Author: AidanAK47

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 06

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

I swear, this show makes me want to jump into the manga and read ahead because I simply can’t handle the week long wait between episodes. Today the culprit behind Subaru’s death is revealed to be none other than Rem. Now I know what you are thinking. Which one is Rem? I don’t blame you on that as I too get mixed up on which is which and this is further confused by the similar nature of R and L in Japanese. Basically you can call them Rem and Ram or Lem and Lam as both are technically correct. For these reviews I will be going with the R version and I have a means to remember it. Simply recall this sentence. “Rem is not red.” So this reveal is pretty surprising as I was hedging my bets on Ram(Pink hair) being the mysterious killer and yet out of the woods comes Rem(Blue hair) swinging a flail like Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill. So it seems that Ram truly is good for nothing as Rem is the cook, cleaner and assassin all rolled into one. Though her level of proficiency makes me think her skill is otherworldly. There is definitely is something off about these sisters. Considering Rams reaction to Subaru telling the tale of the red and blue oni, I believe this story hits a bit too close to home for them. Maybe Roswell is a demon and Rem made a deal with him in order to save Rams life? Either way these two seem related to demons and I am willing to bet they are some kind of demon or variant. One thing I noticed which is odd is something that happens when Subaru declares his reward at the dinner table. The first time he did it, Ram sneezed. The second time, she hiccuped. And the third she yawned. It could simply be a joke on the animators part or it could suggest that Ram remembers the previous time loops. When Subaru attempted to retrace his steps in the last run, Ram was the one who set him off track and made him do different things. There is also the fact that in this run Rem avoided him while Ram got closer to him. She could be a future allie in this regard or maybe this is all just done subconsciously.

Subaru’s killer came after him much faster this time around as he was acting a lot more suspicious in this run. He woke up screaming, scaring the hell out of Rem and Ram. He asked to be a houseguest instead of a worker and spent his time sneaking around the mansion and trying to talk to Rem and Ram. Even Roswell seemed a lot more wary of him and it’s likely that hush money he gave him was simply a means to keep Emilia happy thinking that he was going to let him go away without incident. Once Subaru is away from the mansion we see some cracks in his facade as he tries to remind himself of his conviction. There was an odd scene in the beginning which had Subaru walking with a spinning Beatrix. The thing that was meant to be conveyed here was that Subaru was walking around Beatrix. But Beatrix was spinning far faster than Subaru’s walking speed which gave a weird jarring feeling like Beatrix was just spinning randomly in place. Either way Subaru has taken to visiting Beatrix as a coping mechanism and help get rid of his fear. Beatrix happened to mention something quite interesting to Subaru as well when asked about magic that can kill someone in their sleep. She names out two potential causes, on is a shaman’s curse from the north and another is to drain the mana out of someone. What makes this particularly interesting is that she specifically details that the only ones capable of this feat are her and Puck. Puck killing Subaru for getting close to Emilia is a interesting idea and not too farfetched. Though their is a big hole in this theory and that is that Puck can be only active during the day and Subaru was killed during the night. He seems to be getting closer to Beatrix but it does prove to be a dilemma as while Subaru becomes more familiar with them, they still see it as a first impression which causes them to get put off by him. Some like Emilia take it in stride but it clear that the fact that no one can remember those moments he spent with them is taking it’s toll on Subaru. There is one more thing that I believe is very important in this episode and it came up while Subaru was telling the fairytale to Ram. He mentioned a dragon that made a contract with the royal family but more importantly he mentioned a fairytale about “The Jealous Witch.” This is the second time this witch has been brought up as the first name Emilia gave to Subaru was Satella. When he called her that after a repeat she got angry at him for calling her by the name of the jealous witch. I have a feeling this witch may be very connected to Subaru’s “Return by Death” power.

~AidanAK47~

Kiznaiver – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Kiznaiver

Off to the woods we go and with it we have our characters get along better. Tenga looks to be playing full wingman for Chidori and attempts to get her and Agata closer together but Chidori’s own reservations are getting in her way. Tenga and Chidori seem oblivious to the fact that feelings are blossoming between the two of them and I hope they wise up to it soon as I find Chidori’s situation to be far too predictable. As Yuta put it, he’s too “heavy” and emotionally charged for someone like Agata who is more relaxed. Tenga is a better match because he’s as emotional as she is while being able to interact with her well. Her feelings for Agata are more or less shown to be the remnants of a crush as she did say that she was in love with the person he used to be. Not the person he currently is. Plus this is a love which is by very nature doomed. Chidori, you are his childhood friend, and the childhood friend in anime rarely wins the main characters heart. Even if they happen to be the best girl. When looking at it from that front all these scenes teasing this relationship just feel like empty promises as I would be very surprised if those two ended up together. I would very much like this aspect of the show to disappear as soon as possible as it’s bringing in Okada’s bad habit as seen at the end of the episode. As Chidori offloads her feelings like a death metal vocalist shouting into a microphone I can’t help but see the various examples just like this in her previous work. I remember plenty of shouting matches in the likes of Sakuranbo and Anohana, those of which never fail to sound unnatural and be forced drama. I am going to articulate my feelings perfectly into a impulsive emotional rage! There are quieter way to resolve conflict, ways that don’t require a character to shout a prepared monologue like an idiot.

