30 Day Drawing Challenge: Day 19

Day 19: Something New

 Well, this was new when I drew it over a year ago.  Inspired by the video game Kingdom Hearts 3D.

Spring 2013 Anime Line-up

Back from a 2 month hiatus to go over the upcoming anime season~

 

The shows I'm planning on checking out are:

Aiura: So basically Lucky Star minus the memorable characters?  Eh, whatever, I'll check it out.

Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko:  I sure hope this man's wish comes true, because a pervert being able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants could lead to some very entertaining situations.

Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku: A Lucky Star spin-off?  Count me in.

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani blah blah blah: I liked the first season, although the conclusion was a bit weak.  I haven't ready the novel, but if it ends up with a solid conclusion, this could end up being a pretty good anime.

Photokano: Doesn't look to great, but it's the only one that's started airing so far, so I may as well check it out while I'm waiting for the rest of them to start.

 

Anime Review: Btooom!

BTOOOM!  That's the sound a bomb makes apparently and that also happens to be what this anime is about.  Ryouta Sakamoto is one of the top players in the world at an online game called "Btooom."  In this game, players fight against one another using nothing but different types of bombs.  One day Ryouta finds himself waking up on a remote island completely uninhabited by other people, or so he thought.

Ryouta soon finds out that he has been placed on an island with several other people and the only way for them to leave is to kill seven other people and take their chips.  So think Hunger Games or Mirai Nikki, but with bombs instead of Future Diaries.

Despite Btooom being yet another Battle Royale ripoff, it manages to entertain plenty.  It has a darker animation style than most other anime out nowadays and has an overall feel that's slightly reminiscent of Death Note.  It also has an opening theme that's catchy as hell.  None of the other music is very memorable though.

I don't have too much else to say about this anime.  I really liked it, and if you like anime like Mirai Nikki or Death Note chances are you'll probably enjoy it as well.  I give Btooom! a 9/10.

Anime Review: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai, loosely translated as "Regardless of My Adolescent Delusions of Grandeur, I Want a Date!" is about... well, the title sort of says it all.  The main character, Yuuta, acted like a total geek when he was in middle school, waving around fake swords and calling himself the Dark Flame Master.  Now he has enrolled in high school leaving his childish ways behind him, or so he thought.

Upon entering high school Yuuta meets a girl named Rikka who claims she wields the "Tyrant's Eye," and is on a quest to find the "Unseen Horizon."  As the two form a club and begin to grow closer, Yuuta slowly finds himself reverting back to his old ways. 

The story, while it may sound silly, actually gets pretty serious near the end of the series, for better or for worse.  I thought the ending played out magnificently and that they wrapped everything up very nicely.  For the ending alone I would give this anime a great score.

The animation of this anime was outstanding, perhaps even another level beyond Kyoto Animation's other titles.  The moments taking place inside Rikka's imagination were especially well animated, showing off what Kyoani could do if they ever decide to adapt an action-oriented anime.

While the opening and ending themes were nothing special, the background music was very fitting and really engages the viewer in the characters' emotions, particularly in the last few episodes where feelings are at their strongest.

The characters in Chuunibyou, while not necessarily the most creative, were all very likable.  Everyone has their own individual personality that helps add to the story and make the entire series a very enjoyable experience.  I give Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai a 9/10.

Video Game Log

Some friends and I were talking about which games we have today and which games we own that we have left to beat.  A couple of us decided that our backlogs were so large it would just be easier to make a list.  I've been totally lacking on blog posts after not posting a single thing last month, so I figured I'd post mine here.  Anyway, here it goes.

Games completed this year:
- New Super Mario Bros 2 (Regular Mario game, nothing special but still fun)
- Kingdom Hearts 3D (Possibly my least favorite KH game, mainly because of the terrible story) 
- Kid Icarus: Uprising (Loved the music and overall presentation, bogged down by sloppy controls)
- Psychonauts (Very interesting game, great concept although gameplay was a little choppy)
- Sonic Adventure 2 HD (Still one of my favorite games ever)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 (Better engine than episode 1, poor level design, combo moves with Tails could essentially break the game)
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Some of the hidden star missions were ridiculously frustrating, but not too bad of a game)
- Ghost Trick (Best story I've read in years, loved this game)
- Back to the Future: The Game (Thoroughly enjoyed it, I wish this game got more attention than it did)
- Braid (Fun to play, but I didn't bother with finding the hidden stars)

 Games I currently own that I haven't beat:
- Black Mesa Source (What I played of it was fun, but I'm not a big fan of FPS's in the first place)
- NiGHTS into dreams HD (I get the feeling this game hasn't aged very well...)
- Space Channel 5: Part 2 (Just got this one, haven't had much time to play it yet)
- Jet Set Radio (The controls make this game frustrating as hell, I don't know why everyone who's played this game likes it so much, although maybe it's just because I have the PS3 version.)
- Jak II (watch a cutscene, do an aggravating mission, watch a cutscene, do an aggravating mission, etc...)
- From Dust (cool idea but pretty dull in practice)
- inFAMOUS (fun to play, but sort of grimdark and edgy)
- Katawa Shoujo (got through act 1, lost interest)
- Eternal Sonata (FREAKING TUBA)
- Final Fantasy XIII (MORE LIKE FINAL HALLWAY XIII, AMIRITE?)
- Tales of Graces f (sort of trying to save this one to play with friends)
- New Super Mario Bros Wii U (See Tales of Graces f)