Love Live SIF Transform Your Best SR Cards Into Figures!

Love Live SIF Transform Your Best SR Cards Into Figures!

Sunday, October 23, 2016 / No Comments

I have previously written an article about turning your best Love Live! cards into figures here but in the end, I only picked out UR cards so now I'll like to focus on SR cards instead. It's long due for another one of these posts anyway~ So now, let's get started!

These are in no particular order at all. I have also left out all the wedding cards from the individual girl posts.

Kousaka Honoka

Princely Honoka is my best side of her, but I like the energetic side of her a lot too! With 9 cards of her here, it's very difficult for you not to see my preferences. Oh, and I'll like to mention that the fruits Honoka (2nd image) is going to be made into a figure by Alter. I'll be getting her if she turns out well, so stay tuned for that!

As for her UR, the one I'll like to see as a figure for now is definitely...

Minami Kotori

For Kotori, I prefer seeing elaborate outfits on her because it makes her unique hairstyle stand out better. I really like how her pose for the constellation and kunoichi versions turn out and they show her cheerful disposition with ease.

As for her UR, I'll choose a card that I didn't mention much in my earlier post, this one!

Sonoda Umi

I am not joking when I always say that I think Umi has the best looking cards. However, her event SRs certainly aren't usually my cup of tea, but when they are, they are typically an instant love for me. For Umi's cards this time round, I tried to stay away from those showing her shy side and due to this I might have chosen too many that has her showing her cheerful side instead. Oops.

As for her UR, I still insist on wanting to get a figure of her New Year card, as always!

Koizumi Hanayo

For Hanayo, I too tried to keep away from the shy side of her and went for cards with a more relaxing feel. I think the Dancer/Arabian version is the epitome of that feel. She looks so relaxed and I can practically feel the happiness exuding off that card. I would love to get her in game when the dancer set goes on for scouting on the English version.

As for her UR, I couldn't decide between her Christmas version (relaxing feel) or her Taisho version (elaborate outfit) so I'll list them both on here.

Hoshizora Rin

Chinese dress is crucial to a ramen-lover, hence I placed that version of Rin in. Energetic Rins are the main attribute for her SRs and this is shown in the majority of her cards. To emphasize the other aspects of her, I chose to include the baseball event SR of her as well. Despite all these, I believe that the Taisho and Devil Rin are my two best SRs of her!

As for her UR...

Nishikino Maki

After looking through the list of Maki's SRs, I realized that she doesn't have that many cards showcasing her tsundere side which is a pity. However, they still showcase Maki's beauty well enough through her normal idol-ish cards which typically feature her smiling and all happy ^^ Confident Maki is a good Maki too!

As for her UR, I'll prefer to have this one.

Yazawa Nico

Nico's cards have a good variation with facial expressions, which matches her multi-tier personality and acting skills, but also mean that it was difficult to pick her cards. In the end, I decided to go with this combination. Which would you have chosen instead?

For her UR, I would go with the Little Devil set because there's no set that matches Nico and her playful personality more than this!

Ayase Eli

Eli's cards doesn't have much variation in facial expression but they did well with her poses and outfits. She has a fair share of glorious outfits, especially for her SRs. In fact, Alter is making a figure out of her Maid SR card (1st card) and the prototype looks absolutely glamorous!

For her UR, I'll go with this card because it shows a different side of her -- calmly in the air, peering down at all the "lower" human beings, just an exact replica of the deity she's supposed to be~

Toujou Nozomi

I guess it isn't hard to see that I like Nozomi with braided hair, especially if her hair is swept to one side. Essentially, I fell in love with her after I saw her in snow halation with her hairstyle and rewatched the entire series to properly appreciate Nozomi for who she is and what she has done to pull the group together at the start.

While it saddens me that Nozomi has taken a backseat after getting them all together and forgotten by most that she was the one who helped get all of them together, she still has a steady fanbase to boost her even with Aqours out and shining!

For her UR, I will go with my dream UR for her, who once again has the side-swept hair~

SRs really have more variation in their poses and the focus of the card is really on them, since you aren't distracted by the backgrounds. They look the same as URs on the game screen, but stats and backgrounds really make a difference in scouts.