On a smaller note Niko looks to be living up to her title of being envy as when Tenga lavished attention on Chidori, Niko was looking to be quite jealous. This likely isn’t due to any feelings for Tenga but rather her desire to be the center of attention. Maki on the other hand looks to be up to strange antics as she heavily comes on to Yuta. This is pretty amusing as Yuta previously mentioned that Chidori was too “Heavy” for guys to like yet the girl he is most interested in has much more severe emotional baggage. This is purely speculation on my part but I believe Maki’s sudden advance on Yuta is a product of that phone call. It sounds to me that Maki is being pressured into compensated dating and due to her guilt relating to the person she “Killed”. She seeks to punish herself but is reluctant due to being a virgin. Thus she attempts to seduce Yuta whom she mistakes for someone experienced in such matters. Much to her surprise, Yuta isn’t keen on the idea of simply jumping into bed with her and would prefer something more genuine. As she pushes further she even gets him to reveal that, despite having girls fawning over him, he is still a virgin. Unlike the drama of Agata’s little love triangle, I find this relationship much more engaging as Yuta and Maki’s interactions are much more mature than the rest of the cast.

The interactions between the cast remain fun and we have a usually bout of trigger madness as they are all chased by the strange mascot characters in a odd test of courage. We learn a few things in the process of this. One is that the school counselor and the teacher are both part of the Kiznaiver project. Two that the teachers faction looks to be aiming for a different agenda in the project. And three that the Kiznaivers share more than physical pain as Chidori’s pain of heartbreak and over Agata getting bullied is transferred over to all the others. Considering this upgrade it’s possible that other emotions will get transferred as their bond grows and perhaps the goal of the project is to achieve a level of hive mind between certain individuals. So far Kiznaiver has been a fun show but it is lacking something to push it into great status. I believe some idea of direction is needed in order to get an idea of what this show is going towards. Right now I am clueless on just what is coming next which makes it difficult to get excited for.

~AidanAK47~

New Manga Spotlight – Konya wa Tsuki ga Kirei Desu ga, Toriaezu Shi ne, Shoujo Fujuubun and Shimanami Tasogare

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Manga Experiment, New Manga Spotlights, Reviews by AidanAK47

Konya wa Tsuki ga Kirei Desu ga, Toriaezu Shi ne

Two chapters so far. Ah love, that sweet nectar which all seek to experience. And truly there is nothing more romantic than gathering up your courage, inviting the girl you love up to the roof, taking her by the shoulders and proclaiming with all your heart “I want to murder you.” Yes this isn’t some nice little tale about true love but rather something darker. Our protagonist is in love with a girl he’s been friends with for a long time. The love looks to be clearly mutual but he can’t seem to gather the courage to confess. However one night he tries to stop a man assaulting a girl and is infected with some kind of virus. On the plus side he gains immense supernatural strength for short periods. But on the negative side he is now feeling massive urges to kill people and his feelings are directed strongest at the love of his life. He finds himself daydreaming about strangling her with her own intestines and stabbing her to death. It’s still up in the air to where this is going but so far I am liking it. The changes in the protagonist from a demoore cleaning addict to a dangerous psychopath is a good sign and one his classmates are becoming aware of. There are also hints that maybe the girl he loves is infected with the same disease. I am really quite interested to see what happens with our disturbed couple.

 

Shoujo Fujuubun

Two chapters so far with this one. So our protagonist is cycling and happens to spot a terrible car accident which involves preschoolers. However he manages to notice that after the little girls friend gets hit by a truck, she takes special care to save her game on a gameboy she was playing before running over to help her friend or even reacting to it. Unfortunately for him the little girl knew he noticed her odd action and seems to be targeting him. It looked to be hint that this girl is some kind of demon aiming to keep him silent. The end of the second chapter is quite creepy but it is still up in the air about what this story is really about. The artwork is great and we have a college student in the lead instead of a high school student. It looks like these two are going to have some kind of partnership which will likely involve this little girl creature harvesting souls. But that’s just me spitballing here. Besides we have Niso Issin here, author of the monogatari series whose heavy on dialogue and light on sense. Perhaps this may turn out to be a back and forth talking battle between a weird little girl and an aspiring author.

 

Shimanami Tasogare

After recently moving to Onomichi, Hiroshima, high school student Tasuku Kaname is thrown into despair at the possibility that he may have been outed for being gay. Convinced his life is over, his despair turns into shock when he sees a woman jump out of a window of a nearby house. Tasuku races to the house in a panic only to discover that it’s a public meeting lounge owned by the woman he saw before. Tasuku comes face to face with the woman as she walks past him unharmed, but not before she implies that she had been watching him from afar. Confused, Tasuku follows her up to the top of a steep hill where she offers to briefly listen to what’s on his mind. Although Tasuku doesn’t go into too much detail, he later accepts her invitation to come to the lounge to meet others with similar troubles.

So by pure bad luck our protagonist is found out to be gay by his classmates after they search his phone history. The main bulk of the story seems to be about homosexuality and the problems that come with coming out of the closet. Getting ostracised and disowned or even coming to terms with it yourself. I would like to think that homosexuality isn’t quite as discriminated against as it was in the past. Though who knows how its viewed in a traditional heavy society like Japan. The good thing about this series is that it treats how this discrimination works. It’s not some in your face kind of obnoxious level where you have some ignorant jackass practically shouting utter bile at him. Instead it’s a much more subdued and insensitive level. The kind of discrimination you would expect in real life. Our protagonist finds a bit of a safe haven in a lounge that has others with problems like himself and an enigmatic person who may even be somewhat supernatural. The series may go beyond just homosexuality as there do seem to be other residents in this lounge with their own stories to tell. I think it’s nice to see this subject dealt with in a more serious manner rather than the heavy homosexual caricatures present in anime or the blatantly fan pandering nature of BL.

