Tomorrow I’m heading off for my four-day stay at Anime Expo 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. To avoid the horrendous check-in lines of Day 1, I went to the LACC today, Day 0, to pick up my badge. So now with badge and suitcase in hand, I’m ready to head off early tomorrow morning for downtown LA. This is the first time the 16 year old con will be held in LA so it should definitely be an interesting experience. I’m sure many people who went to AX last year will agree that it was one of the most disorganized and possibly worst cons ever. So I’m giving AX the benefit of the doubt this year and hoping that they’ve learned from their mistakes in 2007 and will make this LA con a great one =)

Unlike AX ‘07 where I spent most of my time at concerts or the dealers’ hall (or waiting in futile lines >_<), this year I plan to attend more workshops and panels (and possibly the AMV contest or Masquerade). However I usually get distracted by seeing friends or buying goods at the dealers’ so I end up missing a lot of my planned panels =P But I’m hoping to be more diligent this year as there’s a few panels that I’m really interested in.

Anyway, I doubt I’ll be on the Internet during AX so I won’t be able to answer e-mail or moderate blog comments for the next four days. But you can definitely expect a lot of con coverage and photos when I get back! =D

I was hoping to do a big “6th year anniversary” update today on the main site but I only had time to do a small update. I’m leaving for Anime Expo in a couple of days so I’ve been really busy preparing for that. But anyway, you can check the main site here for the small anniversary update and I’m looking forward to more wonderful years on AnimeYume.com! ^_^ Thanks again to all my loyal visitors!

Allison & Lillia

Allison & Lillia is a very pretty and fairly light show; it feels a lot like the atmosphere of a Miyazaki movie (though not nearly as well written or animated of course =P) The setting kind of reminds me of Last Exile but on the ground more than in the air. It’s one of those shows that doesn’t really fit into any one particular anime genre; it’s not moe, it’s not mecha, and it’s not shounen or shoujo. It’s basically just a light, whimsical adventure series. It’s based on novels rather than manga, which seems to help in adding to its literary feel and its lack of out-of-place humor and angst-ridden drama. As of now, the series has gone through three story arcs, and though many people have pointed out the plot holes and poor writing in some episodes, it’s still more or less an enjoyable show. So far there’s only about four main characters and they’re all pretty likable; it’s always amusing watching Allison trying to get Wil to notice her feelings while he remains totally clueless XD It also has one of the most beautiful opening songs ever. All in all, it’s definitely not a spectacular series but it’s worth watching if you like light adventure shows with pretty settings.

Chi’s Sweet Home

Yes, I find this show very cute and amusing ^.^ Each episode is only about 2 minutes long and I believe that four of them are shown each week (hence, unlike the other springs shows, I’ve seen about 40 episodes of this one so far). I never grow out of cute entertainment like this and Chi’s Sweet Home is actually a very good series among family friendly shows. For a kid show, it has pretty good animation (courtesy of MadHouse Studios) and Kourogi Satomi is adorable as Chi! Watching a Japanese kid show like this and comparing it to the crap kid shows on American TV nowadays, I honestly think America no longer knows how to make their kid shows offer anything but crude, sarcastic humor and hyperbolic, cartoonish slapsticks. I wish more US kid shows could be cute and gentle like Chi’s Sweet Home. Anyway, yes, an enjoyable show if you like cuteness and kitty-based humor =^.^= I like to watch an episode of Chi before I watch episodes of other anime, kind of like how movie theaters used to show a short cartoon before the feature presentation =)

Code Geass R2

I’m sure just about everyone who watched the first season of Code Geass is watching this one right now. Sunrise is infamous for not making good sequels but so far I feel like R2 is offering the same suspense, action, and train-wreck antics of the first season XD We could still use more development for some of the new characters, like the Knights of Round and perhaps Rolo, but we’ll probably get to that later on. Train-wreck plot developments usually prove to be bad things for other shows, but for some reason it seems to be the thing that draws people to Code Geass, together with the fast-paced suspense and appealing CLAMP designs too =) Anyway, I can’t really say too much else about R2 yet, since the concluding episodes will probably be where the judgment lies, but so far I think Sunrise is doing a good job with this second season.

