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selector infected WIXOSS Episode 1 Impressions

April 13, 2014

selector-infected-WIXOSS-Episode 1-01 — **A girl with her eye on the prize…kinda**

selector infected WIXOSS
Episode 1: This Miracle Trembles

Everybody needs to relax every once in a while. To take time away from the world and just unwind. How you choose to do so is of course a matter of choice, but chances are whatever you pick, somebody else will have chosen similarly. Enter a world much like our own, where a humble card game has taken students by storm. Female students specifically. The girls spend their money buying new cards and upgrading their decks in order to best their friends and enjoy a little healthy competition. Or at least, that’s true in most cases. However, within the seemingly innocuous game lies a secret only a few bear witness to. A secret that changes the rules entirely.

First things first, meet Ruko. Just an average girl making her way through the trials and tribulations of high school. Unfortunately, her personality is such that she leans towards introversion, resulting in a distinct lack of friends. Though this doesn’t seem to bother her to any major degree, the brief glimpse we see of her on the train expresses the kind of melancholy that comes with loneliness. If you couldn’t gather that she was a sweetheart from her relationship with her family, it is only after hearing how her Grandma worries about her isolation that she truly begins to seek out friends. An “awww” moment if there ever was one. It is also in this vein that her brother decides to introduce her to the world of WIXOSS, the titular card game, unknowingly setting off a chain of events that will change Ruko’s life forever.

selector-infected-WIXOSS-Episode 1-02 — **Awww…**

To cut a short story shorter, upon opening her starter deck, Ruko notices that her LRIG card (the centre of her deck) is alive…and cute as a button. Naturally, once her shock dies down, she begins to learn about the game and sets off to find similar minded people at school. Which she does. Kinda. Something I really enjoyed about this episode was how quickly it jumped into the world of WIXOSS. Despite talking to her card at school, we didn’t have to sit through watching her be judged and embarrassed, as is the case in a number of these anime that deal with a secret reality. Instead, another character immediately realised the truth behind Ruko and invited her to fight. I mean, we all know how these kinds of situations usually play out, it was nice to skip it for a change.

Though the animation was excellent throughout the entire episode, the card battle was where it really got a chance to shine. Albeit rather briefly. More of an exposition than an actual battle, we got to see the LRIGs outside of their 2D form (in a manner of speaking) firing energy blasts and punches, that somehow have something to do with actually playing WIXOSS…I guess. Though I said that this introduction was expository, I still don’t actually have a handle on the intricacies of the game…because they didn’t really tell us them. The whole “summon SIGNIs to attack” seems simple enough, though the “Grow” function is still rather mysterious. Oh well, I’m just gonna chalk it up to early days. That being said, it would be rather interesting if the anime chooses to focus more on the impact of the game than the game itself. I guess we’ll just have to see which path it decides to take.

selector-infected-WIXOSS-Episode 1-03 — **Less awww…**

Speaking of impact, the titular game is said to bestow one of unequivocal power unto a truly powerful selector (those who possess living LRIGs). Should they continue to win, they will be granted a single wish. Any wish at all. Regardless of how possible it is, it will come true. Or so they say. It is for this reason that the newly introduced Yuzuki is so desperate to win. Her desire is kinda…weird. Ok, really weird. She loves her brother, but not as her brother. You catch my drift? Naturally this is unrequited and carries a 0% chance of ever amounting to anything…because they’re related. But with a little WIXOSS magic who knows what could happen…who would want to know what could happen? That being said, Yuzuki possesses a bizarre kind of innocence, even in this odd situation. It’s certainly strange, but i kinda seems like she never matured when it came to understanding relationships. She just knows she cares deeply for her brother. Maybe it has something to do with her being the younger sister that makes it appear this way. I’m not really sure. It’s undeniably weird, but it’s not twisted. Poor Yuzuki…I think.

