Isshuukan Friends Episode 9

Isshuukan Friends: Episode 9

First things first… A NEW SHIP! Kiryu-kun and Saki-chan have the potential to be a perfect couple. What’s great about them is that they’re relationship is slowly being revealed in the simplest ways. Take the scene in episode 9 for example, Saki-chan couldn’t reach an ingredient from the shelf and without hesitation Kiryu-kun stepped in behind her to give her a hand. On the surface Kiryu-kun is the strong-silent type, but I can’t help and think that if you dig a little deeper you’ll find something more… something enticing and loving. He’s the type that wants you to think he doesn’t care about anything, but he obviously cares about Saki-chan. In this episode Kaori-chan invites the gang over her house again for a homework session. When Saki and Kiryu-kun leave Kiryu hands Saki her summer homework packet completed. She asks why he did it and he claims he was bored, but you can tell that he did it because he cares about her.

New Ship!! The Moment of Truth

Another romantic event occurs shortly after everyone except Hase-kun leaves. They are both in Kaori-chan’s room and things escalate quickly. She falls on her back and down goes Hase-kun on top of her. She looks into his eyes, gradually brings her hand up to touch his hair, and then mom walks in. For some reason parents always walk in at the wrong time, but luckily enough Ms. Fujiyama doesn’t make a big scene about it and exits the room. Her reaction was kind of funny actually. No yelling, no protracted awkward silence, no “You’re grounded! Hase-kun get out!”… just “Oh, am I interrupting something? Sorry!”

Its a nice step forward in both relationships, and I hope they continue to flourish and become more romantic as the season goes on.

That awkward moment when your crush is on top of you and your mom walks in….

       

Hamatora

Almost everyone has that one friend who is constantly talking about one show and yelling in their face on a Monday morning because so and so didn’t kill so and so. Then by the time Wednesday rolls around they’re asking what episode you’re on and offering another “to die for” anime to add to the top of the watch list. Well for confidentiality purposes lets say my friend’s name is Kurumi-Chan. It was through these Monday morning meetings in the student lounge that she introduced me to Hamatora. So eventually I fell prey to peer pressure and decided to watch… that’s when I realized why Kurumi-Chan was so obsessed with it. As an anime geek and a graphics designer I immediately understood why it was so easy for a person to fall in love with this anime. In Hamatora there are essentially three types of people. You have the Minimum Holders, the non-innate Minimum Holders, and the average citizens who always seem to find themselves in danger. Minimum Holders are a group of the elite, if you will… they each have unique supernatural abilities, called Minimums. The non-innates are artificially designed holders, meaning they were given powers by Moral, a serial killer who collects the brains of the Minimum Holders he kills and stores them for his creations. Murdering innocent people to steal their brains and keep them for experimental purposes…. Hmmm. Tell me what’s not wrong with that?! He’s sick and twisted. The fact that anyone would want to collect human brains is beyond me…

Moral: The Man with a Strange Fetish

Enough about the plot and the gruesome schemes of Moral;  what really got me hooked with Hamatora was the colors. There I said it. It was the colors… not the plot or the Japanese voice overs of the characters, but the use of rudimentary colors to create such captivating scenes! Ever since episode one, I couldn’t help but notice the “Minimum Holder PI duo” also known as Nice-kun and Murasaki. Nice’s sonic minimum immediately took me by surprise. The sonic minimum is his supernatural ability that allows him to manipulate sound then travel rapidly from one point to the next to attack his opponent. He puts on his headphones in the heat of battle to perceive the ultimate sound frequency from his music and move with greater precision. The abilities he possesses also enable him to create pitch frequencies that move in circular soundwaves  for him to travel through when he snaps his fingers.

Nice-Kun’s Sonic Minimum is AWESOME!

Ratio’s minimum is my second favorite because it would be super beneficial in the real world and its just cool in general. I love how calm he is whenever he takes off his eye patch. He’s a doctor and he uses his minimum to cheat a little and heal his patients faster. Removing the eye patch lets him take a body scan of his opponents and patients to view their weak points. Then, when he’s fighting  he whips out his solid gold hands and fights with a vengeance, especially when he’s protecting his partner Birthday-kun! Ah look at me getting so excited over such little things, ha. I’m such a nerd. I’m gonna go now, oyasuminasai.

Ratio-kun

VRMMORPG Nerve Gear

A few days ago I had the pleasure of holding an Oculus Rift in my hands! Seeing it in person was wonderful enough, but the fact that I was allowed to put it on my face and see at another part of the world through lenses that made me fell as if I was actually there killed me. Who would’ve thought that technology would’ve developed so far as to have Oculus lenses that allow you to view an entirely different part of the world from the comfort of … Georgia Tech? (I would’ve completed the previous sentence by saying some grandiose  phrase like “….from the comfort of my humble abode”, but sadly “supply and demand” isn’t in my favor right now. Therefore, I don’t have a DK2 (Development Kit 2: Oculus Rift) at my disposal for easy access. For those of you who don’t know Oculus is working on putting the “reality” in VRMMORPG! (If you don’t speak gamer a VRMMORPG is simply a virtual reality massively multiplayer online role playing game). It’s only one of the best acronyms in the world, because who wouldn’t want to experience life in a VRMMORPG!!! It’s been my goal to live in a time where playing games like SAO is possible – not only in anime but also – in real life. Imagine being able to get in bed or lay down on that comfy couch you designed at Haverty’s, put on an Oculus DK2 and be mentally transported into your game. …Take a moment and let that sink in…