Itazurana Kiss

With all the moe-infested anime out there nowadays, it’s refreshing to see a new shoujo anime that follows the more old school style. Though the old fashioned character designs may turn off some fans, I think Itazurana Kiss is a nice wave of nostalgia reminiscent of light, simple, fan service-free shoujo goodness. This is probably due to the manga being over 10 years old before this anime adaptation was made. From what I’ve heard, the manga-ka died before she could finish the series, but she told her husband how she wanted it to end, which is probably what the anime will go by. Itazurana Kiss doesn’t have the depth of Fruits Basket or the hilarity of Ouran, but it has a good balance of comedy and drama without being too hilarious or too angst-ridden. Both the humor and the drama are well placed, as is the flow of the episodes as we follow the cast from high school to college. Though it’s pretty easy to predict from the first episode what’s going to happen with Kotoko and Irie’s relationship, Itazurana Kiss follows this shoujo formula so well it still makes the series enjoyable. It’s very amusing watching Kotoko and Irie’s personalities bounce off each other, and the rest of the cast is funny as well, though sometimes they can be a bit silly =P But if you like old style shoujo anime that’s light and fun, Itazurana Kiss is a great pick ^_^

Soul Eater

When I first watched Soul Eater it immediately reminded me of Bleach with all the talk of souls, shinigamis, and the shounen action going on. But at this point it’s managed to distinguish itself, mostly because of its really unique, bad-ass, Tim Burton Halloween-ish style and setting. Unfortunately it still suffers from the same main flaw I also find in Bleach; having too much out-of-place, hyperbolic, and slapstick humor in an otherwise serious show. Also, some of the characters aren’t quite my taste; I’m sure some fans find Black Star’s over-the-top obnoxiousness and Kid’s snootiness likable but I don’t particularly. Soul is also a bit too yakuza-ish for me, but Maka is okay and I like Tsubaki a lot. Soul Eater also has the familiar action anime theme of “human masters with non-human partners in battles.” But in spite of a few flaws, the art style in Soul Eater is really enticing as is the excellent animation by Studio BONES, and the show seems to be getting more interesting and the characters more developed so I’ll definitely keep watching it. The last couple of episodes with Tsubaki’s confrontation with her brother were excellent so I hope it’ll keep up. I’ve watched a lot of Studio BONES anime and none of them have disappointed me. Soul Eater is set to have 51 episodes so we’ve still got a long way to go =)

Vampire Knight

I think what makes Vampire Knight appealing is that it has the pretty character designs and romance angst of a shoujo series together with the dark and bloody tone of a vampire series. Although it has its share of stereotypical shoujo elements, for example, the triangle between Yuuki, Kaname, and Zero (their personalities and relationships are similar to Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo in Fruits Basket) and the male harem feel with the rest of the male vampires in the Night Class, it’s still more or less a good shoujo series with a unique twist because of the vampire element. It also has very mood-fitting and sort of spooky opening and ending themes. Although the show’s few attempts at humor usually fail, the gore and angst don’t get too out of hand. The first few episodes are a little slow but it gets better as characters are introduced and developed. This first season of the Vampire Knight anime is scheduled to end soon at 13 episodes, with season two scheduled for release in October.

Plot/Story

The basic plot of Okami is for Amaterasu to travel around the different regions of ancient Japan in order to dispel the monsters and evil energy that have taken over. In order to do this, she must find the “Brush Gods” who are hidden as constellations in the night skies all over Japan, and master the “Celestial Brush Technique” which each of them possess. Using the Celestial Ink and her tail that acts as a calligraphy brush, Amaterasu can “paint” over the world around her to restore nature, battle enemies, and travel more easily. The story starts with the revival of the horrible monster Orochi who threatened Japan 100 years ago until he was defeated by the warrior Nagi and the wolf Shiranui (who is later reincarnated as Amaterasu). The first half of the game involves Amaterasu and her little spirit companion Issun as they search out and defeat Orochi while helping people and completing other tasks along the way. Since there is still monsters and evil in Japan even after Orochi’s defeat, the second half of the game continues the journey to find the true source of the evil aura. While searching out Orochi and the other evil sources, Amaterasu encounters all sorts of people, from villagers and priests to samurai and fisherman, and helps them with various problems and tasks. As Amaterasu restores nature, helps the people, and even feeds animals along the way, she receives praise which makes her stronger. The ultimate goal of the game is to vanquish the evil monsters from Japan, find and master all the Celestial Brush Techniques, and bring peace back to the people, animals, and nature.

