let's talk on hime's top five anime series : re

I IS HERE TO SEEK JUSTICE FOR MY DEAR KAGAMIN [ AND TSUKA-CHIN :3 ]

in regard to my top 5 anime list posted a few weeks back, i hereby wish to amend the fifth spot by swapping the current fifth spot holder k-on ! with the former fifth seater [ prior to k-on ! securement of the mentioned seat ] back to where it should belong. and thus, i present thee;

05. LUCKY☆STAR
o hai i saw that meh- look on yer faces. anyway, putting them trolls aside lucky star indeed is a fun and highly entertaining comedy series and i am well surprised that so many anime 'loyalist' were rabidly against it, and were constantly whining on how sucky the show was [ some of which refused to watch any further into the series following the minutes-long choco-cornet talk ]. by due respect, the comedic jabs between konata and kagamin as well as the abundance of social / pop culture parodies [ some of which were kyo-ani's own 'subliminal' marketing pitch ] thrown every here and then in the series were among the best i had came to experience from the comedy genre ever since excel saga and azumanga daioh, so if one had already held both [ mentioned ] series so dear then i am more puzzled as to why they would refuse to acknowledge lucky star for what it is worth.

as with its spiritual successor k-on !, lucky star went highly over-rated during its prime, and perhaps is [ notably ] responsible for the massive outbreak of the moe-otakudom felt as of present; you didn't get to see THIS much of them self-proclaimed otaku prior to its airing and now they're like virtually everywhere :3

and so here's my [ revamped ] top-5 anime list so far :
01. ga-rei -zero-
02. haibane renmei
03. aria [ the series as a whole ]
04. neon genesis evangelion
05. lucky star

i can always swap the paragraph [ of the original post ] in which k-on ! was mentioned with the above one, yet i prefer to retain the original post for referential purpose. btw, on a slightly different yet relevant note, i personally think that lucky star is best to stick with its original design instead of being redone in k-on's style; a mio-esque kagamin definitely will not work well with me, and so does a k-on-esque konata. it absolutely feels megassa wrong there, and zange-chan agrees.

[ screencap credit : kurogane ]

[ cosplay ] yun kousaka : ranka lee

layer : Yun Kousaka
character : Ranka Lee
series : Macross Frontier
score : *****

RANKA LEE DONE RIGHT.

needless to say, kousaka-san did a pretty job in giving this ranka lee cosplay of her a proper [ and well deserved ] treatment, and i personally think that hers are among the best ones available so far as she combines forth well executed presentation for both her character portrayal [ i certainly love her poses for this particular photo shoot ] and the handsomely made costume [ +the wig, though it differs from the original design ] she had on her. definitely a job [ very ] well done.

[ all images are property of yurian ]

[ cosplay ] ryuuna : moka akashiya

layer : Ryuuna
character : Moka Akashiya
series : Rosario+Vampire
score : *****

WHEN I FIRST I SAW THESE, I STOPPED BREATHING FOR A MOMENT.

mix and matched from two different photo shoots of her, ryuuna-san embodies her character very precisely in this [ one of her best ] cosplay of her; her facial expressions, looks, costumes [ her accessories otherwise looks obviously plastic ] everything went subtly awesome enough for me to ignore any other moka akashiya cosplay out there, +that badass look she had certainly helps in elevating her character's personality twice more, enough for her to score a perfect five out of five from us.

[ all images are property of mpzero ]

[ raw dojin ] hokago hitagi club

[ click here to download | rapidshare mirror ]

HOKAGO HITAGI CLUB
circle : Hironasu [?]
derivative work : Bakemonogatari
release : 2009
volumes : 1
score :

related comment / overview will be posted soon, later v.v

[ raw dojin ] angel's stroke 25, namadashi !

