Otakuism

And so the final element of any good harem is introduced: a ghost! Wait, what? Can you even have sex with that?

Isn’t it sad Sayochin?

In this stand alone episode we’re introduced to Sayo, the class’s resident ghost. She’s quite cute actually, very goofy for a ghost? Of course she’s overjoyed Negi can finally see her, but when they try to figure out why she’s a ghost, there’s a problem. She can’t remember anything! I guess it’s hard to form memories when your dead. So what better way to awaken those dead (literally) memories then terrifying all your classmates? I know I would do it. And that’s where the real fun begins.

A little set-up here. Secchan believes that by using this cup ” hotline ” she can be connected to her Ojou-sama’s room 24-hours a day. Clearly, Konoka shows her the fault in that plan. Why not use a cellphone? I wonder if Secchan is dumb, or if she is just to close to Konoka’s weirdness. Maybe Konoka’s the smart one of the pair? She does hold all the power in the relationship…

? Don’t ask me why Kaede is eating a bannana in a stripper’s biker outfit, with the tokimeki chicken no less.

Shota Stalker Iincho-san is scary, though that toaster is kinda cool. And +5 agility for Asuna’s wacky hair.

I love all the freakout faces. Notice the same legend of zelda background type used from paniponi? There seriously needs to be an omake battle, with Negi and Eva vs. Becky and Hazuki. An ultimate battle of the Loli’s! I predict Nekomimi win. Also, woohoo for the five-seconds of Mana! There’s an extreme lack of her awesome gun-slinging skills and exotic sexiness. If they would just animate the Kyoto arc…but I digress.

After the class see’s Sayo, due to some of Eva’s magic, she’s finally accepted into the class and gets her happy ending. Isn’t it wonderful Sayochin? Your still dead though.

I had been thinking about watching Gift~eternal rainbow~ since I saw some nice pictures of it, but I’ve never really had the time. However, after reading Jason’s review and with the slow release of other shows I’m watching, now I can try it out. And ,damn, I’m glad I have.

So far I’ve watched the first four episodes, and the basic plot is pretty simple. Amami Haruhiko is our main guy living in Narasakicho, which for some reason has an eternal rainbow. Who would’ve guessed that? Somehow true lovers can wish on this rainbow to get a miracle, or something like that. It’s only been used once so far. But of course this is a harem series, so who’s all the hot girls? Let’s introduce them.

Fukumine Riko is the main, perfect girl, moe, good cook, playful, pink hair, etc. The twist is that she’s also Haruhiko’s younger sister (actually their the same age and Haruhiko just has a complex about being called Onii-chan. Yeah he’s weird), though not by blood. She was just raised with him when they were young and had to leave when Haruhiko’s dad’s business went under. Now she’s back for her onii-chan. Or Kirino. I can’t tell yet, but there’s some weird subtext between them.

After Riko there’s Haruhiko’s other loli-sister type, Konosaka Kirino, the childhood friend who wakes him up every morning. She’s a pretty shy character who seems to say she’s sorry a lot. Also clearly loves Haruhiko but is too shy to tell him. Her and Riko seem to have had some weird relationship in the past, as Riko mentions a promise to Kirino, about Haruhiko I guess. Seems they’ve fought over him before.

Totally not the same person!

Now begins the periphery characters, who clearly won’t win at all but are just nice to look at. First is Fujimiya Chisa, Kirina’s friend who is also secretly a mahou shoujo that grants false wishes. Also carries around an annoying crow. Chisa proves all the other characters are stupid, as none of them can tell that her and the witch are the same person, even though her only disguise is a hat. She even has the same crow! She’ll probably be important to the plot later, as it seems she goes insane or something. Can’t wait for that.

Next is Kamishiro Yukari, Chisa’s maid. I have no idea why she needs a maid, or how that maid is also in school with her, especially when she looks a lot older. The sweet, mature girl who gets no screentime at all, which is a terrible crime. Also has the biggest breasts, which is why she needs more screentime.

Lesbian stalker is hated by all.

Finally is Hokazono Rinka, the badass sword wielding babe. Since when did every eroge feature a sword wielding girl? Thankfully she’s more talkative than Mai. Also suffers from severe lack of screentime. Comes with her own lesbian stalker accessory, Sato Nami, who even Rinka thinks is annoying.