Gameplay

I’m not a big RPG player since most of them take a lot of time, skill, and motivation in order to do well in them. The Pokemon games are the only RPG series I continually play but I’ve never really had much interest in playing other popular titles such as Zelda and Final Fantasy. The amount of items, attacks, people, places, enemies, and other things that you need to keep track of in most RPGs is too mind-numbing and time-consuming for me. However, I find in Okami the perfect balance of complex, RPG fantasy goodness while still being fairly simple and not requiring a ton of dedication. While Amaterasu does grow stronger with the items she collects and the praise she receives from helping others, you don’t have to worry about “leveling up” in Okami; while the enemies get progressively harder in the game, the key to defeating them lies in your skill with using Amaterasu’s brush and weapons rather reaching high levels or raising stats. You can use the praise that Amaterasu receives any way you like, for example, to increase her HP or the amount of Celestial Ink she has. The number of items you can find on your journey or buy from merchants is also well balanced; adequate but not so many that’s it’s hard to keep track of what each one does. In addition to traveling around and fighting monsters, there are also little mini-games throughout the journey, such as fishing, digging, and learning skills at the dojo. And like most RPGs, Okami offers a menu where you can view things such as maps, item information, how to use each of Amaterasu’ brush techniques, and a journal with clues of where to go next should you get stuck at any point in the game. So basically, for someone who’s not into really complicated RPGs, Okami is a perfect blend of RPG elements without making them too overwhelming.

The controls in Okami are also very innovative. The nunchuck is used to control Amaterasu’s movements while the Wii remote is used mostly for the brush techniques. Using the Wii remote like a calligraphy brush, each brush technique will trigger something different, for example, drawing a circle around a withered tree will cause it to burst into bloom, drawing a straight line up from a pool of water will cause a geyser to shoot up, a circle in the sky will become a shining sun, and a curly brush line in the air will cause a gust of wind to blow. In battle, a sharp straight brush line acts like a slash on an enemy and dots of ink act as bullets. Most of the challenges in the game come from trying to figure out which brush techniques to use in certain situations both on the field and in battle. However, one of Okami’s bad points is that it’s sometimes difficult getting certain brush techniques right, mostly because the Wii remote isn’t perfect. For example, it usually takes a bunch of tries before I can get the bloom circle shape or the half moon shape right, and it can get kind of frustrating sometimes. But I think this is the game’s only flaw really ^^,,,

Interaction in Okami is typical RPG style; you talk to people for information and tasks to do, you must continuously return to places you’ve been to before, there are different save points to save your progress, and of course, Okami has its fair share of cutscenes. But I’m one of those people who watches every single cutscene and reads every line of dialog that every character says because I like my games to be stories as well as games ^_^ And since the art in Okami is a joy to look at, the cutscenes are always welcome. The characters in Okami such as the cowardly swordsman Susano, the kind sake brewer Kushi, the eccentric prophet Waka, and of course Amaterasu’s feisty partner Issun, are all fairly amusing and likable. Another thing that makes Okami unique is that the character you play, Amaterasu, is an animal rather than a human-like character, giving the game a refreshing perspective. Okami is also heavily Shinto-centered and draws on ancient Japanese culture and folklore, which again makes for a fascinating gameplay experience. I did notice a few translations issues in the English dialog, one being Waka’s use of French, which really doesn’t make sense in ancient Japan! XP But more or less the dialog fits well, even if they do use some English expressions and idioms.

Graphics

I’m sure anyone who’s seen this game even a little bit will agree that one of its best features is its incredible art style. Okami offers a breathtaking blend of ancient Japanese woodblock painting art together with more stylized cartoon art. The result is an extremely unique style that can’t really be described in words…you’ll just have to see it yourself. The designs of the characters are also unique; they’re not anime-style but they have very subtle anime attributes…they look like more stylized, modern versions of the old Japanese art. The designs of the different places like the villages, forests, caves, shrines, etc., are all gorgeous. It’s a thrill watching Amaterasu run up the stairs of a shrine while cherry blossoms fall all around her and calligraphy-like wisps of wind blow in the background. There are many awesome cutscenes where, after Amaterasu revives one of the old cherry blossom trees and lifts the curse over a certain area, the entire area will burst into fields of flowers, trees will spring up, and water will flow all over. Okami has many beautiful “nature” scenes like this, so if you’re a nature lover like me, or if you just like pretty Japanese art, this game definitely doesn’t disappoint ^^