[ click here to download ]

ANGEL'S STROKE 25, NAMADASHI !
circle : AXZ
derivative work : Maria+Holic
release : 2009
volumes : 1
score :

related comment / overview will be posted soon, later v.v

review : beat blades haruka ova

BEAT BLADES HARUKA [ OVA ]
studio : Milky Animation
director : unknown
serial run : August 25, 2009 - ongoing
total episodes : 3
score : ***1/2 [ first episode ]

MAHOU SHOUJO KUNOICHI HARUKA :E

beat blades haruka [ original title : choukou sennin haruka ] is a 3 episode 2009 h-ova series based on the eroge of the same name produced by alice soft; a popular eroge label which were also credited for the successful eroge beat angel escalayer and its ensuing h-ova adaptation. the main story premise of both the eroge and the ova is set on the titular kunoichi haruka [ takamori ], a time displaced 'blades' [ some sort of a warrior class whatever ] of the jougenshuu ninja clan from the past who were in hot pursuit over their nemesis, the noroi. the chase further took its place in modern era where she is destined to meet the series male protagonist takamaru ikusabe, a seemingly ordinary student of the ten treasure academy and whose only desire was to experience a normal romantic life.

haruka would later be transferred to takamaru's school [ and class ] in order to serve as his personal bodyguard while takamaru came to fell in love with her upon first sight. haruka's true identity were soon revealed to him along with the revelation of his special ability to bestow superhuman powers [ dubbed simply as 'h-power' in the story ] to the blades via a special ritual called the 'dragon wheel technique' [ which itself is technically a sexual intercourse :3 ]. the h-ova also features haruka's fellow blades subaru [ who were incapacitated and captured early in the story ], as well as takamaru's lolicious pink haired junior narika shihoudou, daughter of seigen shihoudou and the present-time member of the modern jougenshuu clan.

i've been wishing for the eroge to be made into a full fledged animated feature ever since i get to have my play on it; a wish which had also been mainly inspired by the mildly impressive animated opening video seen in the original game. my initial expectation at the time was for the game to be picked up by any mainstream animation studio and be adapted into a decent, non-sexually explicit series, mainly emphasizing on the action aspect of the story, however it was announced then that milky animation would be the studio behind the ova production and my thoughts couldn't get anymore disturbed as i wasn't quite happy with some of the studio's previous offerings which i had tasted prior.

being drawn to the eroge mainly for its awesome art, at first i wasn't quite approval nor excited over the new character design done for the ova; 'it could've been much better', is what i've been telling myself until the day getchu posted several screenshots from the yet-to-be-released first episode on its haruka pre-order page, during which the fan in me were caught in full delight over how my beloved haruka were rendered in 2D animation; 'wow, that's nice', so i thought to myself in excitement and my faith on the ova resuscitated itself to its former glory. the day of release soon closes in and the next thing i know a digital copy of it has already been in my possession; rape time ensues 2 days after heheh-

okay so the first episode opens decently well with the brief action scene in which haruka single handedly owns the whole crowd of noroi grunts while the iconic theme from the eroge [ tsumujikaze by shade ] plays in the background; if it wasn't for the cost-saving stills the opening would've been a bit more better, which is why i'd rather trade the entirety of its ecchi content with a more befitting plot and visual execution so that haruka get to swing those daggers [?] of hers more elegantly and often. moving on, we were next shown a dream haruka had in her sleep, providing the audience with a brief insight into events which precedes the ova's present timeline, followed by a short de- / briefing talk before we were soon directed to the very first h-scene. surprising enough, i find the ero-scene to be very well animated although it was a bit too brief. still i am not sure with others' thought over this one though; opinion[s] may vary according to whom you consulted with.

i am not quite sure on how to key-down my comments over the story-aspect at this [ early ] point of the series, well i should be watching the series as a whole before it is proven safe for me to rant on this very matter later. presentation wise, the animation quality were mildly consistent from my personal perspective that is [ a lot of viewers might greatly disagree over this ] with the overall animation in its entirety went visually solid and lovely [ that as well includes narika's ero-scene debut :E ] yet there are few moments / scenes in which had gotten me sighing [ with a facepalm ] in mild disappointment. finally, and on an entirely different note, the mahou-shoujo-ish henshin sequence by haruka were my greatest highlight of the first episode, definitely. in fact, the said transformation sequence were so visually captivating that i came to fancy it twice more than most transformation-get in mainstream mahou shoujo series i have seen and experienced so far [ of course i would count nanoha and its two expansions aside ].

