Fall Season

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Thanks to the gentleman Chartfag, there's now a chart of all anime airing in Fall. It all looks like a pretty normal season, although there are some shows i'm really excited to see:

Panty and Stocking: Produced by Gainax and the same makers of FLCL, Gurren Lagann, and Evangelion. That alone should make any self respecting anime fan VERY excited. Add to this a show filled with over the top violence, profanity spouting heroines, and a plot almost as crazy as FLCL, this could very well be the series to take anime out of the moe dark ages.

Arakawa Under the Bridge Season 2: From the drug induced studio Shaft (the same makers as Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei), the story of a business mans misadventure's of living under a bridge continue. I can only hope that the insane characters, silly humor, and subtle social insights continue in this season.
(Download Season 1 here or watch a preview here)

A Certain Magical Index Season 2: Continuing the story of Touma (an ESPer with the ability to negate all paranormal abilities with his right hand) and Index (a human library of magical grimoires) living in the city of science. Sure, this might all sound like an overly generic powerlevel anime. However, with it's incredibly lovable characters, spectacular battles, well built atmosphere, catchy techno soundtrack, and smart twists and turns, this show is a must see for anyone looking for a good battle anime.
(Download Season 1 here or watch a preview here)

I'll certainly be watching more than this, but these (in my opinion) are the shows to look out for (so start catching up with Arakawa and Index now!)

A special thanks to Chartfag for this helpful list. Please check out his website here.

Zelda Reorchestrated

Everybody remembers the water temple. Everybody also remembers reseting their games because of the logistical key planning errors that occurred in that wretched temple. Everyone remembers the Owl that would swoop down and bombard your visual senses with a wall of blue semi transparent text filled stories and then after you were done testing your already fresh and novice knowledge of the grammatical arts from grade school (assuming you were also of that age when the game came out)the seemingly harmless pixelated version of the tootsie pop owl would taunt you and mock you with your needing to drive the plastic round green cap that was the "A" button into the underlying circuit board with restarting the whole sequence over again until you could better your almost OCD mannerisms.

Well, alright, sorry about that. But one thing I remembered was the music, and I still get nostalgic when listening to the original soundtrack. However this gem called Zreo; or Zelda Re-orchestrated is a collaboration of musicians that are remaking the ever loved songs once heard years ago. Here's the website where you can acess not only Ocarina of Time, but the other games that they have worked on also. It's not complete, but they have most of the songs and i'm sure there's a torrent floating around somewhere where they have the whole compilation.

Jim Noir - Tower of Love [2005]

Jim Noir aka Alan Roberts, is well, a indie-pop songwriter I assume. Whatever it is, it's good, it's catchy (and repetitive too, not like it's a bad thing) and of course for those of you that have played Little Big Planet (fuck I love the music from that game) it features Noir's "My Patch". A sample of Jim will determine if you want to listen to the rest of this album. Most of his songs are fun and as well they are repetitive and sound alike in some parts it provides a good listen for those into a pop-happy sort of deal.

mediafire

Fallen Joy - Order to Die [2010]

France has done it again (sort of.) This time we have a band who has gained quite a following in Paris. Fallen Joy is a five man melodic death metal project from.....you guessed it, France. They formed in 2009, and are currently playing local shows in Paris....No word on another album.

Now for the debut EP. First things first, this IS melodic death metal. Like that shit you listened to when you were the angst ridden teenager that you were in high school. However, even upon the first track, it's all the good from that angsty teenage music. They sound alot like Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquility, and (insert melodic/pagan metal that everyone listened to here.) They are definitely familiar with their sound.

That being said, It's not the same that you've heard before. Vocals and guitar both sound like they are from completely different genres, but flow together seamlessly.

The music itself is good. I'm not going to tell you that it's incredible, because the truth is that Melodic Death metal is no longer really my cup of tea. However, this is one of the best debut EP's I've heard in a while. The band sounds like they have been playing for years already.

So, If you only listen to "mature" music, and feel that you've moved past this sort of thing, this is definitely not for you. However, if you are willing to stay unbiased, this hits home: It's the plain old brutality you knew and loved, and it still is alive and kicking.

Download is here.

But the Ep is only 5 euros, so I would definitely suggest picking it up off of their Myspace.

DogFighter (PC)

Another game I purchased from Steam yesterday, DogFighter is a arcade like airplane combat shooter. It's by no means a simulator, and feels almost odd controlling it via keyboard ( many keys flip and roll the plane as it becomes confusing at parts if you are new to the game ). The multiplayer was fun, for the 5 minutes that I played it. You can choose between a couple planes that specialize in agility, armor, damage, or speed. From what I got from that session, there are a lot of maps, and not too many game modes.

On sale on steam for 8 bucks, it's not to bad of a purchase, but I probably would have spent it on a different game of similar cost if there was a demo feature.

