Warhammer: 40,000 – The Horus Heresy – Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

by Lenlo, posted in Warhammer 40,000

Welcome all, to the first book of my Warhammer 40k book club and our introduction to the Horus Heresy, Horus Rising! I wasn’t sure what to expect from Horus Rising to be honest, I’ve never read a book from the First Founding/31st Millennium time period. It’s very different from modern Warhammer 40k, containing a lot less of the religious zealotry and fascism that will come to define the Imperium of Man in the future. In fact, if it weren’t for the Space Marines, Primarchs and other core 40k concepts, it could almost be a regular science-fiction novel. On one hand, was a bit off putting, as I was expecting typical Warhammer 40k experience. On the other hand, the very purpose of this series is to watch the fall of an empire in the middle of its ascendancy, to experience the decay and destruction of something great. And to do that, Horus Rising has to first establish what exactly we’re losing.

Oh and for those of you looking for anime content, don’t worry. I have a few reviews I’m working on for the end of the season, and Wooper and I are working on our usual Season Preview to come out in a week or two, so those are on their way!

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Warhammer: 40,000 – The Horus Heresy Series – Quick Primer

by Lenlo, posted in Warhammer 40,000

Welcome all, to a fun new thing I’ve decided to do. So for those who might not know, I’ve been a big Warhammer: 40k fan for a while now. Pretty sure I’ve mentioned it in the occasional post, as well as on Discord. Yet despite this, despite playing the table top for a number of years, loving the setting, playing all of the games, and reading plenty of the “modern” novels, I’ve never actually read the definitive story of the setting, the Horus Heresy. Recently however I’ve decided to do just that, and thought it would be fun to do little reviews for each book as I finish them and share my hobby here. I know this isn’t anime, but well… It’s something I’m passionate about, so why not try and something new? Before we get into that though, I need to introduce you to the setting and answer a few questions you might have. Questions like “What exactly is the Horus Heresy?”, “What’s a Space Marine?” and “What do you mean ‘40,000’?”. Well this post is going to answer all of those and hopefully act as a bit of a primer to the Warhammer 40,000 universe, affectionally called Warhammer 40k or just 40k, for those who have been interested but never dared dip their toe into the franchise. So without further ado, let’s dive in to my favorite fictional universe ever!

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Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure with Firechick – Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid (88/100)

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews

Hey kids! Remember back in the 90s-2000s, people were convinced that video games made people violent? Or believed that video games were only violent shooters, and stuff like D&D and Pokemon were Satanic? These days, actual studies have shown video games by themselves don’t cause people to become violent or engage in violent acts, and luckily, that stereotype has mostly died out. But there are also people who believe that real games should only be shooters, action games, or overworld games, not those pesky RPGs, visual novels, farm sims, and so on. I think you guys know which camp I’m in. Video games, like all media, can be anything and everything their creators want them to be, whether they be action packed fantasies or down-to-earth, quiet farming sims. There’s really no restriction on their content anymore. Just look at the Boku no Natsuyasumi series, which are basically video games about kids playing in the countryside during their summer vacation and doing everything from fishing, catching bugs, hanging with friends, and so on. I’m only just starting to learn about the BokuNatsu series, but recently, a game that’s made by the same creators, Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid, got an English release and came out on Switch and PC. It looked cute, so I played the demo and thoroughly enjoyed it. 30 hours in, and I’m totally hooked!

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Summer 2024 Mid-Season Check In

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, State of the Season

Welcome all, to a mid-season check in post! I’m stuck in the middle of a writeup on My Hero Academia that’s taking longer than I thought, so I figured why not talk about how this season is going and what, if anything, interests me. Make sure to let me know how you’re enjoying it in the comments down below! Always a chance I missed something after all. Also these are in no particular order, so don’t read into that, I just added them as I thought of them.

Isekai Shikkaku

First is my surprise favorite of the season, Isekai Shikkaku. To be honest, I really wasn’t expecting to stick with this. The first episode was a pleasant surprise, but I didn’t think it would be able to keep it up for the entire season. Yet here we are, seven episodes in, and I’m still enjoying it just as much as I did the pilot. Something about Hiroshi Kamiya’s deadpan performance as Osamu Dazai, the way he simultaneously enables and dampens all of the usual Isekai bullshit, really appeals to me. His power is still situational OP bullshit that does whatever the plot demands, and they still always win, but he also never involves himself in a conflict until the very end to clean it all up. Instead he walks around making morbid quips and trying to kill himself, all the while those around him expect Dazai to be the standard Isekai protagonist man-child.  It’s… I wouldn’t exactly call it novel, because Isekai Shikkaku still follows a lot of the standard Isekai tropes, but it’s definitely more entertaining than 90% of Isekai and there’s a degree of heart to it I don’t get from most. Something about a suicidal Osamu Dazai giving life lessons and wisdom to people that he himself will never take to heart works for me.

