Friday, March 25, 2016

2016 March 25ᵗʰ. Nanbaka!

おはよう!

Haha, I bet you forgot this blog was also for manga, didn't you? You should've read the fine print!
As said in my soulless and awkward first post: This blog is for "somewhat-vague reviews of anime series* [...]"
..."*And some manga, too. Maybe. Possibly."
So there you have it. Just don't ask why it took thirty weeks and a day for the first one to show up.
I'm serious. Don't.
I'm on to you.
Calne Ca sees you preparing to ask and does not approve.


今日

So, so, so! Our manga—oh what a world, to say that in a post—today is one known as Nanbaka.
As far as I am aware, only one volume of this manga exists, being volume #01.
It is, then, a relatively quick read. And I do recommend it.
It amused me considerably, and by the end left me wanting more. Please, let there be more ;-;
One thing that preoccupied me a bit through the--
Well, through the entire manga really, was the characters' genders.
Let me spare you the time. They are all male. All of them*. But, anyhow, they are still cute little prisoners, so have of it what you will.
(*) Except warden Momoko. And maybe the cat, Kuu.
Anyhow, as I had mentioned, they are prisoners. This manga is focused on four inmates by the names of Jyugo, Uno, Nico, and Rock, all being held in Nanba penitentiary.
Jyugo, I might add, is the only one of Japanese ethnicity among them, and has rather fabulous eyes.
But that's going off-track. The reasons this manga amused and entertained me were mainly because of the personalities of the characters, their massively inappropriate behaviour for the circumstances, and the book's great, colourful art style.

...Which I cannot exactly be generous with providing due to certain legal issues.
Some great hair. Sidenote, these characters all look very Japanese.
And remember:
All males.
I am not the wisest at the moment on where to look for manga viewing platforms, but for the best I can do:
If you'd like to read this manga, or at least try to read this manga,

Here it is on Crunchyroll. Yes, Crunchyroll has manga. Unfortunately, it requires a membership to view It seems to be perfectly accessible to all users, and Crunchyroll has exclusive licensing for this series.
For an eerily incomplete MyAnimeList page on this manga, go on to here.
That's the best I can do at this point. Apologies. When this manga is easier to find, definitely try it.
Now, see ya'!

Friday, March 11, 2016

2016 March 11ᵗʰ. Death Parade, Again!

おはよう!

Hi, humans. Just so you know in advance, I won't be posting next week, as I'm going to be away, visiting my girlfriend Acin, a distance of the length of Great Britain from my computer.
Oh well, see ya' on the 24th or so.
Promise me you won't do anything horrible while I'm gone!
Oh, we promise!


今日

Just amazing. I should do typesetting.
Hello, hello. Here we have, again, Death Parade. You may remember this anime from a couple weeks ago—you may also remember I had said I would be doing a review of it.
Well, here I am.
But wait! There's more!
This review, (though really more like an impression post), will be split into two or three parts, this being the first.
This post will be over episodes 1–4. The following posts will be mainly over their sections, but may also tie back into these.
THAT BEING SAID,
This anime is pretty good.

At first, you see, I thought it was terrible. Mindless, slightly psychological-thriller gore or something. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked second episode came.
Well, the second episode still wasn't much. But the third episode was really nice.
This anime has, so far, brought me to some tears. Some of the themes of death by the fourth episode really hit me, for some reason.
Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.” –Edgar Allan Poe.
Ahem, well, anyways.
Aw, Decim, you do have a heart!
So far, the first and last predictions I made on the first post over this have kind of half come true. There seems to be a human, (Or, at least a former human.), though it is unclear as to whether or not there is yet any main character.
And for the first one, it seems as though some emotion is contained in Decim.
How cute.

But anyhow,
As far as themes go, this anime gets quite a bit of liberty with what they'd like to talk about. They can pull any character with any backstory out from the aether at any time, and it's totally appropriate. So far, the things they've touched on are, well, touching to me. If you have a heart, and/or an emotionally difficult life, you'll find something in this anime to be taken good, or bad. It's up to you.
This is confusing. I shouldn't be writing right before midnight, anyhow.
Anyhow, I'll see you next time with more Death Parade. Or not. Depends on what is posted next-next week. Either way, I wish you a good 10–15 days. Farewell!
Now, if you'd like to watch this anime yourself, it is not on Crunchyroll. So, below are three links to the show on other decent anime streaming sites.
Here is the link for Kissanime. Here for Animehaven, and here, Gogoanime.

Postscript:
I'm not even linking to Funimation for this anymore. They have some ridiculous member sign up with an age restriction for this. I just want to watch the dang show, people! I don't want to join your sh*t!

Friday, March 4, 2016

2016 March 4ᵗʰ. Anime Matsuri!

おはよう!

An interim post here, the next real one will be Death Parade. But this was too exciting! I needed to share this.

Excitement!


今日

As it happens, last weekend, the 27-28th of February, an anime convention was held in Houston, Texas. It also just so happens that I was attending said convention, and it sure was a great time!
Danganronpa's famous pink blood.
This scene was shown,
But the blood was blue. Things got weird.
First off, there were some great panels. Among them were some silly occurrences such as Funimation's projector breaking as to not show any red-- (Blue blood everywhere! Is this really Danganronpa?), someone accidentally dropping a set of incredibly intricate wooden laser-cut wheels onto the hard ground while being they were passed around for a prop-making panel, and one panel straight-up being about breakdancing. It was awesome.
Secondly, there was an amazing Cosplay Contest held; it was incredibly difficult to get any quality pictures of the contestants, however sadly. As such there'll be none. But, to the third thing, everyone was cosplaying! It was wonderful to just walk around the convention center, as you'd be sure to find someone who would bring joy to your eyes or laughter to your heart.
Among the attendees of this convention, some characters I managed to find count to be the following:
An entire clan of Naruto cosplayers! ...And a Sailor!

The famous cosplayers from Japan, Kaname and Goldy as Ichigo and Alphonse Elric respectively.

(You either know who this is supposed to be, or you don't.)

And, finally, a suspiciously pretty Kaito!
All in all, it was great fun for the whole time. I hope that I can convince you, now, to go to next year's Anime Matsuri celebration should you have the means. It will be fabulous.
Next year, (2017), the convention is to be held April 7-9, at the same venue in Houston. Find out more here, on their site, whenever it may be updated.