Lead and Gold - Gangs of the Wild West (PC)

For those of you who have played Rockstar's hit game, Read Dead Redemption this year, this game will be strikingly familiar. Lead and Gold is a arcade like western 3rd person shooter. There are 4 classes, 3 of which I have played so far, and 2 of which I'd say are fairly easy to control. There is a sniper class that can use traps and utilizes the same principal as the sniper in TF2 ( delayed fire mechanism ), a Rifleman ( mid ranged infantry ), a Pistol-guy who can fire off rounds as fast as you can click with his special alternate fire, and a shotgun-dynamite throwing commando class. The combat motions are almost the same in RDR, being that you can dive, and run and gun with a familiar crosshair.




Unfortunately, the fucking multiplayer base is terrible. I played last night on a friday night and there was a grand total of 38 people on. Lack of dedicated servers and player count makes it a iffy buy. But, of course, the more people that buy it and play it will increase the experience. The game sells for about $15.00 on steam, and was released at some point i have no idea when this year.


All in all, a great arcade shootan game for under 20 dollars. Hopefully steam will continue the advertising for this game and it will become more popular seeing as how the player base currently is very low. I'd give it about a B+.

What the hell is Deli watching?

There have been a great deal of shows premiering this summer. I have (more or less) been watching most of them, so with most of the series being almost halfway through, I figured I should write my impressions thus far. Click any of the titles for a preview of the series. If you're really interested, I also added direct download links.

Shiki
In a small forest village, people are being killed off by an unknown force. As the body count piles up and the dead are spotted walking in the dead of night, some of the villagers decide to look towards the occult for an answer. For a horror anime, it has a nice organic feel to it. The characters are well written, all the drama seems somewhat realistic, and the horror aspect relies more on eerie ambiance rather than cheap scares. Recommended for anyone who likes horror or investigation shows.
Download Shiki

K-On!!
I'm utterly ashamed by this guilty pleasure, but I just can't escape it. With summer came K-On season 2, continuing the story of five girls and their high school music club. While unquestionably being a pure moe show, it's lighthearted charm cannot be denied. It's also the best animated show of the season, which is plain sad considering the content. Recommended for anyone who remotely likes any moe or slice of life shows.
Download K-on!!

Highschool of the Dead
I did an impression about this series before, but felt I needed to go over it again. The last few episodes have been less than impressive, by ratcheting up the fanservice to near hentai levels, and having he action sequences turn plain ridiculous. For a perfect example, feel free to click the link above. I also can't help but notice the majority of the production funds are being poured into the girls...assets, which is unfortunate. That being said, it's still quite a good series recommended for anyone who likes action and zombies.
EDIT: GOD FUCKING DAMMIT MADHOUSE CUT THIS SHIT OUT
Download Highschool of the Dead

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi
This series basically plays with various American and Japanese fairy tails, and twists them to be relevant in a modern setting. It all feels pretty generic, with most of the humor missing its mark and using plenty of standard archetypes. However, there are plenty of cameos and voiceovers of characters from other series (one of the characters even looks and acts like the child of a certain "Toradora" couple), which is entertaining enough. Recommended to anyone...well...who has nothing better to do.
Download Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi

Amagami SS
An anime adaptation of a popular romance visual novel. The series basically spends four episodes on each of the heroines routes before switching to the next one. It's pretty standard romance fare, although each of the characters is quite likable and unique. Reccomended to anyone who's a fan of visual novels.
Download Amagami SS

DROPPED:

Asobi ni Iku Yo!
Okay. Here's the plot in a nutshell: A catgirl from space decides to visit earth, and ultimately live with a nerdy teenage boy. She invites her other catgirl friends to come visit, and various antics ensue. Basically, it's going down the otaku fantasy fan service route. However, the problem is that the fan service is almost nonexistent, and the protagonist is unbearably unlikable. That means all that's left is the "plot", filled with mass catgirl cults, alien cults, and an evil race of doggirls. FUCKING RETARDED.
Download Asobi ni Iku Yo!

Mitsudomoe
This one is a comedy series, based on the antics of three daughters in elementary school. The humor is basic potty humor and overly predictable punchlines. Basically, the humor is targeted towards creepy manchildren who like lolis and crude elementary level jokes, or for the most immature children imaginable. Since I fit in neither of these demographics, I quickly dropped this series.
Download Mitsudomoe

Occult Academy
An apocalyptic events occurs in 2012, placing humanity close to extinction. In order to change this, a time traveler goes back in time to the place where the event occurred: the Occult Academy. For a series named the occult academy, it unfortunately lacks anything remotely creepy. The characters aren't that likable (with the exception of Saya), the attempts at humor usually miss, and as a whole this series just could not keep me interested to keep watching.
Download Occult Academy


So, that's that. There's seems to be some interesting anime premiering this fall, so I will surely let you all know what to look out for when it comes around. Feel free to tell me your opinions on this summer's anime!