Drama

The reason I’m liking Gift so far is it’s the first harem series since Shuffle (that I can remember) that’s had such drama between the characters. First, Haruhiko actually realizes he likes Riko (in ep. 3 amazingly) and confesses to her, just to be shot down by Riko who starts crying and saying she’s sorry, babbling about some promise to Kirino. This of course sours Haruhiko and Riko’s relationship, leading to Haruhiko’s friend Maki trying to get the two back to together through some fear trial in the woods, involving some wacky magic no less. However, things go wrong, and it’s Kirino who ends up in Haruhiko’s arms, in front of Riko no less! That whole segment of events just amazed me. The whole presentation just makes for good drama. Maybe I just haven’t watched a romance series in awhile, but it’s nice to see actual conflict between the girls, or at least emotional damage. Whole show so far reminds me of Shana and Yoshida. Now that was some great drama. Can’t wait to see where the bumpy road between Haruhiko, Riko, and Kirino leads.

Best animation so far. Seriously.

On the animation front Gift is pretty mediocre. Let’s just say it’s not Kanon material. It’s done by Oriental Light and Magic, and the whole animation seems like a mix between Shuffle and Studio Deen. Characters seem a little too skinny for their own good, and the fanservice isn’t that great or plentiful, though that doesn’t matter. Backgrounds could be better, as everything looks so drab and ugly. Fortunately the character designs are pretty cute, with Rinka’s being my favorite.

Gift isn’t something I originally thought of watching, but now that I’ve started I can’t get enough of it. If your tired of your Happiness, Otoboku, or ,godforbid, Kanon, give this a try. Not much worse you can do.

Another week, more music. Hataraki Man OP and NHK’s second OST reviews this time.

Hataraki Man’s OP is Hataraku Otoko by Puffy. In my opinion it’s a wonderful rock song, and another great song from this excellent music season. It’s a quirky song that fits Hataraki perfectly. Anyone who’s seen the subs knows the lyrics are an ode to the plights of the working woman. I really like Puffy’s voice. It’s very real sounding (unlike certain Jpop songs I’ve heard). Also included on the single are two other songs, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Don’t Bring me Down (Bruce!). Yes the later one is a cover of the awesome ELO song. Mad props for it being sung in fluent english. Same thing for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (the english part, not the ELO part). It’s a nice alt-rock ballad. Reccomend this as another great OP release from this season.

Next is the second NHK OST Sunny Side ni Youkoso. Kind of odd for me to be reviewing this since I stopped watching NHK at ep. 12, but the first OST was so good I had to try it. Fortunately it met my expectations. Much like the first OST there’s an eclectic mix of styles, with rock, jazz, blues, pop, and other really random stuff. There’s at least one track you’ll like. Some of the stuff is new, while other pieces are remixes of old stuff. All really good though. And for good measure there’s the full pururin release (though I had that for download a month ago). Even if I don’t the the anime series that much, the music is always awesome. Pearl Kyodai has delivered another great soundtrack.

Favorite Tracks:
Modokashii Sekai no Ue de -piano ver.- nice piano instrumental obviously.
Nippon Bikikomori Kyoukai no Theme - Official theme for the NHK. Awesome hard rock track. Reminds me of Yakitake Japan for some reason.
Gosui ni Tarasu Tsuri Ito - slow remix of an old track. Feels very sad to me.
Fushigi Purupuru Pururin Rin! - Nothing to say here.
Happiness ni Youkoso! - Nice ballad between Otsuki Kenji and the seiyuu for Misaki.
Other releases this week (there’s a lot).

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto ED Single - Ai no Tsurugi [TAKAKO AND THE CRAZY BOYS]
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto OP Single - Kouya Ruten [FictionJunction YUUKA]
Black Blood Brothers OST
Busuo Renkin OP - Makka na Chikai [Fukuyama Yoshiki]
Chevelier OST
Galaxy Angel 2 Character CD Vol. 4 - Kahlua (Tequila) Marjoram [Hirano Aya et al]
Galaxy Angel 2 Character CD Vol. 5 - Lily C. Sherbert [Nakayama Erina et al]
Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society OST
Gift ~eternal rainbow~ ED Single - Kokoro Niji wo Kakete [Fujiya Misato]
Sumomo mo Momo mo ED Single - No Rock No Life [HoneyBee]
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi SOS Dan Radio Shibu OP ED Single [Hirano Aya & Chihara Minori & Goto Yuko]
Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro na Crescent Love ED Single - Crescent Love ~Tsuki no Namida~ [Nabatame Hitomi]
BLEACH Movie - MEMORIES OF NOBODY Main Theme Single - Sen no Yoru wo Koete [Aqua Timez]
Jyukai - Wild Flower
Happiness OST
Gintama ED3 Single - Yuki no Tsubasa [redballoon]
La Corda d’Oro ~primo passo~ OP Single - Brand New Breeze [Kanon]
Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! ED Single - Venus Dream [Satou Hiromi]
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge OP Single - slow [Kiyoharu]
Gundam SEED~SEED DESTINY BEST ‘THE BRIDGE’ Across the Songs from GUNDAM SEED & GUNDAM SEED DESTINY
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX OP3 - Teardrop Karappo no Ryoute ni [BOWL]

