Thursday, April 11, 2013

Ghost Hunt


Episodes:  25

How:  DVD

Rating:  5 out of 5

Summary:  While at school, Taniyama Mai and her friends like to exchange ghost stories. Apparently, there is an abandoned school building on their campus that is the center of many ghost stories. During the story, they are interrupted by a mysterious male figure. The person turns out to be Shibuya Kazuya, a 17 year old who is president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Company. He was called by the principal to investigate the stories surrounding the abandoned school building.

The next day, on the way to school, Mai passes the school building in question. While examining a strange camera she spotted inside, she gets surprised by Kazuya's assistant. Unknowingly interfering with the investigation, Mai breaks the camera and Kazuya's assistant gets injured.

Kazuya forcefully hires Mai in order to pay for the camera and replace his injured assistant. From that point on, Mai begins to learn about the paranormal world and the profession of ghost hunting.


Thoughts:  I've been in a Ghosty type mood lately, With Ghost Hunt I watched it all the way through during it's initial run. This time, With Netflix I've been watching the Dub.  Not too bad.
     The show is basically about a group of people with a certain skill set that team up and help others who are having ghost issues.  I like these type of shows, A paranormal mystery with some magic, comedy and a hint of young crushes thrown in there. No fan service either.

Who we have....

Mai Taniyama -  A 16 year old Orphan, You don't find out about her living situation till late in the series and really it plays no part in the show itself.  She has a crush on Naru or maybe it's Dream Naru she has a crush on, I am not entirely sure.
       She is not completely useless on the power side, It turns out that she has ESP abilities ranging from post cognitive dreams to astral projection. She's really rusty with these abilities but they seem to grow over time, To defend herself Monk and Ayako teach her some defensive spells.
     Sometimes during cases, When she sleeps or is knocked out Mai sees "Naru" and talks to him. He tells or shows her things that are going on and just helps her in general.

Kazuya Shibuya - Naru, The Boss. 17 years old, He's a paranormal researcher of great intelligence.  He certainly knows he's intelligent too, His narcissism gains him the nickname "Naru" from Mai.
       For most of the series it appears that Naru has no paranormal powers what-so-ever, Until the final episodes where he goes Super Saiyan and blasts a little shrine that no one else could destroy. Turns out he's an incredibly powerful Psychokinetic whose powers take a huge toll on his body when used.  Lin has taught him techniques to control these powers and gets rather angry when he uses them.

Lin Koujo -  Quite, Cold, Kinda Scary. He's Naru's assistant, It seems he's quite the powerful Onmyoji and possesses quite a number of skills {exorcisms,summoning, familiars}. Though it's never said why {in the anime}, He's quite protective of Naru.
      Later in the series, He admits that he does not like Japanese people because of their historical problems with China.  This upsets Mai since, She has always felt that Lin had a disliking for her. She tells him pretty much that he should dislike her for things that she has done, not simply because she is Japanese. He laughs at this and says someone else said the exact same thing to him... but doesn't say who it was.

Masako Hara - The annoying girl, I mean....  The 16 year old Medium. She can sense ghosts and such but, Other then that she's pretty useless.  The girly girl who has a crush on Naru and that you just wanna slap for some reason.
     Multiple times she's shown that she's jealous of Mai's closeness to Naru.  Meh, I don't like this one.

John Brown -  A 19 year old, blond haired, Catholic Priest from Australia, The Dub gave him an Australian accent though I can't say if it's a good one or not.  He's cheerful and quite helpful through the series, Doing exorcisms when needed and such..

Ayako Matsuzaki -  A 23 year old Shinto priestess, Her parents are wealthy doctors that own a local hospital. When she was younger, she'd talk to a large tree's spirit who taught her basically everything she knows. Having learned this way, Her powers are really determinant on how many trees there are around and she can't use the same group of tree's powers more then once in a six month period.
      She has a ton of self confidence throughout the series, She taught Mai a defense sutra and is sort of a motherly figure.  It wasn't till the final mystery that her true powers were really shown.

Houshou Takigawa -  "Monk"  A 25 year old, Sort of Buddhist Monk.  He left his position at Mt. Koya because they did not allow CDs, His day job is that of a Bass player in a popular band.
     He's one of the more useful people in the group, Acting as "boss" when Naru is absent and he also taught Mai some Buddhist Warding spells.  He's the "Fun" one of the group, cracking jokes and he really does play the big brother role in many of the episodes.