Nevertheless, I think that sets should be given recognition and I'm sad that no figure company thought of making all 9 in the same set (excluding prize figures and the birthday line) from a SR/UR line.

My favorite set would be the wedding set (june version), and if that was ever made, I'll collect all 9 of them, especially if I can display them all together.

My second favorite set would be the Victorian set (who wouldn't want figures of the 9 in glamorous puffy English dresses?). And after that, the Seven Lucky Gods and Devil set.

My only concern would be how the SLG set URs will be held up in the air and the translucency of their raiment. As for the Devil set, I'm questioning how badly the display might look from afar with all the pink and black pattern on their outfit.

In any case, if a figure company ever decides to throw a set of 9 in the same line at me, I'll probably gladly take it!

~ Reina-rin

Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru

Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru

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With the mention of the second season of Yuyuyu coming up, I decided that it is time for an evaluation for season one of the anime, which is the original. The first half of the second season will be dedicated to a spin-off for Washio Sumi (a.k.a Tougou Mimori, one of the main characters in Yuyuyu).

It follows her life before she met Yuuna and joined the Hero Club.

Personally, I have read the novel before and am hyped about this sequel (or prequel), but for now, let's get back to the main aim of this article, which is to highlight the main points I liked about season one.

Note: Spoilers ahead!

Slice of life with some drama and action inside. While that sounds pretty bland, Yuyuyu certainly takes it further with some psychological elements and good voice acting, of which I would cover later.

First about the storyline, Yuyuyu starts in a world that's modern but has very deep-set traditions in it. For instance, they pride themselves on worshiping the God "Shinju" (enshrined on the classroom wall) which they believe to have constructed a world to protect them from harm that's outside their town. It is also well-established that they don't communicate with the outside world much, if at all. This is covered in later spin-offs, which mentions that several individual towns survive on the day when vertexes first appeared. However, they slowly lost contact with each other and are assumed to have been wiped out.

This is an image of how a Vertex look like. They are modeled after the horoscope so this is but one design of the Vertexes.

The town which Yuyuyu is in survived thanks to Shinju, which constructed an entire world to protect the townspeople. It is later revealed that a wall is constructed around the town and everyone within the walls are protected by something akin to at illusion. It acts like a barrier to prevent the majority of Vertexes from entering so there would be only a few at any one time. By stepping outside the wall, you will be able to see the true form of the world. 

Tougou does this in the later episodes and realizes that there are many dark secrets about this world. This forms the basis of the drama and impending sadness in this show.

First, there are the faeries that are assigned to them.

These faeries come in all shapes and sizes and can help to protect the Hero or absorb impact when the Heroes are attacked by Vertexes. They also turn into weapons which can be used. However, the dark side shows that they exist to bind Heroes to their duties and by that it means that they exist to prevent Heroes from committing suicide.

Secondly, they have Mankai and Sange. When the gauge fills, Heroes are able to enter "Mankai" whereby they would be able to unleash a powerful attack. 

After the gauge empties, they will return to their normal mode and this is "Sange". With every round of this, the Heroes gain one faerie, but at the same time lose a body part as an offering to Shinju. The dark side about this is that the Heroes did not know about this and were told that this was a side-effect from over-exertion and that their bodily function will return. This is further fueled when Itsuki, a girl with an ambition of becoming a singer, finally getting enough courage to sing in front of others with help from her friends in the Hero Club, loses her voice due to this. This propelled her older sister, Fuu, to rebel against Shinju.

Thirdly, when Tougou saw the real state of the world, she realized that the Vertexes which they have defeated (they were told that there were only twelve) were constantly regenerating outside the wall and would once again infiltrate them. Hence, it was a never-ending cycle of fighting the same few Vertexes (and more) for the Heroes.

Also, the world rests on the fate of the Heroes. When Vertexes attack, Heroes are typically the only ones able to fight back and as such, if they rebel, the Vertexes will reach Shinju and the world would be ruined. As such, Heroes only have the choice of fighting, going through Mankai and Sange, losing bodily functions, and repeating the entire process over and over again to protect their loved ones, until they finally lose all their bodily functions and are bedridden. At that point, they would be enshrined and worshiped, because they are the being closest to Shinju.

And even then, they would still not be allowed to die. As the number of faeries increase, they would be asked to keep the new Heroes under control and will be used as a preventive measure against them if they do rebel.