halo legends : the babysitter

HALO LEGENDS : THE BABYSITTER
studio : Studio 4°C
director : Toshiyuki Kanno
serial run : November 7, 2009 [ first episode ]
total episodes : 1 of 7
score : ****

WHO NEEDS MASTER CHIEF WHEN YOU GET TO SEE SHERYL NOME IN MJOLNIR :3

the first episode of the seven part anthology based on the hit xbox game halo is out last november 7, i took the liberty to look up for it and have had my watch on the first episode a few minutes earlier. cool. unlike some western-franchise-turned-anime i have seen [ most notably the epic fail ultraviolet : code 044 ] this one seems to live up much to my expectation, though i was hoping for a deeper peek into the halo universe. still, however this is only the first part of the circle and thus i still got plenty more slots to put my hopes on. hopefully, the best-est is yet to come.

anyway, the first episode [ the babysitter ] centers upon a squad of 4 odsts [ orbital drop shock trooper; for more insight on these folks check out the recently released halo 3 : odst game ] tasked with the assassination of a covenant prophet on an unnamed [?] planet with possible traces of forerunner [?] artifacts [ although those 'mysterious artifacts' resembled more of earth-based ruins, or perhaps 1. those weren't actually the 'unidentified stuff' mentioned in the briefing and 2. they belonged to the once mentioned 'precursor' ? ]. among the squad there's the bratty private o'brien who got smacked on his ego after being re-assigned as a backup for a spartan who now serve as the team's new hitman. fast forward, the team soon infiltrate the planet by making use of the planet's recurring meteor shower to cover for their drops though having lost one of their own during the atmospheric entry [ i couldn't imagine a tragic death by being consciously burnt to crisp ]. on the ground, the squad works well as a team with the spartan on the lead, unloading fists on the covenant's grunts and the mid-boss brute of whom came to say hello after o'brien magnificently blown his own damn cover.

just as the [ episode's ] title implies, the story went mostly with our dear spartan [ i forgot her name meh, gotta rewatch the episode later ] babysitting the dolt o'brien of whom had been saved by her thrice [ the last which cost the spartan her life ] yet he's such an arse for not saying even a single 'thanks' in return. well good thing that he finally gave the spartan her well deserved respect by the end of the episode [ you mess with an odst and an apple you will get ].

the character design were done eye-pleasingly in your typical anime style [ the hair especially. cowboy bebop, anyone ? ]; the splendid voice work however is not. good for ye peeps the series came out in english by default so that means less trouble for those who are totally illiterate in japanese and surprise not, the voice works were thumbs-up-impressive unlike the mostly-lame english dubs i've heard so far, thus megassa kudos for them english voice casts for a neat job well done. the story, though brief yet it delivered what it had to very nicely, not to mention the surprise twist pulled at the end [ o shi- sheryl nome in my halo srs'ly nobody would've guessed that the spartan was in fact, a lady ] wraps the first episode in such an elegant way after all those fists and bullets from before.

my final word, if you hadn't checked on this yet well you better be.

detroit metal city

DETROIT METAL CITY [ OVA ]
studio : Studio 4°C
director : Hiroshi Nagahama
serial run : August 8, 2008
total episodes : 12

score : ***** [ i am tempted to add 5 more stars, but there aren't any more space left to fit the rest ]

OREWA JIGOKU NO TERRORIST- SATSUGAI !!!... GROTESQUE !!!

