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My Top Five Anime From 2018

Sunday, December 30, 2018 / No Comments

2018 is quickly coming to a close and what better way to cap the year off than to look at some of the best anime that aired during the past twelve months! There was an absurdly large amount of slice-of-life anime with a unique twist thrown in, be it Yuru Camp's focus on winter camping or Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii's take on working professionals who happen to be otakus through and through. The five anime I've listed below are perhaps the most memorable ones I've watched this year, even beating out stalwarts like Boku no Hero Academia and Shingeki no Kyojin. On the other hand, I'm betting that anyone's list would differ from mine and it just goes to show how much the year had to offer, for fans of any genre and even for the casual viewer.



1. Yuru Camp
I never imagined that an anime about winter camping could end up being that entertaining to watch. From Nadeshiko and friends bumbling about in the first few episodes to Rin showing her expertise in winter camping, there was hardly a dull moment. I even learnt a thing or two about the craft, although that knowledge is wasted on me considering I'm hardly a fan of the great outdoors. Yuru Camp is the kind of anime that you'll watch on a slow weekend, especially during the holiday season right now where the pace has slowed to a crawl. Little wonder the title is translated to Laid-Back Camp.



2. Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan
Everyone knows how good ufotable is at crafting spectacular 3DCG sequences, just watch an episode of Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works or Tales of Zestiria The X and you'll be blown away by the battles. But the studio's 13-episode long monthly special, Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan, has shown that they are no slouches in the 2D department either. The studio has traded the depressing colour palette of Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel and lifelike 3DCG for pastel tones and an exclusive focus on 2D animation, only resorting to their trump card during the cheekiest of moments. It's a big departure from what they usually produce, both production-wise and thematically.


3. Hinamatsuri
'Absurd' is the perfect word to describe this crazy slice-of-life anime. Yakuza, tween girls with superpowers, monks worried about their smartphones, you name it, Hinamatsuri probably has it. If you're a fan of Gintama's humour, you'd enjoy this title very much. On the flip side, there are moments where Hinamatsuri feels extremely grounded, such as Anzu's struggles with the beggar gang and Hina's poorly thought out attempts to thank Nitta for his kindness. The characters felt real despite all the yakuza and superpowered madness present in the show, a testament to the source material and screenwriters.



4. Grand Blue
For college students and those of you who've had university experience, this anime is relatable in so many ways. The ludicrous amount of drinking, tomfoolery and banter between friends is close to what students experience, although drinking out of a human-sized vase is probably not something you'll see in any university...I think. Grand Blue doesn't take itself too seriously and knows when to focus on the main cast - before quickly returning to more silliness and alcohol-induced antics - much like how college students behave, actually.



5. Zombieland Saga
I went in to the first episode without any expectations and was surprised by every episode that aired. Zombieland Saga was a rollercoaster ride from start to end, even if it did feel like one large advertisement for the Saga prefecture in Japan at times. I would set aside time to rewatch certain portions of the show, even as the episode count of other anime in the Fall season continued to stack up. It definitely held its own in competitive Fall season that featured titles like Sword Art Online: Alicization and Goblin Slayer. One could even call it the sleeper hit of the season, an anime about a zombie idol group, of all things.

Written by ET


Netflix Anime Review: Baki

Saturday, December 29, 2018 / No Comments
Another one of Netflix's originals, Baki is an anime with a very simple concept: fighting. As a fan of Dragonball Z and Hokuto no Ken, I thought I would love this anime as well. Unfortunately, that didn't work out as well as I had hoped.

I could only access the first season, which has 12 episodes on Netflix. We follow Baki, a 17-year old underworld fighting champion, a fact which we find out through flashbacks and does not occur in this anime. He is dating this girl Kozue, whom was basically the Adrian to his Rocky throughout his fight to the top as we can see in flashbacks. We start this anime out with five death row inmates over the world that have nothing to do with each other that escape from prison all saying the same thing, 'I want to feel defeat'. Synchronicity, is what Tokugawa, the underground martial arts organizer, calls it. He is the one that calls out Baki, our main character, to explain to him about this in the first episode. They are all headed for Tokyo, to come fight Baki, presumably.

From left to right: Yanagi, Spec, Doyle, Sikorsky, Dorian

No one can stop these inmates because they are so incredibly strong, not even the police and bullets can stop them. So they can just do as they want. After they all arrive in Tokyo, they are drawn to the arena where the underground games were held. Tokugawa having anticipated this, waited for them there and was ready with some martial artists of his own.

 Tokugawa, and his passion for men that beat each other to a pulp


 The five convicts ready to fight each other when Tokugawa stops them. Tokugawa kind of looks like Krillin here.