Certainly one of the most interesting events of the episode is the one that didn’t actually happen. Let me explain. After learning of the living LRIG that she now owns, Ruko had a nightmare. One hell of a frightening one at that. Her vision of an odd wax monster ominously looming over her expresses that WIXOSS may take a rather dark turn in the future. Perhaps granting the power of an unrestricted wish to high school girls isn’t the best idea. Who’da thunk it? The fact that the nightamarish creature bears similarities to Ruko’s own LRIG, and the previously showcased bloodlust that she expresses in battle, may be some blatant foreshadowing that Tama’s cutesy appearance conceals something far darker. Or, looking at it a little more objectively, could it be that Tama is simply responding to a wish that Ruko herself has not made yet. Maybe Ruko’s own fear of this new world simply twisted the visuals presented to her. After all, the dream did seem rather prophetic and the creature did appear to be saving a town from being Tetrised out of existence. Whatever the case, I can’t wait to find out.

selector-infected-WIXOSS-Episode 1-04 — **It’s time to duel!**

So there we have it. Our first look into the odd world of a card game brought to life. An interesting one if I do say so myself. Which I do. With plenty of desire driving at least one of the selector’s introduced thus far, Ruko may be hard pressed to keep up. Though does she even want to? Sure losing Tama would be sad, but from what we’ve seen so far, it mightn’t be the worst thing to happen. Lacking the eloquence of other LRIGs, we don’t actually know what is running through her head. Other than she loves fighting. Though in the opening moments of the series, a much more evolved Tama did appear to be exclaiming her undying loyalty to someone. Is this a sign of evil, or simply unrestrained innocence? I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out.

Check out more selector infected WIXOSS Impressions HERE.

Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne Season 1 Review

Luke Halliday

April 13, 2014

Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne Season 1 Review

Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne
Studio: XEBEC
Publisher: Madman Entertainment
Format: DVD, Blu-Ray (Reviewed)
Release Date: March 19, 2013
Price: $59.95 – Available Here

Overview
Cute girls, mecha, aliens, jerseys. That is pretty much Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne in a nutshell. You have cute girls piloting mechas to fight off an alien invasion of sorts, one of which has an abnormal love for jerseys. It is a strange mecha anime to say the very least but it is rather fun because of that.

Lagrange is nothing you haven’t seen before from the mecha genre, but it has an air of freshness to it that makes it standout from the crowd. There is a playful heart to Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne that sets it apart from the pack, this isn’t some dark tragic mecha drama, in fact it is quite uplifting and that may very well be the thing that makes Lagrange good: it makes you smile.

Story
Madoka is your average genki teenage girl, she is kind-hearted, playful and quite sporty. She is the founder of the jersey club, a poorly defined high school club for people who wear jerseys. At the series outset Madoka is the club’s only member. Surely enough she quickly becomes embroiled in an alien invasion which is exclusively targeted upon a remote Japanese beach town called Kamogawa, which just so happens to be Madoka’s hometown which she loves.

In a blur Madoka is suddenly piloting a mecha and engaging in battles with the invaders in order to protect the town she loves. The invader’s motivations are somewhat questionable but regardless of that they serve as a decent antagonistic threat to Madoka and company. While these are all somewhat generic plot points that occur frequently in mecha series, Lagrange’s take on the series is quite unique and that blend of mecha tropes makes for something special.

The series features quite a lot of fan-service, with many shower scenes and strange public stripping sequences by our heroic trio of cute girls. If you’re an ecchi fan and like these three characters you’ll surely have a lot of candy for the eye with Lagrange. The fan-service isn’t the slightest bit subtle, right down to the on all fours position that the girls pilot their mechs in. If you aren’t into the whole fan-service thing it may be a little bit of a distraction here as it occurs frequently and bares little importance to the story.

The story itself is somewhat muddled and fairly repetitive at times. Things progress quite slowly and it feels like battle after battle with no goal point for quite a while. Ultimately it kicks into gear and the story becomes more interesting. This is really a series that relies heavily on its likable main cast to push things along and with the development for each of the main trio, they quite easily carry the series on their shoulders. The chemistry between them is electric and it is a whole lot of fun just watching them interact with one another.

