Post-Comiket

So 15 days after Comiket70, I guess there’s really no excuse to not write about anything. Unfortunately, I am pressed for time (as always) so I shall create super speedy reviews of anything, and everything, I’ve acquired / listened to / played / watched ever since… whenever I stopped blogging. So without further ado…

Anime:

Black Cat 1-10
So far, pretty good. I like the way the animators wedge in hints of comedy even in intense situations, while keeping the really serious, plot-significant stuff free of that.

Coyote Ragtime Show 4
By the way this is turning out, it’s getting really “Ocean’s Eleven”-ish to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if they: a) Pulled it off and have a happy ending or b) Pulled it off but Mister dies.

Zero no Tsukaima 1-7
Episode 6, by far, was the best. Nothing beats a rocket launcher in a world filled with magic. Oh, and Siesta is WIN and LOVE.

Innocent Venus 1
I like the premise, but the CG is evil. Also, rollerskate robots are not exactly “my kind of thing”.

NHK ni Youkoso! 1-6
Episode 5 was good. It gave me hope that I’d actually see the Eroge that Yamazaki and Satou hope to create. Episode 6 was also pretty damn wrong. There are already “ambience-type” galges, but they are called “Kinetic Novels”. On a side note, everyone needs to play Planetarian.

FLAG 1-2
It’s an interesting concept; it uses mostly views from cameras, PC reflections, pictures, and the first-person-view to show the anime. It somewhat creates a sense of realism by showing it through the only possible ways anyone could see it, rather than using invisible cameras.

Negima Preview OVA
Okay, this is getting me really, really hyped up about what the animators could do to save the horrible trainwreck that was the first season of Negima. At the moment, the only issue I have against it is that when Asuna tried to save Negi from the fake sharks, her Harisen turns into a Sword, rather than getting larger. Of course, this is all just nitpicking from someone who memorized the manga.

Literature (Manga and Light Novels):

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi 1
I have to admit, this is one hell of a novel. The author’s (Tanigawa Nagaru) style of writing is sharp, giving rise to a lot of witty, sarcastic remarks from the protagonist, Kyon. While I don’t have a lot of time to read the rest (8 volumes, 3 are completely translated), I highly suggest you read them, with the help of either Baka-Tsuki or Strato

Zero no Tsukaima (scatered)
At the moment, I’ve been able to read random volume summaries (courtesy of Ms. Sushi-Y over at the Aquastar Forums) and, pardon the swearing, but Goddamn, they are good. While that’s not really saying much, seeing as it’s only my second light novel, it sounds incredible already even with just simple summaries. In my honest opinion, it’s quite better (but not by a large margin) when compared to the Haruhi Light novels. Have eroge writer Noboru Yamaguchi (the scenario writer of GROOVER’s H-game, “Green Green”) and Eiji Usatsuka illustrate, and you have a masterpiece on your hands. I am praying that this is gonna get adapted by someone, preferrably Del-Rey, and that it gets released over here in this desolate corner of the world called the Philippines (which I doubt, with all the highly ecchi-ish content in there).

Pixel-Maritan Volumes 1-2
While I have heard of Moetan (commentary on Moetan) and its somewhat unorthodox, but highly approved, method of teaching basic English, nothing has surprised me as much as Maritan. Imagine learning English sentences like: “You’re the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grabasstic pieces of amphibian shit!” Definitely worth reading, especially if you speak English.

Music:

Alstroemeria Records
“Blue Note”, “STRINGS OF LIFE” and “Last Moment To Remember”
Okay, I can honestly say that these albums aren’t really Masayoshi Minoshima’s best. I can’t really say much about them since they concentrate mostly on PC-98 tracks, but for the ones I can recognize, I much prefer other groups’ works, such as Dobu Usagi‘s arranges.

Key
planetarian ～ちいさなほしのゆめ～ Orignal Sound Track
Oh. My. God. No words could have expressed the joy I felt when I saw this. Music from “The Holy Game” had been sold and I was able to get a copy of it (albeit digital, but whatever). Anyone who has played planetarian (and if you haven’t, do it NOW) must get a copy of this.

