The Wonderful World of Manga Vol. II: Bleach 364

I've put this off for the past two weeks or so but this week's chapter of Bleach has really put me in a blogging mood. While recent chapters have been all about fighting sequences with fairly predictable outcomes, this one has finally raised a level of suspense that hasn't been seen in...months. If you don't know what's been happening over the past few weeks then I'll sum it up; Shunsui/Ukitake vs. Starrk/Lillinette. About two weeks ago Starrk and Lillinette performed a fusion of sorts (a concept that shouldn't be unheard of by now), which served as the pairs release. Starrk adorned a pimp new cowboy-like attire, while Lillinette became a...talking gun...


You aren't the only guy in town with a talking gun Kid...at least not anymore

He immediately began showing he had the upperhand against Shunsui and later Ukitake then out of the blue a new challenger showed up. That challenger being Wonderweiss along with his gigantic one-eyed buddy who actually made an appearance earlier during the series. Thus we come to this epic page in the grand story. Wonderweiss does the unexpected and one shots arguably one of the MOST powerful captains in Soul Society history. Furthermore, another supposedly stupid strong captain gets KO'd two seconds later after literally getting shot in the back with a Cero. And as if it couldn't get any worse for the Gotei 13, both Harribel AND Barragan emerge from the ashes totally unscathed by either of their opponents "best" attack.

With seemingly no way to escape from their imminent doom, a real sense of dread can finally be felt in the air. But wait that's not all! The unstoppable Aizen and his gang escape from their fiery cell, ready to do what they came to do. All hope seems lost until something truly shocking happens...the return of the Vaizards woot!! These guys have been MIA for at least a year and even though we know they'd show up at some point, I'm pretty sure no one would've guess THIS would be the chapter. Unfortunately that is where the chapter leaves off, in typical Kubo fashion.

What makes this chapter great to me is it finally validates how strong the top 3 Espada and Wonderweiss. Given how powerful the Espada (and Arrancar in general) were hyped up to be I was expected a lot from the Hueco Mundo/Winter War battles. With Espada 9-5 getting smashed so easily I definitely lost faith in their fabled strength. Ulquiorra restored it somewhat but when #2 and #3 seemingly got taken out that went out the window. Now they've returned, I am immensely pleased. The shinigami are finally on the loosing end of the spectrum in a way big way and we finally get some more questions answered. Plus its always good to see the Vaizards, now we'll have to wait till next week to see what Shinji and his crew will do.

here is the link for the chapter: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RIRE397B

Rockin' K-ON! and Off the Charts

Last time I did a anime review, it featured a bunch of girls kicking otherworldly butt. Well they aren't the only group of little ladies who know how to rock...though the one's I'm referring to kick butt in a different sense. K-ON! is a little number about a all-female band who participate in what is known as the light music club at there school. So if you haven't guessed this is for the most part, a music show. Though it is important to note this is nowhere as deep as per say BECK. Therefore, while fitting into the music genre it is also designed to fit into the comedy/slice-of-life departments to.

Story

To be honest this series doesn't really have a overarching plot but shows like this generally don't need one. Its just meant to be clean old-fashioned fun and well, that's what it is. It starts off with one of the main characters going to a new school and looking for a club to join to richen her experience. Meanwhile the light music club currently only exist of two members which is a problem because the minimum requirement to stay active is four. Through a series of encounters, the new girl gets pulled into joining while a 4th member signs up as well. From there on out they form the band, become friends, drink tea, eat snacks....and oh occasionally work some practice in. So yeah, this clearly isn't going to be for everyone, especially those who look for a deep narrative. Still the story is good enough for a show of this type.

Characters

Yui Hirasawa

The MAIN character, lead guitarist and vocalist, she is without a doubt the "slowest" member of that band. Although she is very immature and comes off as a blundering, blithering idiot, she is actually quite perceptive. Futhermore she makes it quite obvious that she cares deeply for her friends. Oddly enough, she also cares deeply for her guitar (which she later names "Geeta") even going as far as to nap with it and even worse, attempting to feed it. Usually the epitome of care-free, when she really does concentrate on something she'll give it her all. The only problem being that she can only remember one thing...at a given time.


Ritsu Tainaka

Drummer and president of the light music club, she shares many similarities with Yui such as her lazy, dopey disposition. She however is much more upbeat and rough around the edges then any of the other girls. Maybe getting a little too pumped every now and again, she'll go to any length for her friends. She is also a joker and seems to find amusement in teasing her childhood friend and fellow bandmate Mio. A running gag commonly sees her forgetting to fill out important forms for the club specifically dealing with their upcoming performances and such.