Favorite Character{s}:   Monk -  He wasn't useless, He was protective and caring with Mai. He was like a wonderful big brother in any other Anime.
                                    John Brown - I'm not sure if I got the same feel for him in the subbed version but, His accent in the dub made him quite the lovable character. He as positive and fun.... when on screen.

Least Favorite Character{s}:  Masako - I do not like you, You're kinda useless and way too girly. Your
crush on Naru needs to be squished and.... you're just bitchy in a quiet way.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia




Episodes:  12

How:  Fansub

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:   60 years ago, a young woman was left to die in the abandoned school building behind the exclusive Seikyou Academy. No one knows why. No one knows how. But the horrifying tale and the legends of the ghostly haunting that followed live on to this day. Perhaps it's not so surprising then, that among Seikyou's many school clubs is one for students interested in "paranormal investigations." What might raise more than a few hairs, however, is that the founder of the club is the ghost herself. Unable to remember how she died and trapped in the grey land between life and death, Yuuko latches onto Teiichi Niiya, a freshman who can inexplicably see her, and together they and the other unsuspecting members of the club begin to unravel the many dark mysteries that surround Seikyou. Will unlocking the secret of Yuuko's gruesome death finally free her? Or will her sudden close association with a mortal have even stranger repercussions on both of their existences?


Thoughts:  I'm a sucker for ghost stories, With the breast grabbing in the first episode I was a little worried about it turning into some strange, pervy story but.. That was not the case. Well, Not entirely the case.. The show was really, lighthearted until half way through. Things started to get more "serious"..


Who we have....

Teiichi Niiya; The main male...only male in the story.  While wandering around the school he happens by Ghost Yuuko, He rather quickly discovers her body behind a mirror in one of the old rooms. It looks like she had somehow fallen down stairs and broke her leg... When he finds out that she has no memories of what was done to her before her death, He promises to help recover her memories.
     He's a bit of an odd duck, Through the show he slowly falls in love with Yuuko even with two perfectly live girls hovering around him.  At the end it's revealed that he is the grandson of a little girl that Yuuko had saved before her death.

Yuuko Kanoe;  She's a Ghost, She's been a ghost for around 60 years..or was it 40? It's been a while. When she's first introduced she's a carefree, roaming spirit that has lost her memories. Slowly or not so slowly she falls in love with Teiichi... Helping him with "cases" for the Paranormal Investigation Club and stalking him around in general.
    It's eventually discovered that she has split herself in two, Sending her hatred, fear and other more hostile and painful memories into another self. Which is the dark presence some have seen around the school.. In the end Teiichi helps her come together with her darker feelings and accept what had happened to her.

Momoe Okonogi;  The annoying, loud, overactive girl who can't see ghosts but is obsessed with ghost stories and the like.  She also has feelings for Teiichi and by the end of the show she realizes that he's in love with a ghost.     She's also a member of the Paranormal Investigation Club.

Kirie Kanoi;  Rather angry, unsure of herself, upset about her small breasts, grumpy girl that can see Yuuko. How?  She's the granddaughter of Yuuko's younger sister.  She too has a liking for Teiichi, She also seems to be a bit... smarter then the others in the group.
       At first she believes Yuuko is a malevolent spirit come to take Teiichi away... She eventually sees the situation for what it truly is...  I weird romance.   >_>      She joins the Paranomal Investigation Club to find out more about Yuuko.

How did it happen?

      It turns out that Yuuko was a sacrifice, Many years ago there was a plague spreading through the village. Fearing the plague was actually a curse brought on by  building the Seikyou Academy on a spot that a shrine use to be, The elders determined that a sacrifice was in order.
      Yuuko and her sister overheard this conversation and barely escaped without being caught. When they did get home Yuuko allowed a little girl she had been taking care of {Asa} to come and stay with them. {Her relatives had died from the plague}.
     Sometime that night, Asa was taken by the Elders.. Fearing the girl was to be the sacrifice Yuuko rushed to where they had been earlier to save her... only to be turned into the sacrifice herself. The men threw her down the stairs {to where a shrine was left}, Which in turn broke her leg.. scared.. in pain and in the dark Yuuko died.  Alone.

