Strike Witches: Season 1 Review

Hi everyone! A while ago, I said that Kekko Kamen was one of the most demented anime shows I had ever watched. Considering that the main heroine is mostly naked, and defeats most of her opponents by suffocating them with her crotch, how could you believe that there isn’t anything more insane out there? Well, a little over a year, I purchased a title at Genericon 2011 that, to this day, I believe is tied with Kekko Kamen’s wackiness. Yet at the same time, is a bit more heartwarming and innocently silly than the previously mentioned title. What show is this you ask? Well, Strike Witches of course!

Directed by Kazushiro Takamura, and animated by Gonzo studio, the first season aired from July 3, 2008, to September 18, 2008. The story is quite interesting: taking place in an alternate version of World War 2, the Earth is under attack from mysterious entities known as the Neuroi. Their plague of destruction is horrifying, as swathes of the planet are complete obliterated by their attacks. All may seem lost, except for one thing...the Strike Witches! Composed of young women with magical capabilities, the Strike Witches are given special airplane legs, which expand their powers, and allow them to use weapons that are heavy for normal people to carry (excluding soldiers and other combatants). By fighting back against the Neuroi, the Strike Witches give the nations of the world hope for a future without their alien foes.

We start off the positives of Strike Witches with how it views the world during this crisis. In the real world around this time, the Allies were fighting against the forces of the Axis Powers, and neither side gave the other any quarter. In the alternate setting of Strike Witches, the countries that composed the Allies and Axis Powers have put aside their differences to combat the Neuroi. In addition to that, the countries that the characters come from have different names from their real-life counterparts, and their respective territories are different than those of the real world. It’s actually impressive how this all works out, as it’s essentially a what-if scenario...minus the aliens, magic, girls without pants (more on that in a bit), and obliterated swathes of Earth. It’s also interesting to note that the girls in Strike Witches are based off of real life pilots, who generated a lot of fame for themselves during WW2.

The second positive of Strike Witches are the main characters. The show deals specifically with the 501th Joint Fighter Wing, which is composed of some of the most colorful young girls ever created for an anime. Each of them have a distinct personality that separates them from one another, yet each of them have things in common that connect them to one another, and form some very strong friendships. Although I liked them all, my favorite had to have been Francesca Lucchini, the youngest out of the girls. Being 12 years old, she’s as playful and mischievous as a 12 year old girl should be, yet she can show greats amount of courage, and never falters when fighting the Neuroi. Oh, she also has a thing for boobs, but it’s more of a love for them rather than anything more...fanservicey.

Which leads into the third positive of Strike Witches. This is perhaps one of the dirtiest shows I’ve ever seen, yet at the same time is a little bit reserved in regards to the fanservice (with perhaps a few exceptions). I said earlier that the girls where absolutely no pants whatsoever (but they still have on panties-like garments, and the two Japanese characters wear swimsuits under their sailor tops.), yet because of the nature of their airplane legs, the can’t wear pants, as their legs need to be in direct contact on the inside of them for their increased magical powers. Also, because of the random attacks of the Neuroi, taking off pants would waste time, and possibly get them killed. So, because of the chaotic attacks, they don’t wear pants. Even with the underwear that some of the characters wear, you can see a good portion of their buttcrack (trust me, there’s a lot of butt shots). Despite this, noone else around them is a pervert (except perhaps a few of the 501th fighters), as they see this as a completely normal thing.

In addition to this, there are a few other fanservice moments. There’s Lucchini’s love of cleavage, some moments of exposed cleavage and full nudity, and there’s yuri vibes as well, which isn’t so obvious unless you know what to look for. While not on a risque level, many of the characters kinda have a thing for one. For example: Yoshika (one of the first primary characters the viewer meets) has a thing for her friend Lynnette, mostly because she has a large pair of breasts. At first this is why she has the hots for her, but over the course of the seasons, she develops real feelings for Lynnette, but hasn’t told her yet. There are plenty of other examples of yuri parings, yet to tell you more of them would ruin some of the story elements. They don’t necessarily move the story along, but they do add for some funny and touching moments.

Outside of the fanservice, the next positive of Strike Witches is the mix of genres it uses. Comedy, drama, magical girl, science fiction, and fanservice comprise the bulk of genres within Strike Witches, along with a few others that I can’t think of at the moment. Usually this mix can either do a great job together, or they’ll try and tear each other’s throats out. Luckily, Strike Witches succeeds at mixing these together to create a highly entertaining show that’ll stick in your head for quite a while.

Strike Witches’s next positive is the voice acting. With perhaps a few exceptions, the voice acting is well done. The voices for the main characters sound quite believable, and even the secondary characters feel as though a lot of work was put into them. Sorry if this section of the review is shorter than the rest, but I honestly can think of anything else to put here, other than there was a lot of good work done with the voice acting.

Strike Witches’s last positive is the availability and pricing. Being released back in 2010, there are plenty of copies over on Amazon. Starting prices for the complete collection of season 1 are at the 26 dollar range, while used copies start at close to 13 dollars. There’s also a blu-ray release of season 1 coming out late July, with a pre-order price of $37.99. I personally would go for the original DVD release, but any purchase of this show is a worthwhile deal.

I’ve pretty much given Strike Witches nothing but praise throughout this review. Called me a opinionated, but I really enjoyed this show. There’s only about one, maybe two, things that irked me during this show. One is a bit minor, while the other is a little more serious. Either way, they need to be discussed

As I said earlier, the voice acting in Strike Witches is great, but there are a few exceptions. It’s not that they weren’t doing a good job or anything, because they were. It’s just that the voice for some of the characters just didn’t quite fit. In the Japanese dub, Lynnette sounds innocent and shy, but in the English dub, she sounds a little more confident and strong. It doesn’t match the character, as she really is innocent and shy. I might be a little nitpicky about this, but it’s at least worth mentioning.

This next negative is perhaps a little more noticeable to some. This is also a bit spoilery, so if you haven’t watched the show yet, then zoom past this. One of the lead characters, Minna, is the leader of the 501. Before she joined, she had dreams of being a famous singer, but those dreams were broken when her lover died in a Neuroi attack. Because of this incident, she develops this fear of losing everyone close to her, and gives an order for male members to not have any contact with the other witches. I actually detest this, as one person’s pain should not have to become some type of twisted law for someone else to follow. Actually, this is a little cowardly to me, so I’ll stop here before I pitch a conipshinfit and break my keyboard.