Mio Akiyama

Bass player for the group, she also serves as lead vocalist as well as songwriter. Unlike the others, she takes practicing way more serious though her strict demands go mostly unheard. That is not to say, she doesn't enjoy her easy-going days with everyone. Being super knowledgeble about guitars, Yui can be coming to her help in the earlier portion of the show. To add to her "cute" factor, she easily gets grossed out or afraid of anything gross and/or scary (barnacles for instance send her into a extreme state of fear on two seperate occasions).


Tsumugi Kotobuki

Taking up the keyboard, Tsumugi is a very gentle and kind soul. Certainly more reserved and soft-spoken then the rest, this can be attributed to her stature. Being wealthy, she provides the club with their treats and on two occasions provided a huge beach house to serve as a psuedo summer training camp (on both times getting apologizing for not providing a even larger one). On the weird side she seems to later develop a lesbionic imagination whenever she sees two girls getting especially friendly. Its good thing it never goes any further then that or this'd be a different story...


Azusa Nakano

Joining near the end of the series, Azusa is only featured in the last 5 eps. or so (if this was Power Rangers she'd be the last minute 6th ranger lol).She is also the youngest with the other 4 being her senoirs. Also playing the guitar her strong desire to get better initially clashes with the diconomy of the club. She, at first, greatly disapproves with the way the club spends their afternoon; almost to the point of quitting. While she never really changes her position on how much they should be practicing, she does eventually warm-up and grow to love her friends and the time she spends with them. She also becomesa mentor of sorts to Yui pointing out that Geeta needed maintenance.


Sawako Yamanaka

Advisor to the club, she herself used to be a member back in her young days. Circumstances involving a boy she liked forced her to resign you should watch the episode to find out all the details. Though she may seem nice, mature and friendly, it is really a front for her more synical, crazy and irresponsible side. She is always creating new costumes and props for the girls to wear on stage much to Mio and Azusa's dismay.








Production

K-ON!'s animation and production values are some of the best I've seen a while. Furthermore, its consistent, there isn't one band looking episode. Everything is so fluid from Ritsu's banging on the drums to Yui's strumming her guitar to even the smallest gestures. The artistic style lends itself well to the fluffy, EXTREMELY cute, sugary, adorable nature of the show. It's impossible not to laugh when you look at the goofy mannerism's of each character as well the baby-like antics (not to mention some of the chibi-forms featured in flashbacks). The producers also went out of their way to utilize actual brand names for the instruments used such as Yamaha which says a lot. As far as voice work, the seiyuu's do a darn good job of making the entire cast unique

Music

The soundtrack for K-ON! is fairly decent, the BGM's are pretty darn catchy and match perfectly with what's going on. Now of course since Yui and the others are a band, they perform music throughout the series from time to time. While all the songs are saturated in cuteness, they do sound good. That's what gives it a since of irony, although from a outward appearance given most of the cast's lazy/slacker characteristics, they actually sound amazing when they play. The opening and ending are spectacular and boast nice visuals. The ending theme in particular is a bit deceiving as it comes off more serious then the anime actually is.

So overall, do I think this anime is worth the time? Yes. You'll often find episodes hilarious due to the sheer retardation going on screen. No one comes off as annoying or pointless. The only issue I can possibly come up with is there is hardly any sense of tension between the girls. Although Azusa initially causes some issues in the gang it isn't long before she succumbs to the power of "moe". Despite this there are still quite a few endearing episodes such as the one where the girls all get after school jobs to pay for Yui's guitar. Its a short one too, only consisting of 12 eps. and a bonus, so you can probably watch the whole thing in a day or two. In the end, I'll say this; if you ever need a break from the action then I highly suggest you start here.

Pros
-Downright hilarious
-Amazing animation/production values
-Adequete soundtrack

Cons
-Lack of deep story (though it doesn't need one)
-Might be moe-ish for some

Score: 9/10

What a Shocking Display!! Infamous Review

About three weeks ago, I had just completed the latest PS3 action, sandbox, free roaming title known as Infamous. During the production stages of this game (which took about a good year and a half, almost two) this game was being compared a lot to another action, sandbox, free roaming kill fest known as Prototype. Granted I haven't had a chance to play Prototype but after watching the prologue of each game online here's ma analysis of each from what I saw initially.