Ultimately Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne is a light-hearted mecha with a heaping helping of fan-service on the side. It is a lot of fun and the action sequences are well choreographed and know how to build tension and excitement. The real highlight of this series is its great primary cast, it is impossible not to like these girls and it proves to be Lagrange’s strong point. Season 1 concludes in an interesting way and definitely leaves the viewer hankering for some more jersey club fun when Season 2 hits our shores.

Visuals and Audio
So very fresh, that is how I would describe the style of Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne. It just has a refreshing aesthetic that really doesn’t look like anything else. It is animated superbly and the direction is tight and sublime. The character designs are each appealing in their own ways and the unique visuals of the series ensure a memorable look that won’t be forgotten. The battles upon the sea are impressive visually and the fan-service scenes are rather titillating if you’re into that kind of stuff. The general production on this series is excellent and stands as some of XEBEC’s finest to date.

The series soundtrack is fitting and adds to the aura of a fresh ocean breeze kind of feeling that the show has going for it. The opening and ending themes aren’t really all that special but they aren’t bad in any way. The English dub from Viz Media is decent to a large extent but somewhat hit and miss, some performances come of as lazy, but the main trio of girls are all voiced with a great deal of personality and vigor. This release of course also features the original Japanese audio should you prefer it.

Extras
Madman Entertainment’s release of Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne is quite an impressive feat, it features a plethora of special features that add a great deal to the experience of the series. Included on the release are an art gallery (which I must say is a special feature that is sadly far too rare in the current anime landscape), the standard clean opening and closing themes and a very special Kamogawa Drama featurette. That is a lot of bonuses for this quality release and it is all the more appreciated considering the asking price.

Overall
Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne is a special mecha series. It takes and blends some rather trite tropes of the genre and makes them into something fresh and unique. There is quite a bit of fan-service in the series which will be hit or miss for you depending on your opinion on that type of thing. The series strongest point and ultimately its major hook is the chemistry between its main trio, these girls are all likable in their own ways and their interactions are really a lot of fun to watch. The mecha battles surprisingly are not the most interesting part of this mecha series, rather it is watching these three cute girls grow together like the flower that blossoms. In the end Season 1 overall was a solid first entry for the Lagrange series and things look to go bigger and better in Season 2. If you’re looking for a bit of easy light-hearted and at times uplifting fun, then hop on board for Lagrange: Flower of Rin-ne.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth revealed

Travis Bruno

April 13, 2014

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth revealed

Today 2K Games and Firaxis have announced that they are working on a brand new Civilization game and this one is all about the sci-fi aspect of the game. It is called Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth and it is going to be taking place after the civilizations have abandoned Earth to look for a new planet to call home.

In this game players will take control of a the expedition as they establish themselves as a new civilization on an alien planet. The announcement trailer for the game can be found below and as for the game itself, Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth is currently set to be released sometime in Fall 2014 for the PC.

Happiness! Complete Collection Review

Travis Bruno

April 13, 2014

Happiness! Complete Collection
Studio: Artland
Publisher: Maiden Japan
Format: DVD
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Price: $49.98 – Available Here

Overview
Anime adaptations of light novels are the popular thing nowadays but less than ten years ago the same could be said for visual novels. During this time frame numerous harem style romantic comedies were produced from that pool of source material and while a few of them can be fondly remembered, a large number of them have been forgotten. One such series which many have probably forgotten is Happiness! which has recently been given a subtitle only release by Maiden Japan. The question is, is Happiness! an anime that was better left forgotten?

Story
In the world of Happiness! there are a select few people who are gifted with magic while the majority of the population have no magical powers. At Mizuhosaka Academy there is a magic section where magically talented students train to become mages and a normal school where everyday teenagers attend class. Because of this division, the two groups rarely interact with one another during school.

However one Valentine’s Day, the magical branch of the school is partially destroyed due to a gas explosion and as such, the mages will have to attend school with the students in the normal section of the school. This is great news for a girl named Haruhi Kamisaka, the most talented mage in her class, as she had just met a normal boy named Yuma earlier in the day and given him some chocolates as a friendly gesture.

You see, when Haruhi was a child she was saved by a young boy who used magic to stop bullies from pestering her and ever since that day she has trained to become a mage and, thanks to a fortune telling, has looked for the boy every Valentine’s Day and Yuma bears a striking resemblance to the boy despite his dislike of magic that is used frivolously.

