lucky star ova

LUCKY STAR OVA
studio : Kyoto Animation
director : Yasuhiro Takemoto
serial run : September 26, 2008
total episodes : 1
score : ****

credit to tappika of crunchyroll for the sub. however i'll be waiting for a.f.k. or any other fansub group to do their retake on the ova, and srs'ly someone please givvadamn on subbing the lucky channel portion for i am highly intrigued on knowing what on earth is going on between akira and minoru :3

anyway it was a fun watch all along, and as usual the plot reeks of references to the otaku culture and thus those outside of the loop may find lucky star as boring and impalatable to their taste for the excessive talks [ i once heard a comment from one of my junior on how superior is bleach's joke / comedy when compared to lucky star's lol wut ]. also the ova is not to be missed for one of lucky star's most defining aspect is the truckload of parodies of the japanese pop culture which will surely brings you down to your knees lol-ing.

the ova unfolds in six different sets of stories seen from the perspective[s] of selected characters :

01. cherry to minami. told from the perspective of minami iwasaki and / or her dog cherry, this sketch focuses on the random interaction[s] between minami's friends and her pet dog which mysteriously went uber lax that very day. there's not much stuff happening in this set as minami herself wasn't that much of an engaging character as the fab 4 was, however thanks to patricia martin who jots down her usual pseudo-japanese gags which somewhat brings me down to a burst of lol, as well as yutaka's childish [ moe~~~ ] moments wif cherry. and +1 for hiyorin getting combo-ed by cherry :3

02. the lucky party. revolving on the online conversation between [ mainly ] konata izumi, nanako kuroi and kagami hiiragi [ while tsukasa remains silent most of the time due to her inexperience wif online / in game chat ] within a [ new ? also seeing from the level they had at the beginning of the brief ] mmorpg. expect usual gaming rants between the two hardcores konata and nanako while kagamin butts in between chat trying to seek a place within the convo. also wth- hare hare yukai rofl.

03. a tsunderella story. set from kagamin's perspective this brief story pokes fun at kagamin's tsundere quality whereupon konata unleashes a barrage of teasing towards kagamin as well as a series of 2D cosplaying [ much to my joy ]. this brief's probably geared towards them fans of kagamin x konata seeing from the 'magical reset word' incantated by kagamin at the end of her dream :3

04. sisters rivalry. a volleyball game seen from tsukasa's point of view. this time we get to see how sad it is to be a side-chara [ lol ], being over-shadowed by a much more prominent existance such as an elder twin sister who's often being praised and excels in everything she does. seeing tsukasa tries her best to topple the shadow of her sister will prob'ly help many of those who shares the same fate as her IRL to never give up to their fate as well as to try on breaking their destined side-chara role lol.

05. lost in the jungle. miyuki takara recollects a memory of a trip she had wif her friends, getting lost in a jungle [ mainly thanks to konata ] while listening to a series of ghost stories recited by none other than konata. as the brief came to its end konata's cell finally get a reception and the party was later scolded hard by nanako sensei, but not wifout having some happy-curry-end :3

06. the final set is a disturbing, psychologically intriguing medley of parodies [ sayonara zetsubou sensei, keroro gunsou, code geass etc ] weaved together in the image of serial experiments lain. it is quite a haunting set of all wif the brooding gamelan-esque bgm helps in driving the chill in me towards the froggy end lol. also there's the AFK JOKE LOLWUT. i remember facing the same situation as well [ in y!m ] back then :3

i am now content wif my raki suta watch and hopefully the series would just end here wif the ova since i do think that resuming the series for another serial run will only ruin the mood set by the finale of the tv series.

code geass r2

CODE GEASS R2
studio : Sunrise
director : Goro Taniguchi
serial run : April 6, 2008 - September 28, 2008
total episodes : 25
score : ****1/2

[ disclaimer : this post will contain heavy praising[s] on lelouch, and thus it is safe for those who are not so fond of him to quit reading the following post on the double before you end up puking blood on the floor :3 ]

ALL HAIL LELOUCH- *SOB* T^T

and so the story has come to an end, and thankfully it ends well with a humongous blast. for once, suzaku has proven his worth, wiping off the stereotypical emo-brat image he had from back then in exchange for a new, fresh start thanks to lelouch, also zero requiem isn't just lelouch's brilliant plot to free the world from malice and despair, yet it also serve as a retribution platform for both suzaku and lelouch to atone for whatever mistake they had after all these times.

