guy get? Follow his antics and see his choices in bishoujo game based freak show Shuffle!

Suzuka
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Suzuka is cool. She’s great at high jumps. Suddenly this dorky guy would live beside her apartment, and will affect her life. Is it for the better? Or for worse? It’s a new take on the cliched harem genre. It seems kinda different, so I’ll take it. Besides, Suzuka is cool. Did I mention that Suzuka is cool?

Ultimate Blog Cleanup

After the layout change, I upgraded so many stuff into my blog to make it more “future proof”, but this move will require me to have a blog cleanup! Because of this, you may see the Recent Updated Posts section to be a bit volatile. Why?

I will edit almost ALL of my posts!

My goodness, am I crazy enough to do this? In any case, I really hope I won’t do this again. This won’t affect you guys too much, but if you’re keen enough, you will find little bits of changes happening to the site. I blame my [summer of bishoujo->] project for this, because it required me to install more and more WordPress plugins.

Current Issues:

Annoying Quotes
I am very annoyed about how WP changes my quotes and triple dots, but I found a way to change them, thanks to Momotato.

before: “Hello” World
after: “Hello” World

before: I’m here
after: I’m here

before: dots…
after: dots…

Isn’t it more natural looking this time? Thank goodness I did.

Cross-linking
I’m using a different plugin this time for making cross-links to posts within my blog. Using the new one will make it link directly to the permalink instead of having an ugly *index.php?name=postname* url. This also avoids my problem of self-trackbacks when linking to my own post.

before: http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/index.php?name=gothloli
after: http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/archives/gothloli/

This is the main culprit as to why I’m gonna edit a LOT of posts, but I think this will be a permanent matter this time, so no more cleanups next time (I’m crossing my fingers).

Stupid Layout
I’ll never ever learn. See how weird the spacings are in the Categories section of the sidebar? And look how Blogroll and Hosted by sections have a dot on the title while others don’t. I SUCK at every kind of web programming. Look at the Meta section… it tells you that this blog is INVALID XHTML! MWAHAHAHA!

I also wanted to stretch this blog sideways because that gray area seems virtually unused, but heck I don’t know about HTML and CSS.

Anyway, those were just some of the stuff that concerns me today. While some are simply annoying, hey, I’m somehow getting to like this web stuff. Ultimate Blog Cleanup starts today, and I hope I can finish in a week’s time. Adios for now.

UPDATE: Thanks to Kabitzin, I learned a bit more about how CSS works! Thanks! The Blogroll and Hosted By sections do not have the annoying dot anymore… YAY! One more problem… the weird category spacings. Go me!

UPDATE 2: Never would have thought that making the blog wider would solve my category spacings too. This is nice enough, I’ll stick to this layout for a while.

Futakoi Alternative

Futakoi Alternative

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[Futakoi->] was ok, but it seemed that the fans were not quite impressed with the first series. After all, Futakoi is a huge franchise of Dengeki G’s, composed of magazine features, albums, merchandise, and games. Having loved the CG illustrations of Futakoi, they seem to be disappointed with the bland look of the first series. Now, Futakoi Alternative, the second anime series based on the franchise, aims to make disappointed fans believe in the power of the anime medium again. Are they successful?

Futakoi Alternative started off EXPLOSIVE! True to the concept of Alternative, the 6 twins of Futakoi now hold a powerful arsenal of military apparel in the opening sequence. How about that? These are moe~ girls with guns and firepower! Episode 1 was equally powerful, as it pits now featured twins Souju and Sara with this guy named Rentarou in a whole lot of action-packed mess. Really, it was a fast-paced, kick-aaa episode, with high-class animation quality no less. For fans, it is a dream come true already. But the greatness never stops there. While not as action-packed as the first and last few episodes, the middle episodes feature yet another Alternative, dramedy.