Anyways, with Haruhi and her rival/close friend Anri transferring into their class, Yuma and his two childhood friends Hachi and Jun become fast friends with one another and begin to deal with more magical things happening in their lives. While this is happening however, a mysterious girl has begun appearing around the school as if searching for something that will lead to a major revelation. With everything going on could romance be in the air?

Now one would think that throwing together a bunch of mages and a bunch of normal students that previously did not interact with one another would create some unusual hijinks and some interesting developments along the way. Unfortunately that is not the case in Happiness! as the whole magic aspect is usually rarely touched upon or briefly used in each episode. This then is either followed up by Yuma making a one off comment about how bad magic is or not saying anything at all and participating with everyone else. Or it doesn’t have any influence whatsoever and then it falls back on the characters to make this series worthwhile.

Most of the magical mistakes occur from Anri who is talented but tends to overstep her capabilities which results in her magic running wild. She plays the klutz of the role, while there is the devoted little sister with “family circumstances,” a perverted male best friend, a wise older-sister type mage, a few characters that come in later on, and the trap. Ironically, the trap is probably the most memorable character of the bunch since almost every character in this release is as cookie cutter as they come.

Jun, the aforementioned trap, is the source of a lot of the humor in Happiness! since he doesn’t care whatsoever about how he acts as he believes that girls clothing suits him better and often makes Hachi uncomfortable or uses his looks for an advantage. As for the main couple, despite being based off of an eroge that has multiple paths, there is never a doubt that Haruhi is the main lead throughout the series and her developments with Yuma, and Yuma’s the general lack of close interaction with any other female character helps drive this home early.

If you can’t tell already, almost everything in Happiness! is boring to watch and predictable to boot. With only one memorable character and basic humor that will rarely draw laughs out of the viewer a lot of the standard rom-com events feel like a chore. Even then when the story finally kicks into gear for the last few episodes of the release, viewers will be wondering why they couldn’t have developed this story a bit over the course of the series instead of just dumping a lot of information in the second to last episode.

Visuals
Coming into this series it is worth noting that this anime was first made back in 2006 by Artland so viewers should be prepared for a somewhat dated experience. Unfortunately it can be said that even compared to other anime at the time, Happiness! is not a good looking series in almost any category, especially when it comes to actual animation and character detail. One would think that the use of magic would be the highlight of the series but unfortunately, outside of the repeated scenes for when the girls chant the magic words which actually are nice looking, most of the magic effects are basic.

The same can be said for the designs of the characters and their outfits. The characters are not memorable looking in the least, again Jun is the only character to actually stand out and that is probably due to his light-purple hair, as they fit the standard look for the series, though a character introduced later into the series, Ibuki, is decently designed as well. As far as the fan service in this series is concerned, it is minimalistic with only a few panty shots here and there and your standard beach episode.

Audio
As mentioned at the beginning of this review, Happiness! is English sub only release, which means that the Japanese voice track is all that is included in the release. This is fine for the most part as almost all of the characters fit their roles well, though Ibuki’s voice actress might catch a few people off guard since she actually sounds different than how many people would expect given her design.

The background music throughout Happiness! is your very forgettable which is a shame, since the opening theme “Happiness!” by Murata is a rather enjoyable opening theme set to some halfway decent animation, though the same cannot be said about the ending theme “Magical Generation” by Yui Sakakibara, the voice actress for Haruhi, as it is way too basic and the only time it feels like it has any impact is in the final episode as it plays over the conclusion.

Extras
With the release of Happiness! Maiden Japan has put in a very standard set of bonus features such as trailers for other anime from the Maiden Japan label, a clean version of the opening, a clean version of the ending, disc credits, and an OVA.

This OVA is a full episode titled “Jun Watarase’s Magnificent Day” and again considering the fact that Jun is the only likable and memorable character of the bunch, it is great that this episode actually decided to focus entirely on the character. It is worth noting that this happens somewhere in the middle of the series and not after episode twelve but it focuses on what happens to Jun after a bunch of magic ends up making this trap a real girl in what is the funniest episode on the release.