SAO (Sword Art Online) VRMMORPG Nerve Gear 

 21st Century VRMMORPG Nerve Gear

We are literally a few years away from basically being in SAO! Do you know how insanely intense that is going to be?!?! I can see it now… I’ll be sitting alone in my college dorm on the floor veggin’ out on my Xbox One (or whatever we have at the time) with an empty bowl of ramen on my left and cell phone on my right… Then an alert is going to pop up on my laptop and announce that the super advanced VRMMORPG headsets have been released. You can imagine the next course of events, which involve me screaming at the top of my lungs and running to the store in my oversized college sweatshirt and Nautica half calves.

In 2001 the original Xbox was released; 2003-2004 the translucent green Xbox was invented; 2005 the Xbox 360… and finally praise the Lord of all things gamer related and holy, the Xbox One was released in 2013. The fact that technology is developing this quickly is mind-boggling! We could be playing games like Sword Art Online and truly experience everything our avatars are experiencing. Granted, I don’t want to feel “everything” in the event I get shot in the chest because of friendly fire or cut in half by a Katana – depending on which game I’m playing. All good things aside… I can’t wait for the release if I haven’t already expressed that enough. My only concern is getting trapped in the game for a protracted amount of time and then being affected in the real world by some of the more gruesome events that occurred. Obviously Kayaba Akihiko isn’t going to come floating in basically announcing his grand scheme for premeditated murder…

All Hell Breaks Loose

… but if you really think about it, what’s stopping the game masters of the real world from luring us in with fancy gadgets and then using us like puppets to collect more data.

 

Beyond the Boundaries of Being Sick :P

Sick, Sleeping, Sneezing & Watching Anime

Currently I have a splintering headache and I’ve been falling in and out of sleep since 7 this morning. I don’t exactly know what’s wrong, but if I had to guess I’d say I have a fever and the classic case of sniffles. As of right now I’m watching Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary) and waiting for Otousan to make some breakfast. I’ve been sitting in bed for 4 hours and I feel like death. I’ve only gotten up twice… once for food and once for my laptop. Today’s just one of those days ya know…

Anyway, enough about my suffering lets discuss Beyond the Boundary!! This is my first time watching it and I’m conflicted. I can’t tell if I truly like it or if its simply background noise for this dreadful day. For those of you who don’t know, this anime is set in a world where spirits called youmu linger among the human race. The Spirit World Warriors are trained to kill all evil spirits who insist on attacking humans.

Beyond the Boundary

Beyond the Boundary follows the life of Akihito Kanbara, an “immortal” highschool student who is half youmu half human. His mission is to defeat the youmu reeking havoc on human world with the help of Mirai Kuriyama, a first year highschool student who also has supernatural powers. Kuriyama-san was ostracized for her abilities to manipulate blood. Personally, I think her skill set is incredible… if anything I’d want to be friends with her and help her defeat evil spirits rather than steer clear of her. Maybe that’s because I’m merely a human longing for supernatural abilities in this world.

Mirai Kuriyama

 

12:00am Dellusions, Acetate, and Sparkles

↓ ↓ This is pretty much me right now ↓ ↓ 

Currently its 12:00am, and I am surfing the interwebs looking at random youtube videos. After looking at a few “how to cosplay ” videos and clicking on the related list of videos ranging from 2 minutes to 20 minutes each I found this “DIY Fairy Glow Jars” video. Considering the fact that I haven’t slept in 26 hours and the video started with a picture of sparkly purple things the inner 5 year old in me said, “Click the sparkles!” So that’s what I did. About 42 seconds into the video my eyes wandered over to the top right hand corner and I stopped focusing on creating my own fairy glow jar. Suddenly I was pretty weirded out by her profile picture staring me down. A few more seconds had passed, meanwhile I’m still looking at the picture, and it starts to feel like she’s staring into my soul. Granted she probably isn’t going transform into her a weapon and eat my soul in an attempt to become a death scythe, but after a while anything seems possible when you’re running on very few hours of sleep and a bag of pita chips.

Oh, look at that…. I’ve got you’re soul.

Yummmm! Delicious and nutritious.

A couple more seconds passed by and then I heard her say something about acetate which (to my exhausted mind) sounded deadly so I tuned back in. Lo and behold, the girl was standing there holding up some acetate. As she flailed it around she kept saying acetate, acetate, acetate. Suddenly her words started merging together and all I heard was blah blah fairies, blah blah glow, blah blah acetate and it was sounding kind of like a chant. Okay, maybe it was the lack of sleep talking, but she was really starting to freak me out. Imagine some random lady coming up to you and screaming “Acetate! Acetate…. acetate!” in your face. Wouldn’t you be freaked out?