The episodes fully describe these three characters, from the main viewpoint of Rentarou. The main theme of this series is “the three of us”, in which Rentarou, Sara and Souju face trials of everyday life as being the three of them, together. Sometimes funny, sometimes filled with sadness, they continually try to survive their everydays. The character development of these three are SO detailed, you might think Gainax helped ufotable in making this anime. Also, Futakoi Alternative seems to hit on anything anime culture had in store, including its [own->futagozuka] and some popular [anime->squid-no-jutsu]. Even Onsokumaru (some yellow ball character in ufotable’s 2×2 Shinobuden) is there in cameos. And as I mentioned, the numerous [Gainax->ufotable-and-gainax] references that seem too good to be true (even a Human Instrumentality Project parody was part of the plot).

This anime also has an incredibly interesting slew of new characters aside from our Futakoi girls. The whole town is filled with interesting people. The craziest policeman in an anime, as well as a generic fat sidekick, then a baker girl, a biker sidekick of Rentarou, a seemingly yakuza leader with a metal arm, and his gang of thugs really colorize this weird but peaceful town of Nikotama. Even a polar bear appears sometimes, and of course the main enemy which is the squid. Wait, are we missing the twins yet? [Kira/Yura->gothloli] and [Lulu/Lala->futagozuka] are the twins with secondary focus in this anime, while Kaoruko/Sumireko, Ai/Mai, and Ui/Koi were seen only in a few. While they have short appearances, theirs are quite meaningful in a variety of levels.

As episodes unfold, “the three of them” are starting to break up because something big is going to happen after Sara and Souju’s 16th birthday. This results in high levels of drama, where the three try to define what really is their relationship to each other. Rentarou, being the immature poor guy who only lived in the shadows of his legendary father, struggling through the everydays with the twins, is often in this monologue. This in effect develops him greatly as a character. This kind of character development is so detailed it’s rare, more so considering he is a male character. Normally we loathe all those dorky male leads in bishoujo animes right? Well well well, this time there’s something to like in this particular one at least.

Having action, comedy and drama in one package requires lots of creative styles, and Futakoi Alternative did not disappoint. From the consistent animation, each variety of [music->musical-surprise], and creative direction. Futakoi Alternative reeks of quality. Never thought something so “alternative” could be so good, and considering the cross-genre boundaries broken by this anime, I’ll be excited to think that anime shows may be getting more innovative these days. We need more anime like this.

imageThis is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

Mahou Sensei Negima

Mahou Sensei Negima!

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I first heard about Mahou Sensei Negima because of my Love Hina hype back in my early anime days. Back then, Love Hina was one of my favorites, and so having this Ken Akamatsu guy doing another new manga serialization is quite a treat.

31 girls? Whoa! 31 girls! When I heard about Negima having 31 girls, I was thinking the guy is really crazy. I mean, are 7+ girls, Love Hina-style not enough? Furthermore, in the midst of the Harry Potter movie craze, main character Negi is being hyped as a HP-ish magician, hmm… a shounen series eh? And so, put extreme harem and shounen together, I didn’t think it was going to be good at all. I forcefully read the first chapter, and I was not impressed at first. Anyway since it was a new serialization at that time, I figure I skip this first, and get back to it when more volumes or chapters are available.

I ate my words that time. Upon announcement of the anime, I went back to reading the manga… and I was so hooked! I went totally ballistic, it is a great manga series! Words can’t express the happiness I had at that time, eating 50+ chapters (up to the Kyoto arc) all in one go, collecting wallpapers, music, etc. I expected the anime to be the main dish. Watching the two initial introduction videos, I was literally stunned! Familiar seiyuu, masterful animation, and staying true to its manga roots, I was thinking Negima anime is bound to be a success, maybe more so than the huge (but in the end crappy) anime that was Love Hina.

Alas, a disappointment.

The TV series was shrouded in horrible stock market animation levels. One episode may not look like another, and inconsistent [character->negima-sakuga-tracker-asuna-version] [art->negima-sakuga-tracker-yue-version] annoyed me to the core. Moreover, the colors of their hair, it’s like basic and neon. I was asking “WHY” all over the internet. Why did XEBEC, the same company who did the excellent introduction videos, change the look of the TV anime? Why is each episode radically different from others? Why did they arrange and mix up events from the manga?