As usual you can get all these releases and more at Nipponsei.

So the whole star crystal arc is done for now, and all I can say is ” Megane Nodoka ftw! Ichijou Konoka ftw! Konoka x Secchan ftw! Chupacabra ftw! “. Ok, clearly I like Negima!? too much, but I can’t help it when all the characters are so cute. Let’s do a run down of who got to shine in this arc.

First is Nokoka. She finally got her wish to kiss Negi, and made a contract with him while she did it. Nodoka seems a little to eager to kiss a 12-year-old. Nodoka has some mad hax powers apparently. She can read minds, have access to all knowledge in existence, AND look cute in glasses! That last one is pretty important. She had a lot of cute moments, like saying out loud what Chamo was thinking about all his lies, and enjoying it too! She has a surprising evil streak. Best moment I think was when she confronted possessed Chisame, and found out she was just fighting her too take Nodoka’s number one net idol spot (that she didn’t even know about). Nodoka’s expression was priceless! I wonder what such a shy girl like her thinks about being followed by /b/tards?

Next up is the ambigiously gay duo of Konoka and Secchan aka. Setsuki. I though the yuri overtones were just for the OVA’s, but their even in the series, just not as blatant. I love how embarassed Secchan was at the thought of her “in-direct kiss” with Konoka. The two shine apart from eachother too though. Konoka keeps reminding me of Ichijou, both with her facial expressions and how spacy she seems. For instance, Konoka’s fortune telling is wonderfully weird. I didn’t know you could tell the future by heating eggs on stoves. Secchan had plenty of ” damn, that’s cool ” moments, mainly when she got her contract and grew angel wings. When she was fighting I kept expecting to hear ” amekkeru ryu no hirameki! “. I’m surprise there’s no rurouni kenshin references yet.

It’s a shop. I can tell from the pixels, and having seen quite a few shops in my day.

KATTO KATTO KATTO KATTO KATTO KATTO KATTO KATTO KATTO KATTO

…don’t ask.

The other girls had plenty of small moments though. The whole chupacabra subplot is so random, I just don’t know what to say about it. Maybe I should just sing ” Chupa-chupa-chupacabra~! “? Chisame had a nice seen in ep. 5, revealing her true net idol self. She really is kind of crazy isn’t she? Reminds me of that doujin by the eva re-take group. I hate the annoying frog and cat characters with a passion. Their nothing better than a plot device to get things done quickly. Just leave already! Ok that’s done. The animations taken a down turn I think in quality, but it’s still very unique. I think it’s a lot weirder than paniponi though. There’s too many random statues and settings. I wish it would be more realistic like tsukuyomi. Still it never gets boring I guess. As long as it’s not Yoake QUALITY it will do.

Sayo’s wonderfully sad story next time, hopefully with an appearance by Mana.

Another route finished, this time Ciel’s.

I found Ciel’s storyline boring in the beginning, but it really picks up speed after Shiki kills Nero. I never realized how great a character Ciel is. The confrontation between her and Shiki was one of the high points of the story. Her staring you down with the seventh scripture, Shiki’s internal monologue, wondering if she’s gonna kill you. It was all terribly dramatic. She really is the opposite of Arcueid though, being serious all the time. She is incredibly badass though, with the whole seventh scripture gun, black barrel, etc. I think Nasu has an obsession with sword spamming characters (see: Archer, Gil, Shirou).

