D-Frag! Episode 2 Impressions

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January 23, 2014

D-Frag!
Episode 2 – Curse You, Fake Game Creation Club

After the first episode of D-Frag! presented us with club hijinks at their finest it was an easy decision to keep following the series and now this second episode has helped prove my point. The first episode introduced us to our main character in the form of Kazama, the straight man who has now been forced to join the Game Creation Club full of girls who are as eccentric as they come with stereotypes taken to the extreme.

However what if the Game Creation Club that Kazama has been forced to join wasn’t the only Game Creation Club on campus? Well that is what this second episode is all about because since Kazama has been suspended from school for a day after jumping into the girl’s locker room due to provocations from Chitose, the Student Council President/fellow club member, he has a lot of free time on his hands but it appears that he has drawn the attention of a mysterious hooded group.

After Kazama tires of their provocations and threatens them, the group reveal themselves to be the real Game Creation Club and tell him that he has joined a fake club instead and the best thing for both of them would be if he left. After introducing another batch of characters in the form of this alternate club, things take a step forward to reveal that the president of the real club, Takao, and Roka have quite a past with one another.

From this past we learn where this rivalry of clubs began and why Roka is on the outs with Takao as her personality is far from normal and began to scare away members of the club. Though Chitose’s actions didn’t exactly help anything either. As such we are presented with both clubs going against one another in a game creation competition just in time for a school festival that is approaching, with the losing club merging with the winning club.

It is pretty clear from the opening theme for D-Frag! that this series is going to have a lot of characters to work with and with this latest episode we get four new characters right in the second episode though I have a feeling that only Takao will remain a key character in the future. Still, from the group we have a whole slew of comedic material ripe for the picking as there is the partially air-headed big-breasted Takao, the extremely perverted glasses girl Tsutsumi, a trap that openly reveals himself in girls’ clothing by the name of Sakuragaoka, and a big muscular guy with a heart of gold and a glass chin named Yamada.

Put these together with the hilarious members of the fake Game Creation Club and there are already so many characters and jokes to toss at viewers and the series really doesn’t let up at all in this second episode. While the first episode had to spend a bit of time introducing characters and going over some of the elements of the school, this second episode was a gag a second as we had everything from sight gags, puns, slapstick and more all while throwing a little bit of drama and competition at the end to keep the story moving along.

The characters aren’t really developed outside of Takao and Roka, though it feels like that isn’t really necessary as this comedy series is mostly about the laughs. That being said, it’ll probably be hard to stick with a favorite character in this series as the first episode had me liking the tomboyish Sakura at first but now Takao has taken over as the lead girl for the series but considering the amount of characters we will probably end up with as the series progresses and how the characters are heavily reliant based on the jokes they play or are the butt of, it will be interesting to see if she will remain the best so far.

D-Frag! has stayed strong in this second episode and that is great news as some comedies can throw everything they have at the viewer in the first episode and fall apart after that as they have nothing left to rely on. The animation quality also remained fairly high in this second episode and we were able to see the ending theme, though it is a pretty standard chibi ending the song used is fairly enjoyable. When all is said and done this second episode had me laughing even more than the first and you can’t ask for anything more than that when it comes to a comedy series such as D-Frag!.

Currently D-Frag! is available for streaming in the United States by FUNimation. As for the rest of our winter impressions, you can check out our Anime Impressions page.

Check out more D-Frag! impressions HERE.

World of Tanks Scores New Peak Concurrent User Record

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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January 23, 2014

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World of Tanks Scores New Peak Concurrent User Record

Over one million players log onto Russian game’s cluster simultaneously

January 22, 2014 — Wargaming today announced that its free-to-play MMO action game World of Tanks has set a new record with a total of over 1,114,000 gamers playing concurrently on the Russian cluster on January 19, 2014.

“In 2013, we put a great amount of effort into growing World of Tanks, enriching it with new gameplay features and content,” said Andrei Yarantsau, VP of Publishing at Wargaming. “Tankmen on the Russian servers all play at different times of the day and although their overall number has long since surpassed several million daily active users, the PCCU has been hovering around 900,000 gamers for the past few months. Finally, we’ve breached the one million mark. We are set to scale even greater heights with considerable improvements planned for World of Tanks in 2014”.

The forces of virtual tankers already stand over 75,000,000 strong globally and with this continuous growth the Wargaming team remains committed to make sure the millions of World of Tanks players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward.

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About World of Tanks

World of Tanks is the first and only team-based, massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armored warfare. Throw yourself into the epic tank battles of World War II with other steel cowboys all over the world. Your arsenal includes over 300 armored vehicles from United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, Japan, and China, carefully detailed with historical accuracy.