↓  Sprited Away: Yubabaaaaaaaaaaaa  ↓

Well, I guess it’s about time for you to watch the video so that one day you too can create a fairy glow jar and experience all of the excitement of having a bright colored jar in the comfort of your own home. (Yay! A neon colored jar, because I’ve always wanted one of those… (づ￣ ³￣)づ凸) <– Click my glowing fairy jar to learn all the secrets to make this masterpiece.

PS: Here’s a peak at what they should look like. For some reason they weren’t shown in the video. Maybe she didn’t want to scare off the “fairies” inside….

 Your life just got so much better… you have seen the GLOWING JARS of life.

New 2014 Anime!

For starters, I know its late because it’s already March but that’s okay! I typed this in mid Janurary, but here ya go!

I’ve been through many been through many lists of this year’s new animes and these are the few that seem intriguing and worth laughing, screaming, and/or fangirling over.

Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai: Ren (Season 2)

Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai (season 1) is an anime about a boy named Yuuta Togashi, who just recently got over his obsession with magic and his other adolescent fantasies. As soon as he puts that behind him, the girl who lives above him, Rikka Takanashi, appears with an obsession that is even worse than his was! (Great timing right?) Rikka has an extreme case of the 8th grade syndrome, which involves extreme levels of adolescent delusions in her mythical world, and intense battles between enemies.

Finally season 2 is coming out this year!!!!!! I’ve been waiting for this for (what feels like) an eternity. This season will include mecha battles, between Rikka and her jealous friend, Dekomori, who fears loosing her “master” to Yuuta (aka The Dark Flame Master). While Yuuta and Rikka begin to get closer, Dekomori swoops in and the battles begin. If you are wondering who the girl shoving her face in Rikka’s, she is a new character in season 2  who will most definitely cause some issues with Rikka and Yuuta’s binding love contract.

Noragami

Unlike most akuma (demons + action) anime that I’ve seen so far, Noragami is refreshing, action packed, and funny. Yato, a jersey wearing boy who refers to himself as a god, but he can’t afford to buy a shrine. Even if he has no sacred treasure, he is determined to make ends meet; and what better way to do that than by writing his contact information on the walls of buildings? He charges 5 yen for his services. Along the way he meets a girl named Hiyori Iki, who has a troubled spirit and soul. Hiyori comes from a respectable family with certain expectations, but behind her parents back she watches martial arts. She’s just about as passionate about martial arts as I (and probably most of you reading this) are about watching anime.  She is without a doubt an interesting character, who plays the role of a good girl with a fighting spirit. When she meets Yato on the street, everything in her life begins to change. Not only does her spirit waver between realms/worlds, but she can also see a boy who none of her friends see. I’m going to leave you with that, but this anime has a lot of potential and I can’t wait for the next episode! Just in case you haven’t started it yet, click episode 1 to watch!

Pupa

Pupa. Pupa. Pupa… Where do I begin? This is the first horror anime I have watched, and I can honestly say that it is by far the creepiest show I have ever seen (mostly because I never watch creepy shows, but its good…). It is scary, and suspenseful and makes me want to look away, but at the same time I can’t seem to peel my eyes away from the screen. It is horrifyingly amazing! [First episode summary:] Utsutsu’s little sister, Yume, simply wants to go home with her brother, but on that day she sees red butterflies and her world completely turns upside down. Shortly thereafter, the virus Pupa infects Yume and she turns into a man eating monster! (My reaction: *Keeps eyes wide open, but also screams at the sight of Yume succumbing to Pupa*) One part of me was telling me to stop watching it because I might have collapsed from the fear but the other part of me was saying, “Keep watching! Find out what happens next!” I didn’t know which I will listen to, but Pupa is terrifying and awesome. So, if you like horror anime,  then check it out.

Sword Art Online (SAO: Season 2)

Well, if you don’t know who the girl is in the picture above her name is Asuna. She is among the 10000 players who are trapped in the complex VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) called Sword Art Online. Kirigaya Kazuto, who is most commonly referred to as Kirito, is a legend in SAO. He is a former beta tester, and like the other players he must fight to survive not only in the game but also in the real world. The Nerve Gear (a helmet that allows people to login to SAO) has the potential to harm the player’s physical body in the real world, once they reach a certain point in Sword Art Online’s virtual reality game. As the season progresses the Nerve Gear begins to affect many people and their families. The intensity of the game and the emotions of each player is what makes SAO such a heart-jerking, mind-boggling anime. Sword Art Online involves all of the love, humor, and “Oh my gosh, that did not just happen! Please don’t die! I love chuuuu!” scenes that you are hoping to see. The battle scenes are stunning and kept me on the edge of my seat when I watched them for the first time. My heart was literally pounding during Kirito’s battle with the Guardians of the World Tree. Haha, come to think of it… I was actually screaming at my laptop and gripping the handles of my chair. Furthermore, the soundtrack is always on point with every battle and it completely expresses everything my heart is feeling. Not only is the OST (Original Sountrack) wonderful, but the “camera” angles also add so much depth and power to each scene. ASCII Media Works released a special episode on Crunchyroll earlier this month, you can click here to watch it.