On the flip side however, the strength of the manga content still shines through. I anticipate watching the latest Negima episode every week, more so than similar current anime series. As I said, the Negima manga RULES, and even though the fanservice is toned to nothingness, the rest of the story and events stayed true. My hopes of having better animation came to fruition little by little, as the latter half of the series had some great animation moments, and the upcoming DVD releases will feature remastered versions of the horrible episodes.

The latter half, however (again), became ridiculed with speculation. Fillers, and extreme story rearrangements are abound, but nevertheless it is still as good as it gets. One highlight is the ghost girl Sayo episode, one of the best episodes in the anime. But, here we go to the Kyoto arc, a massive 20+ chapter spectacle in the manga, now reduced to 2 episodes. How about that? From an outsider viewpoint (someone who hasn’t read the Kyoto arc), it was an excellent, action-packed 2 episodes. For fans, it is a disservice.

The alternative story leading to the anime’s ending is a given, knowing that the manga still isn’t finished. While it is quite a SHOCKER, it isn’t too strong to make a good conclusion. Seeing that, I guess the varying animation quality levels, coupled with multiple staff changes including staff and directors really hurt the entire series’ coherence. It’s a shame really, considering that the rest of the Negima franchise is doing so well. I was astounded at the huge number of singles and drama cds related to Negima, and even some of them sell well enough to rank in the Oricon music sales charts. I guess the PS2 and GBA games are doing well too, but I haven’t played them too much because I can’t understand the gameplay. The PS2 game was quite nice though. I should mention all the great seiyuu devoting time and effort for all their voice work in those multiple mediums. And of course, the manga has a huge following because of its awesome quality, both in drawing and story. Ken Akamatsu is quite smart.

Anyway, I can talk legions more text specifying all the different emotions that this series (manga, anime, music, games) had brought to me, but I have to stop at some point. (I thank myself by the way for not reacting on EACH of the 31 girls) In any case, Mahou Sensei Negima the anime is still a worthy watch, despite the flaws. But be sure to check out the manga too. Besides, where else can you get more than 31 beautiful girls, and a great shounen-style story progression, all in one package? Look no further.

Continue reading Mahou Sensei Negima

D.C. ~Da Capo~

D.C. ~Da Capo~

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Back in its time, Da Capo was one of those animes that probably instigated the new wave, a sudden outburst of the popularity of bishoujo games being converted into anime. The game was made by a company named [Circus->], and I can only imagine how big the Da Capo franchise is to them. With already 7 games (maybe more) composed of rehashes, fandisks, after stories and console versions, Da Capo is huge on the games front. Not to mention all those singles, drama cds, and manga serializations. Da Capo is as big as any [Dengeki G’s->] series such as [Futakoi->].

The anime is equally big. This is the very first bishoujo game based anime series that ever had a full season run of 26 episodes. And with 26 more on the way on its second season this summer 2005, it will very well be the biggest bishoujo game based anime franchise in history. Well that’s saying much, but how does it fair really?

Da Capo is not too bad, but it had its share of little faults here and there. For the first 7 episodes, the main episode is actually short in length, in favor of having a music video of a girl’s seiyuu after each episode. Those music videos were average, some horrible, but nonetheless a part of the Da Capo fandom. I have no complaints here, some seiyuu were [popular->horie-yui] and cute anyway. Many other episodes have a side story part focusing on a character or number of characters, which eats up the main episode’s time as well. While some of those side stories are interesting, others are just annoying. The recurrent figure in these side stories is a certain mysterious cat guy, but it never adds any coherence to the side stories nor does it add up to the main Da Capo story at all. Furthermore, there are two recap episodes in this anime. So much for 26 episodes you think?

Well, the latter half is where this series shines. The tone slowly changes from filler-comedy to pure classic drama involving the magic of the sakura tree. The characters in Da Capo actually live in a town where a mysterious power exists within the cherry blossoms. Because of this, our characters actually have some sort of magical affinity as a result. For example, one of the girls can actually read people’s minds, while another girl is actually a cat transformed in human form. These unique but weird traits haunt them somehow throughout this series, and is where the dramatic parts explode into. I tell you, the drama here is powerful, and that is definitely a treat.

