So yeah, Paramount Pictures just released the second full-length trailer for their upcoming Terminator: Genisys, and it is a fair bit more shocking than the first. I don’t even want to talk about it and instead just show you all what’s up:
So, yeah. That’s a thing apparently. Let’s be honest, this is a huge plot twist for the franchise and while I am excited as all hell to see how it plays out on screen, I can’t help but wonder if it is was something that might have been better suited for audiences to find out in the cinema itself. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers in the lead-up to Terminator: Genisys’ July 1st release date. Oh and one final thing, Terminator and Game of Thrones have teamed up for a cool little video and a few pics that you can check out below.
Curve Digital reveals its latest platformer, A Game of Clones, in the puzzle crunching franchise, Stealth Inc. The clones are back in action and the challenges are more demanding, blood crushing and gut-wrenching, with a degree of difficulty that has remained in the shadows since The Lost Clones. Is what lingers in the darkness a stealthy execution of the sequel or carbon copy of the original?
Story
The time has come for the clones to depart PTI Industries . . . but what exactly is the organisation using the “clones” for? The sequel takes a step forward in the narrative progression of the Stealth Inc series, however the big reveal is not entirely what players would expect [I’ll refrain myself from spoiling too much]. The game begins with Malcolm Alderman, Snr. Quality Assurance at PTI Industries, who is a tad frustrated with his inability to top the leader board as “employee of the month”. Essentially, this man is the one trying to score the most kills for his test subjects. Players are tasked with controlling one clone to rescue all of the others – before it is too late. While the story touches on the purpose of the clones and their futile existence, it also provides comedic relief for the very dark and sinister title.
Gameplay
Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones provides players with a series of thought-provoking test chambers. As with the predecessor, the gameplay is immersive, skill-driven and requires a high level of concentration, patience and quick reflexes. The goal is to remain hidden from detection, while moving through 5 distinct and structured areas and a total of 60 individual levels. What stands out in Stealth Inc 2, is the creative combination of traps and gadgets that play a significant role in the clones survival. For example, players are able to release vents of smoke into fans to cover up specific camera feeds; creating the perfect path for sneaking amidst the shadows.
To be the stealthiest clone, players need to adapt to their surroundings and take their time to measure the safest course of action. Unfortunately, luck is not the solution to solving the puzzles in Stealth Inc 2. All players can do, is try their best to avoid lots of moving security guards, including robot dogs and what appears to be ghastly from Pokémon.
Once players have progressed further into the game, they will be rewarded with in-game clothing items and tools to overcome the obstacles in each of the levels. Meet the Inflate-a-Mate buddy – a toy designed for destruction and chaos, which can be used as a canon to trigger in-ground explosions, a booster for jumping great heights to reach platforms, and block for casting shadows from the evil cameras and killer bots. What is even more impressive, is the Jack Boy robot hijacking tool, which allows players to take control of the security robots and use them as their own personal laser gun!
Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones also returns the ‘level editor’ feature from the original game, a great way for players to create their own puzzles and share them with friends. The community levels are a fun and engaging way for players to practice their stealthy skills in the new creations of the Stealth Inc universe.
Visuals
The magnificent world of Stealth Inc is brought to life with the amazing 2D artwork and design. Lead artist, James Mason depicts the PTI Industries as a dark and sinister nightmare, where clones are confined to a maze of never-ending trap doors and bloodcurdling experimentation. It is the traffic light goggles that remain the most distinctive visual feature for players, who need to constantly be aware of their clone’s visibility. The most exciting element is venturing into unknown territory – into a new trap or secret area on the map – which adds a degree of tension and uncertainty to every movement. Thankfully, there are silent cinematic clips (with subtitles) to ease players into the intense puzzler. As the story progresses, players see the clones plotting their escape and the distressed employee, Malcom, who refuses to accept defeat. Malcom’s hilarious taunting is the graffiti that appears on the wall in the game, which taps closely into the players’ minds and reactions.
Audio
Ricky Honmong reinforces the musical essence of the Stealth Inc franchise, with the new release. The drone of clones wandering aimlessly in the dark, the flashing sirens to keep players on their toes and mechanical backdrop to the PTI Complex and Cloning Labs. The quick in pace beats and rhythm of Stealth Inc 2 dissolves the feeling of time – making the player a “lost clone” of the puzzle world.