Infamous: An interesting romp through a once lively metropolitan city now turned desolate due to a decision made by Cole McGrath to open a mysterious package with cataclysmic results. The city now an apocalyptic wasteland of its former self; now finds gangs have conquered the streets as cops have either died or fled in fear, Cole's girlfriend Trish has lost her sister in the accident and the only person still supporting Cole is his fellow courier friend Zeke. Cole now finds himself with the power to manipulate electricity. Will he use these abilities save the city and make it a better place or eliminate everything until nothing remains? The cutscenes use a very comic book-esque appraoch to the story telling which is quite appropriate for the atmosphere of the game as a whole.

Prototype: As opposed to using a fictitious locale, Activision decided to have Prototype take place in New York City. The game starts up in a laboratory where obligatory scientist guy and obligatory military guy awake the central character (Alex) who's been engineered to be some sort of super weapon for the military...blah blah blah. Alex uses his new found symboite...Spider...Gamma radiation...ninja art...whatever the hell does to find out his true purpose of being captured and experimented on. I'm sorry for being slightly bias, this game looked so generic. It looked exactly like Hulk Ultimate Destruction on PS2 with a pissed off guy in a hoodie (because hoodies are always cool right?) I'll give a full critique when I play the full game but as of right now it didn't grab me as much as Infamous.

Now with that clearly one sided critique out of the way. Let's get to the full review shall we?



Introduction

As previously established in the comparison, the game itself takes place in the fictitious metropolis known as Empire City. The game starts off as Cole awakens from his coma only to find that the city he once called home now resembles every post apocalyptic war zone that you'd normally see on heavy metal album covers. Initially, you get to control Cole as he walks around in a semi-daze as he still has not fully comprehended and gained full control of his powers just yet. As you roam through the "prologue", you notice that there as you walk the surviving citizens of the town are cursing your name, throwing blunt objects in your direction, radio stations are describing your appearance telling people to stay as far away from you as possible and the local authorities will not hesitate shoot you on site. Hmmm, sounds like Mondays to me...
Dated Reference FTW!

Cole will meet and develop positive and/or negative relationships with characters the further he progresses through the game. Trish (Cole's girlfriend) can't look at him the same way to due the fact that he caused the the death of her sister. Whether the two of them patch things up or never speak to each other again is entirely up to the player. Zeke (Cole's best friend) managed to seclude himself from the chaos as he has managed to stash most of his belongings on the roof of a building which he and Cole stay to avoid the public eye.

Other pivotal characters include Moya (an FBI agent who initially seems like she wants to help Cole but is using him to find the location of her husband John), John; Moya's husband and fellow agent who was captured by the main antagonist of the game and gives Cole clues of his existence through various satellite signals. Sasha (Cole's ex-girlfriend) who's mind has been corrupted some strange tar-like substance and is now jealous of Trish and leads the gang on the west side of the town known as the "The Reapers". Alden an elderly psychic who leads a gang known as the "Dustmen" on the east side of town. And finally the main antagonist; Kessler who has a very strong connection to Cole's past. And no he's not his father...


That's one Cliche' I won't even resort to....

Gameplay

As I had established about twice already, the game is another free roaming sandbox action game. Similarly to any GTA title, you have the option of playing through the main story (or canon) missions as well as a plethora of side missions to earn yourself "Karma Points". As you progress through the main game as well as side missions you will receive Karma points depending on your actions throughout the game. For example, throughout the game's over-world there will people who are in need of rescuing or (albeit from gang members, a traffic accident or on the ground knocking on practically knocking on death's door). You can either be their knight in electric armor and come to their aid or be the biggest douchebag with super powers the city has ever known as you can leave them to die or shock the victims and the baddies straight to hell.

The Karma points allow you to purchase new abilities or to upgrade the abilities you already have. The only downside to that is if you're a "Champion" or an "Outlaw", you essentially have the same attacks just with different names. Oh and did I mention your lightning changes colors depending on what side you choose! *fake enthusiasm*


Now Mr. Deadbeat, would you care to take your ass kicking in Serene Cerulean or...?


...Cryptic Crimson...! Oooooooooh! *Flails arms in even more forced enthusiasm*

One of the more unique aspects of the game I personally liked was the fact that when your electrical energy started to run low, you could easily refill from any electrical source within the city. From Power lines, satellites, cars, generators on the sides of buildings and even phone booths are their to use at your discretion.