Conclusion

To sum things up, Okami offers a fun and unique RPG adventure that’s not too challenging but not too complicated either. It has enough RPG elements to make it enjoyable without going overboard, and the skill required with the Wii remote and brush techniques are also fun to master. But probably its main appeal is its amazing art and its setting of the ancient Japanese Shinto-centered world. So if you’re looking for a fantasy adventure that’s not too easy nor too hard, and that’s set in the gorgeous natural beauty of old Japan, then Okami would be your best bet. It’s definitely become one of my favorite games =D

My rating for this game: 4.5 out of 5

Ups: -Fun controls and gameplay tasks
- Gorgeous graphics and art style as well as unique playable character
- RPG elements are not too difficult but not too easy either

Downs: - Sometimes difficult to use Wii remote properly
- Minor translation issues
- Could be boring for fans of really complex, hardcore RPGs

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I most think fans who judge the Haruhi Suzumiya series, whether in a positive or negative way, only discuss the anime series. The light novels, which are the original source material, have been read only by hardcore fans. The first anime series only covered about 25% of all that’s happened in the novels so far (and if I may add, a lot of the better stuff still has yet to appear in the anime). Therefore, saying whether the series itself is a masterpiece or junk based on the anime alone is rather insufficient. Since I’ve watched the anime and have also read translations of all nine volumes of the light novels, I will judge the series based on these two mediums together, but mostly the novels since that’s where the majority of the material is.

Personally I think the series (again, the novels more than the anime) is deserving of being called a masterpiece, though maybe the anime is slightly overrated. First of all, one of its best qualities is Nagaru Tanigawa’s unique writing style as he portrays Kyon’s point of view throughout the series. The sometimes sarcastic, sometimes intuitive, and sometimes completely random thoughts, feelings, and metaphors that Kyon comes up with as he describes the situations and characters around him is extremely clever and refreshing. Kyon’s views can shift from humorous to philosophical quite naturally, making him a very appealing and entertaining character to follow. Being “light” novels, the series isn’t extremely deep or difficult to read, but at the same time, since it is literature and Tanigawa is a good writer, it has the unique attribute of being amusing and also being thought-provoking. Throughout the novels, Tanigawa also uses a number of cultural, mathematical, scientific, philosophical, and historical references, again emphasizing that the series can be fun but also demands a level of knowledge from its audience. It may annoy some fans that the episodes are out of order (in the novels and in the original airing of the anime) but this again assumes a certain amount of commitment and intelligent reasoning on the part of the audience to interpret the story. Luckily a lot of the original dialogue is carried over into the anime. This is another good point of the anime; it’s not often that one of the main characters is constantly narrating throughout the episodes, especially not with Kyon’s clever and amusing dialogue.

And of course, the main appeal of all good series’ comes from the story and characters. I find it difficult to argue that the story/plot of the Haruhi Suzumiya series is not unique. Anyone who knows a general synopsis of the story and background of the characters might have difficulty finding another anime that’s similar. Thus, having such a distinctive plot is another one of the series’ good qualities. The amazing blend of high school, slice-of-life antics together with complex and mysterious science fiction (even more complex and mysterious if you’ve read further in the novels), as well as the series’ intriguing plot (and Kyon’s philosophical and sarcastic ramblings) makes for a very engrossing and unpredictable adventure. And although the series is often humorous, the humor is never annoyingly hyperbolic or “cartoony.” It’s more subtle and character-based rather than derived from out-of-place slapsticks.

As for the characters, as I’ve mentioned before, Kyon can sometimes be sarcastic, sometimes deeply insightful, and sometimes just a normal guy, again making him a very appealing protagonist. Unfortunately the first anime series was too short to give proper character development to Mikuru, Yuki, Itsuki, and even Tsuruya-san. Once again, the novels give much more insight into their inner thoughts and conflicts beyond what they appear to be. And of course, Haruhi is the Goddess of the series because of her wildly unpredictable character and the many sides of her unique, impulsive personality. She’s appealing not so much because she’s really compassionate or sympathetic, but because the things she does and believe are so outrageous, and her view of the world is so unusual, you can’t help but be drawn into her outpouring enthusiasm and self-confidence. There are no boundaries in life as far as she’s concerned, but she also has a “melancholic” and deeper side to her too (again, one needs to read more into the novels in order to see more of her character development). Kyon and Haruhi really are one-of-a-kind protagonists.