A flexible system of authentic vehicle upgrades and development allows you to try any of the vehicles and weapons in the game. Whether you prefer to exhaust your foes with fast and maneuverable light tanks, make deep breaches in enemy lines with all-purpose medium tanks, use the force of giant tanks to eliminate opposing armored forces, or become a heavy sniper with long-range howitzers, each unit type has its own advantages and can be extremely effective when operated by a true tank ace.

But being a great tank commander alone isn’t enough to win! In World of Tanks, it’s all about teamwork. Victory is achieved by combining your combat skills with those of the other members of your team, each playing their own role on the battlefield. Just add your favorite strategy to build your own steel empire and manifest the indisputable authority of the tank power!

Join World of Tanks:

http://worldoftanks.asia/registration/en/ (Asia)

About Wargaming

Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher and one of the leaders in the free-to-play MMO market. Founded as a privately held company in 1998, Wargaming has shipped more than 15 titles and employs over 2800 people across such key regions as North America, Europe, Russia, Asia, and Australia.

Currently, Wargaming is focused on its team-based MMO war series dedicated to mid-20th century warfare that will include the company’s flagship armored MMO World of Tanks, launched in April 2011 and currently boasting 75 million players worldwide, the flight combat World of Warplanes, named one of the most anticipated MMOs, and the naval World of Warships, scheduled for release in 2014.

In June 2012, Wargaming announced the Wargaming.net Service, the epicenter of the online battle gaming universe that will gather the series under a single portal — www.wargaming.net.

Official website:

www.wargaming.com

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Review

Vicky Martin

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January 23, 2014

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Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox
Format: Blu-ray, DVD (Reviewed), Digital HD
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $21.58 – Available Here

Overview
Thor Freudenthal’s film adaption of the second novel ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters’ by Rick Riordan, has been reawakened after three years since Chris Columbus’ Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. The shortened movie title of the sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters entails the most suitable “pre-teen” adventure for the heir of Poseidon, God of the Sea. With a new director and screenwriter (Marc Guggenheim), will Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters bring ashore the well-known fantasy or abandon a sinking ship?

Story
The film begins with the voice of the protagonist, Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), who reintroduces himself as the only God-born son (half-blood) of Poseidon. In order to establish the story, Percy takes the audience back seven years to when four half-bloods –Annabeth, Luke, Thalia and Grover –were running from monsters towards the only safe place for their kind. Thalia, daughter of Zeus, sacrifices her life to save her friends and in return Zeus transforms her into a tree, that enables a barrier of protection for Camp Half-Blood.

Now in the present-day, Percy is in a battle against the narcissistic Clarisse (Leven Rambin), daughter of Ares, to determine who the strongest and bravest leader is. The power-play between sexes comes across as very childish and steers the audience away from the main focus of the film. That is, Percy’s goal to prove that he is ‘prophecy-worthy’ and can make the right choices without the guidance of his father. However, matters change for Percy with the unexpected arrival of Tyson (Douglas Smith), his ocularly impaired brother.

Accordingly, a fire-breathing Colchis Bull breaks the tension of newcomers, as well as the barrier surrounding the camp. In an outburst of terror, the half-blood’s scatter and Percy takes the initiative to destroy the mechanical beast with the help of the fireproof Tyson, Annabeth the damsel in distress (Alexandra Daddario) and Grover the satyr (Brandon T. Jackson). Upon the discovery that Thalia’s tree has been poisoned and can no longer protect the camp, the real danger of annihilation of every demigod, satyr, centaur and nymph, sets in motion a journey into the Sea of Monsters.

The ignorant and amusing Mr. D (Stanley Tucci) takes the advice from Annabeth and Grover to retrieve the Golden Fleece that will restore Thalia’s tree and the barrier around Camp Half-Blood. Only, he sends Clarisse and her army to the Polyphemus’ Lair in Circeland in the Sea of Monsters (a.k.a. Bermuda Triangle). Despite this, the foursome –Annabeth, Grover, Percy and Tyson –take it into their own hands to complete the quest and save the camp.

The journey entails a few comedic turns from a bizarre cab ride to the stomach of Charybdis, as the group come closer to the Golden Fleece and the truth behind the prophecy. The great threat does not match the power of one, Percy Jackson; who learns that in order to succeed you need to believe in yourself and create your own destiny. Without spelling out the conclusion, the audience should be able to decipher what happens, mainly because of the simplistic storyline and narrative progression.

