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Kaza-SOU

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Non Non Biyori is probably the only slice of life comedy genre anime that I will watch this season. The main story is about Hotaru Ichijou who just got transfered into a countryside and she is now enrolling in the only school available in the village. Since it is the only school in the village, the school only has 1 class and 5 students where each of them is in different grade from one another. Kinda like Higurashi’s school if you aren’t sure what I’m talking about.

So, the story revolves around the students of the school which are Hotaru Ichijou, Natsumi Koshigaya, Komari Koshigaya, and Renge Miyauchi. Probably by now you are asking “Hey you said there are 5 students in the class so where is the other one?”. Well, that one student is actually the elder brother of Natsumi Koshigaya and Komari Koshigaya, Suguru Koshigaya, but he doesn’t get any voice in this anime and all his appearance time has been that of a cameo. Anyway, what’s so interesting about this anime? Well, let’s break it down shall we?

First thing that makes this anime interesting is the culture shock factor. Hotaru Ichijou originally lived in Tokyo which makes her a city girl. Oh by the way, don’t get fooled by the size of her boobs, she is actually in the 5th grade. Because of her inadequate knowledge of the countryside’s people culture, we could get a glimpse of how different the city from the village. And that kind of culture shock resulted in the most hilarious moment you can watch. I particularly like the “House Key” scene where Hotaru brings her key to the school and everybody asked why she brought a key. When Hotaru asked what they usually do with the key, they answer casually for opening a food can since they never use the key for locking up the doors to their house when they live. So yeah, since probably most of us who watch this anime come from the city, it’s quite funny to see something that is unusual like that.

Second, I think what makes this anime interesting is Renge Miyauchi. You know, in this kind of anime you always have that over-the-top moe girl character doing moe things. For example: Lucky Star has Konata, Azumanga Daioh has Ayumu, and therefore Non Non Biyori has Renge. She is the youngest of the group which makes her an innocent child. It’s not rare that Renge Miyauchi takes Natsumi Koshigaya’s joke seriously which resulted in a hilarious scene. And the way that she greets everyone by uttering “Nyanpatsu!” is just cute and also she always brings her flute and play while she is walking. Damn, she is one package of a moe girl.

Lastly, the sad story. Yes, although this is a comedy genre anime, it has a fair share of sad moments. I won’t disclose it since it will spoil your enjoyment watching this series but I would say that this anime nails it with the sad story. Could you ever imagine an innocent girl like Renge Miyauchi has a sad story in this anime? Yeah I wasn’t expecting that either but it happened. I cried a little for Renge during that particular scene and believe it or not I was trying to wipe Renge’s tear that is coming out from her eyes with my hands. The character just begged to be hugged and that’s why Non Non Biyori should be in your watchlist.

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Kyoukai no Katana is one of the anime that I put in my watchlist for this fall 2013 season. Somehow, this anime is categorized as a slice of life anime which is a little bit deceiving. Yeah sure, we get to see the highschool life and the interaction between characters especially between Akihito and Mirai. However, I would categorize this anime as an action anime on par with the likes of To Aru Kagaku Railgun or Shakugan no Shana in terms of the proportion between action and slice of life. I've been watching for three episodes and it is safe to say that I will continue watching this series since it's very interesting. Don't worry though, this review will contain mild spoilers which would not affect the enjoyment of watching the show. So, let's get started with the review.

Introducing Mirai Kuriyama, the main female protagonist who is a cute girl wearing glasses with pink hair. When I look at Mirai Kuriyama, it reminded me of Yui Hirasawa from K-ON! in term of looks. And also, Mitsuki Nase is kinda look like Mio Akiyama so sometime I get a weird feeling watching them. Anyway, Mirai Kuriyama is much more tsundere and withdrawn then Yui will ever be. Her signature quote would be "Fuyukai desu" which means "It's unpleasant" to imply that she feels annoyed. However, Mirai Kuriyama holds a very dark past in her. She can manipulate her own blood as a weapon which she usually prefer to make it into a sword. I'm always attracted in characters that can control blood as a weapon and usually that particular character is deemed to be cursed by other people. This also applies to Mirai Kuriyama with her cursed blood rendering her to be isolated from the community.

Then came Akihito Kanbara, the other male protagonist of this series. He has a megane fetish which means he is attracted to girls wearing glasses. I think this is how Akihito took an interest towards Mirai Kuriyama. Akihito is a half youmu and have the ability to quickly heal any wound that is inflicted on him. However, Akihito still feel the pain when he get stabbed or injured. This makes Akihito a target practice for Mirai as you can see often Mirai chasing Akihito in attempt to kill him.

The story revolves around hunting youmu and you have the terms of Spirit World Warriors which refers to people who hunts youmu for a living. The concept is everytime a youmu hunter kills a youmu, it will drop somekind of a gem which can later be exchange into money. Now, what's interesting is that every hunter has different weapons when it comes to killing the youmu which makes the supernatural aspect of this anime more interesting. Also, since Mirai Kuriyama is despised by some other youmu hunters, she occasionally is hunted by other youmu hunters. This makes the story even more exciting. Battles between major characters are always fun to watch so I guess this anime is really worth to watch.