Overall
It pains me to say that Happiness! is a boring show, because at least on paper it sounds like it has a lot going for it. However very little is done with the premise and when you factor in the poor artwork and general lack of comedy throughout the release Happiness! feels generic in every regard. The only saving grace for this release is Jun’s cross-dressing antics and how the story decides to pick up at the end, but by then it is far too late to save Happiness! from being a dud.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Good Luck Girl Complete Series Review

Luke Halliday

April 13, 2014

Good Luck Girl
Studio: Sunrise
Publisher: Madman Entertainment
Format: DVD, Blu-Ray (Reviewed)
Release Date: March 19, 2013
Price: $59.95 – Available Here

Overview
So tell me, are you feeling lucky, punk? Well Ichiko Sakura certainly is, in fact her entire life she has had nothing but good luck and doesn’t even know the feeling of having things not go her way. That is of course until the ‘Poverty God’ Momoji comes along to restore the balance of luck to the world. If only Momoji wasn’t so darn unlucky.

Good Luck Girl is a comedy series that pits lucky against unlucky, big breasts against flat chests and a god of misfortune against the most fortunate girl in the entire world. It is one hell of a killer hook for an anime series and Good Luck Girl squeezes out laughs with ease from this zany concept. Filled with referential humour that will delight anime fans, Good Luck Girl might just be one of the best comedy anime in quite some time.

Story
Good Luck Girl has a great concept, it works well for a story-of-the-week structure and over the course of its 13 episode run it proves to be a solid foundation for superb comedy. The constant struggle between the lucky girl Ichiko Sakura and the god of misfortune Momoji is an absolute riot that will have you laughing from start to finish.

As with most comedy series it is really only as funny as its cast is and lucky for Good Luck Girl its cast of colorful characters are a deadset crack-up. The characters are all inherently funny and give a raunchy edge to the series. Standout characters such as momo the dog god with a serious BDSM fetish, the pervert black monk and of course Momoji and Ichiko themselves round out this comedic cast quite well.

Anime fans are sure to find themselves in stitches with references to other anime series present throughout, with sight gags referencing everything from Dragon Ball Z to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. For long-time anime fans such as myself it is hard not to get a good laugh out of such referencial humour and Good Luck Girl does a great job at that meta-style of comedy.

While there isn’t exactly a continuing plot other than the main through line that Momoji must try to take away some of Ichiko’s good luck, the series does a great job at insular episode stories. One particularly memorable stand alone story focuses on Ichiko deciding she wants a boyfriend only to discover that unlike her he is actually poor. It is a great moment for the series and one that takes the character of Ichiko to some very interesting places, both comedically and dramatically. The episodic structure of Good Luck Girl is the perfect fit and throughout its run there are a number of ups and downs but fortunately there is more ups in the series.

Good Luck Girl is a great comedy anime, arguably the best in quite some time. While it does rely on ecchi humour for a lot of its gags, there are some killer referencial jokes that will undoubtedly crack up anime fans. It is a series that breaks down the anime medium and squeezes as much laughs as it can out of it. Good Luck Girl succeeds as a comedy in spite of its reliance on ecchi aspects.

Visuals and Audio
Sunrise are a studio known for their brilliant visual displays. Good Luck Girl is one of their more simpler works, that is not to say it isn’t without its own brand of style of flair. It is just a more lax effort from the veteran studio. There isn’t a great deal of sakuga animation on show and the series doesn’t need it. It is a comedy and utilizes sight gag still shots to solid effect. Comedy series don’t need to have sakuga animation going wild to go wild and with bombast and true flair Good Luck Girl looks great aesthetically.

In terms of audio, Good Luck Girl’s soundtrack is a solid effort all round, with a few memorable tracks to boot. The opening theme is catchy as can be an the ending is quite good too. The highlight as far as the audio aspect of this release goes is the rip-roaring riot of an English dub that Funimation have put together. It is absolutely hilarious in every way and Colleen Clinkenbeard is pure brilliance in the role of Momoji arguably surpassing even the original Japanese voice actress. The jokes are great and the dub is one of the best there has been perhaps ever. If you don’t laugh at this dub then you may need to see a doctor as you’d surely be missing a funny bone or two. Funimation and the entire dub cast should be applauded, this is a dub to remember.