Oddly enough Roa gets a lot more attention here than in Arcueid’s story, even though he’s more of her enemy than Ciel’s. Technically you even kill Roa halfway in, but he sticks around inside Shiki. I don’t think of Roa as so weak now that I know all of his story. Every reincarnation was not Roa, but a copy of Roa with his same ideal and memories. Or as Arcueid puts it, it’s the same as his descendants having the same goal. It’s kind of sad how all of the pain he caused could of been avoided if he just realized he loved Arcueid when he first saw her. I would even say the way he disappeared in the good ending was almost gar, saying how when the object disappears, the observer goes with it. That’s an awesome ending.

what I didn’t like was Arcueid, as she seemed completely different here. She was never really the bubbly airhead but always angry and selfish. She just fell in love with Shiki and wanted him for herself throughout. When you kill her in the true ending, and she decides to come kill you, that was pretty damn scary actually. While in Arcueid’s route you could never believe her as a vampire, here you see her as a bloodthirsty vampire all the time. It doesn’t even mention how she’s fighting against drinking blood I think.

Of the two endings I actually liked the true one more. It was very climatic and tense with Arcueid hunting Shiki down and him having to kill himself. Then there’s the entire dream sequence and Shiki talking with his eight year old self. I really didn’t understand all of that part, but it was beautifully written I think. Shiki and Ciel ending up together felt more romantic than Arcueid’s to me. More realistic maybe? Nah, all the romance is actually unrealistic, but oh well. The good ending was alright, but the moment you chose it all the tension just crashed. Ciel and Arcueid are literally arguing over how to cure Shiki while he dies! Though it was nice to finally see care free Arcueid again, and the scene where she kisses Shiki in front of Ciel was hilarious!

Now I’m gonna do Akiha’s route and see Satsuki’s story. Is it sad Sachin?

Of course as everyone knows by now Type-Moon is releasing a new installment of their Fate series at Comiket 71. As a rabid TM fanboy I have to comment on this. All that’s known right now is it’s going to be a prequel taking place in the fourth Heaven’s Feel war. Interestingly enough, this is a collaberation with Nitro+, my favorite campy game maker (see: Demonbane). According to Shingo, Urobuchi Gen is doing the writing based off concepts from Nasu. This is interesting, as I don’t understand why Nasu would hand over the writing when he’s so good at it. Is he busy with other projects, say…Tsukihime 2 anyone? TM say’s this is a visual novel and canon, so I think it’ll be a kinetic novel like planetarian, with no choices or anything and relatively short. I wonder how long they’ve worked on this? Here’s the official site.

Like I said this is a prequel in the fourth holy grail war, so there’s some things we already know. Hopefully the main focus will be on the rivalry between Emiya Kiritsugu and Kotomine Kirie. Like I’ve said before Kotomine fascinates me, so focusing on his past is great. We’ll definately see more Saber, in a suit no less, and Gilgamesh. Tohsaka Tokiomi, Rin’s father, who is killed by Kotomine, will also be central I think. Also interesting to note in the promo video there’s one silhouette that’s unfamiliar. Ilya’s mother anyone? I wonder who all the servants will be? We have Saber, Gilgamesh as Archer, Iskander (King Alexander in persian, with power equal to Gilgamesh) as Rider, and a Hassan as Assassin. That leaves a Caster, Lancer, Berserker. No idea about Caster or Lancer, but Achilles seems like a good choice, being another greek hero and all. Ah so much speculation. Never been a better time to be a TM fan. Now how about a Kara no Kyoukai anime? License? I’m looking at you Seven Sea’s. Now I’m off to finish Ciel’s route (review this weekend after turkeyhandle day).

Visual novels at their finest.

Finally Al|together 2006 is done. Apparently it took Haeleth and others a bit of time do get everything ready. My thanks to everyone who worked on this wonderful project. Main page here.

For those who don’t know, Al|together started last year and is basically an event where people translate free doujin visual novels for us japanese iliterate masses. Of course the original material, not the translations, is mostly low quality, but you can find some surprisingly good stories in most of them. I have yet to play anything entirely of this years cropping. I started on Red Shift, but then Tsukihime came and took my life away, so yeah that’s on hold. Maybe I’ll review some of the more interesting ones when I can find time to play them. A couple things are already looking good to me, like the world to reverse, or visions from the other side, as it has pics of a blood-covered miko (as seen above). Gotta know what’s that about.

In other visual novel news, the notoriously violent, bloody, and animated eroge School Days is getting an anime in 2007. All I can say is let the killing begin! It’s by the studio that did SHUFFLE so we should get some good freak out animation.