The balance between comedy and action is really well-thought in this series. During school time, we get to see the comedy part of the anime and occasionally the moe-ness of each character. Mirai Kuriyama who I thought was a withdrawn girl with no interest in having a relationship with other humans can sometime put up a cute face. However, make no mistake, once the action part of the anime kicks in, you will have an exciting fast paced action you can enjoy out of an anime. The graphic is amazing and I think that's what you would expect when KyoAni does the job. All in all, Kyoukai no Katana should be in your watchlist for this season.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yrPY2…

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This is one of the anime that I put on my watchlist this season. Log Horizon employs a similarity plot as Sword Art Online: Bunch of players were trapped in a massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) called Elder Tales. Somehow the players couldn’t log out from the game and they have to cope with the predicament they are currently in. Our hero, Shiroe, is a level 90 Enchanter which is considered the maximum level a player could reach.  What I like about this anime is that it really employs crucial online Role Playing Game aspects so we could really feel how people who are trapped inside an online Role Playing Game experience. I’ve been watching the anime for 3 episodes but I can guarantee you that this review is really mild on spoilers. I would mainly discuss about the RPG aspects that is infused in this anime.

First of all, Shiroe is not your typical overly-handsome over-the-top character with overly-powerful damaging skill. Shiroe’s class is an enchanter, the weakest character in terms of power meter. Of course, he still is a badass since he is a level 90 enchanter. But, he uses his strategy when it comes to battling with other players. He is a kick-ass tactician and can utilize his comrades’ power to maximum output. This makes it very enjoyable to watch everytime Shiroe’s party encounters other Player Killers where Shiroe’s full strategy combat is commencing. It’s like watching Shikamaru’s brilliant tactical skill whenever he is fighting other enemies in Naruto.

Second thing that is fascinating about this anime is the environment itself. It’s an RPG where players can’t die. If you die, you will go back to the cathedral but of course you still feel the pain when you are injured and you will lose your items and equipment. This makes Log Horizon’s plot is really fully well-thought. I mean, if you know that people can’t really die when you kill them, don’t you want to just have a little fun ‘killing’ some annoying players who likes to troll you. And vice versa, that annoying players or trolls can as well have a fun for themselves by hunting other players to kill. You will always have a PK in every online game so Log Horizon has thought very well about that particular aspect.

Lastly, what makes this anime is worth to watch is the enemies and dungeons. The RPG elements are not complete without exploring sweet ass dungeons and battling enemies. And of course, thankfully the female characters are still beautiful and cute which I as a male is fond of. Yeah, call me sexist or whatever but cute and beautiful girls never is a mistake to put in an anime.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZaCmq…

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Maybe you guys can call yourself a Contra kid when you are little. But with me, I'm more of a Sunset Riders kid. This game has the same concept as of Contra which is a shoot 'em up excepts that there are no weapon changing upgrades. Instead, the character you are choosing will have different weapon type. You can select between Billy, Steve, Bob, and Cormano each have different type of weapon. I personally love playing using Cormano since his gun is spread type. Sunset Riders is a rather fast paced shoot 'em up game and you will encounter hordes of enemies at the same time so a little bit of stage memory will help a lot in playing this game. During your cruise along the stage, there are power ups available which will strengthen your gun and change your gun into a dual wielded one.

Graphically speaking, this game has a very cool graphic. It looks cartoon-ish and set in the wild west. You are the cowboy saving pretty ladies and your town from bandits. Explosion are very well made and you get the sense of a very hectic game with bullets flying by, dynamite explosion, and bulls charging at you.

The game is never boring. There are the horse riding stages where you will ride a horse (Duh!) and fend the enemies off. You have the first person view bonus round to shoot the enemies that appears on the screen. And also, the arcade version has the capability to play with 4 players which makes this hectic game even more hectic. I remember playing this game in Super Nintendo at Kaimax's house. Good memory playing this game.

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A tip of my hat for you, dear sir. Hiroshi Yamauchi, the former third president of Nintendo has passed away due to pneumonia today at the age of 85. He took charge of Nintendo during 1949-2002 and his visionary has put the gaming industry into a brand new level. Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and Starfox are some of the achievements that are available for us to enjoy. Let's also not forget that the birth of Famicom, Super Famicom, and Gameboy are also what shaped the gaming industry as of today. An inspiration you might say is nothing but a perfect word for Nintendo and Hiroshi Yamauchi has helped us to realized that it's not the technician that shaped the game but the artists.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for making my childhood a very exciting one. I remembered how I spent the entire night trying to beat Super Mario Bros; I remembered how hard it is to beat Toguro Otouto in Yu Yu Hakusho Tokubetsu Hen just to find out that password to open all characters are B, A, B, Y, B, A, B, Y; I remembered fighting with my friends over a Biker Mice Race; I remembered how cool it is playing Donkey Kong with semi 3D graphic. Nintendo will be a part of my childhood that I will not ever forget so I thank you, Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi for making Nintendo as it is today. *Queue Super Mario Bros. Game Over Theme Song*

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Featured

Anime Review: Non Non Biyori by Kaza-SOU, journal

Anime Review: Kyoukai no Katana by Kaza-SOU, journal

Anime Review: Log Horizon by Kaza-SOU, journal

Game Nostalgia: Sunset Riders by Kaza-SOU, journal

Rest in Peace: Hiroshi Yamauchi by Kaza-SOU, journal