Extras
As for bonus content, this Blu-Ray release of Good Luck Girl packs quite a wallop. Included on this already great release are audio and video commentaries for the series, the English language trailer and the standard clean opening and ending themes. The real standout is of course the commentaries, which are always a delight to see and have become a staple of Funimation dubbed releases. Madman Entertainment have done a job well done with Good Luck Girl.

Overall
Good Luck Girl is an excellent comedy anime that while not being for everyone will undoubtedly have anime fans in stitches. It’s referential humour is pure genius and the meta-nature of the series will surely have anime fans rethinking the medium and what it can do as far as comedy goes. It plays on all the right tropes and features a memorable cast of hilarious characters. If there is anything to unfortunate about Good Luck Girl it is its unnecessary reliance on ecchi-based humour, the show has better gags but almost feels as though it isn’t confident in them enough at times to let them sit on their own. Its the one unfortunate aspect of an otherwise hilarious anime series. In spite of that, Good Luck Girl proves to be one of the most funniest anime series in years, if you’re after a good laugh, look no further than Good Luck Girl.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Episode 2 Impressions

Frank Inglese

April 13, 2014

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Episode 2 Impressions

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Episode 2 – Who Will Be The Judge?!

“Who Will Be The Judge?!” made up for what last weeks episode lacked; a theme song. Now that we’ve been gifted the auditoral excellence that is “Stand Proud” by Jin Hashimoto, talks of how good the “Stardust Crusaders” theme song better be can be put safely down to rest. While not as good as the first two theme songs for the series, “Stand Proud” does have a nice feel that I believe properly represents the series; it’s not as bubbly and hard-hitting as the first two opening tracks but it’s here to stay so start getting used to it. Episode 2 introduces us to another character for the series, one that was shown to be somewhat of a friend to the crew in the opening which somewhat ruined the surprise but the series has been around for so long I’m sure audiences have done their fair share of research.

JoJos-Bizarre-Adventure-Stardust-Crusaders-Episode-2-Screenshot-02 — **– Men Want To Be Him, Women Want To Be With Him –**

Men Want To Be Him, Women Want To Be With Him.

Apparently the broody and angst-filled Jotaro is quite the catch. Ladies seem to love him but for some reason he doesn’t seem to love the ladies…I guess he’s too busy concentrating on holding up his own hulking mass of a torso to take any notice of the beautiful, swooning girls around him. Sweet, innocent, naive Jotaro. You’re too precious for this world. While walking to school, Jotaro – followed by a mob of cute schoolgirls – has a bit of an accident which involves his leg being mysteriously slashed and him falling down a flight of stairs which looks as though stretches to infinity. Lucky he has a wingman like “Star Platinum” who quickly grabs a tree branch and swings him to safety.

This scene escalated so very quickly, the intensity in the animation was incomparable and he was simply falling down a few steps. The good and occasionally bad thing about “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” is that it is extremely exaggerated, to the point where it almost becomes a comedy series rather than an action/adventure, “shonen” romp. Deffinitely go into “JJBA” with a good sense of humour because some scenes will make you laugh for reasons you would have never pondered before. The girls walking behind him quickly rushed to his safety, all the while flirting. Time and place, ladies. Within the group of girls though is a mysterious, young man with a green uniform and odd hair…a young man we saw painting Jotaro as he walked to school. Interesting.

JoJos-Bizarre-Adventure-Stardust-Crusaders-Episode-2-Screenshot-03 — **– The Artistic Transfer Student –**

The Artistic Transfer Student.

