Merry Christmas!!

It’s December 25th and you know what that means! It’s Christmas time! Or in more “politcally correct” terms “The Holidays”. Even though I am Asian and Buddhist I do celebrate Christmas because it was what I was brought up on. Christmas was a time where the family members got together, wore stupid sweaters, and tried frantically to get through that wrapping paper around the presents with all their might. As times change and you got older you realised that you had to start buying presents for others and that it was really hard to do so cause you always think “what if they don’t like it?”. Thank God for the almight Gift Cards.

In animes Christmas usually follows a familiar formula. They have the so called Christmas Cake, there’s a Christmas part, someone is trying to confess their profound love, and lotsa snow. Personally I think the Japanese did Christmas right…at least with the idea of Santa. Here’s a comparion (click to enlarge):

Tama-nee

Vs

Santa Claus

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Winter Break and TV/Dungeon Crawling

Alicia, Akari, Snowfly, and President Aria near a comfy fireplace. Wish I was there.

Well it is currently 5:30 AM and I still can’t fall asleep so I figured since I had time now I should update the blog whilst drinking warm milk and listening to an Aria OST. Both Nodonn and I (along with many people) are on winter break right now and usually for me that means a few things: catching up with friends, trying to finish some video games, trying to finish some animes, staying up late, and holiday shopping. I’ve mostly been focusing on the finishing video games and anime part, I will however be Christmas shopping tomorrow.

The games I’m trying to finish?

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Exams

Exams have been putting the hurt on any sort of entertainment I partake in. Whether it’s video games, anime, or just reading a book. Studying non-stop is melting my brain.

So, to all of you out there studying right now for an upcoming exam, or who have already taken the exam, GOOD LUCK! I know I’ll need all I can get.

How I study for finals.

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Winter 2009 Anime Watch List

So 2008 is coming to a close and that also includes the 2008 anime year. What a year this has been ladies and gentlemen, Code Geass R2, Soul Eater, Natsume Yuujinchou, Aria the Origination, and well…I could go on for a long time but there’s the power of the internet. So now that THIS year is over with what do we have to look forward to NEXT year?

Click to Enlarge

Gathered from various sources the above list contains almost all the info you need to know when selecting what to view so you won’t need me to bog things down by explaining every detail. It has release dates, animation studio, and some good descriptions of the plot. The only thing it doesn’t have is a list of the Seiyuus, but you can look that up via MyAnimeList (a great site to keep track of what you have watched) or ANN. Both are great websites.

Usually the Winter 2009 animes are mostly continuations from the fall or sequels (as seen below) and a lot of the sequels and continuations will be on my watch list. There are also a few new shows which look promising (EXCEPT Hetalia, seriously WTF). There will also be quite a few OVA releases but a few of those are for pre-existing animes.

So for the curious here is my watch list (which I may blog about):

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Eve no Jikan: Most overlooked new anime.

Eve no Jikan has to be one of, if not THE, most overlooked anime this year. I would guess that this is because it is a short OVA that comes out in 2 month intervals. But, despite this, I think everyone should give it a shot. Despite being overlooked, I would say that it is one of the best anime to come out this year. Check out the trailer (wish it was subbed).

I would compare it roughly to a previous anime I reviewed on here: Kamichu! Though, they both are different genre’s (this is Sci-fi), and have wildly different plots, they both have a few things in common. Both have fantastic art, both have great storytelling, and both have characters that fit every scene perfectly. Though I would give Eve the edge on storytelling, Kamichu! was a little cliche at times. 

Eve centers around two high schoolers with very different personalities.  In this anime’s universe, it is the not-so-distant future, and androids that are very human-like in appearance have become extremely common. They do everything from household chores to becoming “sex-bots.” 

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Anime Figures have left me in despair (or the economy)

Time to talk about something anime and otaku related. With anime the subculture branches off into many other subcultures such as Mecha figure building (like Gunplas), Cosplaying, Doujin/Doujinshi (the former being “indie” works while the latter is pron manga), Eroge/Galge (Hentai games), and my current obsession Anime Figurines.

My Anime Figure collecting frenzy started about 2-3 years ago right around the end of high school. Before that I had purchase some small Rurouni Kenshin and Naruto mini collectible figures but those weren’t really important. My first REAL Anime Figure was my 1/8th scale Max Factory Alicia Florence figure which is pictured below.

As an Aria anime fan it was a HUGE purchase mainly because it was one of my favorite characters in the series. The figure was very well done, capturing the essence of Alicia and chubby little President Aria. It is a pretty hard to find fig because it sold out very fast. At the time of purchase I paid around $57.00 USD + Shipping so around $70.00 USD and I believe the exchange ratio at that time was $ USD = 110 JPY (Japanese Yen). $70.00 well spent I may add.

I was now traveling down the very money consuming road of figure purchasing.

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I Wish I Was a Middle Scool God!

Over thanksgiving weekend I picked up an anime I hadn’t heard a lot about, despite its age, and decided to watch it in a straight shot. This was on top of the normal over-eating and drunken debauchery. It was a good break from the new anime season (which has its good and bad moments), and from some older series I was watching. 

I had run across “Kamichu!” while surfing around the web.  I figured I love Slice-of-life anime, and I’m a sucker for moe girls, so why the hell not. It ended up being fantastic — though, I may be bias because I love slice-of-life anime.  At only 16 episodes, it can’t hurt.

The story revolves around Yurie Hitotsubashi, a middle school student who wakes up to find she is a god. In this world gods are common; they seem to have great influence. It shows how she develops as a god, and as a person. I would say the over-arching theme is a romance between her and a boy in her class, but it is only a backdrop to the sub-plots in every episode. I’m not going to say this plot is the most original, but it pulls off tried-and-true devices better than most.

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