FLCL Analysis

After doing that FLCL review, I restarted my analysis centered quest to see if there was anything else I missed. Upon doing so, I found this impressive 24 page analysis which basically covers all the characters and symbolism. If anyone decided to watch FLCL, I highly reccomend reading this after viewing the series:

Link

Nero's Day at Disneyland - From Rotting Fantasylands [2009]

For many people (particularly ones that do not listen to weird music) Nero's Day at Disneyland may seem a bit odd. It is IDM (Intelligent Dance Music), and more specifically, breakcore. It is a fun twist to different electronic samples, beats, and rhythms that make a carnival-like feel that directly relates to the name of the band. Similar to it's cousin, speedcore, it is defiantly "active" listening music, minus the feeling of ripping the hair off your eyebrows with a wrench.

youtube
mediafire

Motoro Faam - ...And Water Cycles [2007]

I need no explaination for this. It's an album about the fucking water cycles of water, man. I will say this though, listening through this album you can definatly personify and characterize the different musical techniques they used into the patterns of water (ie. rain, snow, splashing) just awesome, beautiful music.

youtube
mediafire

Arkells - Jackson Square [2008]

Arkells is a rock band from our favorite northern sibling, Canada. Their sound is familiar, which provides a easy listening experience. Today, it is hard to classify something as "rock" without any strings or underlying genres attached. Arkells does a good job as just a "rock" band. It kind of reminds me of The Hold Steady with a little more upbeat riffs. sample

Jackson Square

Armik - Besos [2010]

I've been listening to all things and everything flamenco for the past week. This is one of my favorites. The artist is Armik, and a new album this year by the name of Besos. Rather then rattling off jargon and history behind the genre, artist, or dear I say, culture, of all things Spanish, I will just leave with a youtube link for you to see yourself.

I apologize for the rapidshare, rather than a straight-forward mediafire.

"FLCL" review

It's actually quite difficult for me to write a review about FLCL. It's impossible to place it in a genre, as it is completely unrecognizable compared to any other show. The plot is hidden in a shell of insanity, with a core full of intuitive symbolism and surprising underlying messages. The characters are all incredibly likable while still containing a true human nature. The grunge rock soundtrack fits perfectly, with most songs feeling as if they were made for the series. Conventional language and analysis cannot convey the impression of brilliance brought on by this six episode series, but I'm going to try anyway.

In the first episode, the audience is introduced to the town of small town of Mabase. There's Noata, an apathetic and windrawn junior-high student. There's Mamimi, his older brother's girlfriend, who nonetheless just can't seem to keep her hands off Noata. There's his dad, who runs the town convenience store and secretly prints the towns gossip zine. Sure, this all sounds quite normal, but I haven't got to the robotic television which does dishes and serves curry. Ah, there's also the space alien Haruhara who makes Naota's life a bit more interesting, usually through bashing a Rickenbacker bass guitar to his face. If this all sounds a bit strange, FLCL has not even begun to leap off the deep end. To some viewers FLCL will look like a nonsensical cartoon, just for the sake of being random. However, I can assure confused viewers that there is indeed a point to the madness.

FLCL is surprisingly chock full of symbolism and deep moments, especially when contrasted between destruction and clashy guitar chords. Under the surface there's a very intuitive coming-of-age story, mainly dealing with the many adolescent struggles of becoming an adult. The show only begins to hint upon the various undertones 2/3 into the series, so most viewers don't even notice the messages until then. I won't spoil the various symbolism and subplots here, as I had a blast doing research and re-watching the series again and again to be able to catch them all. FLCL would've been entertaining enough even if these underlying messages weren't included, but the fact that such thought was injected in spite of the madness makes this series almost masterful.

This is all aided by the inventive animation, which gushes with life and personality. Gainax packed alot of TLC into all six episodes, and it shows. Art styles are played around with constantly, detail is packed into every frame, and it all works incredibly well. There's alot of flash to the imagery, but whats nice is that beautifully crazy artwork adds alot while not becoming a staple of the show.

Backing all of this up is an absolutely stellar soundtrack headlined by a Japanese rock band called The Pillows. If I had to compare it to an American band, I suppose the Pixies would be a familiar comparison: jangling guitars, distortion, heavy bass, bizarre lyrics fit perfectly with the show's direction. Every scene where music is included works in complete harmony with the visuals, and adds alot to the experience.

At first glance, FLCL looks like a undiciplined mess, being random for the sake of being random, but in the midst of the insanity the creators create a very functional, deep, and entertaining experience. It just works. It will make you laugh, get misty eyed, then perhaps make you light things on fire and assault people with a bass guitar (right after you buy that bitchin' yellow vespa). If that's not a successful series, I don't know what is.