Visuals
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters does a fantastic job in the special effects department, incorporating a range of fantastical elements. The most impressive is the mist effect, which makes the mystical appear normal; ergo Tyson the Cyclops changes from having one to two eyes. The visual experience is heightened by the vast and glorious landscapes shot by cinematographer, Shelly Johnson, who uses panavision primo lenses. An exemplary scene involves Tyson, Annabeth and Percy riding a gorgeous Hippocampus across the sea, with ripples of water splashing onto the camera to bring the audience closer to the setting.

Film fanatics should take note that the high definition graphics are accessible outside the traditional formats, with Digital HD viewers can buy, collect and enjoy their favourite Fox movies, including Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, digitally by streaming or downloading them on their laptop, tablet and other digital devices.

Audio
Composer Andrew Lockington, well-known for his music in ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island’, brings to Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters a similar orchestral score that explores the wonders of a new world. In addition, the soundtrack choices accelerate the adventurous atmosphere in the film, including ‘Light ‘Em Up’ by Fall Out Boy and ‘To Feel Alive’ by IAMEVE. Above all, the sound-effects effectively draw the audience into the magical quest and add a dimension of realness to the fantasy.

Extras
The DVD edition of Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters entitles viewers to exclusive extras, with the cast on their experience working together at Camp Half-Blood and the director’s discussion about creating ‘The Eye’ for Tyson. Thor Freudenthal explains that it was important to construct a character based on a monster from Greek Mythology, to explore the prime example of being ostracised in terms of appearances. As the film progresses, the characters becomes more understanding and accepting of Tyson, for he is a warm-hearted and friendly creature.

Overall
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is a classic example of a film targeted for a younger audience (pre-teens) and therefore will not appeal to an older generation. The sequel scratched the surface of the novel, but did not maintain the premise and ultimately the narrative structure suffered in the film (as with Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief). The predictability of the storyline and limited effort to steer away from the typical fantasy genre, did not allow the audience to experience a new adventure. Unfortunately there were no awe-inspiring performances from the cast, in fact they were more humorous than serious throughout the film. Nevertheless, the film deserves merit for its exceptional effort in special effects and the musical score. Overall, it is plausible to deduce that the majority would agree Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is a film with the odds of a sinking ship. Abandon the sea of monsters and hopefully the next release Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse will wash viewers ashore into a great fantasy.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

No Japanese Voice-overs within Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z

Dustin Spencer

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January 23, 2014

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This isn’t exactly huge news, but it might strike a sad chord with the Dragon Ball Z crowd out there who enjoy the authentic, Japanese voice acting. Namco has announced that the packaging for the game was inaccurate, and that the official product will only feature English voice overs, rather than both.

Here are a few more details on the subject from the press release sent out today:

NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S notified players today that an inaccurate info has been spotted on the Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z Playstation Vita packaging regarding the audio support of the game.
The packaging of the Playstation Vita indeed mentions the support of Japanese and English voice-over but the game actually supports only the latter, as shown on the Playstation Vita Demo released on December, 18th.
NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe wishes to apologize to fans and players for the inconvenience.

You can download the demo if you own a Vita, and get the full package when it launches later this week.

Sentai Filmworks picks up Wizard Barristers anime license

Travis Bruno

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January 23, 2014

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Sentai Filmworks is continuing their license spree for the Winter 2014 anime season and they have just added another anime license in the form of Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil. Currently the anime is streaming on Crunchyroll and Sentai Filmworks is planning on releasing the series digitally as well as provide it with a home video release sometime in the future.

The story of Wizard Barristers takes place in the year 2018 where normal humans and people who can use magic live together. Because of this new way of life, there are laws against using types of magic and anyone who uses magic can possibly go to jail. To avoid this there are “Benmashi” to help defend the users of magic in court and this anime follows Cecil, the youngest Benmashi in history, as well as her fellow associates, as she defends her clients in court.

Pokemon Bank returns to the Japanese eShop

Dustin Spencer

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January 23, 2014

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Just when you thought you would have to wait even longer to withdraw those old teams, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon. Today, Nintendo relaunched Pokemon Bank on the 3DS eShop for Japan, after pulling the service due to heavy traffic in late December.

As many of you know, Bank allows you to store and withdraw Pokemon between older Nintendo DS releases, eventually carrying them over to Pokemon X & Y. I still have yet to fill up by boxes in the aforementioned, but for the low $5.00 subscription fee, it will definitely be a day one purchase here. North America and Europe, be ready – as this relaunch signals that we are in fact next in line to get this handy Poketool on our eShop!