Overall
Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones fits in the ultimate puzzler category, one which attracts a large audience of gamers across the ‘suitable for all ages’ bracket. The added humour is a bonus for the truly sadistic levels, of darkness and overkill. Having the right mindset and level of patience to carry through Stealth Inc 2, will determine your opinion and overall satisfaction with the game. There is nothing wrong with throwing a tantrum and yelling absolute blasphemy through your house, as you smash your controller (or keyboard) in the process. Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better in the end after surviving A Game of Clones. Best of luck minions – I mean clones!
The latest Pokémon feature film, Hoopa and the Clash of Ages was today announced to be receiving a worldwide release.The 70 minute animated feature will feature the newly revealed legendary Hoopa and perhaps the largest legendary roster to be featured in any Pokemon film to date with the newly released trailer which is embedded below showcasing many well known powerful Pokemon such as Groudon, Dialga, Giratina, Rayquaza and more!
Hoopa can summon Pokemon through its magic rings and also has an alternate form called Hoopa Unbound that will be revealed in the new film. Hoopa’s Unbound form will make it 13 times taller and 50 times heavier than it’s standard form and it will also change into a dark/psychic type Pokemon, making it only the second Pokemon to have that typing outside of Malamar. The film will release on July 18th in films in Japan and on Cartoon Network sometime late in 2015 for the U.S. and other regions.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers’ Every Monday Bundle #54 is the perfect autumn companion or even a spring one, if you prefer to stay indoors. This weeks bundle contains six great indie games that will make autumn and winter zip right on by.
Call of the Ninja!– A puzzle platformer inspired by the classic game Lemmings.
Aerena– This competitive turn based strategy game comes with a free AERENA skin pack that is packed with new skins for both ships and champions.
Cubicity– A physics-based puzzler starring Seamus, who flies with a little help of some rope.
Bard to the Future– A silly platformer about two LARPers who go back in time to fight a time travelling cyborg pirate.
Damned Nation Reborn – Players will find a suitable structure to create their safe haven against the zombies, while desperately searching for survivors to help defend against the relentless hordes.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, the bundle is only $1.89. Grab your copy at Indie Gala before the price goes up.
Rockstar Games genuinely wants to make it clear that the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V is going to be the definitive edition. First, those 4K screenshots. Then, the trailer presented in gorgeous 60 frames-per-second. And now, just a day before this version is to be released, Rockstar hits us with the new Rockstar Editor!
What is Rockstar Editor, you ask?
Yes, that’s right. Rockstar has created video editing software for Grand Theft Auto V‘s Story mode as well as Grand Theft Auto Online and built it right into the PC edition. Players will be able to record and edit video taken from the game as well as use Director Mode to create their own stories with whatever style they want. Then, they will be able to upload their videos to either YouTube or Rockstar Games Social Club right from Rockstar Editor.
But the best part of this news is that Rockstar Editor will be available for use when the game is released tomorrow, April 14. I think it’s time for PC gamers to apologize for all the mean things they said about Rockstar Games. Go ahead…you know who you are.
With Joss Whedon’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron just a number of days away, some may forget about the other Marvel superhero film we’re getting this summer: Ant-Man. Now, we’ve seen a teaser and the hilariously epic poster, but Marvel has released the first full trailer for the Peyton Reed addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe today and I am now counting the days until I get a chance to see this film.
Now, without further ado, the first trailer for Ant-Man:
Ant-Man tells the story of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a con-man and thief trying to turn a new leaf, who is approached by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to be the new Ant-Man. Armed with a super-suit that allows him to shrink in scale while increasing strength and giving him the ability to speak with insects, Lang must work with Pym and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) to pull off a heist that could save the world.
Marvel’s Ant-Man will be released July 17, 2015. Directed by Peyton Reed (Bring It On) with a screenplay by Adam McKay (Anchorman films) and Paul Rudd (Role Models), based on a screen story by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block).
Hot off their last game — Bardbarian — TreeFortress‘ programmer Shawn Blais and artist Mike Gaboury are back with a new game. JumpJet Rex is an indie platformer currently available on Steam Early Access that calls back to the heyday of Mario and Sonic. After playing JumpJet Rex for a while and playing levels over and over, trying to beat my fastest time, I had the chance to speak with Shawn and Mike about their new platformer.
JumpJet Rex hearkens back to the 8- and 16-bit games that many of us grew up with. What games inspired you to make JumpJet Rex?
