Hiiro No Kakera Dai Ni Shou

Review

CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS!!!

I finally did it! I mustered up enough courage to watch and sit through this anime's 2nd season after the 1st season left such a bad taste in my mouth. At first the anime started off with a lame recap-like episode and for most of the 1st half of the season the story was very stale and it felt like a repeat of the 1st season. In the 2nd season there is a budding romance between the main heroine Tamaki and Takuma one of her guardians. Where this anime really takes off is the last half of the season where everything comes to a head and all of the epicness unfolds.  Finally, the guardians unlocked their true powers and Tamaki awakened as the Tamayori Hime. In the 2nd season I actually grew to like Tamaki even though she still had a naive air around her.

Verdict

This anime especially towards the latter half of the season redeemed itself to a certain degree and it was definitely better than the 1st season which I gave a 6.0, but it doesn't change the fact that this anime at times is hard to sit through and isn't something that you would want to watch over and over again. For me it's just a watch once anime.

Score: 7.0

Zetsuen no Tempest

Review

CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!

Zetsuen no Tempest is one of the best animes that I have ever watched in a long time. In the beginning, it started out slow and was a little hard to get fully into but after a couple of episodes it really picked up. The story : revolves around Mahiro Fuwa, a teenager whose sister was mysteriously murdered one year before, and his friend Yoshino Takigawa. Mahiro is contacted by Hakaze Kusaribe, the leader of the Kusaribe clan who was left stranded on an unknown deserted island by her followers, and agrees to help Hakaze in exchange for her help to find out the culprit for the death of his family. Upon learning of his friend's intentions, Yoshino joins him on his quest to stand against the Kusaribe clan who intends to awaken the "Tree of Exodus" whose power can bring ruin to the entire world.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that Aika played a huge role in the story and I was right as the major plot twist was that she was the Mage of Exodus. Basically it was a reversed role type-plot where the thing that you thought should be good was actually bad, and the thing you thought was bad was actually good. In this case , the Tree of Genesis was evil and the Tree of Exodus was good.

Ships

YoshinoxAika

I find this ship to be cute and endearing. Yoshino is a very faithful boyfriend even after Aika's death. He is fiercely loyal to her and together they bring out the best in each other's personalities. 

YoshinoxHakaze

I fell in love with this ship from the very start and wanted it become canon or acknowledged, but Yoshino was still tied to the past and Aika and until he let go of it and moved forward this ship was at a stand still. I'm glad that at the end this ship sailed and in a sense became canon. I find it funny and interesting at the same time that both mages Aika and Hakaze both fell in love with the same person.

Verdict

This is a spectacular anime that is well worth watching many times over.

Score: 9.4

Shipping Cafe #05

SasukexHinata

This pairing is a big wtf pairing to me. I can't even fathom it in any possible way. I know I've been known to ship some wtf pairing's myself, but the dynamic of Sasuke and Hinata as a couple is mind blowing.

Basilis no Musume

Basilis no Musume is another masterpiece manga by Chiho Saito. The story is a tragedy and one of the main themes of the manga is that history repeats it's self. One of the great aspects of this manga was the growth of the male characters because of their relationship with the main heroine. 

Memory Lane #03

Series: Danny Phantom

This show was one of the best showed that Nickelodeon has ever produced. Danny Phantom had a little bit of something for everyone in it, and even till this day the theme song gets stuck in my head sometimes. 

Vampire Knight Chapter 92

There is only 1 chapter left until Vampire Knight's Finale. This chapter if more than anything was a build up to the final chapter and of course ended on a suspenseful cliff hanger. I'm very proud of Zero and how far he's come and has grown over the course of the manga. He is hands down the best character in VK and I hope that he gets the good ending that he so well deserves. I'm just interested to see how to final chapter of this manga will play out within the span of 52 pages. I hope that the ending of this manga will be satisfying to some degree.

Amnesia

Review

I'm a sucker for otome games that are adapted into animes or reverse harem animes. Amnesia is based off of an otome game/visual novel.

Plot: On one fateful day, August 1, the heroine lost all her memories. In order to gain them back and to ease her pain in remembering, she tries to interact with 'him' hoping to live each day as happily as she can, and to make a bright future with him...

To be honest I didn't have much hope for this anime as the previous otome game anime adaptations that I've watched in the past did not live up to their potential standards, but this anime did and I was pleasantly surprised.

CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS!!!