 

Some Quick highlights

 

Good Night World

This has more chapters than usual with about ten chapters out. It’s about a group of players who live as a loving family in a virtual online MMO. They each do this to escape their dysfunctional family but are completely unaware that they are genuine family in real life. So we have a family who ignore each other in real life and focus on playing an MMO so they can play fake family with some other MMO players while all of them being completely unaware that the members of their fake family are in fact their real family in disguise. It’s confusing but you will get it when you read it. It’s strange as these people cannot get along with each other in the real world yet unknowingly are the perfect caring family in the virtual world.

Fire Punch

This is a cautious recommendation as I feel this title is trying a little too hard to be edgy with it’s so far one chapter. It does have it’s interesting points and reminds me of Attack on Titan in both good and bad ways. The idea of a frozen world where the protagonist has control over fire and wishes to take revenge on an oppressive military regime has me somewhat interested.

Criminale!
This is pretty much a harem with some pretty eccentric characters. It gets points for having the girls have genuine negative traits instead of good traits disguised as bad ones. Otherwise it’s pretty standard.

~AidanAK47~

Joker Game – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Joker Game

One of the things I wished for joker game to show me was that the spies of D-agency were not superhuman demi-gods who can handle anything. This episode nearly accomplishes that as one of the spies of D-agency is found out and captured. However it falters in that the spy was purposefully sold out and a ridiculously convoluted escape plan was ready for him. Even the highest most professional people don’t use plans that depend on a massive amount of pure coincidence and luck. Let me get the plan straight, you trained recruits to resist amnesia and truth scrum and decide to purposefully sell out an agent. Then instead of giving him a clear plan of escape, you give him the novel robinson crusoe and hope that he just so happens to make a connection between a single character in the novel and a symbol drawn on a door. A door which he can only find if he makes a mistake and follows the maps he was allowed to see. Thus when the soldiers come to check on him a sleeper agent will falsely report that he didn’t find him. For an agency that laughed off the idea of killing someone to hide your tracks because it’s too risky, why is it that your alternative is even riskier? There are dozens of things that could of went wrong here. What if they didn’t get him to send false info back to Japan? What if they asked him different questions during interrogation? What if he didn’t follow the maps because as he said before, they were likely a trap? What if he didn’t spot the symbol? What if he didn’t know what it meant? What if someone rubbed the symbol off? What if they did a second sweep of the area and the sleeper agent was assigned to a different part of the building? For super amazing spies this plan sure seems like it wasn’t thought out. Thus the biggest problem of the show remains, the D-agency is far too overpowered and all knowing. That truly diminished what effect this episode could have had as I never truly believed that he was abandoned and it just became a matter of how he would escape. So I didn’t have much attachment to the events on screen as I didn’t believe their was any real risk.

The design of the villain of the week was most outrageous this time around as we have a man with a head of Megamind interrogating our spy. Since last episode our villains have been getting more comic book villain styled while our heroes appearances make them difficult to tell apart. In fact personality wise is their any difference between our heroes? All of them seem to be around the same skill level and don’t really have any defining character traits. They for the most part are interchangeable and while that is a useful feature for a spy to have, it makes our protagonists seem unremarkable. The solider from the first episode had more character than all of them combined as at least he had perspective on his job and values. The spies don’t seem to hold any feelings regarding their job or have any personal aspirations. Which again makes for good spies but utterly dull characters. If the goal of this episodic format is to show the differences between the spies and their methods then it’s failing greatly for what one spy can do I can see any of the others do exactly the same. I can’t even remember their names or match the faces so it might as well be the same main character for all these short stories. Normally in a episodic show the first episodes sets up a group of dynamic characters and gives them a vague goal to strive towards. Cowboy bebop, hand in a bounty and get money. Samurai Champloo, find the samurai that smells of sunflowers. Mushishi, investigate mushi incidents. The strength of such a series is the ability to place a character in any situation imaginable, be it realistic or not. However here there are no consistent characters, nor is there a defined goal. Which makes these last episodes feel rather pointless. There’s no interesting characters, the spies goal is only revealed in the final minutes of an episode and whatever situation is easily resolved by episodes end. So I must ask, why should I care? I don’t think Joker Game is a bad show but if this is going to continue then I must be given a reason to care about what’s happening on screen. I need investment and you gave me that in the first two episodes but  since you removed the two characters I do give a damn about I have found my interest slipping. I pray this is all leading up to something, perhaps that story promised in the synopsis, but it’s possible that once Joker game finally does decide to kick into gear that I will have lost all interest in it.

~AidanAK47~

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

So Subaru has started his first repeat of this arc and at least this time he’s quick to come to terms with it. Though it is nice to see that he hasn’t shrugged off the progress he made getting wiped out without warning. But this time at least he’s at least making a plan and that plan is to repeat his actions from before. This may seem pointless but it does make for a good plan as it allows him to look over his actions with more detail and yet despite making all the same moves, things turn out differently than before. Rem and Ram get closer to him this time and things seemly turn out better than before. I believe the reason for this change was simply due to Subaru not noticing that he was making use of knowledge from his first run. He followed the guidelines for cutting potatoes before Ram told him how, he went over to his uniform before being told where it was and other small details that Subaru didn’t notice he was doing but Rem did. They brushed it off with Ram saying that Rem was bothered by Subaru’s messy hair but I doubt that was actually the case. In fact I believe Ram and Roswaal was much more concerned with Subaru this time around as both of them interacted with him more than the first run. It’s possible that due to him acting more suspicious they wished to scope him out more so Roswaal went to the bath around the same time to talk with him there and Ram began tutoring him on reading and writing to get a closer view of him. Perhaps even falling asleep in the middle of the lessons was a plot to see if Subaru would attempt to kill her in her sleep. As for the thing about Subaru being able to speak their native tongue yet not being able to read it, well I don’t really see it as much of an issue. After all you could say that this world speaks english by coincidence but doesn’t write it the same way or simply that whatever translation magic on him only works on spoken word and not on written words. Either way it’s not that important. When America goes to Japan everyone speaks English, when Japan goes to America everyone speaks Japanese so whatever the alternate universe that they happen to land on is fair game.