...

i almost shed my tears on this finale, and truthfully speaking i was deeply moved by lelouch's determination to carry on his final act of which seems a bit unfair to the man himself after what he had done in order to reclaim the future as well as securing peace while the world at large is still in dark of his contribution. it is also quite an ironic fate for lelouch to be the one who'll be putting an end to the curse his [ brittanian ] family has set upon the world, doubling the heroic value he had within himself.

i am still resenting those kurokishidan remnants esp. xing ke [ who used to boast himself for being on par wif lulu when it comes to strategic thinking ] and ohgi [ well he's a weak strategist and is not even worth a mentioning to begin wif so i'll spare him from my sorry ] as well as cornelia for not being able to grasp lulu's end ideal despite his move is pretty much obvious the moment he took schneizel down from the game. twice the pity to karen for realising in in the final moment, however i am glad that she's one of the few people who may forever remember lelouch while the world slowly begins to forsake him from their history. the finale as well is a tragic end for nunnally [ it must be quite a great pain for her to bear ever since the death of marianne ], for now she has lost almost everything [ however there's still suzaku to stay by her side, fulfilling his pact wif lelouch to watch over her when he's no longer around ] as the price for a better future to herself, the greatest gift she ever had from her loving brother.

...

overall code geass r2 is way much stronger than the first season [ which disturbingly ends in a cliffhanger, yet is understandable when you came to watch the first 12 block of the second season ], that is for me. the way them writers weaves the story somewhat excels in keeping me intact from the beginning until the very end wif the many tragic drama and awesome tactical moments in between each others, creating an almost perfect balance between serious plot and chill out moments. there's also the uberlicious character development of almost the entire cast save for a number of minor ones, wif suzaku being one of those receiving major uplifting in his character, followed by c.c, kallen as well as jeremiah gottwald [ what an ironic epilogue he had, to be living a quiet life in an orange orchard lol ]

lelouch prob'ly is one of the greatest fictional [ tragic ] hero ever in anime history [ though there will be some who may not agree ] for he's willing enough to carry such a heavy yet painful [ and lonely ] burden no hero would've ever done so. and unlike kira of whom he is often being compared to, lelouch's way of thinking and doing things seems much more agreeable despite the many sacrifices and bloodfest offered towards his endeavor. i am also glad to see the end suzaku, despite my mild-hatred towards him from the earlier episodes / season. i can somewhat accept the man he is now even wifout the final 'geass' bestowed upon him by lulu.

hopefully, code geass will remain ended this way. i don't wish for an epilogue ova depicting lulu to be alive for i think his death is better left at it. giving life back to him will only contradicts his zero requiem ideal and thus brings forth great injustice to the man.

R.I.P. LELOUCH

evangelion : 1.0 you are [ not ] alone

EVANGELION : 1.0 YOU ARE [ NOT ] ALONE
studio : Studio Khara
director : Hideaki Anno [ Chief ] / Masayuki / Kazuya Tsurumaki
theatrical run : September 1, 2007 [ Japan ]
total episodes : part 1 of 4
score : ****1/2

after being kept waiting for months finally i get to have my watch on this [ personally ] highly anticipated evangelion feature movie [ i was left behind during the exclusive malaysian screening much thanks to the piling work i had in tow ] from the comfy of my couch.

the movie weren't actually my first experience wif the eva series for i've been wif the 26 episodes serial run as well as the two theatrical movies [ which were supposedly aimed towards them angry fanboys who either fail to decipher the message or were rather disappointed wif the ambiguous end from the original tv series ], and frankly speaking unlike many [ self-proclaimed fans ] who would've rant on how superior the parent series was [ and how bad the rebuilt one is from their perspective ] i am thoroughly satisfied and deeply impressed with what i have seen from the entire 98 minutes run despite the movie itself were just a big fat recap. oh and btw i never was a fan of recaps, however this movie is an exclusive exception :3

honestly said, the movie is a much more refined product when compared to the parent series it was reimagined from albeit the huge ommitance of scenes and certain notable events [ for instance, almost half of the 'hedgehog's dilemma' plotdrive were ommited, resulting in notable loss in chara development in exchange for a quicker pace in storytelling ] which has driven most of the so-called-loyalists to the point of despair.