Strike Witches: Season 1 gets a 9.2 out of 10. The alternate timeline is played out well, the main characters are great, the fanservice is plentiful yet somehow tasteful, has a nice mix of genres, the voice acting rocks, and it can be easily found with a fair price, but some of the voice acting doesn’t quite fit with some characters, and Minna’s pain becomes cowardice.

I’ll see you later this week, where I’ll post up something old school for you. Until then, stay Otaku!





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Just a quick heads up about Strike Witches: at the end of this year, season 2 will be released by Funimation. Currently, Amazon has it on sale for pre-order at the price of 60 something dollars.

Type-O Negative: World Coming Down Review

Hi everyone! Like I said in my Wednesday post, today’s review will be on a music CD. I’ve been really looking forward to this, and I bet you are too. I also bet that you’re wondering what specific CD it is that I’m reviewing. So, let’s not waist anymore time. Here’s a review of Type-O Negative’s sleeper hit, World Coming Down.

(Quick heads up: I’ve put down links to the songs below for you to take a listen. If clicking on a song name doesn’t work, then it means I wasn’t able to find it. I’ll be doing this for every potential music review that I do, so you can judge the album for yourself if you didn’t like how I did things.)

Background

Of all the albums to have been released by Gothic Metal sensation Type-O Negative, World Coming Down is perhaps their most depressing & darkest. After the success of Bloody Kisses and October Rust, as well as the subsequent tour for October Rust, writing had begun for the fourth album, and had the working titles of Prophets of Doom, as well as Aggroculture. During this writing however, there were deaths of many loved ones in lead singer Pete Steele’s family, most notable of which was his mother. Due to these deaths, Pete went and began to drink heavily to forget the pain he was feeling. The writing during this time also changed, from the usual songs about sex and romance, to the more darker subjects of death, suicide, drug addiction, and depression. Some of the songs on this album, such as All Hallows Eve & World Coming Down, were not of the usual tongue-in-cheek styling, but reflections of what Steele was feeling at the time. Writing continued until the album’s release on September 21, 1999, where it would chart at #39 on the Billboard Top 100, slightly higher that October Rust, which was placed at #42. World Coming Down would go down in Type-O Negative’s history as a album with mixed reactions among the band members, but that’s for later.

Songs
Skip It: Much like their previous album October Rust, World Coming Down starts out with a “joke” intro. In this case, Skip It is just 11 seconds of sounds that are meant to confuse the listener into thinking that their CD player is skipping (Cassette versions of the album have the sound of the tape being “eaten”). Ending this track is presumably Kenny Hickey, as he promptly yells out the word “Sucker!”. This is a funny track, but it’s the only funny track.

White Slavery: We start off World Coming Down with White Slavery, which is about dealing with cocaine addiction. Whether it was his own or one of the band members is never determined, but regardless, this fits with the dark vibes of this album. With lyrics like “I make a call/So far to fall/Restless craving/Inundating” and “The summer snow/But it's not cold/Once it's tested/Thus infected” it’s immediately apparent that the entire album will be filled with sinister music.

Sinus: Perhaps related to White Slavery, Sinus is one of three “soundscape” songs that possibly predict how one of the band members will die. In this case, someone will die because of Cocaine usage. There’s no lyrics to talk about, as the subject matter and feelings are conveyed entirely through the sounds. It starts out with men laughing in the background, then a razor blade cutting and scraping on some glass, then there’s some deep sniffing, some indistinctive whispering, a sound of increased heartbeating, and finally some of the most agonizing screaming ever heard on a metal album.

Sometimes a song doesn’t need to be conveyed through lyrics, and Sinus definitely conveys emotion without a single word being spoken. It should be noted that Pete Steele could not listen to the song once it was completed, as the sound of the increasing heartbeat felt highly realistic, and actually drove him to have an anxiety attack. When one of the most hardcore metal singers has an attack like this, you know a song has power.

Everyone I Love Is Dead: The fourth song on the album, Everyone I Love Is Dead is about trying to run & hide from death (death of loved ones in this case), then accepting the ultimate fact that you’ll die no matter you do. You can feel Pete Steele’s grief in this song, especially with lyrics like “The kiss of death/Lips of a thief”. Death has always managed to bring out the best in us, but sometimes it can bring out the worst in us. Somehow, the tragedy that occurred in Pete Steele’s life brought out the best & worst in him, and Everyone I Love Is Dead conveys that.

Who Will Save The Sane: Although it’s is still a morbid song, Who Will Save The Sane is also a strange song. For one thing, it’s about Steele’s run in with psychiatric treatment, which is always a bizarre subject for any song, regardless of the singer. Secondly, you hear Steele recite the number Pi about halfway through the song (if anyone who didn’t know, Pi is 3.141592653), which is even more bizarre. Third & final, although the lyrics are dark, the instrumentation of the song (and to a much lesser extent, the lyrics) somehow makes the whole thing sound slightly humorous.

Liver: The second of the “soundscape” songs, Liver is about one of the band members dying of alcohol abuse. Like Sinus, the emotions are conveyed entirely through the noises. We start out with a audience cheering, then we go to some footsteps running through gravel, a car door opening and closing, a man speaking indistictively, the car starting up and leaving, some footsteps walking on pavement, a door opening then closing, liquid being poured into glass as some bottles are heard clinking afterwards, patrons in the bar talking softly, a pistol being cocked then fired, some ambulance sirens, a defibulator whirring, a male paramedic yelling clear, then the pad shocks. This cycle repeats again, until the sound of a telephone ringing is heard, with a young woman speaking on the other end, and a man screaming in pain and/or terror. Just like Sinus, Liver conveys it’s dark energy entirely through the sounds, and leaves the listener shaking in despair.

World Coming Down: It wouldn’t be Type-O Negative without at least one song with the same name as the album (Their 1991, 1992, and 1996 albums were the only one to not have a song with the same name as the album). World Coming Down also happened to have been one of their longest songs to date at the time, as it player for 11 minutes and 10 seconds. It was eclipsed by Prelude to Agony off of 1991's Slow Deep & Hard (12 minutes and 15 seconds), and by These Three Things off of 2007's Dead Again (14 minutes and 21 seconds), but was still considered to be a relatively long song for it’s time. The time length is needed, as this is a highly epic song, filed with just as much sadness as it does illumination. I think when he did this song, he realized that running from death was useless, and he should party as hard as he could until the day he died. A very powerful song, and one that should be listened to in a quiet place.