“I’m Noriaki Kakyoin. I just transferred here yesterday.” Yeah, likely story, pal! You’re not fooling anyone. We saw you paint Jotaro and slice him up with your magic paint brush, if you’re an evil wizard I think it’s better to be honest up front. Kakyoin hands Jotaro a handkerchief to mop up the fountain of blood pouring from his busted leg. While he seems like a nice guy, he makes some weird faces at our hero indicating that he’s not entirely “on the level”…not that you didn’t already know that from the previous scene. He walks away after idol chit-chat but leaves behind a deadly aura of hate and murderous intent, something Jotaro both can handle yet doesn’t entirely like so he treads lightly around the transfer student just until he fully figures him out. This scene is immediately trailed by that of one spotlighting DIO in the present. Somewhere in the darkness of a foreign country, the Joestar family plague speaks about his new-found powers and those of Jonathan’s ancestors. The scenes transitioned well and gave off a massive hint that Kakyoin wasn’t just acting on his own accord, that it has something to do with DIO much like everything that I’m sure will go on in this series. Before his monologue ends, DIO mentions that he’s aware of Jotaro and his Stand ability, revealing to the audience that he’s got eyes around the world constantly on surveillance. Disregarding the fact that he was talking outloud to himself the entire, you get the real vibe that DIO is just as dangerous, if not moreso, as he was when he took down the Joestar family head Jonathan. Kujo and the gang are in for a rough ride.

JoJos-Bizarre-Adventure-Stardust-Crusaders-Episode-2-Screenshot-04 — **– Time To Check Your Temperature –**

Time To Check Your Temperature.

Jotaro, being the health-conscious young man that he is, heads straight for the school nurse’s office to get his leg sorted out before he bleeds to death. Thank God he did because the series would NOT last long if the main character and only hope to saving the world died in the second episode. Walking into the infirmary Jotaro notices that the nurse already has her hands full with two of his “bancho” pals who are faking being sick just to get out of class. I can’t judge them because I did it plenty of times when I was at school. The scene quickly turns dark when Jotaro notices some sort of slithering tentacle reaching up the nurse’s skirt…well, see now my description of the scene makes it sound a great deal worse than it actually was but just run with it for the time being. She snaps and something about her personality changes drastically.

Holding up a fountain pen she offers to take the boys’ temperatures, she’s clearly not in her right mind and that could have something to do with what I just explained. Stabbing one of the young men in the eye with the pen, Jotaro comes to the full realization that this must be the work of the mysterious young man in the green school uniform. Quickly reacting to the possessed nurse’s movements, Jotaro manages to pull away from the scuffle with nothing but a cut to his left cheek. Kakyoin appears and proceeds to explain exactly what’s going on in true “shonen” anime fashion so Jotaro jumps into action, locking lips with the young woman and having “Star Platinum” pull the “evil spirit” out of her. Kakyoin begins to feel the pressure but he wont let Jotaro know that: “Feel the attack of my Stand, Heirophant Green!” he exclaims as he counterattacks the counterattack. It’s time to throw down, Stand style.

“Star Platinum”, Meet “Hierophant Green”.

“Emerald Splash!” the young man screams as the odd, melon-resembling Stand shoots a flurry of green stones at “Star Platinum” and Jotaro. Our hero takes a lot of damage from that one attack but he’s not quite ready to back down. In true “bancho” style, Jotaro stands tall and explains exactly why he’s better that Kakyoin: “Even I know nauseating evil when I see it. Evil is when you use the weak for your own gain and cursh them under your foot. Especially a woman! That is exactly what you’ve done! Your stand isn’t visible to the victim or the law. Therefore…I shall judge you!”, this scene made the hair stand on the back of my neck, it really highlighted the fact that he is an incredibly well-written character that can spout seemingly silly, “shonen-type”, one-liners while yet not do it in a way that is cheesy or cringe-worthy.

The reactions, the colour change and the all around great timing of dialogue, music and action sequences in this segment of the episode were all brilliant. Earlier I made fun of the series for being incredibly flamboyant and over-exaggerated, while I still stand by my statement I would also like to add that the series does a brilliant job at pumping up audience members. “JJBA” is one massive hype of and within itself, no other series could do it as well without coming off as having some level of ego or self-importance. Jotaro is probably one of my most loved anime characters of all time and this scene right here gave me a sense of justification I didn’t even know I was looking for. Not many characters can do that but the ones who can are the ones that are remembered for eternity.

