Overthinking Things: Painfull Memories - Natsume Yuujincho vs Watamote

As I might've implied in a previous post, I (Like most people nowadays) have some very bad, and yes painful, memories of my middle and high school days. I've only watched the first three episodes of Watamote and I've been reminded of said painful days (as I've typed in the aforementioned post, especially during the first episode of my middle school days). And, although not for the same reasons (obviously), I can sort of understand how Takashi Natsume felt when he remembers his own painful memories of being rejected by his classmates. But still...

The Rose of Versailles the First Impressions

Yes, I know this is an older series. As a matter of fact one of the codifiers of Shoujo manga tropes, another one is Princess Knight...which I should try to find a way to watch it soon. (Man, you're getting a bit obsessive about the works of Osamu Tezuka.) But, still, let's see what kind of a...first impression I'll get from this old series that's new to me...

Random Rambling Rants: Who the frak reads this!?

Like I typed in the title, who the frak reads this blog!? If they're even reading it in the first place...(maybe that'll be a good topic for the next poll) ...I mean, I grew up when liking anime, manga, and Japanese video games can (and most likely will) result in you getting ridiculed/picked on at school (assuming that the world isn't still like this today); so I ask with all seriousness...

"Who would want to read this!? If the list of the highest recurrently referring URLs is any indication, then apparently most of my readers are wannabe 'awesome' pick-up artists...really, (if people actually read this silly blog of mine) that's my 'fan base'. And, if anyone actually checks these things, I really did link to the TV Tropes.org page for "Straw Misogynist" from the term "pick-up artists". You know why? It's because (if you readers are really like that) YOU SUCK DONKEY BALLS! You're the scum of the Earth and the reason I don't want to live on this planet anymore! You treat women like they're capture targets from a romance game, In the worst kind of way, (That link is mostly there for the quote on that page) WOMEN DO NOT WORK LIKE THAT! GOOD NIGHT!

(I'm betting over nine thousand Internets that if there's any comments on this post, all of them are going to be from flame-baiting trolls.)

Update: Did a bit of research, and it turns out that said site that lead to this post was actually an example of refer spam. I was right, no one really reads my blog... *aura of despair*

RWBY the First Impressions

Yes, I know I'm posting this a week late (gremlins got to my wireless router). And, yes, I'm counting Rooster Teeth's RWBY as an anime. I more see it as an art style than anything that can only be made in a specific country. So, yes, I also consider shows like Avatar (both The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra) and Code Lyoko to count as anime.

I've seen the Red, White, Black, and Yellow trailers; now let's see what kind of show all of those were leading up too...

Overthinking Things: Animal Crossing - It involves more work than one thinks...

While watching the latest video from PBS Idea Channel (No, seriously, check it out! It brings up very interesting topics.) about if BMO from Adventure Time is an expression of third-wave feminism, during the comment response section from the latest Animal Crossing game and 'Otaku Citizenship'; someone, called rainbowdew, commented that "I think part of the charm of animal crossing is that it's not real, and everything is a lot simpler and that there is no real 'work' everything is fun and fictional. I don't think it translates to the real world."...

Shin Megami Tensei IV the First Impressions

Warning! Parts of this post will contain crude language, this post is about an M rated game after all.

OK, this is it! I'd not only pre-ordered this game, but I paid for it 100% before it came out; and now it has! Let's see what this latest entry in the mainline Shin Megami Tensei franchise has in store for me...

And, yes, I've played some kind of MegaTen game (even if unofficial) before. Although there isn't a First Impressions  post for this anime, believe me; I greatly anticipated the premiere of the first episode of Devil Survivor 2: The Animation for a reason. And I've also played most of the Persona games along with the first Devil Survivor game and Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers.

(Note: This is turning out like an After Action Report.)

Makai Ouji the First Impressions

I know this was posted a week after it actually aired, but I needed to figure out what to do with the usual Rerun Day that's usually on Sundays. Since the all of the other days either A) Already have a theme day applied to them or B) They're already locked into place by a regularly updating series that isn't a rerun (to me), Rerun Day itself had to be put on hold.

Now with that out of the way, here we go, this is...Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist!

This Week in Animal Crossing New Leaf 7/7-7/13

Had to deal with trolls, and dealt with them by avoiding the online islands, but no more! I won't lose to the trolls...this week! I hope...
 
...and I just end up avoiding the online islands again. *Sigh*

Silver Spoon the First Impressions

Sorry for the delay in posting this but I did actually see the first episode not only the day it came out but the minute it was uploaded, only had a bit a hiccup when the video player failed and I had to reload it.

Well I'm familiar with another one of Hiromu Arakawa's work, FullMetal Alchemist, and I had a somewhat similar story idea (except my idea involves a teenage girl from the suburbs helping her aunt living in the country raise sheep) let's see how this turns out...

Watamote the First Impressions

It's another portmanteau series nickname based upon the original Japanese title that is quite a mouthful, "Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!"...heck, even the English Translation of that is equally a mouthful, "No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!"...

Oh really? So the fact that avoid talking to your classmates because they're all shallow idiots has absolutely nothing to do with it? Or how about the fact that you're taking appeal lessons from the Internet? Dude, duck face is absolutely not attractive! And that's not even getting into how attaining popularity, especially in High School, is a flawed goal to begin with. Still...