Creepy Green Light: As you can tell so far, World Coming Down is a depressing album. So, it was a surprise to me when I first heard Creepy Green Light. Originally titled Spooky Green Light, Creepy Green Light is a song that starts our dark, and somehow winds up with a happy ending, while at the same time still keeping a dark tone. The story of this song is unique in that it’s sung from the 3rd person: a spell is cast on Halloween night at the grave of a loved one’s spouse, with the intent to bring the spouse back to life. The spell succeeds, and the spouse is brought back from the dead to be reunited with the one she loves. Given the nature of this album, you wouldn’t expect a song like this, as it remains relatively dark despite the ending. A good surprise, if you ask me.

Everything Dies: This was the song that, perhaps in my mind, really revealed the hell that Pete Steel was going through at the time. The message of Everything Dies is simple and easy: everything dies! It doesn’t matter if it’s people (in the case of this song), animals, ideas, or civilizations, sooner or later they will wither away a rot in the grave. There’s a section about halfway through the song where Pete Steele basically saying he wants someone close to help him out of his rut, but with noone around, he wishes that he died along with those that were dear to him. This is perhaps the saddest of all the songs on here, as any listener (including myself) as felt this way at some point in their life.

Lung: The final of the three “soundscape” songs, Lung is about how one of the band members will die of smoking. Like Sinus and Liver, the emotions are conveyed entirely through sounds. We hear a cigarette lighter go off, someone inhaling on the cigarette, a Phlegmy snort and cough, followed by labored breathing, a man coughing in the background, children playing outside and people talking, a heart monitor beeping in the background while a woman is weeping, the heart monitor flatlining, the woman sobbing, and a child singing “Three Little Speckled Frogs”. As with the last two “soundscape” songs, everything is conveyed through the noise.

Pyretta Blaze: An erotic yet disturbing song, Pyretta Blaze is about Pete Steele’s sexual fantasy with fire. This is a very sensual tune, with lyrics like “Beautiful yet dangerous/Thermogenic luminous/Like a moth drawn to a flame/I'm the same”, yet containing haunting lines like “Say the words I long to hear/Pinch bite kiss suck lick and sear/In a pyromantic way/I'm her slave/Living for her to ignite”. This song to me is always performing a balancing act, with occasional dips into the sexual side of the fence, then sometimes immediately bending over into the self obliteration side of things.

All Hallows Eve: Perhaps related to Creepy Green Light in some ways, All Hallows Eve is about Pete Steele making a pact with the devil, and in return the devil gives Pete a spell that can bring back a lost girlfriend. I think what makes this such a depressing yet powerful song, is that the listener at some point wishes that they had the power to bring back someone they’ve loved, and would go all in to do it. I was affected by this song a lot, as there were many family members I wished were still alive today. Such is the ways of fate.

Day Tripper (Medley): We conclude World Coming Down with this interesting little number. As you can tell by the name, this song is actually a mashup of 3 separate songs from the Beatles: Day Tripper, If I Needed Someone, and She’s So Heavy. Although the rest of the album is dark and depressing, this song has a whimsical quality, even if the instrumentation and way the song is sung doesn’t match. Day Tripper (Medley) is ordered in the following manner: Day Tripper, If I Needed Someone, back to Day Tripper, and concluded with She’s So Heavy. It’s an interesting way to conclude World Coming Down, and even manages to be a little peppy, albeit very slightly.

Overall Impression & Rating
This is definitely the darkest of Type-O Negative's albums, and it shows it through the song lyrics. I loved this album, and even I was a bit disturbed by the whole thing. There was even mixed reactions about the album among the band themselves: Josh Silver, keyboardist and producer for the band, though that the music of World Coming Down was very strong. Pete Steele, on the other hand, didn't really like the music on the album, as the songs were too connected to a uncomfortable period in his life. This translated into their tours for the album, as they rarely played any of the tracks, although they did play the entirety of the song World Coming Down during their tour for their last album, Dead Again.

World Coming Down gets a 5 out of 10. The album is filled with some strong and memorable music, but the overtly dark nature will turn off heavy metal fans that expect the usual dark humor that was in their earlier works.


* If you’re interested in the lyrics of World Coming Down, then look here:

http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/typeonegative/worldcomingdown.html#2

* If you're also interesting in the background of World Coming Down, then look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Coming_Down

Seeds of Geekdom: Myself

Hi guys! Sorry about being late with this, but I was busy helping out my Mom for a spinning show this weekend, and I was too tired to type something up. Luckily, I’m awake enough to actually do something today. As for the review that I normally put up on Thursday, I’ll be moving it to Friday, and it won’t be the review for Diablo 3 (I’ll be doing that one in a month or two. The review this Friday will be something...different). Today is the conclusion to my 3-part series, Seeds of Geekdom, where I’ll be giving you all a look into how I’ve planted the seeds of geekdom within myself.

In the last two weeks, I wrote about how my Mom & Dad helped me onto the path of geekdom. Although they indeed helped me onto this path, it’s was ultimately left up to me to continue walking down the path. I’m glad to say that I’ve embraced the geek lifestyle, liberally dashed with nerdism and otakuism. As for my role in the family, I’m a mix of my Mother and my Father. I’ve inherited my Mother’s innate kindness and her ability to care for other regardless of any current conditions, but I’ve also inherited my Father’s ability to work with computers (I’m good with the basic stuff, but more complex matters make my brain fry) and some of his fiery temper. Despite that, I’ve added in a few more things to round myself out, both literarily and figuratively.

My gaming experience started when I was just 6 years old. At the time, I mostly played educational games, but that was because whenever my Mom saw me watching Dad play something like Wolfenstein 3d or another violent game from the early 90s, she’d freak. The way my Dad saw it, it was just nothing more than a virtual version of Cowboys & Indians, and I believe that to this day. Anyway, one day, my father sat me in front of the computer, and loaded up this game called Doom. Back in the day, Doom was a visual, gory feast for the senses, with a equally scary & brutal feast for the ears. Nobody had ever seen anything like it before, as the technology was brand new. Although the game looks very outdated, many old-school fans continue to play it, and expand upon it with numerous modifications. I’ve never forgot the day I first played Doom, and it was at that point that my gaming seeds were planted. Since that time, I’ve fully vested time into having video games become part of my life. Granted at times I’m a bit obsessed, but more often than not, video games have helped me relieve a lot of stress and other negatives vibes.