I’ve established why I feel the Haruhi Suzumiya novels are brilliant, but the anime is where most of the fan following is. Adding to the series’ appeal, Kyoto Animation gives it gorgeous, high-budget animation. The anime version changes/leaves out very little of what was in the novels and leaves in as much of Kyon’s narration as it can. The good animation together with the literary sense of the dialogue makes the anime a worthy equivalent to the first few novel volumes. I feel the anime is slightly overrated because again, most fans praise it solely based on the anime and may be more or less ignorant of the novels. If more anime episodes are made to follow the novels, then I believe that both mediums would be equally valid to judge the series.

In summary, I think the Haruhi Suzumiya series is a masterpiece because of its amazing blend of humorous, high-school adventures and intricate science fiction elements, together with some philosophical ideals and an enjoyable, not-too-serious point of view. It can be light and comical as well as insightful and complicated and it has an extremely unique, unpredictable story and enjoyable characters. However, at this point, someone who criticizes the series in general after watching just the anime without even glancing at the novels is like someone making critical judgments about the Harry Potter series after only watching the first movie. While the anime can definitely be judged in its own right, until more of it is made, I feel the novels are the best way to see the series’ true potential. Perhaps I am a little biased, but I still feel that my opinions about the Haruhi Suzumiya series hold a bit more merit than those of someone who has only seen the anime version.

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UPDATE 06/27/08: Zac actually posted my response on the Hey Answerman column here. However he only posted the first two paragraphs ~_^ So yeah, my complete response is still right here on this post…but at least I got some recognition =D

Before I talk about my opinion of how the series ended, I just wanted to lay out some helpful info: the Inuyasha manga series has been running in Shounen Sunday in Japan since 1996, and of course, has now ended in 2008 at chapter 558. The anime series began in 2000 and ended in 2004 with a very inconclusive ending; it basically stopped the story at around volume 36 of the manga because the anime was too close to catching up with the manga. The anime began airing in the US in 2002 and ended in 2006. Currently, Viz is up to volume 33 of the English version of the manga, with 34 and 35 slowly on their way. I began writing individual chapter reviews of the Inuyasha manga starting at chapter 482 when the series hit its 10th anniversary, but I had to stop at chapter 520 because I no longer had the time to keep them up.

But although I no longer write individual chapter reviews of the manga, I of course had to make one final Inuyasha manga-related post since the series has finally reached its greatly anticipated conclusion. About a year and a half ago I wrote a post about why a new Inuyasha anime needs to be made in order for the series to regain its former popularity, since it now has more than enough manga material to work with. I also talked about how the quality of the manga has deteriorated since the anime ended, and now that the manga itself has finally ended, my opinion hasn’t really changed much. Personally I think that the Inuyasha series was absolutely brilliant and endearing until around volume 41, when it began to becomes less and less interesting. I won’t go into detail about why, since I already addressed that in the previous post, but lets just say that from volume 41 and onward, the series had its good story arcs and its boring story arcs, but it never went back to the excellence it used to be. It seemed like this latter half of the series was used by Takahashi-san to experiment with different possible ways to end the series, thus it just seemed kind of scattered and she began making up new subplots instead of trying to tie them up.

And finally now, we have the series finale. First of all, the main villain Naraku, who has “died” a number of times in the series only to come back again, is finally killed in chapter 552. I guess a unique aspect of Inuyasha when compared to other long-running shounen series’ is that it’s kept the same main villain all these years. Because of this, I would suspect that Naraku’s death would be all the more epic, but personally I thought it was kind of lame. Instead of feeling totally relieved and happy that one of the most hated and evil villains of all is finally defeated, out of nowhere Takahashi throws in a bit of sentiment about how he only wanted his wish of being with Kikyou granted. After years of portraying Naraku as a heartless bastard who only had base desires for Kikyou, we’re just now suddenly supposed to feel a shred of sympathy for him? I don’t know, but that was the impression I got. If she wanted Naraku to be a more complex character instead of pure evil, she should have given us evidence long before this. Personally, I think Naraku should’ve gone down with a huge bang, and Takahashi should have added one of her humorous filler chapters of the gang having a party and celebrating his defeat! XD But oh well, it could’ve been worse I guess ~_^

And as for tying the whole series up in the last chapter, considering all the characters and subplots Takahashi had to work with, I think she did an okay job (though definitely not perfect). The last chapter was about 40 pages instead of the usual 20 so that helped a lot. To make things easier, let me divide the series conclusion into good points and bad points…