Additionally, they are core abilities that you can only gain through the main story missions. Abilities, such as throwing small electric orbs that explode similar to grenades, hovering through the air for several seconds, conjure up a shield that deflects bullets and even rockets, sliding across power lines, plummeting to the ground causing a giant electric shock wave and even conjuring electricity from the clouds to send an enormous bolt to strike down and obliterate your enemies. It's quite invigorating to be able to use super abilities to punish your enemies instead of resorting to firearms like in EVERY OTHER title in the sandbox free roaming genre.

Despite all these superhuman traits that Cole so boastfully uses, he still can't climb the side of a building effectively. There will be certain missions where you'll have to peruse a helicopter, jet, hot air balloon or anything airborne. Generally the game will give you a 10 to 15 second grace period to catch up with your target. As generous as that may be, it doesn't mean a damn thing if your spending a majority of the time hopping over porches, climbing ladders and flipping over and around poles. This can also be somewhat of a annoyance when your trying to get the drop on your enemies by taking the high ground and stealthily make your way to the top of the building and the thugs spot you because it takes 90 minutes to make it to the top of a building. Cole may be an electrical badass, but Spider-Man he is not.


That's pretty much how it is trying to climb with Cole...

Presentation

One of the best aspects of this game is the overall graphical presentation. The design of the game was done by Sucker Punch (the developers best known previously for their work on the Sly Cooper trilogy on PS2). Leaving behind the bright, cell shaded, cartooney universe for a very dark and gritty comic book atmosphere which as I stated before could not look any better. The dirty brown shades of the buildings, the desolate grays of the destroyed streets, and the pale blues and greens of the automobiles (which all seem to be destroyed and yet people still manage to get to work on time...) are displayed in such a way that you can't help but say "Damn this place got F***ED UP!!" The sounds are very loud and attention grabbing (although it'll mostly be lighting, gun shots and explosions that you'll hear throughout the game). The writing and voicing acting though is probably the best I've heard in a next gen game since MGS4. I especially want to give kudos the voice actors of Cole, Zeke and Trish. They really drew me into their universe and gave a such strong depiction of what it would be like to live life in a post apocalyptic world where you or someone you knew gained supernatural abilities. I personally think Infamous would make a really kickass movie as long as it stuck to the formula of the game. And despite what most movie buffs say, I think casting is very...VERY important to a movie...


YOU'RE OVERRATED!! There I said it...

Replay Value

Despite that I haven't touched the game since I completed it (mainly because I'm playing three other games simultaneously) there is plenty of replay value to be had in this game. Although it may take at most, a week to complete the main story missions there's more than enough additional items to collect, secrets and Easter eggs to uncover, trophies to earn as well as seeing the alternate ending depending on where your karma stood at the end of the game. And furthermore, it's such a great stress reliever! Long day at work? The misses giving you a hard time? The little punk at Burger King got your order wrong...again!? Channel your inner rage-a-holic and wreak complete havoc in fictitious city where there are no dire consequences for maliciously electrocuting everyone who looks at you the wrong way. And they said video games don't help people. TAKE THAT WII FIT!!

Conclusion

Much kudos to Sucker Punch. They made a successful game outside the Sly Cooper franchise and oh boy did it work! Solid gameplay, excellent story, top notch visuals, soundtrack and voice acting, better than average controls and plethora additional aspects to keep ya playing after the main story is completed. Infamous receives a 9 out of 10 in my book.


Monte el relámpago baby!


Pros

- The game took three years to make and it was well worth the wait. Looks, sounds and plays beautifully.

- Fairly balanced difficulty. Starts off fairly simplistic but gradually becomes harder as the game progresses.

- One of the better plots for an original game I've played this year so far.

Cons

- Despite the extra missions, unlockable and additional content to be had; the main game could have been a little longer.

- A little more variety in the good and evil aspects of the game outside of the color of the lighting bolts would have been nice.

- COLE CAN'T CLIMB WORTH S***!!

Infamous is a good game and one of the better exclusives that PS3 has so far. I'm waiting for the Prototype fanboys to ransack my inbox with angry messages such as "this game sucks! Why don't you play a MAN'S GAME like PROTOTYPE!? BETTER YET, WHERE'S MADDEN!?" I will as soon as you geniuses take your left hands off of the caps lock button and the other out of your shorts looking at Megan Fox pictures on Google Image Search. Wait...


Mmmmmmmmm Megan....

*looks around with shifty eyes* Ummm, I gotta go! You know what it is...CJP: The Protagonist...Otaku's the new black! Bye!