Team Shanghai Alice
大空魔術　～ Magical Astronomy
In all honesty, most of the original tracks had very similar beats to Zun’s other songs, such as “U.N. Owen was Her?” I do love the “Demystify Feast” and “Necrofantasia” remixes though, seeing as they are some of my favorite tracks.

Games:

9thNight: “Blood-over-”
In its purest form, a side-scrolling DMC with lolis and meido. The rewards for stylish killing still remain, with points being the only reason for doing so. While the meat of the game is to plow through level after level, with either a cute loli/shota or an old man as the boss. The main problem of the game is that enemy designs are heavily reused, which leaves the game to have a skeleton, a wolf-thing, a blob, or a one-eye bat as enemies. However, the game’s saving graces are the voice actors (especially the heroine’s. She sounds cool), 2D illustrations, and the Meido with gattling gun. Recommended for play, unless you expect something wildly different.

Tasogare Frontier: “Higurashi Daybreak”
One of the few (if not the only one) games released in C70 built for multiplayer, allowing up to 4 people to play against each other in 2 versus 2 matches. While it runs too slowly on my god-awful computer, it seems incredibly fun, allowing you to beat up any of the 20+ characters in Higurashi. Best of all, everyone is immediately unlocked, which allows you to skip story mode and head on directly to multiplayer gaming.

D5.: “Sispri Gauntlet”
And extremely addictive single-player game which has you select any of eight moé girls, each with their own abilities. I’ll just run down a few of them here:
Haruka: uses a huge blade and wipes out enemies within a 45-degree arc in front of her.
Rin-rin: launches drill missiles and has giant mecha arms for a special attack.
Chikage: throws cards and has an angel for a familiar. behaves somewhat like a sniper.
Aria: lolipop loli with floating turret-like things that automatically aim at enemies. my favorite.
The gameplay is all very simple: get to the exit. Of course, there are obstacles that make it just a tad harder — locked doors and keycards, a maze of different paths, and of course, several thousand enemies all just waiting to kick your sorry ass. Highly recommended as a time-killer.

D.N.A. Softwares: “Mawaru Maid-san wo Negimi”
If you know games like “Made in Wario”, then this game is a cinch. It’s made of a bunch of mini-games, each lasting half a minute long, and it’s your job to complete them. I have no idea what the story is, or even who they are, but it’s addictingly fun.

Edelwiss: “Ether Vapor”
A stunning shmup with gorgeous graphics. Explosions are incredible and lasers are well rendered. The bonus portions and the innovative style of constantly switching from vertical to horizontal to diagonal to “behind-the-ship” view and back again is great. Unfortunately, the game is only 3 stages long, which means this is probably a demo, which obviously means there’s going to be a new version, come C71 or C72. Either way, you must get this game.

FLAT: “eXceed 2nd -VAMPIRE-”
To be completely honest, I felt that this was ripping off Ikaruga quite heavily. You can switch between Black and White phases and your bomb is charged up by absorbing bullets of your color (gee, that’s familiar). At the moment, I have not played it a lot so I cannot give much regarding other aspects, but graphically, it’s decent, despite having few bullet types/shapes (as opposed to Touhou).

Hikware: “Ray-Hound”
Endless game (similar to WF) but you both attack and defend by deflecting enemy lasers. The catch is, you have to use their lasers to hit them. The game gets really intense by the tenth stage where huge groups of 16 attack you all at once. Highlights of this game are when you rush into the middle of a circle of 20 and deflect all their lasers back at themselves, obliterating the entire group. Unfortunately, there are no music and minimal sound effects, but who needs them?

SITER_SKAIN: “ALLTYNEX Second”
Looking impressive already, despite being a “prototype” (READ: Demo). Only a single stage, but the gameplay is interesting enough to hold my attention. I’ll see how it turns out later on.

So one hour later, I finally reach the end of my extensive post. Boy, it feels good once in a while to do this sort of thing. Anyways, *Out.*