most of the redrawn scenes seen throughout the movie stays uberly close to the old ones, and if one didn't pay much attention on them will most likely to mistaken them for a complete cut and paste from the old tv series. my greatest highlight mostly comes from the operation : yashima scene; man that part was definitely a sight to behold, all those artillery barrage and ranged bombings upon the angel as well as the magnificent transforming instances by ramiel, i can always have some more of that indeed. also the music itself were mostly derived from those of the original score back then, giving you some sort of nostalgic feel [ and the classic chill of an epic proportion ] across the entire run.

the titular eva mechs has now been given partial / complete redesign and is much sleekier though hated by some; eva 01 now even glows in the dark lol. while the new design retains some of its key features / appearance such as the shoulder blades [ or whatever you call it ] the armor now seems to be much more streamlined and practical with more segmental builts [ pay attention to the abdominal area of eva 01 ] once seen in the [ big fail nuclear-powered copycat ] jet alone model mech from the tv series. rei's unit 00 however remained mostly unchanged save for its coloring scheme.

rei is as moe as she always were but not without the same cold and aloof personality of her which has been recycled and adopted by many other similar characters throughout the years / decades. and thanks to this movie, we get to see some 'never before seen tee-hee-hee' part of her >///> also interesting to note is that shinji is a bit less emo in the movie in contrast to how he was in the serial run [ as well as the two previous theatrical releases ]. misato is as flirty and babelicious as how she always were, and i thank god for the movie is still in keep of her 'fu-waah' drinking scene. nice to see pen pen as well after all those years, seeing that he's still is capable of reading newspapers i wonder if he could conjure a few words as well. it'll be nice to listen to pen pen bad mouthing shinji while living under the same roof lol :D

there's five known angel [ including kaworu, +1 never before seen third one ] featured in the first installment :

01. SACHIEL [ my personal fave :3 ]
now renumbered fourth, there's not much difference in sachiel's appearance as the scene it stars in itself were completely identical from its original counterpart. also the current sachiel is somewhat spared from the classic om-nom-nom move by the berserk eva 01.

02. SHAMSHEL
same goes with this pal here, save for this time it beholds the heavy barrage from eva 01's gattling gun during the two's first encounter on the battlefield. as with its original counterpart, shamshel dies at the tip of a prog. knife. how sad :3

03. RAMIEL
final boss of the first installment, the reimagined ramiel is simply a sight to behold, and thanks to sleek CGI incorporation we get to see a much more awesome aspect of the fifth [ renumbered to sixth in the movie ] angel that is the transformation instances it had throughout the battle wif tokyo 3. also the sixth angel now seems a bit less robotic and somewhat more biological [ e.g. the drill ] in context, though it is immeasurable by any conventional standards.

04. LILITH, the mother of mankind
surprisingly lilith is introduced pretty much early in the reimagined movie, being shown to shinji by misato herself who seems to have already being acknowledged of its existence from the get go unlike her counterpart in the parent series. +in the movie lilith is depicted with a different mask [ much resembling those of sachiel's ] than the seven-eyed one it had back then, and life seems to be pulsating from it as seen from the movements of its many legs.

05. unknown third angel
the unknown third angel made its debut altogether wif kaworu nagisa at the end of the movie while the two resides atop the lunar surface. not much is known of the newcomer at this point of time yet, and the angel itself is seemingly to be on a suspended animation / deep stasis. also it is worthy to note that this third angel bores the exact resemblance to the original lilith



some [ longtime fans esp. ] may hate the reimagined franchise while some may swiftly fall in love with it [ wait until ye new fans meets asuka 'awesome tsundere' langley ] yet no matter what the others may have think of the movie i must say that i am very well in love with it. for now, i shall be crossing my fingers for the remaining three parts, most notably the second installment to come in which my beloved [ nice ] asuka'll be making her debut entry into the screen, as well as there'll be more of hikari hokari and the close friendship the two shared which often scores countless nice yuri-esque moments in my imagination :3

[ dojin ] fate kindergarten

[ click here to download ]

overview : another dojin based on the fate/stay night series which set in an alternate universe where most of the servants [ as well as sakura matou, illyasviel and her two maids ] were just a bunch of bratty, happy go lucky [ as kids can often be ] kindergarteners. and check out caren-sensei, she's awesome lol.