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And my favorite girl? Mako! She rocks!

Of course, getting the good stuff like this requires you to go through 15 or so episodes of comedic and mindless filler, but the result will not leave you disappointed. Try out Da Capo. You may be disappointed with some parts, but in general I hope you will like it eventually. Besides, the second season is up for you to anticipate as well.

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This is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

Comic Party Revolution

Comic Party Revolution

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After [To Heart->], bishoujo game company [Leaf/Aquaplus->leaf-aquaplus] made [Comic Party->]. It was a moderate success, and for good reason. It is about a generally positive outlook on the realities of Japanese otaku culture, through a bishoujo game, and the main focus of course is doujinshi.

As some of you know, doujinshi is basically “fan comics” made by fans for fans. They are usually of the ero nature, and is visibly seen whenever there are anime and comic conventions. They also usually parody or purposely base their material on existing popular anime, manga, or game series. The Comic Party game and anime series highlights a group of individuals who are into these kinds of stuff, as well as give a viewpoint on how outsiders think about them.

The first Comic Party anime was a simple story about this guy named Kazuki and his entry into the world of doujinshi. Part of it is because he likes drawing, the other part is because of his friend Taishi’s plans for world domination. The bishoujos of the game are featured somehow, but the anime is mostly Kazuki’s viewpoint and story. Dunno if this had gone well with Comic Party fans, although I liked it quite a bit.

Now, can you believe that Comic Party Revolution was originally a 2-episode OVA? For some reason (maybe sales went well, or maybe fans crave for more), Comic Party Revolution had gone extended to 3 episodes… and then 4… and then now an entire 13-episode TV series run! Isn’t that amazing? Whether fan approval or sales made Aquaplus deliver a half-season worth of Comic Party, it’s all good for me! Why?

First, the animation is great! All the girls look beautiful and are consistently animated. Very, very unlike the horrible variety of [To Heart ~Forget my Memories~->to-heart-remember-my-memories]. Also, because of its doujinshi nature, there are bound to be parodies and spoofs right? Comic Party Revolution has LOTS of them! Everything from basic doujinshi and cosplaying to even entire episodes devoted to parodying numerous anime, manga, games, and other Japanese culture stuff! Wanna see a [Cardcaptor Sakura->cardmaster-peach] parody? Wanna see To Heart 2’s [Konomi Yuzuhara->konomi-cameo] before the anime comes? How about an entire episode dedicated to baseball and [tennis->princess-of-tennis] TV parodies? Want a direct reference to Gundam [SEED->seed-mode] again? Or maybe delve into [action->metal-gear-aya] and horror? Everything gets [mixed up->cardmaster-peach-vs-princess-of-tennis]! What’s more, each character gets her own time to shine! There are entire sequences or episodes dedicated to an specific character, so fans of each girl would definitely be delighted. Comic Party Revolution may not be too story based as opposed to the first series, but it’s definitely a “very entertaining show”. That’s what matters most.

This anime has one of the most stylish opening sequences I have seen from this genre. Also, the OP/ED songs are so great I have been anticipating them since over two years ago! (it only did get released during the 2005 TV series). The music may be forgettable but it complements each scene just right.

If you crave for a funnier, more colorful and slightly more positive version of [Genshiken->], Comic Party Revolution is the anime for you. Don’t forget to get the original Comic Party anime too, and try to play the game if you can. I can say that this is my personal favorite out of all the current series ending this season. Everything in this series has gone just right, I’m really, really satisfied with what Aquaplus has done this time (a better To Heart and more Comic Party please!!!). Oh, did I see a “To Be Continued?” sign at the end? I HOPE SO! I hope you watch and enjoy it, too.

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This is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

July Anime Season (Summer 2005)

This month, many of the series I’m watching will end. That gives me the right to add more new anime series to watch this July right? Wrong.

I’m lessening my load on watching anime, due to this thing called board exams, my road to go professional on my college diploma thingie. Hopefully, the fun should never stop in this blog (well at least for the summer season), because I’m gonna watch some anime this summer season.

Though I’m trying to lessen my watching load, the list looks so great, I’m having a hard time choosing what to watch.