Well Subaru goes through his week yet again and even manages to do better this time with charming both Emilia and Rem. One particular odd happening was when Subaru mentioned about liking demons more than god’s, Rem practically beamed a smile at him. The way she reacted and her constant reverence for her sister seems to suggest that Ram may possibly be a demon. Or in a world that already has elves, a demon race may also be present in this world and the twin maids happen to be of that race. As Subaru reaches the repeating point it looks like this time Re:zero might end on a heartwarming note as Subaru once again makes a promise to go on a date with Emilia while she is tutoring him. Then the after credits scene happened and let me say, bravo. That scene was really well done and intense. The dark looming feeling of something about to happen and the shocking brutality of his death was a truly impactful moment. This does bring me to my next point though which happens to be a matter of gore. Now the manga and LN didn’t spare any details on the grisly nature of Subarus deaths but the anime has taken a more reserved approach to the matter.

I don’t know if it will be changed in the blu-rays but they try to keep gore to minimum while instead focusing on Subaru’s reaction to it. Truthfully I am not sure what is more effective as the gore does tend to be gratuitous in the manga. What you don’t see tends to affect you a lot more but in this case people might misunderstand about the nature of Subaru’s wound from the attack. You likely think Subaru’s arm was ripped off but you would be wrong. It wasn’t just Subarus arm, his entire left side of his torso was ripped clean off. They did a great shot of showing Subarus pain in the anime but the manga had this one panel which just had Subaru’s despaired face on it and the words “I want to die” bolded over it. It puts home just how much pain Subaru was in but admittedly it’s not what I consider needed. The point to get that Subaru died horribly while still not knowing what killed him. On that matter I wonder, just what is happening here? We have two factors at work. One is a mysterious illness that hits Subaru at his time and causes him to constantly vomit. It’s my base assumption that this is what killed him in the first run. The only particular causes for this could be a type of poisoning or perhaps that dog bite that Subaru has gotten twice now. The second factor is this strange murderer wielding some kind of chain weapon and happened to be going about the mansion’s halls when Subaru was looking for help. This seems unrelated to Subaru’s illness as why would this person feel the need to personally butcher him if he was going to die anyway? My guess here is that two people are out for Subaru’s life but one of them only came into play the second time around. The murder was also exceedingly malicious as they seem to have purposefully wounded Subaru gravely before putting him out of his misery. Taking into account the speed of the weapon, I am fairly certain they could have hit him with a fatal shot from the start before he could feel pain. They deliberately waited for Subaru to writhe in agony for a bit before giving him a fatal blow. The question is, who did Subaru antagonize that he didn’t in the previous run? The likely suspects would be Ram and Roswaal but then who is responsible for Subaru’s illness? In any case, I doubt Subaru is going to walk this death off as easily as he did his last ones.

~AidanAK47~

Kiznaiver – 04

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Kiznaiver

There are certain advantages to keeping your plot in the dark when storytelling. In the beginning stages when your audience is most attentive, if you manage to present questions they are interested in seeing answered then it provides a reason for the viewer to keep watching. However this tactic only continues to work as long as you provide a steady stream of answers throughout the series. If you don’t well then people are going to get tired of chasing a carrot on a stick. This essentially is the problem with Kiznaivers plot. We are given a mystery(What is the purpose of the Kiznaiver program) and the that mystery is left to the wayside despite the many efforts of the characters to inquire further about it. The things we learn about the Kiznaiver system in these last few episodes has been insignificant and it isn’t helped by Noriko being obnoxiously tight lipped about the subject. So in regards to the plot, we know that these people were chosen for some reason to participate in an experiment with ill defined objectives and no clear procedure. Essentially we know absolutely nothing besides a goal to survive the summer vacation. Survive what? Who knows? So here stands the the issue, how to get engaged to a story whose stakes, objective and difficulty are unknown. I am of course not asking to be spoon fed all this but I would like to be able to gain some footing on where this all stands. I haven’t even been able to decide which genre to attribute this to. My biggest fear is that the matter of shared pain is going to get sidecast in favor of just hijinks.

However when the plot falters it is then carried by its cast. I am not sure what to think of out new addition as I hope there’s more to him than his Machoism gimmick. But the banter between the Kiznaivers is delightful. They are a colourful bunch that they bounce off each other well and keep things from getting dull. What I really like to see is the small hints to characters. For one the two main teachers of the series look to be involved with the Kiznaiver project and seem to have a level of combat background. The guidance counselor pulling out a machine gun while suggesting to her students that she could advise them on how to kill someone hints at her being some kind of hitman. There are also small things with the characters, namely I believe Niko doesn’t have friends so she considers the Kiznaivers her friends. When Maki shoots her down for suggesting it the matter really hits Niko hard. I am pretty sure Maki’s past has to do with he being thorny around matters of friendship but I get the feeling that Niko may in fact be a very lonely girl. Thus her extraneous efforts to be eccentric are a means to get people to notice her. I like how she got everyone to exchange contact info as a means of getting back at Maki. Speaking of which I must mention that scene where Niko pops in in one frame out of nowhere. That’s definitely trigger mixing animation saving techniques with humor as the characters themselves seemed just as shocked as the audience when she teleported out of nowhere. I also like how they changed the characters clothes while still keeping to a certain style of the character. It’s often something we take for granted in fiction but often characters stay in the same clothes throughout the show and yet here we have characters changing into something new. It might be a one time thing as school is over so they no longer need their uniforms but it’s admittedly refreshing.