Routes

There are various romantic "routes" or paths that the heroine can take and each of her male suitors corresponds with a deck of playing cards symbol. There are 5 routes: Heart, Spade, Clover, Diamond, and Joker.

Heart Route: Shin

I personally enjoyed Shin's Route and he is my favorite of the male suitors. He's so forceful and kawaii at the same time.

Spade Route: Ikki

Ikki is my 2nd favorite male suitor of the anime and game. He is your typical bishounen and with that he has  his own little club of fan-girls BEWARE...

Clover Route: Kent

Kent is my least favorite male suitor of the suitors. He just gives me big brother vibes and it's off putting...

Diamond Route: Toma

Toma is my 4th favorite of the male suitors and warning he's a yandere...

Joker Route: Ukyo

Ukyo is my 3rd favorite male suitor and he has a split personality, but the sweeter side of his personality outweighs his crazy killer side.

Verdict

If you want to watch a reverse harem that showcases each potential romance in a nice subtle way then this show is for you. The story is driven by mystery and the music particularly the opening and ending themes of this anime is good.

Score: 8.0  

 

Kanon

I'm an avid fan of Chiho Saito's mangas and over this past weekend I decided to read her manga titled Kanon and I was pleasantly surprised. Chiho Saito knows how to always throw an unexpected twist into her mangas and this story's twist that occurs in this manga I guess I should have seen it coming, but I didn't and I was utterly shocked when the twist was unveiled...

  

Psycho-Pass

Down to it's core this anime has a good interesting story, characters, and setting. The music is great for the most part and the relationships developed between the characters is an interesting aspect. 

Verdict

To me this anime's story was a big what if scenario and for the most part it held my interest, but there were some parts where it fell short for me. I just wished that there was at least more development between Shinya's and Akane's relationship. 

Score: 8.7

Wonder Woman 2009

I finally got around to watching this movie and I wasn't disappointed at all. This movie presented a great origin story for Wonder Woman and was a great joy to watch. DC animation has done it again and has created another masterpiece.

Injustice: Gods Among Us

It feels like it's been a long time since the characters of the DC Universe had a console fighting game of their own. The story mode for this game was great, well-developed, and fun to watch unfold and it's one of the reasons why I like DC Comics more over Marvel. Marvel doesn't take as many risks hence doesn't dish out dark and gritty stories that can tear right through into your soul.

Uta No Prince-Sama 1000% Maji Love

I really love this anime and it's characters. The music and songs that they sing are great, catchy, and fun to listen to. 

Skip Beat Chap. 198+199 Thoughts

I think that Yoshiki Nakamura is building up to something big for the 200th chapter and these two chapters are leading up to that big event. Kyoko has finally admitted that she's in love with Ren, but as you all know she is scared to fall in love again due to her traumatizing experience with love when she was so in love with Sho. Kyoko at this point needs to wake up and smell the roses and try again at love. She needs to overcome her fear and not let a man that she was so blindly in love with spoil her other chances with men. She can't let that one bad event in her life continue to haunt her and control her for the rest of her life. She needs to give love a chance again, and see that it can turn out differently if she would just suck it up and be more upfront and honest with people about how she really feels about them.

Tomb Raider 2013

Mini-Review

This was a game that I was anticipating for quite some time and I was not disappointed at all. This game was a great reboot for the series and I really hope that Crystal Dynamics makes a sequel as I've thoroughly enjoyed this fresh new take on Lara Croft. The pacing of the game was fantastic and the story of the game kept you on the edge of your seat. Lara's character development was well thought out and was for me one of the main highlights of the game. It was great to see Lara grow into the character that we all know that she will become.

Verdict

This is a must buy game for me and the action sequences were amazing, thrilling, and fun!!

Score: 9.2   

Cassandra Palmer Novel Series

Contains slight SPOILERS!!!

I've enjoyed the Cassie Palmer Novel Series since middle school, but as the series continues on I feel that it's lost some of it's original flair and appeal. Lately, in each new iteration there seems to be a huge wash, rinse, and repeat cycle. The series has so much potential since it's basically Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Supernatural. I have grown tired of the whole Mircea and Cassie romance stint. I can only hope that Cassie will open her eyes and see that Pritkin is the one meant for her. While reading these novels you can't help but feel bad for him, because he is so obviously in love and falling for Cassie.

Main Trio

Cassandra Palmer- Main Heroine Chief Clairvoyant

Mircea- Vampire Master and Vampire Senate Member

John Pritkin- War Mage/Half-Incubi