threat level : another safe dojin for the mass :3

[ dojin ] asakura vs. tsuruya

[ click here to download ]

overview : pipping hot oden or baked cheese ? in this brief dojin based on suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu kyon is thrown into a dilemma between the two bishoujos - ryoko asakura and his senpai tsuruya-san who both fights eyebrows to forehead for the man they love [?] :3

threat level : seifu

sekirei

SEKIREI
studio : Seven Arcs
director : Keizo Kuzasawa
serial run : July 2, 2008 - September 17, 2008
total episodes : 12
score : ***

minato sahashi is a formerly bright student turn ronin with two years record of failing his college entrance exam [ that makes it twice ], and of whom upon a fated day is destined to be one of the luckiest [ bloody ] ashikabi evar in the story when an attractive, busty young lady suddenly lands [ hard ] on him from the skies above. it is thanks to this fated meeting that minato was dragged into a game he would've never wished to be a part of, the sekirei plan conducted by the psychotically mad genius minaka hiroto and his mega corporation MBI. throughout the story minato gains a few more sekirei who is rather drawn to him as well as friends and comrades who are willing to join him in his future endeavors.

a typical ero-harem series made of titsfest and angry fists, there's nothing much for you to expect for from the series [ save for major nosebleed and weird stares from your imoutos ] yet however that doesn't mean sekirei will fail in entertaining you since i've had quite a fun time throughout my 2 day marathon of the series. and seriously said sekirei is one of the few good [ if not great ] ecchi series i've ever had for the past 3-5 year and i surely am glad for giving it a try :3

story wise sekirei is pretty much build upon the classic harem foundation whereupon a weak, total-failure-good-for-nothing male protagonist is suddenly thrown into a divine harem made of pure win girls and daily love love melodrama enough to get you uberly jealous on a non-existent 2D guy especially those [ viewers ] who are ronery to begin wif :3 at first i came to think of the story to be moving on quite a slow pace given that no major events [ the sekirei plan etc ] occured within the first half of the series save for some nice drama and ero-theatre, but as the second half kicks in the interesting part finally came into light as well as more mysteries begin to built themselves around the battle premise, such as the origin of the sekireis as well as minaka's true intention / goal in being the game master and for initiating the bloody battle around the city he now had total control as of current. however the second half seems to be pretty much rushed as to meet the scheduled finale for the season, and thus the impact is lessened thanks to the suddenly aggravated battles.

at times sekirei often reminds me of another 2008 series dragonaut which is nearly identical in concept though both series progressed on different direction from each other. the character design is pretty much up to my preferences though the excessive titsfest somehow seems a bit too much at times. the entire character development as well is pretty much interesting up to this point with characters such as tsukiumi and matsu received some of the most notable progression in their character.

...

things i'll be looking forward upon the upcoming sequel :

01. revelation of the origin of them sekireis.
02. minato wings kazehana, and later completes his party with the trans-gender homura.
03. the party defection against MBI and the sekirei plan, as well as them sekireis freed from their bloody destiny.
04. musubi-tan vs. karasuba.
05. the demonic miya strikes in action.
06. moar tsukiumi's tsundere barrage x3

tsukiumi and her tsundere barrage is a serious win for the series, and i can't wait to see more of her in the sequel to come :3

[ cosplay ] himeno shirayuki : anya alstreim

layer : Himeno Shirayuki
character : Anya Alstreim
series : Code Geass -Lelouch of The Rebellion- R2
score : ****1/2

himeno shirayuki, an increasingly familiar name in my watchlist / collection though frankly speaking i've only started to pursue her stuff ever since her anya set made their debut as of recent, despite she've done quite a number of good cosplay before... most notably her c.c [ both the white top and the kurokishidan version ] and another blood [ from demonbane ] - both of which were also pretty well done in terms of execution / costumes and himeno-san's overall look / presentation as both characters.

one thing that i really did enjoy from her anya set is how she did her hair which is nicely done and were resembling closely those of anya's [ i bet she'll be able to make a good yin as well ]

[ fig ] hime : kaibutsu oujo

there's something about hime which often got my inside-rena screaming 'omochikaeri' whenever i get to come across any print / product / merchandise based on her, kinda like this very figure from good smile company. well she's kinda in possession of this aristocratically elegant yet sadistic aura that is a rarity for a princess type character in the modern pop culture [ the same goes with falis / princess alita from murder princess, a manga turned ova series which ran in the same season block as kaibutsu oujo's ] +and it is her well defined personality and brutal wit that has gotten me well intrigued and interested in her in the first place.

as expected from good smile company, this statue figure is tastefully well done, and the design is kinda distinctive from those of yasunori matsunaga and kazuya kuroda's design, +i will be much happier if hime were to pose with her trademark chainsaw instead of a pair of giant scissors. there's another figurine release of hime as of this year, with the design is nearly identical to the original mangaka's, however it didn't fare much on my attention atm, perhaps in times to come i might reconsider on faving it as well, who knows.