Not a lot happened this episode but something has started to gear up and that is character shipping. Nothing is quite as telling as our group splitting up into individual boy girl pairings. Romances are beginning to kick up whether we like it or not. Noriko and Agata have a Kuudere dynamic going on though Agata looks to have just an interest in her in general than romantically. Noriko on the other hand gives the impression of being much more interested in him. Chidori and Tenga bring a smile to my face even if the situation is cliche. Chidori is getting jealous of Agata growing attached to Noriko but she’s also warming up to Tenga. It’s just me but I like to think of these two as the reincarnation of Kamina and Yoko which is helped by their similar designs. It becomes rather heartwarming to see Chidori go all tsundere on him then. Niko and Hisomu haven’t had much interaction besides her being annoyed at him because she doesn’t want a bigger weirdo than her in the team. Yuta and Maki are the more mature couple with Yuta being interested in her despite her cold personality and Maki shooting him down with no remorse.(That breast jab at Yuta. What a burn.) The two play off each other well but I think he is going to need to crack her secret before he can melt away her armour. Honestly I am not sure on what to think of this pairing up of characters as it does feel manufactured with how they perfectly match up but I am not opposed as long as Okada doesn’t start revving up the teenage angst. It looks like the bullies are joining in as temporary Kiznaivers next time so perhaps these two are a new obstacle for the group to face.

~AidanAK47~

Joker Game – 04

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Joker Game

I am starting to get a little worried about Joker Game. After a very strong start it’s gone down in quality once it revealed it’s episodic format. This episode marks the lowest point of the series so far though I still don’t think of it as bad. Rather than focus on a member of the D-agency, this episode instead is about a newly appointed officer who is tasked by a superior to track down a spy in the military police. I do prefer this over focusing on the spy members as in the last episode they have proven to be far too overpowered to be interesting. Here we have a vulnerable man chasing after a dangerous suspect but sadly this story turns out to be far less interesting when things come to light. In truth this episode was basically a retread of the second episode in that it turns out the superior officer was completely corrupt and staged an attack to keep his illegal dealings from coming to light but the execution was far worse. This episode plays out like a mystery but never gives the audience a chance to figure out what is going on. The mystery itself is dull and not a lot actually happens. Our red nosed protagonist is given the job, sees a bombing, talks to a reporter who gives him a photo and then follows a man into a hidden casio where he spots his superior. However despite not doing much of anything, red nose is able to perfectly deduce absolutely everything that occurred and recount it back to his superior. As red nose goes on about how his superior became corrupt and began stealing opium from the evidence lockers I sat there wondering just how he could possibly know that. The episode never showed him paying a visit to the evidence locker or how he figured out that the man who was killed was actually investigating the superior. Did he learn it though the files the murdered man left behind? In that case why would the superior give him those files in the first place? There’s just a whole lot of answers coming straight out of nowhere and I think that if the show took the time to actively present clues instead of having our protagonist just lay it out for us would have made for a more engaging plot.

Then after our protagonist of the week points out his superiors illegal dealings and suggests that he get himself court martialed, the superior goes full comic book villain and calls in a soldier to kill him. Now really mister red nose, just what answer did you expect him to give you? “Oh yeah, damn you caught me. Don’t worry, I will go and hand myself in now. Good work.” You basically repeated the same thing Sakuma did except for making sure to have a plan to protect yourself should things go south. I sighed as the superior started gloating and shouting about how totally corrupt and evil he was with a psycho smile and manic laughter. One would think he would restrain himself in case there were actual policemen in the police station who could ever so easily hear him declare that he was selling opium and staged a terrorist bombing. The dumbest thing of all was that thanks to him mouthing off about killing the transvestite boy in the bombing, the soldier that he called in to shoot red nose instead shot him. As it turns out he was in love with the transvestite boy. Which leaves me to wonder just what was the point of all this. The episode seems to suggest that this was all the plan of one of the agents to get rid of the corrupt superior but all that agent did was hand red nose a photo and lead him into the hidden casino. If you are suggesting that he managed to predict how all this was going to happen before it went down then I call bullshit on that. I don’t care if you are some super spy or batman, nothing so dependent on luck and human factors can ever go exactly as planned. Even if it was all just as planned then I am certain you could have thought of a less risky plan. After all why did you even bother getting red nose involved? He didn’t do anything at all and you could have just informed the soldier that he killed his lover and there you go. Problem solved. I rag on this more than I expected but the presentation is still bugging me greatly. The dialogue, the framing, the storytelling….it all seems to assume that you can’t put two and two together and figure out things yourself. Everything is shoved right in your face with little restraint. For a veteran viewer such as myself I find it extremely patronizing like being given a jigsaw puzzle and then the giver assembling the puzzle for me because they thought I wouldn’t be able to figure out how a jigsaw works. One last thing, why did everyone have creepy smiles in the first scene? That was just weird.