My experience with anime, however, is a bit more complicated. Although I started watching it in the mid to late 90s like everybody else, I really didn’t get into it until I was at least 18. This was because up until 12th grade, my workload was huge. I didn’t have a lot of time to watch anime, especially the shows on Toonami (thank god it’s coming back!). My schedule until then consisted of helping out my Mom & Dad, doing schoolwork with Mom & Dad, playing a game or two, and hanging out with one of the few friends I had at the time. Even though I went to college right after high school, I had a lot more time to invest in watching anime. It started on Adult Swim, and one of the first shows I watched was Inuyasha. Granted the show gets a lot of criticism for being generic and lengthy, but I enjoyed it. In 2006, I had bought the second Inuyasha movie with my own money (the prior film, Pokemon: the First Movie, my Mom had bought me for my birthday). I enjoyed watching it, and that, for whatever reason, and got me hooked onto anime. Not just Inuyasha, but a variety of other shows...mainly goofy, silly, funny, and dirty shows.

My manga experience was also complicated, although not as much. Back in 2002, I bought for myself the first volume of the No Need For Tenchi series. I got a kick out of it, and my Mom, who was with me at the time, bought the second volume for me a few months later as a Christmas gift. Flash forward to the summer of 2006, and my girlfriend at the time and I just left the mall, and I had purchased the first volume of Suzuka...mainly because I saw the warning label on the front cover. Although I haven’t bought any of the other volumes yet, I did like the...assets that were shown in the pages. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that manga was also sometimes printed in a right-to-left manner. This gave me some trouble, as my brain problems made reading right-to-left somewhat complicated. Luckily, I’ve forced myself to read right-to-left, and I’ve gotten really good at it. I’ve even bought some more manga printed in the right-to-left manner, and I enjoy reading them.

To conclude this, I will admit this one fact about myself: I’ve only been going to conventions for just a short time. 3 years in fact. On top of that, I only go to two conventions: Genericon at RPI, and Conneticon at Hartford. It’s not that I hate all other conventions, but it’s just that these two conventions are local, and they’re cheap (Genericon pre-reg and normal reg are $15 & $25, while Conneticon’s pre-reg and normal reg are $50 and $60). In addition to those reasons, I simply enjoy these two conventions, but if I ever become a hit internet celebrity like the Nostalgia Critic or Bennett “The Sage” White, then chances are I’ll enjoy more conventions.

Those that concludes Seeds of Geekdom. I hoped you enjoyed a look into how a geek like me was made, and I hope that you liked parts 1 and 2 (which I’ve left below) of this series. Let me conclude that geekery starts with family (for the most part), and the more the family geeks together, the more they stay and grow together.

Until next time, stay Otaku!


* Here’s parts 1 & 2 of “Seeds of Geekdom”

http://simpleanimereviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/seeds-of-geekdom-my-father.html
http://simpleanimereviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/seeds-of-geekdom-my-mother.html

Also, if you were wondering why I didn't say what was in my next review, it's because I'm trying out something else new. This Friday, you'll see my very first music CD review! I'm really excited about this, as I hope that this becomes a permanent addition to this blog. I won't spoil what CD I'm going to review, but I will say that it'll have a structure similar to that of my video game reviews. A little more simplified, but a similar structure regardless.

Update: I have to slap myself. My latest CD review is actually my second one, not the first one that I thought it was. My first CD review was done back in February, and considering the time distance from that one and this one, it can be easy to forget.

Diablo 3: Collector's Edition (Extras) Review

Hi guys. Normally I don't do 3 review in a week, but this is a special occasion. As I said in my "Seeds of Geekdom: My Mother" post this Tuesday, my Collector's Edition for Diablo 3 came in, and boy is it friggen amazing! I beat it in Normal this past Friday, and I'm close to beating the first part on Nightmare. I'll post a official review of the game next Thursday, but tonight I'll be reviewing the goodies that came with Collector's Edition. Most are nice, a tiny few are just meh, but they're all enjoyable.

To start off, let's go through the extras that are in-game. For starters, D3 gives you two exclusive dyes (Bottled Cloud & Bottled Smoke) that you can use over & over, a special angelic wings aesthetic artifact, and a exclusive banner for multiplayer. The exclusive banner is just okay to me, but the dyes and the wings are pretty cool to have.

World of Warcraft & Starcraft 2 also get some goodies. In WoW, you get an exclusive pet in the form of a Fetish Shaman, and Starcraft 2 is given exclusive Battle.Net portraits. The WoW pet I don't care about since I don't play that game (and a lot of other gamers that don't play WoW), but the Starcraft 2 portraits are kinda fun to have, although I have to select one still.

In short, most of the in-game extras are pretty cool, apart from the banner and the WoW pet. However, they aren't the only extras in this collector's edition, so let's look at the physical goodies.

In addition to the D3 game, there's a 4GB USB Soulstone with Diablo 2 & the mission pack on it. There's also a Diablo skullholder to hold the USB, and said USB glows a bright red when it's inserted into a machine. I find this extra to be very weird, as gamers are gonna be concentrating on the new game, and not the old game. On the other hand, it's cool for people that haven't played the previous game to have. On top of that, the USB and skullholder look sweet together.

We've also got a two-disk blu-ray set, showing what went on behind the scenes of Diablo 3's development. This is really cool, as there is no other collector's edition that I know of that has this. The developers, as well as the sound engineers, animators, and gameplay mechanic people talk about how they played their part in making this game. Although I haven't finished watching the blu-ray set yet, I really liked watching what I've seen so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else is on.

Next extra is the collector's edition soundtrack. I laughing when I saw this, because a long time ago I got the collector's edition for the original Neverwinter Nights, and a soundtrack was included in that one. I have to make room on my MP3 player, as I'm looking forward to listening to the music without any other noise playing in the background. The soundtrack is definitely a nice extra to have in this collection, as the music could even be used in a Dungeons and Dragons session!

We conclude this review of the Diablo 3: Collector's Edition with the look at the art book simply called "The Art of Diablo III". Simply put, this is one of the most extensive collections of video game art out there. Although the Blizzard staff said to finish normal difficulty before looking at the art book (they also said this about the Behind the Scenes blu-ray set), I charged right into it, and enjoyed everything I saw. In addition to completed 2d & 3d images, there's a swarm of early and partially drawn images. It's so amazing to see all of these images, as the amount of detail put into them is incredible. Funny story: I work with a older woman (78 years old, if you were wondering), who's very curious about the games I play. I brought my collector's edition over to show here, and she really enjoyed the art book, especially the artwork for the Wizard.

So this concludes my review for the extras within the collector's edition of Diablo 3. Like I said earlier, the extra are enjoyable, even if some of them aren't as fun to have as some of the others. If you have the chance, try to track one of these down, play the game, and enjoy the goodies!

Until next time, stay Otaku!