Good points: First of all, while Naraku’s death was mediocre, I thought the “death” of the Shikon Jewel was really awesome. Instead of selfishly making a wish on the Shikon Jewel for Inuyasha to save her or to return to her world, Kagome instead chooses not to choose, because she knows that Inuyasha will save her without her having to wish for it (she instead wishes for the Jewel to disappear). To me this was a very unpredictable and interesting ending for the Jewel. And in the last chapter, we finally get to see Miroku and Sango settle down and have their kids, and we also get a good idea of how the remaining main characters will spend the rest of their days. After reading the few chapters before this one, I was afraid that Inuyasha and Kagome would never get to see each other again, and Kagome would be forced to stay on her side forever. So I was really relieved that in the end they got to be together after all, thus answering a question that fans have had for many years. Also, Kagome calling Sesshoumaru “Onii-san” (and the look on Sesshoumaru’s face at that moment) was priceless XD

Bad points: As could be expected from a long-running series with numerous characters and subplots, I felt that some characters and subplots in Inuyasha were left with insufficient development, or were just plain pointless. For example, was it really necessary for Inuyasha to get all those new attacks for Tessaiga in the latter part of the series when he uses the majority of them maybe once or twice? And what was the point of Kouga getting a new attack when he was written out of the series not too long after, and doesn’t even get to appear in the last chapter? And also after all this time, we never hear a thing about Kagome’s father (the anime mentions him but not the manga). Other minor characters such as that kid with the freaky eyes in chapter 493, and even Sesshoumaru’s mom and Houjo-kun lacked a proper conclusion. And there are probably other characters and subplots I forgot about that were lacking but I guess Takahashi wrapped up the main ones well enough. Another thing, I thought that Kagome’s sudden disappearance from the Sengoku Jidai in the end was really lacking: there should have at least been a few pages showing Inuyasha, Shippou, Miroku, and Sango grieving about not being able to see her again. I mean, the five of them have been traveling around together all these years, and suddenly she’s gone and they didn’t even get to say goodbye. Instead, the last chapter just jumps to three years in the future already with only minor flashbacks, and we don’t even see any rejoicing when she finally does come back…so yeah, there definitely should have been more emotion in the ending.

And although Inuyasha and Kagome do indeed end up together in the end, one has to wonder if this would have been so if Kikyou hadn’t died. Inuyasha never actually chose between Kagome and Kikyou…Kikyou was already dead when he ended up with Kagome, so does he now love Kagome more than Kikyou? If Kikyou were to suddenly come back, would he then be conflicted again or would he loyally stay with Kagome? Inuyasha never actually chose one over the other so it could still be argued that the only reason Inuyasha chose Kagome in the end is because she’s the only one of the two left (if Kikyou was still around, this may have been different). Another interesting fact is that even in the last chapter we never see Inuyasha and Kagome kiss (they did in the second movie but that’s not canon and it was hardly a passionate kiss), while Kikyou and Inuyasha have kissed a couple of times before, and quite passionately. Inuyasha and Kagome still haven’t even outright confessed their love…I wonder if Takahashi-san purposely left it debatable whether Inuyasha truly chose Kagome over Kikyou or not.

One last thing I was kind of confused about (though maybe someone can clear it up for me), why, after three years, was Kagome suddenly able to go back through the well? This whole time she and Inuyasha have been missing each other and visiting the well, so why after three years did the well suddenly become connected again? Not sure if I missed something about this but it seems really questionable ~_^ I always predicted that after the Shikon Jewel is destroyed, the time slip on the well would close and Kagome would be forced to remain on her side. It would then be Inuyasha who chooses to go back to her world and live as a human, instead of the other way around. I kinda like my ending better but oh well ^^,,, Perhaps now that the manga has ended, a new anime series will be on the way.

Well, to sum things up, Inuyasha is the only one of Takahashi’s series’ that I’ve read all the way through and I’ve heard that she’s infamous for not writing good endings. But I’m at least somewhat satisfied with the ending of Inuyasha. Actually, the only other series of hers that I’m familiar with is Ranma 1/2, and though I think it’s hilarious, sometimes it gets too silly and slapstick for me. The reason I like Inuyasha so much is because even though its not a comedy series, it has humor that’s more realistic and character-driven, and not as hyperbolic. Also, being one long, continuing story instead of stand-alone episodes like Ranma, together with Takahashi’s brilliant ability to create endearing characters, you’ve got a series with great character development and an intricate, fascinating storyline. Thus Inuyasha was my favorite series for nearly 5 years. Although my interest in it has been decreasing in the past year (mostly due to the manga not being as good as it used to be) it will always be one of my favorites and I’m so glad I was able to follow Inuyasha and the gang all the way to the end of their amazing adventure.

