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. 

2016 February 26ᵗʰ. Death Parade!

おはよう!

Well, I mean...
For next week I have planned to do this same anime again, but as a review. I had been told by my friend, who suggested this to me to begin with, that it is not, in fact, entirely about killing unborn children with darts. Plus, the first episode only had one of the several main-looking characters in the opening.
So, I'll get a chance to laugh at how wrong I am about something! Finally!

今日

Hello. Is it me you're looking for?
Ahem, I mean, *excited yet incredibly serious tone*, today's anime is Death Parade.

Decim, the boring.

Its name in Japanese is "Desu Pareedo," which is not incredibly exciting; just a transliteration into Japanese of the English title.
Anywho, what happened in this one episode I saw was that some couple unwittingly decided which of them could go to heaven and which to hell over a game of darts, with many dramatic plot twists and dead babies along the way. Obviously, if this was the whole show, I'd go straight to a 2/10 rating, (Didn't I used to do those? Ratings?) but luckily its true purpose is totally unestablished by the first episode. Hooray?
With knowing practically nothing about this show, then, I shall list off some predictions to hopefully correct later.

• Decim, the bartender arbiter-of-the-damned fellow, will probably have some sort of confrontation that changes how he feels about his patrons
• If he has coworkers, they must take turns or something with different sets of games.
• Rules of a game will be broken. At least once.
• There'd better be at least one human who stays in limbo with them, maybe they could be the main character.

Anyhow, this post is just terrible since I really don't want to talk about what actually happened in the episode, y'know, since I was warned it was irrelevant and all.
So, with all that, I'm out of here.
If you want to beat me to watching the rest of this, perhaps, here is the link on Crunchy--
Oh, wait, no it's not. Because Funimation took exclusive streaming rights in America. Again. God bleep it.
Here on Kissanime, and here on Animehaven.

2016 February 19ᵗʰ. No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular!

おはよう!

Whelp, I've exhausted my to-see anime list. That went by waaaay faster than I thought it would. Now, then, there was one anime I had really wanted to do an impression of, but held off since I had promised the others, but now...
...I forgot what it was.
Dang, I feel old. My last birthday was only a couple weeks ago; I'm already feeling the years piling on...

You whippersnappers get off my blog!

今日

This one, I thought I'd love this one.
Nooooope.
The protagonist's name is Tomoko. Kuroki Tomoko. I thought she looked like a fairly cute little loli in what pictures I'd seen of the show, but now that I've watched it, I am just... Disturbed. Yes.
Now, to business. This anime's full title in Japan is Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!, translated into English as No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! Which is quite a mouthful, no matter where you come from. In light of that, it has been given the wonderfully succinct nickname of Watamote. Thank dog.
This anime seems to be about the tribulations of one socially awkward girl, fresh into highschool, who struggles with the fact that she can't seem to get herself to become popular. I wouldn't say that the show is cringe-worthy, because that seems quite unfair. It's clearly hyperbole on modern asocial or introverted behaviour, which is actually quite severe in Japan. But, the anime did make me uncomfortable. Very, very uncomfortable. I, myself, used to be incredibly introverted, and still am to a good degreee; but the kind of humour used in the show reminds me of a few morally darker, real people that I know. It made me feel strange indeed.

Muttering out a tiny "Goodbye." Seems about right.

Including my slightly shifted perspective on it, I didn't really like Watamote much at all; though some parts did make me laugh, I think the humour just wasn't for me.

I, for one, have many a-times gone to check out something I've heard negative reviews of; simply because I know the large difference between the reviewer and I, and some of the things they hated just sound devilishly good to me. In this, I hope that some of you will check out this show as well; since I'm just being a strange, grumpy Cire over it.

There are parodied brands all over this anime, it's great.

Or, maybe, if you're sensitive or do not at all enjoy tongue-in-cheek humour, you won't check it out, and I may have saved you some time in your day.
Either way, I can hardly stop whatever your heart desires, so here's the link on Crunchyroll.
Here on Kissanime, and here on Animehaven.