The fighters Tokugawa had gathered. Retsu, a Chinese kung fu artist on the upper left; Doppo, the karate master of the Shin Shin Kai in the middle; Hanayama, a yakuza boss on the right. The guy on the left has a history with Yanagi.

The convicts vs the underground fighters

Here is where they decided on how to fight each other. There are no rules: everyone can attack anyone at any given time using any tool. Be it at school, during dates, on the toilet, whatever. This setting seems extremely promising, and we get to see the different death row inmates, starting with Spec, fight with different martial art masters in Tokyo.

 Spec vs Hanayama, the yakuza boss aka my favourite up until now. Those tats tho!

Even after his face is blown off Hanayama still manages to kick Spec's ass

Hanayama be kickin' ass in his undies tho.

After this fight there are like 5 episodes that are about the Shin Shin Kai, a martial arts organization founded by Doppo (whom I kinda like). Then it's about Dorian versus the Shin Shin Kai people, he beats one of them to a pulp and then the rest come to avenge him etc. Nothing really interesting but eventually he is beaten as well. I preferred the Hanayama fight.


The problem I had with this anime were two things: pacing and interruption. During the fights we were frequently interrupted with background stories which also sometimes had background stories. Like the inception of flashbacks. By the time we were back to our actual fight I was like 'oh yeah, this was happening'. I didn't mind the exaggeration, the whole 'IT'S OVER 9000!!!' kind of thing we had all the time. I also missed brutality, it tries to be brutal but then no one major really kicks the bucket. I wouldn't mind a death here and there, if they are really all ruthless fighters. Als our main character Baki, we hardly know anything about him. Only a few things: he has a girlfriend, is a champion of an underground martial arts game, and has a father whom is probably one of the strongest out there. I am actually most curious about this father. Baki seems a bit aloof and not really present, until the 12th episode, where his girl is taken by the Russian convict Sikorsky, and he seems to kind of wake up and willing to fight. 

 Kozue getting kidnapped by Sikorsky


Baki finally waking up and getting into the action

This is where season 1 on Netflix ends. Oh no they also devoted almost a whole episode to this supposedly badass guy called Mr. Oliva. Way too much effort to introduce a character in my opinion.

Bullets and swords don't work on this convict who comes and goes out of prison as he wishes. But they want to recruit him to do something about the situation in Tokyo so the Japanese police officer Whatshisname went to the U.S.A. to check Mr. Oliva out, whom was already expecting him somehow.

As I have only seen the first 12 episodes, I will continue watching this. Style wise, I didn't think it was anything special, and the 3D animation effects I believe were present during some of the fights is also not my thing. The action scenes could have been animated smoother but it's the story that messes this up with the frequent interruptions. We haven't seen much of our main character Baki, and how he's supposedly the best fighter around. After talking to a friend, I found out we literally started in the middle of the story, and apparently there was an anime series covering the tournament part which I will check out next. I went into this anime totally blank, and it did pique my interest. Let's hope Netflix makes the rest of the story worthwhile. 


My Top Picks From Fall 2018

Thursday, December 20, 2018 / No Comments

The 2018 Fall anime season is wrapping up in a week or two, at least for most of the titles listed here. It's the perfect time for a recap and to sieve out the best that the season has to offer, especially after a hectic school term that concluded earlier this month. Honestly, the season did not look promising at all - seriously, an anime about an adventurer who kills only goblins? - but as it progressed, more than a few titles reached must-watch status for me, surprising me with how entertaining they were and how much depth either the characters or plot had. These are my top picks for the season but I'm thoroughly enjoying more than just the five listed here.




1. Zombieland Saga
Zombieland Saga was the biggest surprise of the season from me. Firstly, I had no idea what the show would even be about with a title like that and then there was that shocker of an opening sequence. Each episode since then has continued to impress and even though the final episode hasn't aired yet, I'm eagerly looking forward to a second season or at least an OVA or ONA with this group of zombie idols. There was no shortage of laughs and heartfelt moments with this bunch and it appears that three rookie seiyuu will be landing a lot more roles soon, given how popular this series is, among viewers in the West at least. For hardcore fans, you might want to visit the Machi Asobi Cafe in Tokyo for the Christmas-themed collaboration its currently running with Zombieland Saga.