In addition, while all these happen, parents of the Heroes would be proud that their child has been chosen, and no matter how crippled their child gets, they would bear with it for the honor of their family. And needless to say, the Taisha (worshipers of Shinju and personnel in-charge of the Hero business) kept a lot of secrets about these from Yuuna and the rest.

Yes, the society is a little messed up there. 

Back to the anime itself, Yuyuyu covers a wide spectrum of genres. It starts with slice of life, with them having a Hero Club which helps out with any activities which their help is required in, They also have recognition and a good reputation for their efforts. Next genre that comes up would be the Mahou Shojo, which is linked to their Hero form. Thrust into the world with Vertexes (evil abominations which hurt humans), they have been chosen to take on the role of Heroes, which can move when time has stopped, to fight Vertexes and keep them from reaching the Tree.

But the charm of Yuyuyu doesn't stop there. I enjoyed the interactions between characters a lot, and thus am able to relate to their actions at time. For instance, how Fuu would rebel against Taisha and Shinju because they took away Itsuki's voice, albeit indirectly. and continued deceiving the sisters by lying that Itsuki's voice and Fuu's sight (and Tougou's hearing as well as Yuuna's taste) will come back.

That, when mixed with a good voice actor, creates the atmosphere of the anime which pulls the viewer into the emotions shrouding each scene. Yuyuyu has its fair share of fun and depressing times, but more than that, I love the moments when they yell because I feel that that is when the voice actors shine as their voices clearly show the different emotions which the characters should be feeling at that point in time.

~ Reina-rin

Bungou Stray Dogs Season 1

Bungou Stray Dogs Season 1

Friday, October 21, 2016 / No Comments

Characters and superpowers inspired by famous authors and their literary masterpieces are unique concepts, at least to me. I know of abilities and characters named after states in the USA, food, mythology and even celebrities, but literature-inspired ones are few and far between. 

Enter Bungou Stray Dogs, a bookworm and literature fanatic's wet dream. Be prepared to see names such as Edogawa Rampo, Mark Twain, Kunikida Doppo and Edgar Allen Poe, to name a few. Bonus points if you can guess the abilities of the characters inspired by said authors.

Bungou Stray Dogs revolves around 18 year-old Nakajima Atsushi joining the Armed Detective Agency and solving various crimes that occur in the city while fending off the Port Mafia and later on, The Guild. The latter two organisations are secret societies with unknown agendas, at least in the first season.

The first season follows an episodic format, mainly serving to introduce either a new member of the Armed Detective Agency or the key players in the Port Mafia in each episode, although there is an overarching plot revolving around Atsushi. It's great for people who don't have the time for a plot-driven anime or those who have the perennial problem of watching too much anime every season.

I appreciated the humour in Bungou Stray Dogs, although some viewers found it jarring. It kept the tone from becoming grim, considering the Armed Detective Agency deals with cases that are too extreme for the Military Police to solve. Some might argue that several comedic moments are abruptly inserted but I welcome the change of tone nonetheless, considering how the start of the currently airing second season plays out.

The anime's art and animation quality is top notch. Fights are fluid and I constantly looked forward to characters activating their abilities, especially Akutagawa Ryuunosuke's Rashomon, a black, serpent-like beast that is formed from the fabric of his clothes. The abilities that other characters displayed weren't half as flashy but they were creative and powerful nonetheless. Some of these include nullifying anyone's ability as long as there was physical contact, super-strength on an empty stomach and the creation of illusions.

I particularly enjoyed the exaggerated expressions of the characters through the course of the season. Even the diligent and stern Kunikida Doppo isn't immune to the series' 'funny face' syndrome. The art style shifts to a chibi and 4-koma-esque one when the characters are kidding around or just happen to be stuck in hilarious situations. The contrast is obvious in the image just above this paragraph.

Who could've guessed that an anime inspired by literature would turn out to be such an action-packed one? I certainly didn't and fortunately, I finished watching the first season a week before the second season aired. 

My only gripe with Bungou Stray Dogs' first season would be the constant flashbacks of Atsushi being thrown out of the orphanage. The time wasted could have been used to develop the characters or to lengthen the fight scenes instead.

Written by ET