JoJos-Bizarre-Adventure-Stardust-Crusaders-Episode-2-Screenshot-06 — **– “Hierophant Green”, Meet My Fist –**

“Hierophant Green”, Meet My Fist.

The final scenes of this part of the episode are basically just “Star Platinum” beating the “life” out of “Heirophant Green” which is so great to see because, by this point in the epsiode, audiences have really grown to dislike Kakyoin but to love Jotaro. A swift right hook to the face sends Kakyoin and “Green” into semi-stunned state wherein which “Star Platinum” has all the time in the world to doll out a flurry of punches, ending the duo with a powerful uppercut that I felt while sitting in my living room watching it. Sometimes anime dishes up some extremely rewarding scenes that just make the audience feel super…this was one of them. “Heirophant Green” slinks back into wherever it is Stands go when they’re not in fisticuffs and Kakyoin hits the deck for a bit of “shut eye”, if you know what I’m saying. Jotaro being the good grandson that he is decides to grab Kakyoin and take him back to see old man Joseph.

It’s good to see he’s taking not of what the old guy is saying, it could mean life or death in a series like this. Quickly looking the young man over, Joseph notices something that he deems to be quite dangerous and he was right to do so. It looks like what I thought at the start of the episode was right; Kakyoin is under the influence of DIO’s power and the source of it is coming from what looks like some sort of alien egg lodged in his forehead. Joseph states “It’s too late for him. In three days he’ll be dead” but maybe, just maybe three days is enough time to break the connection between the two and recruit this guy as the next member of the “Stardust Crusaders” crew…but, they never really said that so we’ll have to wait until the next episode to see exactly what’s going to go down next…or you could read the manga but don’t do that! Let it be a surprise!

Check out the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” anime on Crunchyroll and check out more episode impressions HERE.

‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ Manga Gets Anime Adaptation

Luke Halliday

April 13, 2014

‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ Manga Gets Anime Adaptation

Kodansha have just announced in this year’s 20th issue of Weekly Shonen Magazine that an anime adaptation has been green-lit for the popular fantasy manga series The Seven Deadly Sins.

The Seven Deadly Sins takes place within the land of Brittania, a medieval style setting. It revolves around a princess seeking out the legendary warriors called the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ in order to try and reclaim her kingdom. The series previously featured in a crossover chapter with Fairy Tail, another popular shonen manga in Weekly Shonen Magazine.

No date has been set for the anime adaptation as of time of posting. Stay tuned for more details on the anime adaptation of The Seven Deadly Sins as new information surfaces.

BEWARE PLANET EARTH! now available on Steam

Mateja Simovic

April 12, 2014

BEWARE PLANET EARTH!, Bandai Namco Games Europe title, is now available for purchase on Steam. Players worldwide can now join in the defence of Earth in this charming tower defence strategy game which was developed by the folks over at Lightmare Studio. Not only is the full game available on Steam however, it now also has a ton of exclusive content specifically available for those who buy it now through Steam.

Beware Planet Earth! is an amusing little game inspired by the aesthetic of cheesy horror/Sci-Fi movies from the 1950s (think The Day the Earth Stood Still and War of the Worlds). Central to Earth’s defence strategy in this game is our strategic bovine supply… and thus, the player must make every effort to protect our cows from the malicious Martian menace. To help them in succeeding, the player has access to towers, traps, and a retro raygun which they can use to directly target the invading aliens. The Steam content in the game will include special characters, maps, and achievements with many in-game items influenced by Valve’s universe. Pick up Beware Planet Earth for only $9.99 on steam here.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes behind the scenes video released

Travis Bruno

April 12, 2014

Say what you will about Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, it is an amazing looking game on next-gen consoles but how exactly did Kojima Productions manage to make everything in the game look so great? Well today Konami has released a new behind the scenes video that shows off some of the steps they had to go through to make the game look the way it does.

This includes everything from motion capturing, taking a full head capture of a guard only for one scene, and multiple layers to create Snake’s face as he comes up over the cliffs. Check out the video below and if you are interested in picking up Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, you can find our review for the title here.

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