~AidanAK47~

DanganRonpa 2: Goodbye Despair Video Game Review – 90/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Game Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47

 

There may be those of you who know this series more by its anime adaption instead of it’s video games and if you haven’t watched the anime of this I highly recommend that you don’t watch it. Instead play the games which have been recently ported to Steam. The reason I say this is that due to the decision to make the anime a one cour length it essentially cut down the story into its bare necessities. The anime of Danganronpa is essentially the barest cliff notes of the game and most importantly removes its greatest aspect. For you see when this anime was announced people compared it to the likes of battle royale. Speaking purely mechanically it’s gameplay is actually very similar to Phoenix Wright. But at it’s core is a murder mystery. Hence why watching the anime first is a bad idea as it spoils the answers to the mystery before giving you any chance to speculate. Lucky for myself I played the first DanganRonpa before the anime aired and found it to be an excellent game. It’s sequel to me however is a much better title. If you are into online poker or mobile sports betting, GCB licensed operators are a perfect choice. Visit https://nonukcasinos.uk/category/casino-licencing to read more.

The story begins with our protagonist about to attend Hope academy which is a school dedicated to the best of the best. However upon entering the academy he falls unconscious and finds himself and fifteen other students stuck on an Island with some strange stuffed bunny telling them that to get off the island they all need to get along. Despite how odd it is everyone decides that they might as well enjoy their time on the island. Naturally this peace doesn’t last long as Monokuma appears and once again forces the class to play in a killing game where the person who manages to kill someone and get away with it in a class trial can then leave the Island. The plot is quite similar to it’s predecessor but has a more interesting set of eccentric characters and a deeper mystery regarding the island. From the excitement and enjoyment of playing casino games using this 먹튀 verification, you will easily forget that particular issue that is stressing you and ride in the wave of fun and excitement. With Monomi, Monokuma now has the yang to oppose his Yin as Monomi encourages the group to work together while Monokuma tries to turn them against one another. Though both mascots annoy the hell out the characters. Monokuma is the same as he was before, balancing his silly humor with a level of undertoned malice. I originally wasn’t too fond of his english voice but as I played the game I found it fit quite well. Monomi has an attitude if trying to be cute that gets on the characters nerves and often she’s being put down or reduced to tears despite her optimistic efforts to get people to not fall for Monokuma’s provoking. However both of them are clearly hiding the truth from the students for different reasons. As for the students themselves, at first they seem like one dimensional characters defined by their “Ultimate” talent but the game does allow them to develop though it’s mechanics and how the story turns out.

This game is truly a game to be played by those who have experienced the first though it can be played with no knowledge of the first game. But this is meant to be played after playing the first game as their are plenty of things here which reference the first game. But what I love about this is how this game makes use of your assumptions gained from the first game and uses them to trick you into a certain line of thought. Basically there are point in this story which makes you think it’s rethreading on the story of the first game only to laugh in your face and toss it aside. This is pretty clever writing that knows how to get you thinking in a certain way but I have some pride in that I managed to figure out a good deal of the mysteries it presents. But I never managed to nail everything down. Something usually escaped my notice. The characters this time around I would argue are stronger than the first in that there isn’t someone here I could consider background decoration. The first game had a couple of characters who just were rather bland or had nothing really to contribute to the game. Out of a cast of sixteen characters, everyone here has their interesting points and are a worthy addition to the story. I would say the weakest would be the Ultimate team manager and the mechanic but even they have a part to play. What I think is a true mark of genius though is in how one of these characters is used as a kind of secondary antagonist. I originally didn’t think much of them at first but once they showed their worth they proved to be one of the best characters in the game. I especially love the comparison between them and a character from the first game. You have the choice between Japanese and english voices but l say you can’t lose out either way. I played the english dub and frankly it’s perfect. Some truly outstanding performances, especially when a character goes completely insane.(They are rather insane from the start due to their own eccentricities but when they go insane, they really go full throttle insane.) The soundtrack is very good though tracks are reused from the first game and new versions would have been appreciated. The graphics are strange in that I don’t think DanganRonpa is trying to be visually impressive but rather just trying to have style. For most of the game the world looks like a diorama with cardboard figurines. It’s strange but it doesn’t work well. Either way you aren’t here to see pretty graphics and there are some rather clever effects applied sometimes. Their is a keyboard and mouse support but it is awkward for the menus with still require you to use keys instead of a mouse to navigate it. It works decently and the mouse gives some nice precision but recommend using a controller over it for an optimal experience.

The mechanics of the game truly are very similar to Phoenix Wright. there are six chapters and each chapter takes place in three stages; a free time stage, an investigation stage and a trial stage. The free time stage is a period before the murder which is mainly setting up the murder and seeing how everyone is handling the situation. You can walk around the Island and talk to certain characters to get to know them better. Though time passes as you talk to a character and as you grow closer you get things called “Hope Fragments”. Getting all the hope fragments in your first playthrough is impossible as it requires you to know who is going to get murdered so you can get all their hope fragments before they are taken out of the game. But you do unlock a Island mode that allows you to collect them at your leisure upon completing the game. You also unlock a DanganRonpa IF novel written by Ryohgo Narita. This system is similar to Persona’s social links system but it doesn’t really grant any benefits besides some extra character development and the ability to purchase skills to use in the trials. The skills are rather superficial though and you can get through the trials without them easily. The investigation stage is just that, a murder happens and you must look around for clues. This mainly involves clicking on areas to find evidence and asking characters about the murder. The game pretty much makes it impossible to miss evidence as it suggests you look around again if you happen to have not clicked on something. You cannot proceed to the trial stage until you have gathered all the evidence. The trial stage is where things get really heated up as it acts as a series of mini-games which make use of the evidence you have gathered. The key to it is to find contradictions in what people are saying by using the right evidence that disproves their statement. For example, if the autopsy report states the victim was stabbed and then during the court trial a person claims the victim was shot, you can use the autopsy report to disprove their claim. This is exactly as Phoenix wright worked but their is some differences. In Phoenix wright you could go through a person’s statement at your leisure but in DanganRonpa you are placed in a rail shooter styled game where characters words appear on screen as they say them and you must load your chosen evidence into a gun and fire the words at a highlighted statement to contradict it. This is odd but a satisfying way of landing a hit as you manage to push the trial forward. However sometimes it can be difficult to distern just what piece of evidence the game wants you to put forward even if you have figured out how the murder happened. At times knowing what statements to counter and what evidence to use can be a matter of trial and error.This isn’t the only mini-game in the trial however and this is where I find DanganRonpa falls short. The main mini-game remains the same as the original but the others have been changed for what seems to me just for the sake of differentiation. Most of the games are a nice change of pace but one of them is an absolute chore to get through. That is Hangmans Gambit. This is a minigame that requires you to put together a word like hangman but the process of doing so is slow, needlessly complicated and just a drag to play. I failed the game on my first attempt simply because I didn’t understand how it worked despite it being explained to me. I figured it out on my second try but it didn’t make the game any less tedious as it basically involved you waiting for the game to put the letter you need on screen. You can speed it up by pressing the skip button but the fact is that this is not fun. It’s far more flustrating when you know what word you have to spell out but must wait ever so slowly as you put down the word letter by letter. This minigame outstays it’s welcome and i was tired of it by the end of the first trial.