2. Sword Art Online: Alicization
Sword Art Online: Alicization probably had the biggest expectations heading into the Fall season. Readers of the light novels were expecting the best anime adaptation out of the six arcs yet, considering how long Alicization is and how much action it allegedly packs. I haven't picked up the light novels yet or scoured the internet for spoilers but it's easy to see why fans are excited, with A-1 Pictures deciding to create a four-hour-long adaptation spanning a year. Having a new main cast of characters is refreshing for veteran viewers as well, sorry Klein, you won't be missed. The anime adaptation has reached the quarter mark and for viewers who're skeptical, I say give it a shot and you'll be impressed, much like I was for the Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online series.



3. Goblin Slayer
This anime is about an adventurer that goes around killing goblins. That's it, you can move on to the next listing now. Jokes aside and despite the simplistic premise, Goblin Slayer was plenty entertaining, even resulting in me reading the manga and spinoffs to get my fix of Goblin Slayer and friends. If you're a fan of Dungeons & Dragons or similar tabletop RPGs, you'll take to Goblin Slayer immediately. The way the world works is similar due to the light novel author's passion for the game. Although the first episode was controversial, stick with the series and you'll find yourself appreciating the many ways the titular character dispatches these vile creatures. This is in many ways a side story, with the Goblin Slayer world itself having bigger issues like demon lords and dragons. It makes for a grittier tale and one that does not involve an overpowered protagonist solving problems with a single swing of his sword.



4. Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai
Mouthful of a title and dubious synopsis aside, this slice-of-life series with a pseudo-science twist defied a good number of expectations I had. The protagonist resembles Oregairu's Hikigaya Hachiman greatly, being an outcast in school and having no airs. Each girl in the main cast has her own short story arc, encountering a supernatural phenomenon that is the cause of their own shortcomings or insecurities. It makes for a great watch, speculating what their problems might be or what steps they need to take to resolve the issue at hand. Don't expect it to be filled with romance either as that arc the first to be concluded, spoiler alert.



5. Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken
Yet another anime with a mouthful of a title. I'm starting to dislike how its becoming a trend but at least the anime is good and it's getting a full 24 episodes. If you're wondering, yes the protagonist does get reincarnated as a generic slime monster in another world after suffering from a brutal death in the first episode. Like the other anime listed here, it's more than meets the eye though and for fans of worldbuilding, you're in for a treat. Think of this as a fantasy version of the Civilization game series, with a few fight sequences thrown in to impress the viewers. The lore and background information surrounding each creature and skill in the series definitely lends to the Civilization comparisons.

This Fall season has been packed with surprises, like I mentioned earlier in the post. I normally wouldn't give them a shot while they're airing, especially if there was another triple-A title like Haikyuu! or Boku no Hero Academia alongside Sword Art Online. Fortunately, there wasn't and this led to a few surprising discoveries and possibly even a visit to a themed collaboration cafe come January because who can resist zombie idols, right?

Written by ET


「Mobage」Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: ReLive

Monday, December 17, 2018 / 1 Comment
It's been nearly two months since the game is released! My review for it is a little late this time,  because there are just so many noteworthy points (both good and bad)!

So without further ado, let's begin.

1. VPN required
With APKs and appstores nowadays, it's weird to think that a game would close its doors to other countries, but we have Ateam here who did it.

You will have to get a VPN for Japan to get through the login screen. Once inside the game, it functions perfectly fine without a running VPN. If you are searching for a VPN to use for this game, I'll recommend TunnelBear, which gives free monthly data on top of 1 GB for each successful friend invitation! I am using it and it hasn't caused me any hiccups thus far.

2. Similar to FGO
This is a comment that is always brought up when discussing about Revue Starlight and I think it is very true. The game (teambuilding) and gacha mechanisms are built around the same concepts.
Team-building in Revue Starlight is also limited by cost as you attempt to  fit up to five girls with memoirs in your team. In Revue Starlight, you also get an additional boost by equipping a song and getting its tagged boosts.
Scouting is quite similar as well. You are only guaranteed to get either a 2* cast (girl) or a 3* memoir in 10 scouts (3000 star gems). The chance of getting a 3* cast is lower than the chance of getting a 4* memoir. Also, a 4* cast member is only 1.2%.

3. Story
Similar to many other anime-turned-games out in the market, the game version includes many more characters. In this case, characters are from other schools.
The story mode comes with chapters where you have fully-voiced scenes. You can also read snippets of the girls' daily lives from the room.
Other than churning out the stories, the room is also apt for getting additional items such as coins, gifts (for increasing bond with the girls), and stamina (to clear stages) among others. 
And of course, you can decorate your room as well! You get to choose from a plethora of default items, and set furniture that come with the corresponding event and stay even after the event is finished! As of now, we have furniture to match Halloween, furniture to help recreate the atmosphere in an aquarium, and last but not the least, furniture to create a traditional Japanese stage set and an Arabian set. Mix and match items to find your own flair!