i'd love to swear a bucket [ or buckets ] for this entry, but our dear co-author zange told me not to do so, and thus i shall refrain myself, for now. still, it won't hurt if i were to- *whipped* -okay, fine ! i won't D:

on to the topic. detroit metal city basically is an epic seinen / comedy series which parodies several aspect of the [ japanese, most prominently ] commercial music market / scene, as well as the much shunned underground metal community [ it happens around the globe tho, not just japan ]. its story premise focuses on soichi negishi, an aspiring country kid who aspires to break into the trendy music scene in tokyo with his self-composed saccharine-sweet romantic pop numbers; bad for him however, is that he got dragged into the realm of madness and insanity in the form of the [ titular ] death metal trio 'detroit metal city', best known for their barbaric lyrics and megassa 'grotesque' stage performances [ +1 for the addition of the masochistic capitalism pig ]; he may not enjoy his stint with dmc, however, the venom of his record company president [ who seems to be a violently extreme sex-maniac biotch ] was proven to be lethal enough into forcing him to stay within the fold.

as for the rest of the story, go f- i mean, go watch it for yourself.

conceptually detroit metal city yields a much parallel taste to the classic western tale of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde; soichi, the too-pure-pure-innocent-by-default protagonist could be spiritually related to the benevolent dr. jekyll while his demonic onstage persona johannes krauser II is technically analogous to the malevolent brute mr. hyde, albeit with unparalleled awesomeness in regard to his [ insanely twisted ] personality and attitude. furthermore, krauser-sama by default is the series' man of epic, and among my [ many ] favorites of his in-series antics [ some of which were disturbingly disgusting lol ] were his tendency to 'rape' [ most of which were purely misunderstanding purported by his fans ] almost everyone and / or everything including inanimate objects such as the tokyo tower [ 'metaphoric orgasm' ftw- ] and turntables... as well as his infamous 11 f-words in a row-get.

the series runs practically short, clocking less than 15 minutes for each of its episodes, so its overall sum of 12 episodes count is equivalent to a total of 6 as in the average ova episodic length. regardless of its short runtime however, detroit metal city is made of majestic epic win and absolute glory for its genre; the puns, jokes, punchlines etc whatever were properly spread and blended into the mix without leaving you any sort of 'wth ? wtf ?' moments. and yes, being a series that is firmly based on the music foundation you better not belittle its music / bgm choice as well, the insert dmc songs [ satsugai, grotesque and slash killer most notably ] were drop dead awesome that i went straight to procure them every time i get to stumble across the new ones by each episodes. visual presentation / execution-wise, both the character design and animation style may not appeal to some [ the moe crowds especially ] yet personally i do think they fit in handsomely well with the general and / or underlying concept, mood and theme of detroit metal city.

although the band proudly proclaim themselves as death metallist[s] still there is almost nothing about them nor their music that would stood close enough to the said genre [ apart from their mind blowing, destructive yet awesome lyrics, of course ]. appearance wise, the trio are visually identical to the visual kei scene [ inugami circus-dan / unsraw anyone ? +the corpse paint otherwise belongs to black metal ] and as for their music i can certainly pinpoint heavy dosages of metalcore / deathcore in reminiscent of notable j-metal / visual kei bands such as maximum the hormone, the gazette and dir-en-grey just to name a few; not that i care that greatly for accurateness whatever, this is a conceptual work of fiction after all and thus anything goes as long as it's fun. death metal or not, i would indeed trade my soul to krauser-sama if his merry band were to exist in this very rotten reality.

[ nomnomnom~ ]

you can not watch detroit metal city without having the word rape imprinted / programmed into your subconsciousness; prior to my exposure over dmc i wasn't the type who would curse mindlessly / incessantly but ever since i had my watch over the series i nearly curses twice more often than before, am pretty much aware that my mind had been partially re-programmed the opposite way from the me that was, +if you happen to be living under the same roof with yer younger siblings who were 24/7 into anime [ as much as you do ] well i greatly advise ye peeps to keep dmc's dvds away from their reach until yer siblings came to the proper age. be aware that detroit metal city carries a multitude of profanities and graphic elements which would definitely corrupt the mental state of them minors, worst enough it might as well brainwash your beloved-cute-and-innocent lil' siblings into embracing [ in this case, a bit too early ] the sacred awesomeness of the extreme metal music \m/