Those Who Hunt Elves Review

Hi Guys. After stopping my grinding of Diablo 3 (My Wizard is currently level 29) and celebrating my Mom's 50th Birthday, I can finally get down to today's review on time. We've got a goofy anime today, so be sure to get into your straight jacket, and be sure to have your crazy pills nearby. So, without anymore time wasted, here's my review for Those Who Hunt Elves!

With a story written by Yu Yagami and directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama, the first season ran from October 3rd to December 19th of 1996, while the second season ran from October 1st to December 24th of 1997. ADV Films (R.I.P.) originally dubbed both seasons sometime during the early part of last decade (2003 to 2004, I think), while Sentai Filmworks re-released both seasons together in one collection in 2009. The show is centered around Junpei Ryuzouji, Ritsuko Inoue, and Airi Komiyama, as well as the elf sorcerer Celcia and a sentient Type 74 tank. Unfortunately for the first three characters, they're trapped in a high fantasy setting after a spell that was cast by Celcia went wrong, and teleported them to Celcia's world. In order to get back to Japan, the group must strip the clothes of every female elf to find the spell fragments (which are tattooed on their bodies) needed for their return. In short, Those Who Hunt Elves is a slapstick comedy, coupled with some suspenseful & serious moments, and plenty of naked elf women to tickle your fancy.

To start things off, Those Who Hunt Elves's first positive are the main characters. Each of the them fit the standard anime archetypes: Junpei is the strongman of the group that's not always bright, Ritsuko is the tomboy that hasn't completely abandoned her womanly nature, Airi is the master manipulator that never looses her cool, Celcia is their guide in the world, and their Type 74 tank (named Mikae) is their transportation and companion in their travels. I won't get into details about Mikae, as that would be a bit of a major spoiler. Regardless, each of the main characters feed off of each other. They enhance each others strengths, while at the same time bringing some of their weaknesses to the forefront. It's not often that you can find such a well connected group of characters in a modern anime, but in a 90s anime such as this, they somehow always managed to show up.

The second positive of Those Who Hunt Elves is the humor. Despite the serious and suspenseful moments, this is first and foremost a comedy show with hints of fanservice. Not surprisingly, the main comedic moments are when the female elves get stripped of their clothing, as well as their reaction afterwards. Even when elf women get their clothes torn off, there's plenty of funny moments between the main characters, especially when Junpei breaks the fourth wall...which happens a lot. Ironically, the moments when the elf women get fully naked have more of a hilarious vibe than a risque or sexy vibe, although given the nature of the show, this isn't surprising.

The voice work is Those Who Hunt Elves's third positive. Although the voices of the secondary characters waver in terms of quality, the work done on the primary characters is pretty good. Given that this show was dubbed back in 2003 or 2004, they still sound great. Each of the voice actors fit their assigned characters perfectly. However, given the fact that I bought the complete collection released by Sentai Filmworks, I'm assuming that they worked on the audio to sound a bit more modern and smooth.

The fourth positive of Those Who Hunt Elves is the amount of episodes, as well as the length of each episode. 24 episodes compose the show, with an even split between each season. Twelve episodes for each season makes for a good size, and each episode lasting 22 to 24 minutes. Because of how many episodes there were, I watched this show over the course of a week, and finished it within 5 days. Some people may watch this show in a shorter amount of time, while other may watch over a longer period of time.

Those Who Hunt Elves's final positive is it's availability and pricing. Despite the fact that ADV Films (R.I.P.) no longer exists, there still exists many of the individual volumes and complete collections that they published over on Amazon. Prices, whether new or used, range from all over the place, but new copies of the complete collection never rise above 25 dollars. The original tape releases miraculously exist on Amazon, but I wouldn't recommend buying them. There's not that many of them (new or used), and trying to buy all of them on tape would actually cost more than buying a complete collection of the show. My suggestion is to buy the complete collection released by Sentai Filmworks, with new copies starting at $23.12, and the few used copies start at $19.99.

However, there are two blights on Those Who Hunt Elves that must be addressed. First off, while the voice acting for the primary characters is well done, things aren't the same for the secondary characters. The level of work quality ranges from okay, to I'm not even trying. Even if the audio in the Sentai Filmworks release was fixed and improved, just the vibes coming off of some of the secondary characters feels like they weren't giving it their all, but that's just me.

The second negative negative is a crucial story element to this show, and that's how the spell that Celcia cast brought the other characters to her world. Maybe I missed something, but the show never explained how the spell got disrupted, and brought everybody to the elven world. I can sorta understand how Junpei, Ritsuko, and Airi came to be, as they might have been together in one place before the spell was cast, but how the hell did the tank get there!? If the tank was with them, then sure, but if it wasn't, then how the hell did it show up with them!? It's never quite explained, and that irks me.

Those Who Hunt Elves gets a 8.5 out of 10. The main characters work great together, the humor is fantastic, the voice acting is equally well done, there's a ton of episodes with a nice time length, and it easily found with a nice price tag, but the voice acting wavers among the secondary characters, and things are never really explained as far as the disrupted spell is concerned.

See you all next week, when I conclude my "Seeds of Geekdom" articles. Until then, stay Otaku!

Seeds of Geekdom: My Mother

Hi guys. If you're reading this early in the morning, then my apologies. I got my collector edition of Diablo 3 last night, and was rocking my Wizard for a while. I haven't died yet, so that's a good sign. However, D3 isn't what were hear to talk about...yet.

I really enjoyed writing about how my Father planted the seeds of geekdom in me, so this week I figured that it's time to talk about how my Mother equates into all of this.

If my Father is the one that keeps all of the machines in check, then my Mother is the one that keeps all of us in check. She can be very stern when she needs to, but the rest of the time she has a gentle yet stubborn demeanor. Whenever I or my Dad have a problem, we got to her. If one of my friends needs some advice (apart from mine), they talk to her. If one of my Mom's friends needs help, they go to her for said help. To sum things up, my Mother is like a comforting glue: she'll heal what's hurting you, and if she can't help you, then she'll give it her all to at least make the situation better. However, there is one side of my Mother that a good chunk of people know about.

When the situation is appropriate, my Mom can become one of the biggest geeks on the planet. She loves Doctor Who and Firefly, has a slight passion for video games (Dead Island is a current favorite), and is a D&D player from way back. Back before there was all the stuff that's around now, and back when most of the content was made by the player's imaginations. Yep, my Mom can be quite the geek when she wants to be. In fact, it was the common bond of D&D that enabled us to get a bit closer than we already were.