Super Sonico the Animation license acquired by Sentai Filmworks

Travis Bruno

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January 23, 2014

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Sentai Filmworks has announced that they have acquired the license for the anime focused on Nitroplus’ mascot character Super Sonico. The anime is called SoniAni: Super Sonico the Animation and debuted in Japan on January 6th. The company has said that they will giving the series a home video release sometime soon and for now will release the anime digitally.

The series follows the life of Super Sonic, an eighteen year old college student who not only works at her grandmother’s bar, but also works as a part-time photoshoot model and plays in a band keeping her busy at all times of the day but she doesn’t let it get her down as she has some great friends to rely on and a very upbeat and dedicated spirit. I picked up this series at the start of the season and so far have found it to be fairly enjoyable as Sonico’s personality is quite charming.

Scream Factory Releasing “Beneath” March 25th; Details Emerge

Dustin Spencer

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January 23, 2014

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Ready to go swimming? Well, you’re in luck as Scream Factory are releasing Beneath on Blu-ray and DVD on March 25th. Brought to you by director Larry Fessenden, this creature feature is the story of survival, with some high school grads trying to simply stay alive against a massive, watery foe. Think of it as a modern day Jaws, if you will.

Here are some of the first details:

After their high school graduation, six teens celebrate with a trip to the remote and mysterious Black Lake. Only Johnny seems to suspect there’s something in the water stalking the revelers as they set out in their small wooden rowboat stocked with beer and fireworks. But why would Johnny let them go swimming if he knew what lurked beneath? A sudden attack from the depths followed by a lethal chain of events leave the teens stranded on the leaking vessel in the middle of the lake with no oars, no way back to shore, held hostage by a menace that circles them persistently. And so the teens turn on each other, and the petty high school grievances they almost left behind prove more deadly than the monster that waits to devour them.
Chiller Films presents a Glass Eye Pix production in association with OffHollywood Pictures. BENEATH is written by Tony Daniel and Brian D. Smith, and directed by horror icon Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Habit). Produced by Fessenden and Peter Phok for Glass Eye Pix (Stake Land, The Innkeepers, I Sell The Dead).
BENEATH Blu-ray and DVD Special Features:
· Commentary with director Larry Fessenden and sound designer Graham Reznick
· Theatrical Trailer
· Behind BENEATH
· Outtakes
· Poster/Premiere
· Webisodes:
What the Zeke?
What’s in Black Lake?
· Fessenden on JAWS

You can place your pre-order for Beneath now at Shout Factory‘s official website, or do the same at Amazon by clicking here. I for one am for a new creature feature, and Beneath has the cast and talent behind it to be something truly special.

Idea Factory issues statement on Monster Monpiece card censorship

Travis Bruno

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January 23, 2014

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Earlier this week we learned that Monster Monpiece, a game previously thought to have no chance of a Western release, was going to be released in the West by Idea Factory’s own international branch. However when they announced that the game would be released, they also happened to mention that the game would be censored in a few ways and some card images would be removed from the game.

This has caused quite an uproar in the gaming community amongst fans of Compile Heart and Idea Factory’s titles as, while the story, gameplay, including the Vita rubbing mini-game, still remains intact, many people are upset that the game’s lewd images have been censored. We heard a little bit about what the company censored yesterday and now they have released a full statement explaining to their fans why they felt they had to censor certain parts of the game. Before that, a member on Idea Factory International’s forums compiled some of the censored cards in an image seen below:

monster-monpiece-censored-cards — **Click for high-res version.**

As for the full statement from Idea Factory International, it can be found below:

Idea Factory International is fully aware of the concerns expressed by fans, so we would like to inform everyone about the censored images in greater detail.
Monster Monpiece is a card battle game, in which players summon various “Monster Girls” onto the game’s battlefields and then fight their opponents. These cards—meaning the “Monster Girls”—are able to be powered up by exposing themselves (taking off their clothes) via the level-up features called First Crush Rub and Extreme Love. We kept the same number of cards in the game as the original Japanese version, but replaced some of the higher level Monster Girl images with the “less exposed” lower level versions of the corresponding Monster Girls due to some intense sexual imagery. The number of censored cards is about 40 out of the approximately 350 card images available in the game. This means that over 300 cards are left untouched from the original images. That said, each card that has had its image removed will still have the same number of levels for the player to increase, but the higher level card images will be the same as the lower level, even though they have leveled up and have become more powerful. We would like to emphasize that the game’s playtime, the game’s system, and the game’s features are all the same as the original Japanese release, and players can level up their Monster Girls to the highest levels as well, again, matching the Japanese release.
This was a very difficult decision since we work very hard to satisfy our fans and want to bring the same content being offered in Japan. However, Western society is not as lenient as that of Japan when sexual images are involved—especially images of humanoids that appear to be younger than a socially acceptable age. The borderline of what is “acceptable” will always be extremely gray and vary from person to person, but as a responsible company working in the U.S., we had to make the difficult decision that we did. We sincerely apologize for those who do not agree with any level of censorship, but we greatly appreciate your understanding with the decision we have made.