*runs away from the computer leaving a trail of dust*

The Wonderful World of Manga: Naruto 450

I've been thinking, while we've covered the gaming and anime world in the past, none of us have really talked about the source where anime often originates from. If you haven't figured it out I'm referring to manga. Just be prepared for spoilers as I'll be discussing a chapter, from one of the many mangaka's that came out last week. With that being said its Naruto time!!

After getting Nagato to believe in his way of thinking, Pain (aka Nagato) used a jutsu to ressurect all the fallen village thereby killing himself in the process. Tired from the battle Naruto headed back to his crater of a "home" which leads us to chapter 450. When Naruto gets back, with the help of Kakashi, he finds that he has reach P. Diddy status which is a step above Hokage.


Naruto rulling the city like Diddy, look out BK

Actually I don't remember Konoha ever having that many villager to begin with but that's besides the point. Naruto has finally got the love and attention he always dreamed of, something both Kakashi and Iruka realize. At this point everything is find and dandy as Naruto has just proven to be among the strongest ninja in Konohagare's history. Though, he partially one through slick words and a boost in confidence from his father.

But then it shifts to the council meeting...and THIS is where the proverbial shyte hits the fan. Tsunade has apparently been comatized and thus can no longer perform her duties. The daimyou of the fire country along with Shikaku and a few higher ups engage in a meeting to decide the 6th Hokage. Shikaku nominates Kakashi and the daimyou seems to agree. But then good ole Danzou decides to open his mouth and spew out some bullcrap logic. Now you'd think they'd put Kakashi over a outwardly hady man but NO they appoint this mofo as next Hokage. It's like Kishimoto trolled us all, he figured that we were pro-Kakashi so he decided to flip the script. What's funny is it look like Kishi-san ran out of panels so he was like "eff it". Not surprisingly, a lot of people are having he same general consensus about the situation...EFF THAT MOFO!!

The one guy everyone hates more then Carrottop

It was so random that it was lame, the higher-up were won over so easily. It seemed like they didn't even weigh out the decision. Danzou basically deemed anyone who is directly or indirectly associated with the 4th, Jiraiya or Pain as unfit and they went with it. I generally hope Sasuke comes and kills them all before engaging his best pal in combat. Despite all this I do firmly believe there are more then a handful of villagers who would disobey a order if it means protecting Naruto. Those being: Iruka, Kakashi, Guy, Sakura, Sai, Shizune, Yamato, Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Shikaku, Hinata, Kiba, Shino and some others. Naruto has also made strong alliances with the important figures of other villages so he's in a good spot regardless. So that's about the end of my rant, I'll probably do Bleach this week so look out for it.

here is the link for the full chapter if you want to download it: http://dl02.mangashare.com/Naruto_450[Binktopia].zip

The Second Rising of GanjimaruX -Anime Review-: Silent Mobius

Just as the founder and grandmaster CJP has been a way for a while, I've been away for even longer. My last post was last October which is almost a eternity when it comes to the writing world. The reason for the delay was actually quite simple; my power cord on my laptop decided to crap out and I couldn't afford to do anything about it. But anyway I digress, CJP has tooken it upon himself to reboot the anime portion of the site and as the original impromptu reviewer of such I figure I should help out with my own....review lol.

CJP reviewed a stellar all-girl shounen/drama/romance by the name of Mai-HiME so I'm going to follow-up for another girl driven escapade. Now you might be thinking I'm talking about the not-as-hot-but-still-good sequel, Mai-Otome, but you would be incorrect. I'm actually referring to a much older masterpiece. It doesn't possess nowhere near the amount of fan service but what it replaces it with is pure action and story. If you want another vague clue I'll tell you it plays out sorta like this...

Just replace all the boys with girls, change the name of the monsters and had a actual mature plot and you got Silent Mobius. Like with Mai-Hime I'll break it down for you into the basic 4 (which is the name of a cereal I think), story, production, music and characters. Geez its been a minute so here I go.