Shawn Blais: Surprisingly enough, the core mechanics were inspired by the infamous Flappy Bird! We created the initial prototype in the Game Boy Game Jam #3 and wanted to recreate that intense feeling of old school difficulty that Flappy Bird had. Once we decided to turn it into a full game, we drew on many of our favorite titles from the early ’90s, such as Mario, Mega Man, Double Dragon, and Battletoads. We also threw in a healthy heaping of modern time-trial mechanics inspired by titles such as Trials HD or Action Henk.
The game seems built for speedrunning. Can you tell us why? Also, what other games does the team like to speedrun?
Shawn Blais: Surprisingly enough we’re not big speed runners! The focus on Speed emerged somewhat organically. Early in development we experimented with awarding people three stars for each level; one for basic completion, one for “No Deaths” and one for “Target Time”. Once we implemented that, the entire game loop began to click in a really fun way so we decided to run with it.
We’ve also been very careful to include tons of fun stuff for players who like to take a more deliberate pace, such as a ton of hidden collectibles and fun achievements.
I feel as if the platformer has all but disappeared from AAA game development, but still alive and well in the indie game space. Why do you think that is and do you think we may see a resurgence of AAA platform titles in the near future?
Mike Gaboury: Platforming is a pretty tried and true formula, not much is being done to mix it up, which is why the Marios and Sonics of the world have pretty much dominated by AAA publishers in that genre – they do what they do quite well.
While more of the same is fine, we think people want something new now. Luckily enough with the rise of the indies, devs can take more chances. With the ability and freedom to create new ideas, as well as lower costs of development, we are seeing people come up with great new concepts that can change what we, for so long, thought was set in stone! Ideas are contagious and I’m sure we’ll see a wave of platformers in the next few years.
The game is currently available in Steam Early Access. Can you share some benefits and drawbacks to having an open audience play-test your game during development?
Shawn Blais: Early Access has been a bit of a mixed bag for us. We’ve gotten some great ideas, and have a few members who are really dedicated to the game, but we did not really get the traction we needed to achieve our testing goals.
It could be that 2D platformers are just not a great genre for Early Access, but it also seems that Early Access is suffering from a significant stigma these days, as a number of titles have failed to deliver over the past few years, so many people seem to have soured on it.
You recently added “Rage Quit Rex” mode to JumpJet Rex. Can you tell us a bit about the differences in play style?
Shawn Blais: Rage Quit Rex attempts to give you that old-school feeling of having only three lives with no continues. It’s all about sweaty palms and excessive cursing! It’s designed for gamers who really want to test their platforming abilities and the play style is much more cautious than in the normal game, as you have just three deaths to pass all 40+ levels. We anticipate many thrown controllers and smashed keyboards!
When do you hope to officially release JumpJet Rex?
Shawn Blais: We’re not announcing the date yet, but sometime in April would be a pretty good bet.
Great! I look forward to playing the full game.
You can play JumpJet Rex now on Steam Early Access for Windows PC, Mac, and Linux. Be sure to visit TreeFortress on their website and follow them on Twitter.
Overview Creating a horror manga has to be an incredibly difficult task. While some series can manage to get by with a slow paced story filled with haunting imagery and occasional death, others go the completely opposite route. The problem here is, those that go the extreme route have to also avoid becoming ‘campy’ horrors that tend to leave the audience laughing more than they are actually scared by the concept. Junji Ito has created a number of terrifying manga in the past and now that Viz Media is releasing Gyo in a special deluxe package containing the entire series, does Gyo manage to live up to Ito’s reputation?
Story Takashi and his girlfriend Kaori, who has a neuroses when it comes to smells to the point that she won’t even kiss her boyfriend unless he brushes his teeth every time before the kiss, are vacationing in Okinawa. While scuba diving, an extremely fast object zips past Takashi and later on the pair are attacked by what appears to be a fish with legs. Although Takashi thinks this is a new species, Kaori fears the creature as it is extremely smelly and is described to smell like a rotting corpse.
To both of their horrors, the death-stench radiating fish continues to move despite being sealed in a plastic bag and the pair find that more of these nauseating creatures are making their way onto land. As mutated fish with legs continue to come ashore in all different sizes, Kaori’s obsession with smell continues to drive her nuts while fishing boats come under attack by the creatures and a great white shark storms a beach, eating everyone that thought they were safe.