The End:  Kiries grandmother, Yuuko's sister is a higher up at the Academy. Well that's not a huge deal but anyways. Kirie and Teiichi go to see her grandmother and find out that Asa is Teiichi's grandmother, Which is probably why he can see Yuuko.
    There was quite a bit of drama through the final episodes, Yuuko blocking out Teiichi even and finally they reunite. In the end Yuuko accepts her painful memories, becomes one with "Shadow Yuuko" once more and all is good.  Not.
    Yuuko's body is finally removed from the cursed shrine and is given a proper burial, With this comes a last date with Teiichi... a lot of crying and Yuuko finally disappearing.    I wish it had ended there.
    Days, Weeks maybe after Yuuko is gone Teiichi finally goes back to the club room and finds a box stating if it's opened the person would be cursed.  He opens it, She shows back up... She can't go to heaven with regrets and the one not so kiss was her regret and now she's there to haunt Teiichi forever.
      The ending is a bit generic, Even if it opens up another season for the show.   Just it'd be so much better if he found one of the living girls who had been drooling over him during the series.  Oh well.
 


Favorite Character{s}-  Kirie ~ I'm really not sure why but, She's the one that clicked with me, Not that there really a whole lot of characters to choose from.

Least Favorite Character{s}-  Those old elder guys; Also didn't like Yuuko's sister much. All these years and she never found the body....


Favorite Episode{s}-  Episode Five ~ Kirie with cat ears!
                                  Episode Ten ~ Get to see what happened to Yuuko.

Weakest Episode{s}-  Episode Eight ~ The pathetic Teiichi episode.  Yuuko "forgets" him because he knows what happened to her and he just... gives up. It takes Kirie to push him back into the fight.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha




Episodes:  13

How: Netflix Rental

Rating:  2.5 out of 5

Plot: {From Wiki} The storyline follows Nanoha Takamachi, a nine-year-old Japanese girl attending elementary school, who lives with her parents and her older siblings. Nanoha's regular everyday life ends when she rescues an injured ferret who reveals himself as a young shape shifting mage namedYuno Scrya. An archaeologist from a parallel universe, Yuno came to Earth to collect a set of twenty-one dangerous ancient artifacts named the "Jewel Seeds" (Jueru Shido?) that he first discovered in his own world. Jewel Seeds give living beings who come into contact with them unnatural powers, often turning them into monsters, and Yuno, injured while trying to collect them, must now rely on Nanoha while he convalesces in ferret form. He gives Nanoha an "intelligent device" (magical wand) called "Raging Heart" ( Reijingu Hato?), and she unexpectedly shows strong aptitude for magic. As the two gather the Jewel Seeds, Nanoha learns magic from Yuno while continuing with her ordinary everyday life.

In retrieving her sixth Jewel Seed, Nanoha encounters another mage named Fate Testarossa and her familiar named Arf. More than a year before the story began, Fate's mother, Precia Testarossa, went insane when her daughter Alicia died, initiating "Project Fate", an illegal research program of cloning and resurrection, making her a fugitive from the inter dimensional police known as Time-Space Administration Bureau (TSAB). Precia cloned Alicia to create Fate and implanted her with Alicia's memories; nevertheless, she cannot care for Fate as she did for Alicia and abuses her regularly. Despite this, Fate is extremely loyal to her due to Alicia's happy childhood memories, which she takes as her own. In the series, Precia uses Fate to collect Jewel Seeds and reach Al Hazard, a mythical world where Alicia could be truly brought back to life.
Nanoha and Fate repeatedly face off against each other over each new Jewel Seed they find, and the TSAB soon interferes to prevent the collateral damage caused by their battles. Nanoha eventually manages to overpower Fate and brings her to the TSAB, prompting Precia to abandon her and attempt a dimensional jump to Al Hazard with the power of the few Jewel Seeds that Fate managed to gather thus far. Gathering her resolve, Fate decides to aid the TSAB and Nanoha in their fight to stop Precia. Although they manage to minimize the destructive side effects of using the Jewel Seeds, they fail to prevent Precia from finishing the spell, and her final whereabouts are unknown. Fate and Nanoha decide to become friends, but Fate must first travel to TSAB home world to prove she was an unwilling accessory in Precia's crimes.


Thoughts:  This series wasn't that great, From the first season I am not really sure why people talk so highly of it... In the beginning it seemed like any other Magical Girl series. Girl gets powers, Girl fights monsters but then a Spaceship comes into things.....  I'm just glad there wasn't any giant robots then I would have had to drop the series.


Who we have....