Lets take another time trip. This time, back to around 2000 to 2001. An advertisement in the local geek magazine (I forgot which magazine it was) was displaying the return of Dungeons & Dragons, updated to 3rd edition. I showed this to my Mom, and on my 14th birthday, I got the Player's Handbook or Monster Manual as one of my gifts (I forgot which book it was). After a few months, I had amassed a small collection of books, and were even started up a small group in the house. My Mom was the DM, I played the Rogue & Wizard, while my Dad was the Fighter & Cleric (I should mention that both of my Dad's characters were Dwarves). Although we didn't play very often, I remembered my Mom being very much in control of the games, yet at the same time had a playful and childish attitude about her. Her mood during the times we played is something I'll never forget.

So, thank you Mom. Thank you for introducing me to something that made you happy when you were young, and thank you for putting up with Dad's dwarfness during some of our most heated battles.

See you all this Thursday or Friday, when I'll have a review up for a very demented anime. Until then, stay Otaku!


* If you have had a chance to look at how my Father helped me become a geek, then look at the link below:

http://simpleanimereviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/seeds-of-geekdom-my-father.html

Duke Nukem Forever (Revised) Review

Hi guys. We’ll, after enjoying typing up my first revised review, I figured that I’d put the other one up. Back in September of 2011, I did a review for Duke Nukem Forever, just a few months after it’s release, after seeing Jon St. John at Conneticon of that year. A lot of that positive energy, the way I see it, carried over to the review, and partially clouded my judgement. I realized that, despite my comment of “I'm going to be as neutral as possible when I'm writing this” in my original review, I was a bit more impartial towards the positive side of it all than I wanted to be. So, after designing a new format for my video game reviews, I think I’ll be able to do a better job of reviewing this game. So, without any more delays, here’s my revised review for Duke Nukem Forever.

Story
The story of Duke Nukem Forever couldn’t be simpler. It’s 12 years (in game) since Duke Nukem 3d, and Duke has become an international celebrity. Since that time, Duke has had ample opportunity to pursue numerous manly interests, including shark hunting, boxing, gambling, and surfing. It’s revealed at the beginning of the game that Duke is currently living in Las Vegas, enjoying the fruits of his labor and playing his own game (which is actually the first part of the level). It’s also revealed that the aliens who’s asses he kicked in Duke Nukem 3d have returned, but they seem to be pacifistic...at first.

Duke is invited to a talk show at the bottom of the Ladykiller Hotel & Casino, so after getting serviced by twins, he heads right down to the show. However, the show gets cancelled, as the majority of the film crew and the local news groups are swarming around the aliens to see what they’ll do. It doesn’t take long for Duke to realize that the aliens are going to attack. Sure enough, as Duke leaves the show’s stage, the aliens begin their attack & steal Earth’s women, thus starting our hero’s quest to kick alien ass and chew bubble, and he doesn’t have any gum.

A simple, basic story. Got no problem with this.

Setting
As I said above, Duke Nukem Forever starts in Las Vegas, but that’s not the only location. From the inside of the Ladykiller Casino, the game heads to the streets of a ruined Sin City, then inside a alien hive, then to a Duke Burger located on top of a tower, to the deserts & highways of Nevada, and finally to the top and inside of Hoover Dam. Each of these locations have their own feel to them, and they have enough differences between each other to feel unique. The graphics can sometimes ruin it, but let’s save that for later.

Characters
Since the name of this game is Duke Nukem Forever, is only fitting that Duke is the main character. Jon St. John provides another stellar performance, giving Duke Nukem his vibes of manliness, bravado, and sex appeal. If you’re a girl playing Duke Nukem Forever, you want to have him. If you’re a guy playing Duke Nukem Forever, you want to be him. Yet, he isn’t the only character that populates the game, as there are numerous others (primary & secondary) that you’ll run into and interact with.

After going through the “Video Game” portion of the first level, you’re greeted by the Holson Twins (an obvious parody of the Olson Twins), after they’ve played with Duke’s...Joystick. Going down to the show, Duke runs into the show’s host, who’s actually a easily forgettable character (among the list of forgettable characters). Promptly leaving him, Duke then heads to his special mancave under the Ladykiller Hotel & Casino, where he meets the President of the United States (who’s an ass), and his friend General Graves (who’s not an ass). After fighting through a small horde of aliens, Duke makes his way outside, where he meets his other friend, Captain Dylan (one of the many sources of humor in the game).

I should note that the list of primary characters is very small when compared to the list of secondary characters, as there are a lot of them. Most of the secondary characters (like the show host) are completely forgettable, but a couple of them can sometimes leave you with a chuckle, and thus temporarily stick in your memory. This I also don’t have a problem with, although I wished there were at least 1 or 2 more main characters.  

Gameplay
This is where things deviate from Duke Nukem 3d...to an extent. Like DN3d, there are basic puzzles scattered around. Jumping puzzles, weight puzzles, and timing puzzles are just a few of the puzzle types you’ll come across. They’re small, simplistic, and usually take just a few short seconds or minutes. About the only difference between the DN3d and DNF is that there are more puzzles in DNF, but that’s about it. Simple puzzles I don’t have a problem with.

Things aren’t complete in a Duke game without a plethora of weapons, and an equal plethora of enemies to shoot. Many of the original weapons from DN3d return (the shotgun & ripper, just to name a few), and some new ones are added in to provide some new flavor, such as the Railgun. The only things I have a problem with in regards to the weapons is that Pipebombs and Trip Mines are now part of your inventory (you can only carry four each), and you can only have two weapons at a time (this problem was addressed in a patch late last year, and you can now carry up to 4 weapons, which is a big improvement).

This leads into the next thing I have a problem with in regards to gameplay. Just like in Duke Nukem 3d, you have an inventory, but it is drastically reduced as far as how many items you can hold (you can only carry 5 items). I enjoyed having a relatively large inventory, so having just a handful of items is disappointing. However, the items you can carry kinda makeup for it. In addition to having Pipebombs and Trip Mines, you have Steroids & Holoduke, as well as a Can of Beer. The Steroids function like a powerup, giving you one-hit kills with your fists and super speed. The Holoduke turns you invisible while projecting a false image of yourself, which distracts enemies while allowing you to get a few stealth kills before the Holoduke turns off. The Can of Beer distorts your sight and hearing, but at the same time makes you more resistant to damage.