Once the shark makes its move on the pair and the two barely escape the creature, they fly back to Tokyo but that is only the beginning. Tadashi brings his scientist uncle in on the metal-legged fish and revelations about what is actually making them move and the reason everything smells like a rotting corpse comes to bear. With the fish advancing on land and overrunning Tokyo, Kaori is infected by the gas that is expelled by the creatures, leading Tadashi into an event that sees him placed in a coma for a month. Waking up, Tadashi finds that the world is now a far different place than the one he lived in and that the fish are the least of humanity’s worries in what is easily the grossest and most twisted stories you can read while also chuckling at the absurd stupidity of it all.
From the point that a campy Jaws-like scene plays out, with the swimmers fleeing the ocean to safety on the beach only to be eaten once the shark walks onto land, many of the concepts in Gyo range from being cheesy to highly entertaining. With unkillable creatures starting things out, to conspiracy theories about experiments from World War II gone awry to utilizing humanity’s twisted nature to drive home the horror, Gyo evolves into a satisfying if not still ridiculous story that manages to pull itself together thanks to Junji Ito’s twisted drawings of the creatures and the incredibly well paced escalation of the danger, even though the actual developments feature many plot holes.
Having a great white shark chase two people through a building with tight hallways and corners could be seen as absolutely ridiculous but Ito’s presentation makes it a claustrophobic chase that is truly terrifying to read. Then escalating the danger of the fish and the infectious gas spewing that seems to rot those infected by it to truly horrific and nauseating proportions by making humanity the new source of the death-stench feels like a natural progression of what becomes an apocalyptic event. Piles of bloated humans rotting on large legs that seek out more victims to spread the disease, circus acts twisting the nature of the creatures and exploiting the concept that the expelled gas may be sentient, and even an infected zeppelin that shoot projectiles grace these horrifying pages where barely any character development occurs, as horrific events that come one after another and barely the slightest element of human emotion is present in later scenes.
Artwork As I mentioned earlier, what holds the entire concept of Gyo together is Junji Ito’s style of artwork and his brand of creating twisted and sickening looking creatures. While things may start simple with the rotting fish and the legs that carry them, things only become stranger later on as gas-spewing corpses with tubes running through their bodies become a common and terrifying looking sight. When he isn’t drawing monstrous looking creatures and bloated bodies, Ito’s fine touches with drawing haunted looking eyes and eyes of those who have completely lost their minds helps drive home just how terrified these characters are of the abominations they are witnessing.
Extra Content Viz Media has compiled both volumes of Gyo into a deluxe edition package that features an extremely sturdy hardcover with a minimalistic but fitting cover. By being printed in this form, the release is far larger than even Viz Signature releases, meaning it may be a bit large for some standard shelves but this also means that the aforementioned artwork that makes Gyo work so well is presented in a more detailed form than ever before. The release also features new color endpages as well as two side-stories, one which is a bit of a simple but, once again, dumb joke about a tragedy happening as soon as a family’s house is built. The other is a bit more intriguing as it involves human shaped holes and a force that seems to draw people to them.
Overall Gyo is the type of manga that is meant to horrify readers by being as grotesque and disgusting as possible while portraying a horrifying scenario that, despite the ridiculous concept and the numerous plot holes, is held together by Junji Ito’s twisted illustrations. Fans of Ito’s works will find that Gyo is as nasty as stories like this come and those who like horror manga will likely require some preparation before delving into Gyo’s pages.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview Over the course of the last two episodes, Telltale Games has had to work within the confines of the already established Game of Thrones storyline while also trying to establish the members of House Forrester and setup the challenges each one would face in order to try and prevent their house from falling to ruin. With the third episode The Sword in the Darkness bringing us to the halfway point of what is six planned episodes; how will House Forrester handle their challenges this time?
Story As usual, while we will be avoiding major plot points that take place in this episode, those who have not played either of the previous episodes should do so before reading on as previous events will be discussed. With that said, The Sword in the Darkness feels like the first time that the series is beginning to move things forward instead of simply introducing everyone and providing a little bit of tension while drawing things out.
This time the story drops players first into the shoes of Asher as his group deals with the fallout from the Lost Legion members. After the appearance of something that fans of the series have always been hoping would be utilized more, players are forced to make a major decision shortly into the episode and thanks to the type of outcomes we’ve seen decisions like this have in other Telltale titles, trying to choose between a friend or a family member is an immediate agonizing choice to throw at players.