2016 February 12ᵗʰ. Free!

おはよう!

Ah. Ha ha. I did not have this in mind back in October. Free!, of all things.
Though by this point I think my mind's already as shattered as Link's personalities, so nothing makes sense anymore.
On another note, I've been starting way too many sentences with the word "So" recently. I think I've been cursed.

今日

So!
...Dang it
Today's anime is the oh-so-popular and not-at-all controversial Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club, (as the first season is known). Watching this, I felt all sorts of perplexed. But let's not get into that; the anime seemed okay. From the first episode, all I can really say is that further testing is necessary. (Well, all I can say besides the rest of this). Rin, the purple-haired boy you see in the .gif yonder seems to be quite the dynamic character so far, leaving the largest gap between his childhood and the present. Presumably, further on in the anime, we'll learn all about his four-or-so years of sexual abuse by his Australian swim coach. I can't wait~!

Er, on another, more technical note, this show has nice graphics. And I don't just mean nice 'views,' (if you're into that), the show actually has a nice mix of good animation and the occasional computer-generated bit. It invoked intense feelings best described, ironically, as 'Not bad.' Honestly, it's 4:30 AM early on a Friday as I write this and I have no idea what I'm talking about anymore. I'm just going to end this here.
If you want to see this show, (I liked it oωo) here's the--
WAIT A MINUTE
I just... I entirely forgot to mention at all what this anime was about. Here's the rundown:
Some child swimming-prodigy, Nanase, seems to have a rivalry brewing with his friend and former grade school swimming-clubmate, Rin. Some neat stuff occurs and the entirety of Nanase and Rin's old club happens to meet up in a new, fancy highschool. about four years later. Fanservice-y shenanigans ensue. ...And swimming. Mostly swimming.
SO!
...Dang it
If you've any desire to see something that sounds even remotely like that, then here's the link on Crunchyroll.
Remember, the first season is Iwatobi Swim Club, at the bottom of the page on Crunchyroll. The second is called Eternal Summer. That being said, here's the link on Kissanime, and here on Animehaven. Have fun!

Postscript: Animehaven has started to use pop-up ads that open in new windows when you first get on the site, and I am just about ready to rip the [ᴇxᴘʟᴇᴛɪᴠᴇ] off of whoever originally thought that would be a good idea as an advertising mechanism.
...Now have a good day. See ya'.

2015 February 5ᵗʰ. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

おはよう!

*In monotone* "Hi, I'm Cire, and I'm addicted to anime…"
*Rest of group, in unison* "Hi Cire."

今日

So!
Today's anime happens to be the wonderfully succinctly-named Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darō ka, known to most English speakers as Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, or simply abbreviated to DanMachi.
For the sake of the eyes and hearts of the people I hold dear, I will use in this the quick "DanMachi." Sound good?

I could have never seen this nice, pretty crystal!

Now! Onto the good stuff!
First things first: This post is a bit of a misnomer in its typing, Impression, as I have actually been exposed to this project before—when I read the light novels.
That said, I did only read the first two light novels. When I had heard there was an anime adaptation coming for it, I was quite excited. Though it did surprise me greatly that the entirety of the first two novels is covered in the first two episodes. So, of course, I stopped watching so I could catch up with the books before I continued.
Sliiiiiight problem with that: I never went back and read the rest.
Just to think—I may've never have seen the beautiful Loli goddess in GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOR! The humanity!
But, I digress.

Bell: a name, befitting, that
strikes fear into the hearts of all.

DanMachi! This is an anime about the adventurer Bell Cranel, the sole member of the dirt-poor clan of the goddess Hestia.
His power is dubious at best. He likely could not be invited into any of the more established guilds, such as that of Loki…
It's not told in the books, to my memory, nor in the anime how he joined the "Familia"—guild—of Hestia. We can all come to our own conclusions on that. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
But, as it seems, he is quite attached to his rank. I can appreciate that loyalty. The story begins, however, with an encounter by Bell with a dangerous monster. Oh no, the horror!