Yuuno Scrya:  He may be a mage too but he's a bit useless most the time, Sure he has some support abilities but in most cases all he seems to be able to do is watch Nanoha and worry.

Nanoha Takamachi:  Really naive but in a sweet way, The way she wanted to talk things out with Fate the entire time they were fighting was..... cute.  Of course she's a nine year old and new to the whole magical world...  At least she is likable.

Fate Testarossa:  A clone, She's a clone.... Okay.  Her mother had a few screws loose, I wish there was more information given about her {Precia} and Alicia.  How much she loved her mother to how much her mother hated her was just...sad.
     
Arf:  Fate's Familiar, Protective of Fate just like a puppy.  Well, I guess she is a puppy... sort of.

Chrono Harlaown:  At age 14, He's an Officer with the Time Space Administration Bureau.  At first I thought maybe there would be a little romance between he and Nanoha but.... erm... Nah.
       A little peculiar that his commanding officer is his mother.


Favorite Character{s}:   Arisa and Suzuka ~  Nanoha's human friends from school, They don't  get enough screen time and I was kind of wishing they turned out to have magical abilities as well. No such luck yet....

Least Favorite Character{s}:  Yuuno ~  He's cute in his ferret form but..... Yea. Pretty useless so far and why must he look like a little girl.  :(

Monday, April 1, 2013

March ~ Shame On Me.

I was very bad....

I'm ashamed of myself...

Sort of.

Lets just get to it.



The Betrayal Knows My Name Vol. 5:  I love this series, I loved this series before Yen Press actually
started releasing it. Of course it's in Omnibus format so it has caught up with the Japanese release a little too fast.
    Mind you, Volume 6 is set to release in September which is great... after that though I am fairly certain it's going to be quite a while before Volume 7.  Just hope nothing bad happens to Yen Press during this time, You know... like going out of business or going digital only.  Uhg, I shouldn't be thinking so negatively.
     I need to find the time to sit and read all five volumes one after another... Then I can "talk" about them more.









Peacemaker The Complete Collection:  Peacemaker Kurogane, It's the hard white box from ADV with the thin cases.  Found it at Half Price Books when I had a 50% off coupon, I had been looking at the Funi release at RightStuf for a while but... never bit due to the fugly box.
     I've never actually watched this entire show, The main thing I even remember about it is... The Pig.








RG Veda:  Another one of those that I'd been watching on Amazon, Best price used in a condition that I'd consider reasonable was pretty high.  Saw this at Half Price Books and grabbed it... When I got it home I noticed a couple days later that the back cover has a squish hole in it.  Booooo, Oh well. It was super cheap.










Darksiders 2:  I was a little stupid on this one, Best Buy had a clearance sale going for the game and I dragged my feet. By the time I decided to get it 100%, It was sold out online and wasn't in a single store in the area.
       With Amazon and GameStop wanting absurd prices for the game, I turned to Ebay and found a very nice seller who had it at just a few dollars more then Best Buy.  He had quite a few copies too, Which made me wonder if he just hit up all the Best Buys in the area and then resold them all.  Oh Well.
       The shipping price was reasonable and I got in a few days later, Now I just hope it's at least as good as the first one since I absolutely loved War.



Network Purchases:  PSN had a sale on The Walking Dead, I had been wanting this game for a while but never wanted to pay full price.  With the Plus Membership it went down even more...
         Joe Danger 2: The Movie,  I'll admit... This looks stupid as hell. I did however download it, Have yet to play it though.  Will get back to that..
        Spec. Ops: The Line,  Why the hell did I down this?  I suck at shooters and this just proves it, Now it's on my trophy list and..Grrrr.   At least it was free.
       The Cave, Another I have downloaded and have yet to play.


The Betrayal Knows My Name 5 -  9.58
Peacemaker - 10.60
RG Veda -  5.30
Darksiders 2 -   20.00
The Walking Dead -  9.79

Total;      $55.27

Considering the money I saved, I guess the total isn't bad.  I am really disappointed in myself for not staying in the 20 dollar range.  It is at least cheaper then last month.....by a little.

Easter Buying was also in this month, Which I didn't add into the post. I'm guessing it came out around 25 Dollars when everything was found and bout.  Easter Candy is Not Cheap, Even when just buying for one person.



Free Games {The Growing List}

Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One
Darksiders
inFAMOUS 2
Quantum Conundrum
Closure
Joe Danger 2: The Movie
Spec. Ops: The Line
The Cave