While the more action focused brother continues to try and make his way home with soldiers, Mira’s endeavors in King’s Landing feel like the real ‘game of thrones’ where you live and die but what you say. Mira has to not only try and balance her interactions with Margaery but also Tyrion and Cersei. None of these three like each other very well and if you haven’t already started to take a side, you will now need to start doing so. Players who have always tried to play the neutral field will find themselves no safe ground where hard decisions will have to be made. Will you obey Margaery and stand your ground with Cersei or talk with Tyrion after being ordered not to?
These types of choices appear constantly throughout Mira’s part of the story and while players cannot make everyone happy, they also have to try and do what is best for House Forrester. The same can be said in regard to Rodrik and his worsening situation at Ironrath. With Whitehill soldiers becoming belligerent and a new face entering the scene and throwing his weight around, players will face some real difficult decisions here.
You see, there are a number of ways to handle this new face but depending on what route you try and select, you’ll immediately and constantly have your resolve challenged. Accepting the small punishments for now appear like they will play out for the best in the long run but whether the game actually takes that route is currently unknown and while it is evident that some characters around Rodrik understand why he is allowing certain things to happen, the clear disappointment of others really tries to tempt players into action even though discretion may pay off in the future.
As for the man who was sent to The Wall, Gared Tuttle who played a minimal role in the last episode is back and the idea of the North Grove also returns. Very little is revealed about the North Grove but it does set a clear goal for Gared to search for in upcoming episodes, especially now that he has learned something new about an ally and faced down a foe from his past.
Gameplay As far as the actual gameplay in the episode is concerned; The Sword in the Darkness continues to follow the same trend as past games where players will have some extremely limited moments of exploration where they can talk to a few characters or interact with various objects. This time around there is actually a small puzzle included, though it requires very little thought and can simply be completed by process of elimination if you cannot figure it out.
The action in this episode continues to play out in quick time events and while most of these scenes involve Asher, Gared gets into a scuffle as well as he takes part in a very satisfying one on one fight that gives players a very brutal finishing option that surprisingly few people seemed to have went for despite how well deserved it is.
Visuals & Audio Interestingly enough, it seems that the blurry affect that Telltale used in past episodes has either been refined to the point that they are barely noticeable or harshly reduced as these potential eyesores were non-existent throughout my time with The Sword in the Darkness. The standard art style featuring oil-painted designs and muted coloration continues to be a big highlight when it comes to the designs of the characters.
The voice acting remains fairly impressive, with the main voice actors still returning to reprise their roles, including the ones from the television series. That being said, I did experience a number of audio glitches throughout the episode that either caused dialogue to repeat up to three times in a row or cut out entirely.
Overall It is difficult to feel upbeat coming out of some of the punishing events that take place in The Sword in the Darkness as nearly every character has had to do something that hurts those around them in some way, but it is clear that the gears have been put in motion and that House Forrester may be on the rise in the future. However this all plays out in the future is unknown, but this episode finally gives most characters a goal to aim for, even if it means betraying others and suffering humiliation in order to head towards that goal.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview It is incredibly common that any anime series set in a high school will include students that attend various clubs and most of the time all of the core cast members are part of the same club or are split up into different clubs and re-unite after school or during class. Other times the students are part of what is generally called a “Go Home” club which means that the students simply leave school once it ends and aren’t actually part of a club. Despite its name Chronicles of the Going Home Club is far from the standard Go Home club anime viewers are used to and now that the series has been released in North America, is it worth picking up?
Story After entering high school Natsuki Ando is unsure of what club she wants to join and even though one of her friends is thinking about joining a sports club, Natsuki feels like she is going to just join the Go Home club which as mentioned earlier, generally involves simply going home and not being in an actual club. When her fellow classmate Karin hears that she wishes to join the Going Home Club, she is quite pleased and offers to show Natsuki where it is located.
Much to Natsuki’s surprise, the club is an actual real thing and rather than focus on simply going home once the day ends, the focus of the club is to have as much fun as possible even though it usually just devolves into wacky jokes to kill time. Ultimately that is what Chronicles of the Going Home Club is, a series that does its best to be as self-aware as possible while delivering goofy punch lines as the five girls interact with one another.
You see, there while Natsuki and Karin are deemed the “Super Rookies” Natsuki’s role in the group is to play the straight man who constantly makes retorts to the absurd jokes the rest of the club makes while Karin’s role is simply to be as cute as possible. This is especially true considering the main reason she joined the club is because she couldn’t choose between the Handicraft Club and Cooking Club meaning that while she is capable she is as airheaded as they come, much to the delight of the rest of the club members.