Story

The main story takes the viewers into a not-to-far future where Tokyo has been struck with a massive earthquake. The city is in pretty bad shape as its citizens struggle to deal with a new wave of crimes, acidic rain and worst of all, demons from another dimension! The Lucifer Hawk have crossed over due to a honest attempt to rid Tokyo of its polluted air and now terrorize our world. In response the military forces of Earth have formed a secret branch of specially trained, power wielding chicks within the police division. Appropriately named AMP (Attacked Mystification Police), they are the only ones with the will, strength and abilities to fight the good fight for mankind's future. Things start off basically episodic but things thicken and get pretty heavy by the end. The main plot center's around AMP agent Katsumi Liqueur as she is just joining the others in the battle against the Lucifer Hawk. As the narrative moves on she learns more and more about herself, her deceased mother and her deceased father's role in the current state of the world. Needless to say, she discovers WAY more about herself then she can mentally handle which sets a chain of events in motion which will determine the fate of the planet.

Characters

Katsumi Liqueur

The main focus of the show, she gets assigned to AMP thanks in part to her heritage and latent spiritual powers. Furthermore her initial reasons to join center around her need to learn more about her mysterious past. Due to her brash and often solitary attitude actions she doesn't mash well with others at first. Its not until Yuki makes a attempt to befriend her that she starts to understand the idea of teamwork and garner a friendship with the remaining girls. In truth, she is actually extremely kind and compassionate. She also cares deeply about her friends and her love interest, Roy. This is sometimes overshadowed by her more negative traits (such as her insecurity and gullibility) which leads to the near downfall of AMP. Shortly after joining the squad she acquires the sentient supernatural sword Grospoliner.

Kiddy Phenil

Kiddy is the rough and tough member of the group, formerly a average cop she almost lost her life in a fight with a cybernetic criminal or "megadyne" named Wire. Unfortunately the only way to save her was to replace her missing human organs and limbs with machinery making her a cyborg herself. A constant theme is her struggling to completely come to grips with this. Otherwise she comes off as quite the tomboy, always finding her way into a fight or even causing them. Despite this its apparent that she holds her friends dear and his often the one to turn their frowns upside down.

Nami Yamigumo

Nami is definitely the character in these kind of shows who sorta just sits in the back (sorta like Allelujah in Gundam 00 season 2). If only anything, its because she was cast as a shy, quiet and soft-spoken character. Being a Shinto priestess she possess ritualistic powers, weapons and even attire as supposed to the standard uniform. Her most defining characteristic has to be her obsession with cleaning and keeping everything organized and tidy. Her appearance is the only one to change (albeit slightly) as the show progresses.

Yuki Saiko

Yuki is one of the more influential players as she also has a more direct connection to the overall plotline. Her background is a very unique, lets just say she had to escape from the equivalent of a psychic bootcamp as a child (the full story is featured on a entire episode). Having gone through such a dramatic experience has left her with not only mental scars but awesome powers. She is without a doubt the kindest and most gentle of the five. She's not necessarily air-headed as so much as she is "upbeat", think Bubbles from PowerPuff Girls but smarter/edgier.

Lebia Maverick

Lebia is second-in-command at AMP and thus not only handles the paperwork around the office but serves as leader, adviser and even mediator to the other girls (ESPECIALLY Kiddy and Katsumi). Like the other members, she is no ordinary human. Being a "Visionaire", she has cybernetic implants inside her body that allow her to directly link with computers and machinery. As such, she gets emotionally attached them as if they were real living people, even going as far as to create AND name her own three A.I's Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Lum Cheng

Joining a little after midway through the show, Lum is the youngest both physically and mentally. Although she comes off as a carefree, spunky, rude, sarcastic, know-it-all, ill-mannered brat she has quite the courageous and dependable side buried underneath all that. After forging some degree of friendship with the others her more positive traits shines through. In fact she finds out that she isn't too different from Katsumi personality wise either. Like Katsumi she wields a magical weapon called Gesso which is related to Grospoliner despite it not being self-animated.

Rally Cheyenne

While Lebia fills the big sister role to the other girls, Rally fills in the role of a mother-like figure to everyone, Lebia included. Director and chief of AMP she knows a great deal on both Lucifer Hawk and the world of Nemesis. This is mostly because she has the biggest link to the evil little bastards. She cares deeply about each and every single one of her subordinates and would go to any lengths to save them.

Aside from the main six, a load of other interesting characters are featured who contribute to the overall arching story. No one really feels like fodder as they actually end up motivating the actions of the members of AMP rather they be good or bad. The Lucifer Hawk demons themselves are somewhat generic and follow the average monster theme pretty well. Although the leaders of Nemesis (who of course are part human) do exude a bit more flavor.