Pokemon Ranch is basically a game that’s “just for fun” without any major goals or complex features. In the game, you transfer pokemon from your Diamond or Pearl game into the Wii game and watch them interact with each other. Hayley, the ranch’s owner, also brings her pokemon into the ranch, and as more pokemon are brought in, the ranch’s level increases and the ranch itself expands, allowing you to bring in more and more pokemon. In addition, you can also bring Miis into the ranch, trade pokemon with Hayley, and take snapshots of your pokemon which you can then save onto an SD card.

Any Pokemon fan should find this game adorable, but only if they’re interested in the “cute” aspect of Pokemon, as opposed to just the “battle” and “RPG” aspect of the regular hand-held games. Fans who are only interested in battling and raising Pokemon might not get much from this game. However, because Hayley offers to trade pokemon with rare attacks and rare hold items, or even a Mew if your ranch reaches Level 25, players of the regular pokemon games might find this feature alluring. And, in order to trade for these pokemon, Hayley will ask for pokemon that you’ve seen in your Poke-dex but haven’t actually caught, which may give players more of an incentive to “catch ‘em all” in their DS games. And yes, pokemon transferred into the ranch from the DS games can be transferred back into the DS games as long as its the same save file that they’re originally from.

Besides the ability to trade for rare pokemon and items with Hayley, the main appeal of this game, if you haven’t already guessed, is its sheer cuteness ^.^ All of the pokemon transferred into the ranch become small, chibi, origami-looking versions of themselves. Nintendo pulled out all the stops to make all 480+ pokemon look totally adorable in their “ranch form”; even intimidating pokemon like Giratina and Charizard appear small and cuddly in the game. Other cuteness factors are the ability to pick up pokemon and place them on top of each other (as I did with Skitty and Dialga in the snapshot above ^^), watch them play with random toys that appear in the ranch such as launching themselves from a toy cannon or jumping into a water fountain, and going on parade with them, where they walk one by one into your line of sight and you can take snapshots of them. After your ranch reaches Level 4, instead of the camera moving automatically, you can access Free Mode and move around the ranch on your own, zoom in and out, and focus on or pick up any pokemon or toy you want. And of course, you can just sit back and watch the pokemon interact on their own, such as playing with the toys or with the Miis, randomly attacking each other, sleeping, or just being their cute selves. As if cuteness didn’t already abound in this game, Nintendo threw in some more subtle cute things, for example, if you pick up one of the pokemon, the other pokemon will happily converge all around it, and when a pokemon is transferred out of the ranch and back into the DS game, all of the pokemon around it will look up in unison as it’s transferred away.

The main drawback of Pokemon Ranch is that the only significant things you can really do are trade pokemon with Hayley and take snapshots of your pokemon. Other than that, most of the game is comprised of expanding the ranch by transferring more and more pokemon, watching the pokemon interact, and kawaii-ploding over the cute things they do. So once again, this game will only appeal to Pokemon fans who enjoy the cuteness of the pokemon themselves rather than just battling them. You can play the game without a copy of Diamond or Pearl, but the only pokemon interacting will be Hayley’s pokemon, and since she only brings new ones once a day, it’ll be a long time before things get interesting.

In summary, if you’re a Pokemon fan with a copy of Diamond and Pearl and are interested in seeing how cute pokemon can be when they’re not battling, then you’ll probably want to give this game a try. Or if you’re just looking to trade with Hayley for rare pokemon and items (and are willing to transfer 999 pokemon into the ranch just to get Mew! XD) then this game might be worth it too. For me, I think $10 is an okay price for the warm, fuzzy feeling I get when I see lots of cute pokemon doing cute things ^^

Last night I went with my one of my friends to see the US theatrical premier of the first Bleach movie at a theater in Woodland Hills, CA. Like the US premier of the Death Note live-action movies back in May, Viz premiered the English dub of the Bleach movie for two nights (June 11th and 12th) at a few select theaters across the country…

Besides the Miyazaki movies, anime gets very little theatrical release in the US. I think the only anime movies to be released in most mainstream theaters were the Pokemon movies, but those stopped being released in the theaters many years ago because of Pokemon’s drop in popularity (and Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! only got one movie release each). A couple of years ago, Viz also did a short theatrical release of the 3rd Inuyasha movie, and Funimation did the same for the Full Metal Alchemist movie, so at least US anime companies are trying. Hopefully one day we’ll see more anime in US theaters (though I don’t know if the US will ever be ready for a mainstream theatrical release of the Evangelion movies! XD) There were quite a number of people at the Bleach movie, and from what I’ve heard, when the Death Note movies were shown at AX last year, the room was totally filled. I hope things like this will make people consider the growing popularity of anime and realize that showing it in theaters might not be a bad idea.