It’s summer over there in Japan but actually it’s rainy season over here, so to avoid confusion (just my own confusion) I’ll call this the July Anime Season. Here are some of the series that interest me so far:

Da Capo Second Season – One of my favorite bishoujo game series has yet another anime! This time, I think it will be based on a manga serialization. A new character will be introduced, along with Nemu, Sakura and Kotori. I’m wanting another 26-episoder, but I think this will run for only 13.

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid – Well, I watched both FMP series but I’m still thinking if I’ll follow it immediately. For one, this should be another great FMP because Kyoto Animation is gonna do it, so expect eye candy. On the other hand, this looks like your regular mecha action rather than the extreme Fumoffu comedy which I liked very much.

GUN x SWORD – I always skip action. I prefer to watch them in batches and marathons.

Ichigo Mashimaro – Been hearing good things about this from blogs and forums, so I’ll give this one a try. The girls are cute, in a unique way.

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Just watched a prologue video. Looks like a slice-of-life comedy about the girls’ normal and weird personalities, kinda like Azumanga Daioh. This is exciting. Plus, it has a stellar seiyuu cast for the 5 girls. I’m hyped now! Better read the manga!

Kamichu! ~Kamisama wa Chuugakusei~ – Looks nice.

Kidou Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken – This looks like harem and samurais.

Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo – Okay, so your wife is a magical girl. Big deal. Many anime guys have magical girls as wives or lovers. I wonder what will make me want to watch this.

Petopeto-san – Wow! The artwork looks extremely moe~! Some kind of welcome surprise this is, coz I’ve never heard of it.

SHUFFLE! – Oh, it’s this bishoujo game based series I was talking about a [while back->shuffle]. See my reactions over there.

Suzuka – Never heard of this before but some are saying that Suzuka is an excellent manga series.

DELIBERATION

Absolute Watch
Da Capo Second Season

Watch
Petopeto-san
Ichigo Mashimaro
SHUFFLE!

Watch Later
Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid
GUN x SWORD
Suzuka

Watch Maybe
Kamichu! ~Kamisama wa Chuugakusei~
Kidou Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken
Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo

Anime On Location: Reverse

This is the reverse of my [Anime On Location->anime-on-location] feature.

So this time… how visible is anime in real life? How often would you see your favorite anime drawings in normal streets?

This post is a collective of links and images which feature some real pictures where animated art blends with our normal lives. Be it posters or anime-related places, I will try to see if anime is visible anywhere else aside from TV and movie screens.

This is gonna be an ongoing collective so if anyone wants to contribute other material related to this, just comment in this post. Please do also contact me if some of the links are already down. It’s kinda hard to find this kind of content though.

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Comic Market 68
http://www.galge.com/galge/nomember/sbp/topics/05/08/12/index.html
It’s one of Japan’s biggest and most popular comic conventions. Everything otaku-related can be seen, heard, felt, and ‘sold’ there. They definitely wouldn’t want to miss being there…

Sights of Akihabara
http://www.akiba-bound.net/?p=36
http://www.jefflawson.net/anime/archives/002411.html
http://www.tyth.net/wordpress/?p=115
Fellow bloggers visit Akihabara. Exponentially better than our local Chinatown, but a lot more expensive of course. This is the real stuff.

He is My Master Promotion Gig
http://www.livejournal.com/users/pedolicious/71859.html
http://blog.livedoor.jp/geek/archives/24932011.html
This is possibly one of the anime marketing gimmicks where I can never comment to negatively nor positively. A TON of girls wearing HiMM maid cosplay gives promotion cards for the anime’s recently released DVD volume. Sure, Akihabara otaku folk will be shouting with oohs and aahs while armed with their top-of-the-moe-line digital cameras. The rest of the regular Japanese walking public, however, may be disgusted.

Moe-bus
http://oki2.jp/bus/index.html
This link shows a lot of Japanese public transportation buses which were painted with anime and bishoujo game related pictures as advertisements. Sure it’s nice, but don’t dare take a picture with your favorite bishoujo, lest other commuters label you a weirdo.

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