The original members of the Going Home Club consist of Botan Ohagi, an extremely skilled martial artist capable of inhuman feats of strength and taking down bears without breaking a sweat, Claire Kokonoe, a girl from an extremely rich household with no concept of money who readily repairs any damages done to the clubroom without a second thought, and Sakura Domyoji, the president of the club who is ordinary in almost every way except for her energetic personality and the strange ideas she comes up with.
All five of these girls fit into their archetypes well and while there isn’t much to the actual premise of Chronicles of the Going Home Club, the series is a very solid slice of life comedy series that will provide plenty of laughs for those willing to give the series a chance. There is even a little white seal that appears often and either narrates an event or adds an extra line to a scene as it serves as a mascot character that none of the characters can actually see.
Of course humor is rather subjective so not everyone may enjoy the brand of self-deprecating humor that the series employs. That being said, the way that the series’ low budget, cost cutting measures, and the lack of popularity are made into running joke, how many jabs the series takes at other more popular anime series, as well as the way situations planned by Sakura, such as a murder mystery or mixer event, end up backfiring in humorous ways make the series worth watching for me and anyone who likes a comedy slice of life series such as this. Let’s just say if you can find an episode almost completely dedicated to a word chain competition between Natsuiki and Sakura as the two try to come up with plans to beat one another by making one say a chosen “Taboo Word” enjoyable, you’ll find Chronicles of the Going Home Club to your liking.
The chemistry between all of the girls is great and the capabilities that of Botan and Claire add extra spice to the comedy and even if it doesn’t exactly have anything special going for it and tends to follow the same pattern every episode, those who give Chronicles of the Going Home Club will be in for a good time as long as they know what to expect.
Visuals Despite the way that the cost-cutting low budget is turned into a running joke, the character designs in Chronicles of the Going Home Club are polished and clean looking with a bright use of colors throughout the cast even if the designs are a bit standard on their own. One notable thing is that Natsuki’s ahoge (cowlick) has been given special attention which is a noteworthy effort considering the way it is used for extra comedic effect.
As for the rest of the series, most of the scenery is fairly standard looking and unfortunately the cast rarely leaves the club room but when they do it usually comes with a nice change of scenery and costume change for the cast though even then most of the outfits remain fairly standard outside of a few extremely basic fan-service shots that are joked about almost immediately.
Audio NIS America has released Chronicles of the Going Home Club with only the original Japanese voice track which is fitting for a comedic series that so heavily relies upon the chemistry of the cast to pull off successful jokes. What is interesting in this series is that outside of Natsuki’s voice actress Ibuki Kido, the rest of the voice actresses made their debut in this show. This comes as something of a surprise since the cast works well together and brings out the best of the characters in the series.
As for the background music, the actual standard soundtrack is nothing to write home about as it features fairly standard themes throughout the series but I must note that a lot of care has been given to the ending themes. While the opening theme “2 Gakki Debut Daisakusen” by Otome Shinto is a memorable theme, there are three ending themes used throughout the series. The first ending “Wakuwaku Days” being a fairly standard theme featuring the voice actresses for the cast but after this we see character focused songs featuring “Hanabi” sung by Botan’s voice actress and “Kimi ni Tsuite Ieru Koto” by Karin and Claire’s voice actresses with both of these themes being impossible to skip, especially “Hanabi,” since they were that enjoyable.
Extras With the release of Chronicles of the Going Home Club NIS America has given the series their latest premium edition treatment featuring a collection of extras. While the on disc bonuses include “Deluxe” versions of the Going Home Club Theater shorts, fancier versions of shorts that appeared at the end of some episodes, clean versions of the opening and ending themes, and Japanese trailers, the real bonus comes in the form of the chipboard art box and the art book.
The art book features sketches of the core cast as well as little tidbits of information about them while also providing episode summaries but unlike their past releases, all of their episode summaries are comically misleading and feature accompanying sketches, as well as interviews with various members of the anime staff.
Overall Chronicles of the Going Home Club may not bring anything new to the table as far as slice of life comedies focusing on five girls go but it does feature a great cast of characters and plenty of amazing humor that often breaks the fourth wall and is rather self-deprecating. By never taking itself seriously the show is a very light comedy and is an enjoyable and entertaining series for those who want a good laugh but not much else.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