[ fig ] sieglinde baumgard : dragonaut

[ kudos to my i-net pal seraphim-dono for the news :3 | amiami's sauce ]

sieglinde herself is a win out of all the female casts [ bratty or not, i'd hit her |3 ] featured throughout the entire dragonaut run, being that she's a moetastic loli and [ surprisingly ] busty for a young chara of her age [ another exception is eve from black cat, perhaps :3 ] as well as her tsundere-ish attitude that scores 10+ moe points alongside eika ichijyou from sky girls.

above para aside, as ye may see from the pic above, sieglinde is very well sculpted based on one of the circulated posters of her +the figure itself retains much of the original streamlined design of makoto uno sensei [ another fave artist of mine, though were not listed in the random heroes section ] enough to have me banging hard on the monitor lol.

lucky star ova

to those who were still in for summore konata and co, be sure to look forward upon the upcoming ova slated for release this september 26 [ the ova was originally set for release on august 30, however is then delayed to the new date mentioned ], followed by a drama cd [ both ] for japanese market.

a cute promotional trailer, as well as bits of chara design [ check out miku kagamin ] can be found on the official site [ here ]

ima be looking forward into this ova since the parent series itself has scored a fan in me thanks to all those quirky, witty comedies and massive barrage of fanservice [ by fanservice i am referring to those incessant cameos made by other franchises, most notably suzuharu and shuffle ! ]

higurashi no naku koro ni rei

old news regarding the upcoming third installation of the higurashi series; an ova entitled 'higurashi no naku koro ni rei' [ not sure if it'll be based on the fandisc of the same title ] will be released on december 26, 2008, featuring a new set of chara design done by kazuya kuroda [ vandread, kaibutsu oujo, spice and wolf... refer to the scan featured above ] with direction by toshifumi kawase.

'rei' [ standing for gratitude ] was originally released as a fandisc during comiket 71 [ december 31st, 2006 ] as a token of gratitude from 07th expansion towards the higurashi fanbase. the fandisc featured two extra chapters along with several other additional contents.

alice parade

[ official site ]

this is kinda old but it is as of recent that i get to taste a bit of this one via the trial demo provided [ being busy somewhat limits my updates on what's new on the net ] and frankly speaking i really do adore the whole presentation of the game, from the chara-design, the interface / art-direction to the OP. a pity i am not literate in japanese or else i'll get to learn more on the story of the premise, besides text hooker programs does not help me much in understanding the cropped plot of the demo. ima be looking for the full release next and may consider on getting the physical copy if possible [ having the actual product is much more satisfying rather than just .iso files, since they comes in lovely packages +the collector's value whatever lol ]

the entire CGs and chara-design was done by noizi ito and being a fan of her i must say that this one indeed is one of her best work to date [ much better than her design for suzuharu, one of my fave works of her :3 ]. now all that's left is to cross my fingers for this one to be adapted into a full run / anime series somewhere before 2010, more likely if it were to be carried by barcelona which did quite a nice job wif nanatsuiro drops in 2007.

p/s : need sauce for the OP [ Sweets ♪ Parade by Berry Very Rabbits ]. i couldn't lurk for it and so you're an hero if ye can share any rapidshare / mediafire link to the track :3

[ dojin ] mahou shoujo lyrical nanoha a's nano

[ click here to download ]

overview : a collection of serial 4komas based on episodes from mahou shoujo lyrical nanoha a's. a wholesome collection of pun gags and parodies. recommended for tummyburst and death defying lulz

threat level : non-existent

[ fig ] yuno minazuki : unity marriage

nice news is that she's open to pre-order for a while now [ since august 19th ] :3

anyway, yuno minazuki is one of the leading female lead from the henshin-harem visual novel unity marriage by unisonshift accent, a division of softpal best known for visual novels such as nanatsuiro drops, alice parade and peace @ piece [ all three features CGs by noizi ito of the suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu and shakugan no shana fame ].

the above figurine was released under good smile company, known best for their awesomeness esp. for their figma lines. the above figurine will also feature removable breastplates, and thus making it NSFW for younger collectors :3