Writing: A
Animation/Art: A+
Music/Sound: A+
Overall: A+

"Highschool of the Dead" impressions

Do you have a hankering for a good ol' fashioned mix of zombies, gore, and boobs? If you said "yes" to all three of these things, Highschool of the Dead (from the same makers of Black Lagoon) is certainly your must watch for this summer season.

The zombie infested madness starts off the bat in the first episode; a teacher gets bitten by a businessman at the school gate, and shit hits the proverbial fan almost instantly. High school student Takanashi knows something serious is about to go wrong, joins a crew, and they work together to survive and get out of the city. Sure, the plot may be cliche as far as zombie flicks go, but it remains to be a wonderfully violent and overly-sexualised production.

When I say overly-sexualised, I mean it. The creators have certainly made fanservice a main staple of the show, with ridiculous boob physics and panty shots abound. Normally I'd be turned off by such blatant sex pandering, but it does well in creating a certain message: "We're making this anime for dudes who love zombies, blood, and tits. Do not expect anything more."

That's not to say there aren't thought provoking moments, however. When society and order is crumbled away, combined with the aura of death a zombie apocalypse creates; some people will use this as an opportunity to completely indulge their dark nature. The show does well to show the audience this, which includes people murdering others for sport, rapists stalking the streets, and naive teenagers extorting the elderly (with one particular mention to a narcissistic teacher who uses his title to create a cult/student harem for himself). I also have to stress that as generic as the show can feel, there are some very genuinely eerie and disturbing moments which will undoubtedly get to most people.

Thankfully the main crew of students that the show focuses on is more or less likable, although I haven't developed any sort of emotional connection to them thus far. You have the generic apathetic teenager, annoying damsel in distress, pushy tsundere, coolheaded sempai, darksided nerdy kid, and ditsy school nurse (whom the creators decided to insert a "boing" sound effect whenever her enormous boobs bounce. Wasn't kidding about the fanservice). I'm hoping as the series goes on, more character development will be made.

If you want to check Highschool of the Dead out, it's currently being simulcast on the "Anime Network" in the US, with the dub coming out late this year or early 2011.

"Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei" review

Take one terminally depressed, suicidal adult. Make him the teacher of a class full of psychologically disturbed students, each one of them embodying a mental disorder or extreme character archetype. Add to the mix a great helping of dark humour and social insights, and it can easily be said that Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a must see for anyone itching for a comedy series with a side of philosophy and satire.

There is no plot to follow, characters don’t develop beyond their stereotypes, and often time’s logic is completely thrown out the window. However, it still manages to be the smartest comedy-anime I’ve ever seen. The ideas being given are interesting, and deal with basic truths about society and human behavior. It’s not afraid to delve in taboo subjects either, ranging from jokes about shut-ins, stalkers, drug users, and suicide. Not even the audience is off limits, with some of the jokes taking pot-shots on anime fans and the overly moe-fanatical anime industry. After a while, the basic formula of the show becomes apparent, and it usually it goes like this: One concept is brought forth, built upon, played with by the various wacked out students, and becomes more and more ridiculous. However, with the myriad of unique topics being presented, the comedy remains to feel fresh. Most of the humor is quite universal, although there are jokes that will go over most American viewer’s heads, with jokes and about Japanese celebrities, kanji puns, or Japanese politics. Thankfully these Japan-centric jokes are never the focus of the punchlines, so viewers shouldn’t feel out of place.

As for the characters, although their personalities are paper-thin archetypes, all of them are incredibly enjoyable. Each character adds a lot to the parodies and jokes because of their own different, messed up perspectives. Needless to say, there’s barely any character development (with the exception of one particular student who’s hinted at being quite darker than what she seems…), however most viewers will find their favorite instantly based upon their own individual tendencies. Itoshiki Nozomu (or Mr. Despair) is by far the star of the show, whose suicidal antics and cynical views remain the focus of most of the episodes. One would think that so much negativety would become grating, but the show manages to pull it off quite well. There aren’t many series where the lead character extends an offer to another to commit suicide with him, and have it come off as being endearing rather than evil.

As for the animation, for the most part it’s pretty simplistic, although there are some scenes that are incredibly well animated. What really makes this series feel different are the rapidly varying art styles and angles, which keeps the viewer very much visually stimulated. There’s also a hell of a lot of comedic detail packed into the backgrounds, with the numerous random quips written on the blackboards, or lists of despairs which Nozomu is currently fretting about.

All in all, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a very funny comedy series which shouldn’t be missed by anyone who likes dark humor, as well as people who want a smart comedy packed with both philosophy and satire. With most anime comedies either being redundant “slice of life” shows or moe-centric “watching cute girls do cute things”, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a welcome reprieve.

Writing: A+

Animation: B+

Music/Sound: B

Overall: B+