The World God Only Knows: Goddesses the First Impressions

First of all, before I get any messages about me not doing a First Impressions post for the previous two seasons of Kaminomi (portmanteau series nickname based upon the original Japanese title for the series "Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai") that's because I not only watched the first episodes of both seasons long before this blog existed, but by the time the blog started existing, I've already seen the last episodes. Hence why there isn't a The End of post for those two seasons either.

Now that the flame retardant has been applied, let's dive into the first episode of Kaminomi Season 3...

Overthinking Things: Natsume Yuujinchou, a partial fanon confirmation (plus a tangent on Homestuck troll shipping).

Friday I finally got my hands on a copy of Volume 14 of Natsume's Book of Friends. And while, yes the first chapter involved about exactly what I thought it did (Takashi literally losing his voice) a bit from one of the other chapters inside was a surprise...and not in the bad way.

This Week in Animal Crossing New Leaf 6/30-7/6

Welcome to the first post of This Week in Animal Crossing New Leaf!

My character is (of course) named Shimohi and I'm the Mayor of a town named Tasogare (Dream Address: 4200-2141-4295). The villagers (not counting Niyagi and Akurei) are...
Frank the Cranky Eagle, Kiki the Normal Cat, Leonardo the Jock Leopard, Bangle the Peppy Tiger, Buck the Jock Horse, Kyle the Smug...Coyote(?), Charlise the Big Sis Bear, Gloria the Snooty Duck, and Beau the Lazy Deer.
Tasogare has a Dream Suite (of course!), a night club, a real estate office, a post office, a garden supply shop, a shoe and sock store, a salon, a museum, a thrift shop, a police station, a campground, the Able Sisters run a clothing and accessory shop of the same name, and the Nook brothers run the supermarket "Super T&T".

So let's jump into This Week in Animal Crossing New Leaf! (get it, the original Japanese title of this game can directly translate to "Jump Out Animal Forest")

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club the First Impressions

Let's see, first thing, the reasons behind why this series is called what is it...

The "Iwatobi Swim Club" part is obvious, it focuses on the (implied soon to be) Swimming Club of Iwatobi High School, although the cold opening for the first episode showed back when they were still kids (seriously; it took a bit for me to figure that out, but at least I figured that out before the opening theme started). As for the "Free!" bit; apparently that's because our protagonist, Haruka Nanase, for some as of yet unknown reason will (or is it 'can') only swim free...style.

Overthinking Things: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Natsume's Book of Friends.

While, there's a lot I can say about what's different between them...



One's a show about a socially-awkward protagonist who learns how to interact with others and there's strange creatures and magic involved; and in the other, most of the cast are brightly-colored equines.

Yes, I just did a bait-and-switch comparison, but in this case that's not intended to be an insult. I'm a huge fan of both shows, and maybe that's why I can see this similarity between these otherwise different shows from different cultures. And yes, I know Natsume Yuujinchou is available in the States officially in subtitled form while My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is officially available in Japan in dubbed form (under the title "My Little Pony: Tomodachi wa Mahou" no less).

Fan Fiction Spotlight: The Human Mask

"The Human Mask" a Natsume Yuujinchou fan fiction described by author harunekonya as, "An inter-connected vignette series." it's the continuation/sequel to a one-shot called "Worthy of a Name", which can be summed up as "Misuzu tricks Takashi Natsume into becoming someone worthy of holding onto his name, a yokai god."

But Takashi, in either fics, is most certainly NOT a God-Mode Sue. In fact, the reason I'm putting the proverbial spot light on this fic in particular is because aside from the fact that the synopsis becomes "Yokai god and former human learns to both control his new found powers and learn the social rules of the yokai world while keeping up appearances of still being human among humans", the eponymous 'Human Mask' (even though oddly enough he ends up wearing an actual mask...in yokai form), it still feels like something that could come out of the original series itself. To say nothing of (at the time of posting) the (by now fixed) debacle about the first one or two versions of chapter 60. As harunekonya learns the hard way that, and I quote from the authors notes of chapter 61, "never, ever, EVER attempt to write when you're jetlagged [sic]. It is a bad idea."

In other words, it's (maybe) an Elseworld fic that manages to also include the Original Flavour (yes, I know that's British spelling) like the original series, there's no cannon ships anywhere. Even then, I already mentioned the reason why I'm not going to mention any Natsume Yuujinchou fan fic that does include shipping (If you know what I mean, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more, say no more!).

Point is, if you like Natsume Yuujinchou itself, I highly recommend this fan fiction.

Overthinking Things: The Nature of Alcor, both in Devil Survivor 2 and in Meatspace.

Ah, The Anguished One, (as mentioned on TV Tropes) expy of not only Lucifer, Prometheus, and Naoya (from the first Devil Survivor game) but also of Kaworu from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Let's see here...White-haired pretty boy? Check. Oddly interested in the protagonist? Check. Actually an Eldritch Abomination in a Form We are Comfortable with? Check. Dies so that humanity can survive (In the anime and most of the endings in the game for The Anguished One)? Yeah...

The End of Hayate no Gotoku: Cuties

Today I've seen the twelfth and final episode of Hayate no Gotoku: Cuties, most of the episodes are episodic (of course!) that focuses on a different member of the series "harem" as the heroine for the episode...

WARNING: FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE ENTIRE SERIES YET SPOILER ALERT!
Click the link below if you still wish to continue.