There is no real way to die as when all your health depletes you get a game over screen before being allowed to retry from the point you died. The only penalty is to a score that only grants you a grade and monocoins. Monocoins can be used to purchase presents which help in the free time period of the game. There are two ways to get presents, one is to buy them from the supermarket and the other is to use a kind of random draw machine at the beach. The beach machine is the much better option as you can continue to put in one coin at a time and get the majority of the presents through random chance. So monocoins quickly become useless but despite their being no penalty for death I am glad it is this way. For the class trails are long affairs that can take up to an hour and a half. If you were sent back to the beginning after every game over it would get very old fast. Besides, I see DanganRonpa more as a visual novel than a genuine game.(You can argue that visual novels are indeed also genuine games but I find the level of interaction to be far too insubstantial to justify the game title. Much in the same way I don’t consider walking simulators games. I likely annoyed some people with that statement but frankly in my book if the gameplay itself is merely a secondary optional priority to the game developer then you aren’t trying to make a game.) The aspect I really love about this game is that you can piece together who committed the murder and how they did it just by looking at the evidence gathered from the investigation stage. I made it a point before each trial to have a long think over who I thought was the murderer and the method they committed it so that I would have a better idea how to use it to break contradictions as well as see just how right my speculation was. The first trial was a real stand out moment as I walked into that thinking I had figured out everything. I breezed through the first rounds and it all looked to be point towards the conclusion I saw coming. And just when I reveled in my own brilliance the game took my deduction and turned it right on it’s head. Almost as if the game knew exactly what I was thinking and threw me off with a red herring. Ultimately while I managed to figure out a number of the details of the murder, I got the murderer completely wrong. I wasn’t even mad, I was impressed and knew this game would really test my deductive capability. It’s rare for me to experience a story such as this as it truly is a story that can only be experienced twice. Once blind and a second time breaking it down. Such is the sad fate of the murder mystery as a large amount of it’s appeal is lost upon revealing the machinations behind the tale. The wacky characters and style are great side dishes of this tale but if you play DanganRonpa then you have got to play it like a detective.

DanganRonpa is a tale featuring the utterly ridiculous with the macabre, all the while telling a series of murder mysteries. It always manages to keep the more fantasy elements of the setting and characters from interfering in the logic of the murders. It’s tongue in cheek approach and self aware nature allow the reader to accept the more silly aspects while still managing to hit hard when time comes to toss aside humor and make things serious. It’s a tale that can only be experienced once but that one time is going to be a memorable one. There is a new anime for DanganRonpa coming soon which is labeled “DanganRonpa 3: The end of Hopes Peak Acadamy”. This is not to be confused with “New DanganRonpa V3: Everyone’s New Semester of Killing” which is the third title in the series and will feature a brand new story with new characters. The anime DanganRonpa 3 will feature a original story which is not an adaption of any work and happens to be under the supervision of the writer of the game series. My hope is that this time as the story can be made for the timeframe that it will not end up a misfire like the previous animated series and showcase this series true strengths. Though with Seiji Kishi in the director’s seat once again that might be an impossibility. Still this anime is planned to cap off any loose threads from the previous two games to allow the new game to start off with a new slate and I am curious to see the world outside of the death games. It also has a bizarre airing plan where it plans to air two episodes at once every week with the two being about separate stories. One a prequel to DanganRonpa 2 and the other a sequel. Truthfully this anime adaptation will likely leave me in despair but if it’s one thing this franchise has taught me, it’s that there’s always hope.