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Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure with Firechick – A Little Lily Princess (90/100)

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Special Articles

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What?! Why would anyone adapt a classic Victorian era novel into a visual novel?! This is gonna suck soooooo bad!” Yeah, adapting a Victorian novel into a video game is definitely not the norm. Was anyone really expecting this? And did anyone even want such a thing to happen? Well, Hanako Games thought it’d be a great idea, and they made A Little Lily Princess. Now, as of this review, I’ve finished this game, read the book, and I’ve seen three adaptations of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess so far: The 1993 movie, the 1986 British mini-series/movie starring Amelia Shankley, and the 1985 anime adaptation, the latter two I think are some of the best adaptations. I can definitely say for sure that A Little Lily Princess is up there with those two in that it’s one of the most well executed, well thought out adaptations of Burnett’s novel, though I won’t deny that it does have some flaws that prevent the game from being truly great.

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2023 Anime Awards and Top 10 List

by SuperWooper, posted in Yearly Summaries

Wooper: At this point in the lifespan of Star Crossed Anime, we publish whatever we want, whenever we want. Sometimes that means timely season previews and first impressions, other times it means unscheduled standalone pieces (like Lenlo’s recent Ancient Greek Love article) – and sometimes it means a six month delay in getting an Anime of the Year post out the door. In order to dismiss the memory fog caused by that postponement, we did a bit of rewatching before sitting down to write our contributions, and what we found was that 2023 had more to offer than just the obvious picks, even if one show in particular stood head and shoulders above the rest (despite the short stature of its protagonist). Click through to read our thoughts on that series and plenty of others – including some honorable mentions – and rest assured that next year’s AOTY post won’t take nearly as long to release!

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Guest Post: Unearthed Garbage with Firechick – One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e (48/100)

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews

Many know the company Visual Arts/Key for their visual novels: Kanon, Air, Clannad, Little Busters, Rewrite, their kinetic novels, and so on. But while Kanon is the first VN that they produced under their Key banner, the staff that formed Key were actually part of another company before this, Tactics (Which would later come to be known as Nexton), and in 1998, they released an adult rated visual novel called One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e. It was initially never exported outside of Japan, but in its home country, it was quite popular, to the point of getting a ton of ports to different consoles and supposedly pioneering the concept of VNs having more low-key, emotional, character driven dramas that many Key fans endearingly refer to as “nakige” or “crying game.” One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e did get a fan translation and that was all it got as far as English exposure. So imagine my surprise when I found out that it suddenly got a complete, from the ground up remake out of nowhere that came out in December of 2023, and said remake getting an official English release, at that! I’m gonna keep referring to the game by its original title, One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, because just saying the word One would just be confusing by itself. Seeing as a piece of gaming history was being released, I thought I’d give it a try and see what it’s like.

…Yeah, I regret that choice. A LOT.

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The 4 (8?) Forms of Ancient Greek Love, Using Anime

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Special Articles

Relationships are complicated. From learning how to communicate and respecting each others boundaries to how they are established, grow and change, there’s a lot that goes into them. And this is true for all relationships, not just the romantic! Friends can grow apart without proper communication, or grow into a romance with it. Family can be pushed away when you don’t respect each other properly, or you could pick up a whole new one from those around you. In my eyes it’s these complications, these ugly details that each of us interpret differently and draw our own lines with, that make relationships so difficult to portray and discuss in media. Why some may love and believe one character dynamic but push back and scoff at another, why some may see a romance where others see a deep friendship. And the best part? When approached in good faith and earnestly thought about, no one is wrong, because each of us are looking for something different.

So to help figure out what relationships mean to me, and hopefully you as you read this, lets took a look at the various form a relationship can take as defined by the Greeks, using examples from anime to illustrate them. Sound fun? Good, because I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. So without further ado, let’s dive into the 4 (8?) forms of Ancient Greek love, and my first big post since retirement!

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