Production

I know the pictures aren't the best but if you look at them you can tell that some may look somewhat better then others. There is a reason for this believe it or not. While most anime get different production teams to animate different portions of the same show, it usually done on a seasonal basis or for really special episodes. Not for Silent Mobius, oddly enough every episode seems to be handled by different people. At some points in the same episode the quality might take a dip only to skyrocket in the next scene. Consequently the action suffers from this lack of fluidness. CG is incorporated at some points but never looks truly amazing. For instance when Katsumi does her main finishing attack, some tacky CG crap swirls around her, taking away some of its cool factor. It's really weird lol, but it never gets to the point of unwatchable. To be honest I watched the full 26 episodes in English and rarely switched it to Japanese. Both seiyuu's and american voice actors/actresses do a marvelous job. Nobody ever sounds like they didn't want to come to work which is simply great.

Music

I have to say this is were the show takes a big blow, keeping it from being purely awesome. The BGM while not remarkable, is effective enough to help make some of the uplifting moments feel cheerful and sad moments feel...well sad. The opening, "Kindan no Panse", boast some pretty impressive visuals, looking better then a entire episode of the show sometimes. The song itself stops at okay; its catchy and after listening to it a couple of times you might actually grow to love it but that's about it. On the other hand, the ending visuals are just a slideshow of still pictures which sucks. The first ending song used titled "Silently" is a amazingly beautiful ballad sung in Engrish. I mean it really gives off a feeling of peace and tranquility. On the other hand ending 2 titled "Till The End of Time" is hanging out with the lackluster crowd which is a shame.

So overall would I suggest you dig up this fossilized classic? Hell yes! While the music area comes out questionable, just about everything else is gold. The plot is extremely interesting with characters that you can genuinely care about. And trust me when I say this, there are plenty of unsuspecting moments that leave you speechless, even depressed (warning: there will be at least one tragic death resulting in someone changing sides temporarily). Even if the presentation seems dated by today's standards its still a exhilarating ride down the mean streets of Mega-Tokyo.

Pros

-Endearing storytelling with strong plotlines

-Chast of characters that you can really get into

-Good voice work from both dub and sub

Cons

-Inconsistent animation during/in between episodes

-Overall lackluster soundtrack

Total Score: 8/10

How to Be a Video Game Pirate

I really don't feel like posting anything right now, but since it seems to be what's hot in the streets right now (and I'm ripping some Wii games to my hard drive - keep reading), I'll write a collection of sentences for your viewing pleasure.

Today's topic is game piracy, and the only uncool types of pirates there are (oh, and the ones off the coast of Somalia a couple months back. Boooooo!!) Anyway, I used to be a music pirate back in the day, but I no longer take part in that less than honest practice. By definition, I am still considered a game pirate, but please(!) let me explain - you're probably one, too.

Pirates of the sea have codes which they honor with their lives and respect amongst each other. I'm going to fathom an educated guess that most software pirates of today have no such laws. I, of course, am no ordinary pirate. My code is as follows:

• I will only download ROMS if the title is no longer in production or extremely rare and expensive. If a game is no longer in production, the chances of finding an unopened copy are slim to none. Game developers only make money when brand new copies are sold, not pre-owned titles, which is one of the reasons I am anti-GameStop; if you're buying used, you're not helping anyone but yourself. Now, I'm not so sure that if a game was out of production, but I were to buy an unopened copy on eBay from a company, if the developer would get paid, but my money (pun NOT intended) is on "No." Besides, if you were to find an unopened copy of said game, the price would run into the hundreds, well above the MSRP.
  
• I can pirate if I currently own (or have previously owned) the title before. If we were to pretend that the Sega Genesis was still prospering to this day, I could download ROMs of the titles I physically have in a duffel bag in my closet without legal repercussion. In fact, I do have most of my Genesis library in a folder on my computer (some games aren't allowed to be hosted by decree of the ESA). If I have previously owned the title, such as Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, I should be able to redownload it for two reasons: 1) it's essentially a backup of a game I purchased, new, from an authorized retailer; and 2) I actually bought the game twice (once on GameCube). If I were to buy RE4W again, it'll likely be used and the developers would not get paid. It should be noted that as of this posting, I have never actually downloaded anything I previously owned that is still in production.
  
• I can download a game that is not coming to my region IF that is the only way to get it. The least moral of my codes, but specifically in the case of Mother 3 (Earthbound 2), if a game I really an looking forward to is not coming to America and not knowing it's language will make it impossible to play, I can download it.
  