~AidanAK47~

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 04

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

Despite nearly dying our protagonist wakes up out of the loop and now in the mansion of a strange clown like fellow with twin maids. The mansion looks to be Emilia’s home and we not look to be in a new time loop as evidenced by the last scene where it appears that Subaru was unknowingly killed in his sleep. This time it looks like Subaru has a number of days to work with and the cast has changed to a number of new strange characters. Todays episode was the first run through of the cycle so naturally it was just Subaru getting along and through the days. He made considerable progress in romancing Emilia but much like his first encounter that info is wiped from her memory. This might cause a disconnect with Subaru who might act overly familiar with her and scare her off. Here I must bring up the weakest aspect of the show and one I found a bit grating through this episode. The comedy is pretty weak. I smiled as Subaru referenced Evangelion as he woke up and even he picked up on the Tsukihime reference by asking the maids about them having opposing talents. Ram and Rem are clearly inspired by the twin maids of Tsukihime, Hisui and Kohaku. Though it seems they differ in that one maid can handle all manner of household chores while the other seems to have some other hidden talent. If these two are as inspired as I believe then that talent is likely very dangerous. Getting back to the comedy, while some references are smile worthy, other moments of Subaru pointing out anime tropes in the show is a little obnoxious. The other jokes are slapstick in nature and don’t really match the otherwise serious subject matter. It could be that our author is attempting to pull the contrast seen in shows like Gakkou Gurashi and mix lighthearted fun in order to highlight the dark nature of the other side. In this case it really doesn’t work as Subaru’s mannerisms and confidence are a little otherworldly. He doesn’t seem to have any concern regarding his old world and is a little too upbeat and friendly for a self proclaimed Hikikomori. I expect this part of the show to phase out though as it’s hard to keep a sense of humor when you are undergoing psychological/physical torture. Well unless you are Deadpool; in that case your sense of humour triples.

So what did we learn and why did Subaru die at the end of the week? Well we found out that the king and his closest successors have been wiped out by an epidemic which means there is a power struggle for the throne. Emilia looks to be a contender to the throne thanks to the emblem that was stolen in the first arc and this likely means that Felt is also a candidate for selection. So Emilia is in a precarious position that would likely mean that her caretaker would be cautious of anyone approaching her. This may be a reason for him to kill Subaru in his sleep but frankly mister count clown is so suspicious that it makes me doubt he’s the real killer. Even as he discussed Subaru with the pink haired maid it seemed as though they were discounting him as a possible spy. My guess is there is a third party involved here who took out Subaru. But perhaps Clownface and the maid changed their minds once seeing Subaru trying to woo Emilia. There is also a twin tailed loli witch whom resides in a library that should only be accessed by those who she lets in but it seems Subaru has the strange talent to find and enter it of his own accord. The loli is also voiced by a Japanese voice actor even I can recognise. Sadly that voice actor is mainly using their Shirai Kuroko voice for this one and I truly hate that character to hell and back. When hearing that familiar tone; memories of that irritation as I listened to that voice yell “ONEE-SAMA” and it makes me want to hit something until it breaks into dust. Aside from that their isn’t much to her character so far though she does play off Subaru well. That is the thing, Subaru has gotten most of the development so far and he has made it a point to openly declare these people as common anime stereotypes. But as I said before, just because you point out the cliche does not excuse still using the cliche. I would like these characters to gain traits outside of their current personalities so that we can differentiate them from the dozens of alternatives that exist within the medium. Next episode is likely the true start to this arcs conflict and I wonder what Subaru is dealing with this time.

~AidanAK47~

Kiznaiver – 03

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Kiznaiver

So this episode was an introduction to our new seventh Kiznaiver who looks to be a roguish shut in with a pendent for self harm. Adding a masochist to a group that shares pain is certainly a dilemma but I wonder just how they plan to make use of him in the plot. Considering that pain is now split seven way between them it’s possible he is unsatisfied with his share of the pain. My previous assumption of him being greed seems off the mark though I still think he has a secret relating to it. The characters even commented on him potentially being a conman who hurts himself to claim insurance payments. This would make sense as Noriko’s labels of new seven sins seem to only refer to the characters on a superficial level where as there secrets are more closely related to the true seven sins. I must call out the start of the episode which immediately deflated the cliffhanger of the previous episode. I found it rather distasteful to be fair as it felt like a cheap cop out. It’s sort of like that episode of Humanity has declined with has a manga creator end each chapter with a twist for the purpose of heightening excitement for the next chapter. This isn’t bad in itself as if done well it can be an effective method of storytelling. But when done poorly it can mess with your storyline as you attempt to end episodes on higher and higher cliffhangers. But then there’s this dishonest method here where you have a character make a revelation just to brush it off as a joke. I am certain that she was in fact telling the truth and just played as a joke to cover her bases though the circumstances are likely not as cold as she makes it out to be. The purpose may be to foreshadow Makis circumstances but there are plenty of ways to do that without teasing a potential conflict between her and the others.

We do learn a number of things about the Kiznaiver system in this episode such as when someone feels pain the others are informed of who it was by a holographic number displayed on their scar. Also while sudden pain is shared, residual pain is not. The end of the project looks to be the end of summer vacation and there’s likely more missions in store for the group. Lastly based on Noriko’s wording at the end of the episode this is not the first time the Kiznaver project has taken place which really gets me curious about the opening scene. My current guess is that Agatha has taken part in the Kiznaver project before and that is the reason for his sensory deprivation of pain. Actually considering his lack of emotions as well it’s possible the previous subjects shared more than pain but emotions as well. The mystery has certainly a lot of interesting aspects to it but Kiznaver is showing some issues. Namely the story is being held up by it’s highly likeable cast and their interactions as the plot is moving at a snail’s pace. We still don’t have a clear idea on just what this show will focus on and looking at these past episodes not a lot has actually happened. FIrst episode had the cast made in Kiznavers, second episode had them introduce themselves and third episode had them chase down the last member. I am not saying these episodes were not enjoyable but now that the plot has started I worry it will devolve into slice of life antics with the shared pain being more of a gimmick. Or Okada will go full Okada and have the cast throw over the top hissy fits about first world problems. What makes this show work is the parts which are distinctly trigger and in the coming episodes I would prefer to have more trigger madness over bland SOL.

~AidanAK47~