Although you have a selection of weapons and enemies, their usage can go to waste. Unlike in DN3d, where enemies are fairly plentiful and you went around in a run & gun manner, In DNF you killed aliens (sometimes killing aliens involved a boss battle), moved to the next destination, did a puzzle, repeat. Sometimes things are spiced up a bit and involve turrets and/or a vehicle (a monster truck to be specific), but these moments only occur at certain moments in certain levels. On top of that you can’t save anywhere, as you only have access to checkpoints. Luckily, checkpoints activate after you completed a more complex puzzle, when you enter certain areas, or you just finished a big battle. Also on a good point you don’t have to find any fucking keycards, so that’s cool.

On a final gameplay note, there isn’t a health system in Duke Nukem Forever. Instead, you’re given an EGO bar, which functions a lot like health. When you get hit, it goes down, and when you’re out of combat, it regenerates. At first having something like this sounds bad, but hear me out. All throughout the game are loads of interactive objects to play with, like slot machine, toilets, and a...glory hole. Interacting with many of these objects will increase the size of your EGO bar, thus allowing you to stay in a firefight a little longer.

Graphics & Sounds
The sounds in Duke Nukem Forever are definitely a strong point. The voices of the characters, whether major or minor, come across as clean and crisp, without any hiccups at all. All of the guns make appropriate noises, as do the aliens. When an alien gets stepped on after the Shrink Ray is used, they make a satisfying squish, or a nice shatter sound when the Freeze Ray is pointed their way. Even if they aren’t getting killed, you’ll hear the aliens growl, snarl, and make all other noises that women-stealing aliens make.

In my opinion, the one thing that remains on the fence in Duke Nukem Forever is the graphics. On the one hand the environments look very believable, especially the Ladykiller Hotel & Casino. On the other hand, most of the aliens look rough around the edges, as well as the people that populate the game. Even when he’s looking at himself in the mirror, Duke looks a little rough, but only slightly.

Overall & Rating
I definitely have mixed feelings about Duke Nukem Forever. The game has a story that’s easy to follow, a setting that’s very believable and realistic (except for the alien hive & growths), the characters (mostly the primary ones, barely the secondary ones) are entertaining, the puzzles are easy on the brain, there’s plenty of weapons and aliens, the items in your inventory are helpful, there’s plenty of checkpoints, the EGO system isn’t a pain, and the games sounds great. Yet, you have a smaller inventory, things get repetitive somewhat quickly, you don’t have a traditional save system like in Duke Nukem 3d, and the graphics as far as the enemies & NPCs are concerned seem slightly unpolished. The positives are definitely strong, yet the negatives also have some weight to them, so it’s difficult (at least for me) to give it a proper rating.

Duke Nukem Forever gets a 5 to 7 out of 10.

Hope that rating is fair. See you all next week, when I’ll give you all an insight as to how my Mother helped me become a geek. Until then, stay Otaku!

Seeds of Geekdom: My Father

Hi everyone. I decided that as part of my 1-year celebration of this blog, I wanted to give you all a glimpse into the origins of my geekhood. Just like morals & values, your geek mannerisms start with family. My first part of this 3-part series will deal with my Father, the technolord of the house.

What can I say about my Father. He's got a wicked temper, yet he can be the gentlest of souls in the right situations. He's strong in mind & body, yet he also is strong in heart. In general, he's a mix of contradictions that somehow works. Me and my Mom rely on him a lot when something technical breaks down in the house. If there's a virus on a computer, he'll clear it out. If a part needs replacing, he replaces it. If the internet is down, he gets it back up. In short, my father is the Techno Whisperer. He can pretty much solve & fix just about anything wrong with computers, and if he can't fix something, he'll admit it, humbly or not.

What really makes my Father so important in my geekhood, is that he introduced me to video games. The very first game I ever played was the original Doom, a move that didn't necessarily sit well with my mom. From Doom, games like Wolfenstein 3d, Duke Nukem 3d, and a host of other games in the early to mid 90s were the beginning rungs on the ladder to geek enlightenment. By the late 90s, my Dad was having me play games (especially FPS games) to improve my hand-eye coordination, and to help me improve my sense of concentration. All of the games he had me play were indeed helpful, but it was one game in particular that really helped me out, and got me to be a bit closer to my dad.

Let's rewind the clock a bit: it's the early 90s. 1993, to be more specific. We're living in a small house in Clinton, New York. At the time, we weren't poor, but we didn't have a lot of money. We didn't have a lot of full PC games, but we had plenty of demos. One of them was for a fighting game called One Must Fall: 2097, published by Epic Megagames (long before they became the popular Epic Games). OMF: 2097 was a fast paced games where two giant robots went toe-to-toe against each other, with the only goal of tearing each other apart. It was a fun demo, but the only problem was that it was...a demo. There wasn't any multiplayer (against another computer, that is.), there were only 5 out of the 10 pilots available, and there were only 3 of the 10 robots available. Despite that, me and my Father (sometimes my Mother) spent a lot of time playing against each other, and basically having a good time.

Forward to 1994, and we're still living at the same place, or so I believe (It was so long ago, I can't remember well). I believe I came home from school, and after doing my homework, my Father calls me into the computer rooms and asks if I wanted to play a game of OMF with him. Without batting an eyelash, I said "Sure!" I got over to the seat, and my Dad starts up the game. Both the demo and the full game start up the same, so I didn't know what was in store. My Dad selected the two-player option, and the first thing he said was "Well...let's see. I think I'm going to be...Raven." It was then that I knew that something was different, and when he selected a robot that was previously unavailable, I was bouncing off the walls in joyous celebration. I couldn't believe that he did this for me, especially at a time when we had to be careful with our money. Although I was never certain, I could have sworn that my Mom was in on this as well, so props to you Mom if you were.

In conclusion, thank you Dad. Thank you for making video game memories with me, and thank you for setting me on the path to gaming enlightenment. I'll treasure what you've done for me for ages and ages. Thank you.

See you all later this week, when I'll put up my revised review for Duke Nukem Forever. Until then, stay Otaku!


*
If you're interesting in learning more about One Must Fall: 2097, then click on the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Must_Fall:_2097

Burn Up W (Revised) Review

Hi guys! As part of my “1 Year-Old Blog” celebration, I’ve decided to do two revised reviews. For starters, I’m doing a revised review for Burn Up W. For some reason, when I was typing up the original review, I was in some kind of funk that took it out of me. While I liked my original review a little bit, I felt that I could have done a better job. Luckily, I feel more in tuned with the reviewing spirit, and I can now do a proper review. I will admit, I’m going to be cheating a little bit with this review, as I’ll be cutting and pasting the better parts of that review, and redoing the worse parts of it. As for some of the info on availability and pricing...screw it, let’s just get into the review. Here’s a revised look at Burn Up W!