Anyway, as far as the showing of the Bleach movie, I think Viz did a pretty good job. In place of standard movie trailers, we had a few quick promo videos for various Viz titles. And before the movie actually started, there was a 15-20 minute segment about how Viz makes the US release of Bleach, including insight into the manga translation, voice actor recording sessions, and of course, appearances by the English cast themselves. We even got to see some of the Japanese staff as well as Tite Kubo himself (with their dialogue subtitled) so that was a nice little addition. I wish more US anime DVD releases would have extra material like this.

And as for the movie itself, it was pretty much just what I expected of a movie based on a long running shounen series; it was a filler story that wasn’t terrible but definitely wasn’t anything exceptional. I could predict right away that Senna was the one who caused all that chaos in the Soul Society at the beginning of the movie, and that she had some “secret” behind her carefree attitude, AND that Ichigo would have to rescue her from the new villains eventually. Upon mention of the Shinenju, I also knew right away that she was indeed the Shinenju…I even predicted that she would die in the end. So yeah, the movie didn’t really surprise me at any point. This kind of storyline in which a new character (who isn’t all they appear to be) is introduced, gets attached to the lead characters, gets into trouble with the new villains, then leaves or dies in the end, is a pretty familiar storyline that’s been used in many anime filler stories. Although I like Bleach, I’m not fan (I prefer Naruto and One Piece) and it never struck me as having much depth…it’s pretty much all about the action scenes, which was just what I expected from the movie. And of course, with the movie’s higher budget, the action scenes looked better than in the TV episodes so that was cool. Another good point was that most of the characters got to make an appearance at one point in the movie (but why not Yoruichi! XP)

I haven’t watched dubbed Bleach in a while, but hearing it again, it’s not too bad. Most of the lead characters are well cast. Johnny Young Bosch, Michelle Ruff, Stephanie Sheh, Megan Hollingshead, and Derek Stephen Prince are all veteran English voice actors that have done a number of other anime voices besides their Bleach characters. The new voice actors for Senna and Ganryu were okay but their acting could’ve been better. Viz still has their weird translation inconsistencies, for example, why they translate “shinigami” as “soul reaper,” but leave “gigai” and “zanpakutou” untranslated. But more or less it was a good translation and they even kept in all the original music, which was nice too.

All in all, I can only recommend this movie if you’re already a fan of Bleach. If you’re just a casual Bleach watcher like me, then it’s basically just a predictable and typical shounen filler story that isn’t really thought provoking at all. But still, it has some good action scenes, decent animation and music, and it was great watching anime on the big screen (at a place that’s not an anime con! XD)

First of all, many pages on the main AnimeYume.com site need some serious updating and revising. I’m hoping to get around to revising at least some of the more text-heavy pages. And of course I’ll do the usual updates that involve adding new images and media to the anime sections. As for adding new anime and other sections, I’ll try and get around to it. I may add a bunch of “mini anime sections” like I did last time, or concentrate on a few larger ones…we’ll see. I also want to further promote the anime video project I was working on back in April by finding better ways for people to watch or download it since the methods I used before aren’t working so well. And, since I’m planning to once again attend the full four days at Anime Expo this year, you can expect coverage of that in July. Hopefully I won’t have as much to complain about like I did last year XD

And as for the blog, I’m planning to do some anime and video game reviews, as well as commenting on any other anime-related topics that pique my interest. I regret that although I’ve managed to watch a bunch of new anime this past year, I haven’t had the time to write many reviews. I’ve also got a ton of anime in my “to watch” pile so I’m hoping to do as much reviewing as I can this summer =D

Well then, expect some new posts coming up within the next few days!

I made an entire page on the main AnimeYume.com site about the project, but if you want to get a quick idea of what it’s like right now, you can watch the first 18 minutes on Veoh here (there’s 6 minutes of introduction before the actual anime clips start):

So yeah, that’s basically what the project is except the full version is about 1-hour and 46-minutes long and consists of 43 more anime series’. If you liked the 18-minute preview and are interested in watching the entire project, visit the main project page here for more info about the project and ways to watch/download it. Any feedback about it would be much appreciated too ^_^