So, now that you understand how you can be a "moral" pirate. Still, I'm not condoning it. I only let downloading ROMs be the answer if it is the absolute last resort, but as I'm sure many of you "honest" gamers out there can attest to, nothing beats having the physical copy of the game, manual and all, to enjoy with your actual system. Nonetheless, I'll let you in on a (non)secret. I'll assume you readers are familiar with the Wii's "Twilight hack," but if you're not, Google-ate it to get a quick rundown. Anyway, since Wii's 4.0 firmware update, that hack has been put out of commission, so if you wanted to run homebrew apps on your Wii, or even use it as a DVD player (totally understandable), you're S.O.L. Until now. I ran across an terribly simple tutorial on how to not only install the Homebrew Channel on a 4.0 Wii, but to also backup and run your Wii games from an external hard drive (what I'm doing while I write this blog). The whole installation process from start to finish took around 30 mins, but assuming you aren't battling your alter ego who is telling you to hit up Gamefly, you could probably finish much quicker. I've tested it with Wii Sports and it works flawlessly.

How to Store/Load Wii Games via USB Hard Drive on System Menu 4.0 [Slick Tricks Part 2]

Oh, and in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, playing from your hard drive has you starting a match before the applause from choosing your CUSTOM(!!) level completes. Yes, the sole reason I modded my Wii was to gain faster loading times. Still, being able to view and load your library from a Cover Flow interface ain't half bad either....



ZANTEZUKEN!

Reviews on the Horizon

It came to my attention that a lot of those reviews I had said I'd do before I had disappeared hadn't come up. I'm sure your wondering why. It's simply because most of them are canceled due to various reasons. Most of them were of games that so many other sites had reviewed there really wasn't anything left for me to say about them that already hadn't been said. Either that or I just didn't feel like doing it anymore lol. But to catch up the uninformed up to speed, I'm gonna layout a list of reviews and other content that are most definitely coming up and those that were scrapped.

Canceled Reviews

Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed Review
Ultimate Muscle: Legends VS. New Generation/Ultimate Muscle: Galactic Wrestling Comparison Review
Street Fighter 4 Review
Tatsunoko VS. Capcom Review
Valkyria Chronicles Review

Upcoming Reviews

Games
Star Ocean: The Last Hope Review
(when I get my 360 back so I can finish the game. Damn red rings...)

Infamous Review

(I'll either do that when I finish the game or do a VS. review of that and Prototype seeing as how everyone is comparing those two games)

Punch-Out!! (Wii) Review

(Ridiculously fun game. Especially if you played/owned the original NES Punch Out back in the day).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare (PS2) Review

(A friend let me borrow it and it's actually pretty interesting. Can't believe I skipped over it).

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Review

(I wasn't too excited about this at first. But as the game becomes closer to release I've become more and more intrigued by it. Comes to US shores June 30th).

King of Fighters XII Review

(When the game comes out July 7th. Huge KOF fan. Highly anticipating KOF's jump to Next Gen).

Anime
Outlaw Star Review

(The Sci-fi/action anime with the HUGE colt following. That would be my opinion on the series as a whole).

Lupin the 3rd: First Contact OVA Review

(The "OVA" that basically tells the origin story of how the main characters met each other. Being a big time Lupin fan, hear or rather see what I have to say about it).

Sengoku Basara Review

(The new anime series based on the game franchise of the same name. It's only supposed to be 12 episodes and the anime torrent community has currently subbed up to the 8th episode. You can expect a review coming when the show is complete).

Other Stuff

Press Start Season 1 finale and Press Start Season 2 premiere (It's coming! Don't think I forgot!!)

What Wii should do...(Just an opinion piece about what options/additions that I think the Wii could do to make it better/slightly less annoying. I'm a Nintendo fan and I own a Wii so don't think of it as trolling or hating).

Otakon 2009: "What went down" (I'll be at Otakon again this year. My overview of what I did will be on here seeing as how Myspace blows now.

Do you MMO? I think I'll Pass (Another opinion piece talking about my overall disdain for MMORPGs).

That's about all I think of for now...anything more that comes arises, you all will definitely be informed ASAP.

and now I leave you with a quote: "I'm a saran Mega Man, I'm a rap robot, see I eat on the beats and I dine on these rhymes, when I snack on these tracks call them Megatron lunch." - Turbo aka T Double - "G.A.S." - Electrorock Vol.3 Disk 2

Big ups to all of his blazin' tracks and other creative works at turbotsst.blogspot.com

-Till the next time *taps his forehead with his index and middle and index fingers and vanishes out of sight*