5. Battle mechanics
After building your team, you would start with either the story or the PVP mode. Both of this use the same battle mechanics. There is a three-row mechanism, and you can either choose a team which utilizes all three rows or even just one row. Beware as your opponents might have cards that are able to damage all girls in the same row, resulting a team built only with a single row vulnerable. Likewise, there are also single-target only girls, and some who can hit all opponent cards, regardless of row and position.
All cards come with a Kirameki gauge. When this gauge is filled in battle, you can use a Special attack, known as Climax.

When two or more girls who have used the Climax attack survive two turns after it, they would be able to do a Final Act. 

There are two kinds of Final Act: attribute-based or multi-attribute. Typically, the attribute-based attack would be stronger.
Each card also comes with a 1-AP, 2-AP, and 3-AP normal attack. A mixture of these would be used to fill a 6-AP attack gauge. The general rule of thumb is that the higher the AP of your move is, the more your Kirameki gauge would fill. However, some 3-AP moves are effect-based only (i.e. increase Act Power "attack") and deals no damage to your opponent's cards. Also, with more girls in your team, the chance of getting the move your need would lessen.

6. PVP
PVP is a huge aspect of this game, and it is probably where your enjoyment (or frustration) would come from. Without good cards that fit into your team, you would find it rather difficult to win as the cards in this game seem to be rather unbalanced at the moment. Cards that initially seem strong quickly faze out with newly released cards as Ateam seems to be releasing new cards with attributes and skills targeted to counteract specific cards.
For instance, an initial 4-star card Maya (purple planet attribute) was the strongest tank in game, boasting the highest HP and DEF. This meant that it was extremely difficult to get pass her, except if you used cards she is weak to (yellow moon attribute). In the second event, Ateam released Phantom Nana which could take out Maya with a Climax attack.

Another example would be initial 4-star Hikari, who is a front row girl and comes with a 3-AP move that does not deal any damage. Instead it increases her dodge count by one. However, with the increase in number of cards that can deal multiple hits even with just normal moves, it might be a little pointless to use Hikari's 3-AP move against some opponents.

Why play PVP and cause yourself anguish then, you may ask. Winning PVPs give treasure chests that are either bronze, silver (or blue), and gold (or red). 

These chests contain coins, or bronze/blue/red chips. The chips can then be exchanged in the shop for items such as a scouting ticket.

7. The Grind
I would have to say that the grind is very real for this game.

When you start the game, you would be grinding for tickets and possibly coins. This would be to level your girls to an acceptable level to clear story mode and win some PVPs for treasure chests. 

After which, you would be grinding to get item drops (also known as orbs) to skill rank your girls.

Each card can reach a maximum of 7+1 rank, where the additional +1 contains spots where the orbs are only attainable through events or through purchasing in the shop with red gems.

You get red gems through events or through duplicate cast cards. A 2-star duplicate gives 1 red gem, while a 3 or 4 star gives phenomenally more, so some players have even mentioned that getting duplicates is the way to improve your team in this game. Which also means that the gap between P2P and F2P players is very, very huge.

Another way that time can be spent on this game is to wait to star your girls to 6 star. All cast cards can be starred to 6 stars. To do this, you would have to get fragments of the specific card. 

And everyday you can only play 5 free stages and 5 paid stages (cost: 300 star gems to refill). As fragment drops are only up to 2 per stage, you would only get a maximum of 20 per day.

This is ineffective because it is not common to get 2 drops for all 5 stages, and you need a total of 20 fragments to get a 4 star to 5 star, and 30 fragments to get a 5 star to 6 star.

Thus, apart from spending to get your new cards, or duplicates, you would definitely have to allocate time in your day to this game if you would like to be able to get be able to win the more difficult bosses in events, or get some PVP enjoyment out of it.

8. Enjoyment 3/5
This is a game I tried so as to have a different genre of mobile game than usual, and I can say that I am pleasantly surprised. The animation and artwork is top-notch and I really love how the battle moves are fluid.

However, the need for a VPN is extremely inconvenient, especially since the game updates regularly with small patches, and you would be brought back to the login screen each time. Changing tabs or switching off the screen also causes you to disconnect, which would bring you back to the home page (you don't need a VPN in this case) except when you are in a stage (you can continue where you left off). In this second case, it's more of an annoyance than an actual inconvenience, especially when you have to reply to multiple messages, or if you are playing during working hours.

The above as well as the amount of grind you need to win PVP are my largest gripes about the game.

~ Reina-rin