This beastie, the Minotaur, is the first we see of the creatures of the Dungeon. And, presumably, for some, the last they see; as it seems to be far beyond the capabilities of Cranel to handle. Not that that's saying much, but still…
Luckily, some seemingly deus-ex-machina bullsh*t (No pun intended) happens, and Bell gets out of it mostly unscathed.
The story progresses nice and smoothly,

Magical crystals are collected, lolis are begrumped. The usual. Until, suddenly…

CATGIRLS?!

Not this scheisse again... Er, I mean, oh my gosh. Wonderful. Cue my imminent seizures of joy.

To save you from having to see or hear that, I now present you with an ultimatum:
Walk away now, or take this link, to watch the show on Crunchyroll.

Here are the links on Kissanime, and on Animehaven. 

2016 January 29ᵗʰ. Log Horizon!

おはよう!

Oh gosh, I'm getting anxious over the next post. Please, no one spoil Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? for me ;^_;

I'm on to you...

今日

So-ho-ho, Log Horizon. Or, uhm, Rogu Horaizun as the katakana would have it.
The most recognizable thing about this anime to most people would be that it has clearly taken inspiration from .hack, the same source as the wildly popular Sword Art Online.

.hack//G.U. Dang, I loved that game.

I think you can clearly see that I know nigh nothing about this anime—seeing as how I almost typed that it was secondary inspiration for SAO, despite apparently having been released two years after the aforementioned subject of this post. (Thanks, Wikipedia, for your fact-checking glory.)
SO, INTO THE CONTENT.
    The first thing I am greeted by as I pop into the first episode of this anime is, you guessed it, demon weasels.

Why is it always demon weasels?

Well, really Briar Weasels as they call them. But still, ankle-nibbling little devils—what I call them.

After this, we get to see some nice introduction into what the h*ll is actually going on in this place filled with evil plants and magical balls:
Shockingly, the wonderful game the loved and played and loved to play seems to have captured all of its online players within itself. Who ever could have predicted such a thing.
Anyways, the usual happens; alliances form, cute lolis are met, and someone ends up going through a painful physical metamorphosis. Just like every Wednesday.
After that, however, something quite interesting is revealed: Their prison, the game Elder Tale, is mapped onto the real shape of the Japanese archipelago.

All in all, as I tire from writing, I would watch more. If you watched SAO and hated all the love and peace nonsense, this seems to be a good anime for you, too. Thumbs up. *Ding*
So, if you plan on giving it a try, here is the link on Crunchyroll.
Here are the links on the aptly named LogHorizonEpisodes(.com), and on Kissanime.
Happy leveling!

2016 January 22ⁿᵈ. God Eater!

おはよう!

Blame the reason you're not seeing Spice and Wolf today on Holo's wolf titties.

That little troll.

今日

God Eater!
That font for the title just irks me; in EATER it uses what looks like greek sigmas (Σ) for the E's, despite it being pronounced GOD SATSR.
Although the R is an appropriate nordic-runic R. So that's nice. But inconsistent.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT TYPOGRAPHY!
Today's impression is God Eater. From what I had heard about this show beforehand, it was almost an identical clone of Attack on Titan.
From what I've seen, I have to agree.
I mean, come on. Seriously? Lookie here, a big circular wall surrounding the last bastions of humanity from the outside giants.
I mean, the backstory is different. (As far as I know, I've not read the full backstory for Shingeki no Kyōjin.)
But still,
Seriously?
*Muffled sounds of grumpiness*
But, alas, all is forgiven. Y'see, how could anyone stay angry at this anime? No way could that happen, not with...

GIANT BAD*** GUN-SWORDS

I'm sorry. I had to.

But in all seriousness, the anime was okay.

...A little bit under okay. I didn't really like it. The animation looked like cel-shading, it made me really quite uncomfortable.

The story behind it seemed kind of average, as well.

If you really still want to watch it, I'm not stopping you.

So here is the link on Crunchyroll.

Here is the link on Daisuki, and here on... Hulu? I am so aggravated by Hulu, I'm not even going to check if that link works. But if it tickles you, you may try that site to watch it.

See ya'!