Directed & released in 1996 by Hiroshi Negishi, and dubbed in 2001 & 2004 (the 04 was a remastered re-release) by ADV Films (R.I.P.), Burn Up W tells the story of Team Warrior, Neo-Tokyo's elite police force. The girls composed of the team represent are the toughest that the police have. At the beginning of the first episode, a group of terrorists take over a hotel where a group of key political figures in the Japanese government are meeting. At first, the regular police are trying to get in, but are held at bay by the terrorist's threats.

Meanwhile, Rio, who first appeared in the original Burn Up, is stuck at the station doing boring paper work. After waiting to do...something, she is finally called upon to perform her duties as the top member of Team Warrior. There is more to the terrorist attack at the hotel than meets the eyes, but revealing it here would ruin it for you. Suffice it to say, the twist at the beginning of the show carries itself to the end, and it'll leave you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

A note before the positive and the negatives. Burn Up W has a few faint connections to the original Burn Up, such as characters & setting. The original show isn't required to watch before Burn Up W, save for understanding how the two shows are connected. If fact, you could even ignore Burn Up if you wanted, and dive into W with a open mind.

To start things off, Burn Up W's first big positives is the rush of adrenaline & the variety of themes you get in each episode. All of them are loaded with guns, explosions, robots, comedy, and lots of female sex appeal. You even get to see some blood as the girls get in up close with the bad guys as they pummel the snot out of them. This show is not for kids, nor for the faint of hearted.

Burn Up W's second biggest positive are the girls that compose Team Warrior and their characters. Rio is the pointman of the team, and the one that gets a chunk of the screen time. Rio's also blonde, hot, and gifted in all the right places, and can't really hold onto money for a long length of time. Because of her money troubles, she's constantly looking for a wealthy guy to get hitched to and get out of her police job.

The other girls got a bit of screen time as well. Maya is a lot like Rio. She's got funky colored hair, and she hot. Maya is the sniper and gun nut of the team, and is a bit of a wacko. She joined the team because she wanted to shoot as often as she could, and if she doesn't get to fire off a gun, she feels something that must be similar to sexual frustration. In fact, the bigger the gun, the more she likes it. Lilica is the short, pink-haired cutie of the team. She's the master of computers, and can hack into just about anything. Nanvel rounds out Team Warrior as the tanned tech girl. She and Maya both have the hots for their respective areas, as Nanvel has a thing for mechanical stuff and robots. A lot of the jokes that involve Nanvel & Maya revolve around either guns or something technology related.

Burn Up W's 3rd positive is it's time length. At 4 episodes that run about 22 to 24 minutes each, it's a quick show that you can watch in one, maybe two sittings. Some people might not like a short show, but if you want a quick anime fix, then 4 episodes isn't so bad. Surprisingly, the story fits into the length of time, and covers just about everything that's shown. What little is left over isn’t carried over to Burn Up Excess, as that show doesn’t really cover anything in the previous show.

The 4th positive Burn Up W has going for it is it’s pricing. Despite the lack of copies (look below), the pricing for used copies isn’t all that bad. Used copies of the original 2001 release start at $3.37, while the 2004 re-release start at $4.65. Those prices are pretty fair, but whatever you do, don’t buy a new copy. New 2001 copies start at $14.99, while the prices for the 2004 re-release range from $29.95 to $32.49. I guess the price for a new 2001 edition isn’t that bad, but for the 2004 edition, it’s just ridiculous.

The 5th and final plus to Burn Up W is the story’s structure within the show. The first episode sets up the events to come, the second episode continues things along while at the same time providing a bit of humor and slapstick, and the third & fourth episodes conclude it all, and provide a good twist at the end. Like I said during the show's time length, the story somehow fits into 4 episodes, and the leftovers don’t transit into Excess.

It's sad to say that despite what Burn Up W has going for it, it also has some things going against it. Firstly, the show can be a bit difficult to find. As usual, I always get my DvDs from Amazon, and they usually have a good selection, whether it's used or new. As I’m typing this, there are 2 new copies & 10 used copies of the 2001 edition, and 4 new copies & 7 used copies of the 2004 re-release. A link is provided below if you want to take a look.


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dmovies-tv&field-keywords=burn+up+w&sprefix=burn+up+w%2Cmovies-tv%2C253


In my opinion, buy this show as soon as you can, and if you miss it, download it somewhere. I know that I recent years downloading has become the kiss of death, but for shows that aren’t in print anymore, I don’t think it’s a problem.

Secondly, Burn Up W isn't as good looking as many 90s animes tend to be. Truthfully, saying that the show isn't good looking is a little hurtful. While the show actually does look good at times, it seems to look a little rough around the edges at other times, despite being remastered. What makes it more strange is that things far away in a scene seem more clear, while things up close (especially characters) sometimes look particularly jagged. I will give ADV Films (R.I.P.) some slack in this regard, as it isn’t always easy to remaster an anime, especially an older one. People who expect high animation quality however, with more than likely have a conipshinfit.

Third, Burn Up W has little to no connection to Burn Up Excess as far as story is concerned. The two shows do have connections as far as characters, voice actors, animation studios, and settings. Yet, I find it irritating that Burn Up W doesn’t even share shreds of story with Excess. Perhaps that was the story writer’s intention to differentiate the two shows, but I don’t like the fact that the two shows aren’t related in this manner.

Burn Up W gets a 6.5 to 7 out of 10. The show mixes together a variety of themes, the cast of girls are entertaining, the episodes last for a nice chunk of time, pricing for used copies are good, and the story was setup well in the show, but it’s difficult to find, sticklers may not like the occasionally rough looks of the show, and the story isn’t connection to Excess.

See you next week, where I’ll give you an insight on how my Father planted the seeds of geekdom within me. Until then, stay Otaku!


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I forgot to add this into the official, but I feel that I must at least comment on the voice acting. The voice actors do a good job with the characters, especially Amanda Win Lee, who has been unfortunately retired from the voice acting scene for a while now. She really brings out Rio’s character, especially the sex appeal of the character.

1 Year Celebration

Hi guys! If you haven't figured it out by the title, it has been a year since I started this blog up. Actually, that's only partially true. I really started the blog at the end of this month, but a celebration is needed regardless. I have some interesting things planned for this month: two revised reviews for Burn Up W & Duke Nukem Forever, standard reviews, and a few insights into how I became the geek/nerd/otaku that I am today. It's going to be a lot of fun, so stay tuned!

See you this Thursday, when my revised review for Burn Up W will get posted. Until then, stay Otaku!