Personally while I don’t agree with censorship such as this, I do believe that this was a wise choice for Idea Factory International to make as not only is this the company’s first release in the West, but it also gives gamers a chance to actually play the title while understanding what is happening with only a few drawbacks as opposed to not receiving an English version at all.

Sakura Trick Episode 2 Impressions

Sanjay Parbhu

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January 23, 2014

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Sakura Trick
Episode 2-A: More Sakura Coloured Beginnings

I’ve been looking over my winter season anime picks and I’m starting to see the exact opposite of what I predicted. Pupa hasn’t been as terrifying as I expected, each Tonari no Seki sketch focuses on one particular way to waste time and Sakura Trick combines two stories into one full episode. With more yuri and more laughs (just by a bit) than the first episode, there are two interesting stories to be told so let’s not waste any time and dive straight into it.

Much like episode ones structure, this first half does more character establishing than the second, only this time it’s Shizuku and Kotone’s turn to share a special moment. The whole story revolves around a misunderstanding that occurred when Kotone was staying over at Shizuku’s house; at first she states to the other girls her plans to draw all over Shizuku’s face, offering a small attempt of humour before going into the real problem.

While Shizuku was sleeping Kotone expressed how much she loved staying over at her house and gave her a kiss on the cheek, leading to all four girls over reacting (although one appears to be a bit too happy). Kotone now thinks Shizuku is avoiding her because of the kiss, but in actual fact Shizuku believes she is being used because her house is close to the school. The scene where they confront each other does convey genuine emotions on the part of Shizuku; unfortunately the moment gets broken with an attempt to add humour, but luckily kicks back into serious mode at the end when they both share a special kiss.

I did find the relationship between Shizuku and Kotone really interesting compared to Haruka and Yuu’s special moment; both times there were misunderstandings, conflicts, and genuine feelings towards each other, leading to a kiss that seemed natural and real. Unfortunately because of the use of an unnecessary callback, moments that relied heavily on the moe factor and the fact that one scene almost ruined an emotional moment, the humour was as hit and miss as the first episode.

Episode 2-B: School with Harry Chan

Whether we like it or not, studying is one of those things we all have to do, it especially becomes important when your school is about to close and failing will result in you not being able to graduate. Because of Yuu’s tendency to sleep during class and always borrowing notes, Haruka and the girls decide to hold an after school study session for Yuu’s sake. After the traditional way of reading the textbook fails, they try to memorize their science equations by playing volleyball, a decision that Haruka immediately regrets when the ball goes to Yuu. As the hours go by with no amount of studying done whatsoever, Ikeno suggests remembering their notes by engaging in something that would be unforgettable… I think we can all assume what’s going to happen next, and it does. After the other four girls leave, Haruka helps Yuu by kissing her after each question she reads out and judging by the look on Yuu’s face, it looks like she has every answer locked in her head.

There was a slight running gag that involved Iizuka always getting blamed and the Harry-chan mentioned in the title was just a hedgehog charm which was used as another technique to help Yuu study (and also failed). The one thing that did annoy me with this story was Haruka’s imagination, I couldn’t stand how she reacted when she thought about Yuu calling her “Ms. Haruka” and asking to fix her neck tie, her behaviour was too immature and especially irritating when she does it again during the end of the episode.

I cannot end this impression without telling you about the funniest two scenes, one involves Yuu’s reaction when Haruka suggests kissing each other and the other is when they play volley ball. The way Yuu slowly backs out of the class room after hearing Haruka is timed very well, which is made all the more funnier by her blank facial expression. The Volleyball scene however is the funniest moment from the anime so far, I’ve re-watched this scene at least 15 times and it still has me laughing. The scene has a pretty good build up and an even better pay off at the end, everything from the lines used to the sound effects are combined to make a great moment that is even funnier than the veranda jump.

Sakura Trick is animated by Studio Deen and is currently being streamed by Crunchyroll.Don’t forget to check out our Anime Impressions page to see what shows the other Capsule Computers anime crew is watching this season.

Check out more Sakura Trick Impressions HERE.