Posts

Showing posts from 2013

Favorite Anime of 2013

Image
Yamada's being....a little silly at the moment. I got the idea from some other bloggers, and decided to make my own list. I'd like to say that I really enjoyed the 2013 anime year. I usually don't keep up with the newest anime, and most of the ones I know are older and long gone. Just a quick warning, these are based on my own opinion and tastes. You may disagree with me, or you may not. I don't rate series on the quality of the artwork, story, or such. I judge them based on whether I enjoyed them or not. Also, this list is in no order. Suisei no Gargantia Possibly my favorite out of all the anime I watched this year. I loved this anime, as the story kept me on my toes with it's constant twists and turns. One second everything about the story seems clear, and the next it's swapped. This anime also teaches a good lesson about things not being what they seem. This may seem like a generic moral, but it's one that is commonly forgotten. Suisei no

Blogging: New Year Resolutions

Image
It's December 30th, and we're finally reaching the end of the year. I have to say that this year has been quite hectic, at some points I didn't even know what to expect next. However, that didn't stop me. I made it through this year, and there's a lot to look back on. 2013 holds quite a lot for me, as this is the year I started running this blog. I'm up to almost 50 posts, and it seems pretty crazy thinking that I started blogging just a couple of months ago. I have to admit that I've come very far, but I want to take it even further. To do that I'll need the help of my readers. I just have a few New Year Resolutions for my blog and myself; things that I wasn't able to accomplish this year that I can in the future. Acquire a more diverse audience so my writing can reach large amounts of people. Improve myself as a writer and a blogger. Watch more anime! (Why wouldn't I?) Possibly finish my light novel. Become more involved in the a

Visual Novel: Katawa Shoujo (Disability Girls)

Image
Umm... Recently, I've become engrossed in an interesting visual novel by the name of Katawa Shoujo. (Also known as Disability Girls.) Unlike other visual novels, this one features girls who are all disabled in some way. ranging from somewhat common conditions, such as deafness or blindness; to other physical disabilities like lack of arms and legs, or skin disfigurations. Coming from my background, I've never really had much experience with visual novels; only delving in simple ones such as Phantom Seeds. However, I decided to pick this one up as a starting point. For those who aren't familiar with the series, here's a quick summary of the characters. Hisao Nakai (Above) - The main character, also known as you. He's the generic average guy until his heart problem changes his life. He's forced to attend Yamaku High School due to his condition. From left to right, Lilly Satou, Hanako Ikezawa, Rin Tezuka,  Shizune Hakamichi, Emi Ibarazaki Emi

A Few Blog Updates, Content Stolen

Image
Hello everyone, I've working under the hood with the blog again, and I've made a few noticeable changes. Hopefully, this makes the blog a bit more easy to navigate, as well as making the experience better for my viewers. Taking a look at the right sidebar, I've added a button to make it more convenient to follow me. I'm surprised that this went unnoticed for a while, but I've taken care of the problem.  First button at the top to follow. Another change I've made is to the comment system. I had no clue that comments required a verification code to comment. I think this is kind of silly, so it's removed for the time being. Anyone who wants to comment can do so now. On top of this I've cleaned up the title bar, by removing links that aren't really relevant anymore. As you can also tell from the picture above, the scroll bar has been fixed. The sidebar should not conflict with the scroll bar anymore. You can freely read posts without the

Tips for Anime/Manga/Light Novel Writers Who Cannot Draw

Image
As you may or may not know, I don't just run a blog, but I also write fiction in the form of light novels. Throughout my endeavors, I ran into a major problem. I have so many great character designs, but no artistic ability. So what to do if I want to put these ideas into concrete images? Well, there's a couple of options, some free, some not. I'll give you a quick list of the resources I use. Soul Calibur IV/V - Character Creation ~ About 20 dollars or less to buy It's not this in-depth, but you can even plan out concept art like this with pre-designed features in game. Sorry guys, no pictures of my customs for now. (PS3 is currently dead.) This is my main platform for visualizing my characters. I didn't buy either game for the purpose of doing it, but the great system is something that led to numerous characters. Although great, it's not without flaws. There were a few things that irked me when it came to customization. First, I'll sta

Japanese Music Spotlight #10 Special Edition~

Image
Hello everyone! We've finally reached number #10 in spotlights, so for this post I want to do a collaboration of ten awesome Japanese songs! Enjoy!

What Makes an Anime Good?

Image
What makes an anime good? Why do numerous anime receive high ratings, while others do not? Do ratings actually matter? Well, let me give you my opinion. Anime being good is relative to the viewer themselves. Yes, there may be certain codes or rules that people may follow when it comes anime. (We even have our friend My Anime List, when it comes to those types of things.) However, I feel anime is good if you enjoy it. People also seem to forget that no matter how much you dislike something, there's someone out there who feels the exact opposite. You shouldn't force someone to like an anime, or ridicule them for finding something enjoyable. How would you feel if the same happened to you? Aside from this, the problem continues on the other side of the coin. With popular anime generating hate from a large number of people. Whether it be the fans, the quality of the anime, or the fact that it's "popular" it will definitely get hate. Just because an anime is v

Before Halloweens Ends...My Computer Layout!

Image
Before we're completely done with Halloween, I'd like to display a bit of my computer. I took the time customizing almost everything about my computer for the holiday, with Miku as the focus. Enjoy! Desktop Folder Decoration Menu  Chrome Theme Resources Windows 7 Theme  My Chrome Theme App Chrome Picture Desktop Wallpaper

Gender and Anime: Tsunderes, Abuse, Slapstick Humor

Image
Today I want to discuss something a bit more serious in terms of anime. Before I start I would like to say that what I'm about to cover is my opinion, and I am in no way saying that you have to agree with me. Instead, I'd even encourage you to disagree as I'd love to hear other views on the subject! Now for the main story... I've been watching a lot of anime as of late, and I've seen a constant reoccurring pattern. We have the lead male and the lead female, who by the end of the series will obviously be involved romantically. Say the male sees something he shouldn't, maybe he accidentally touches the female in the wrong way, or whatever the reason. Whether his actions are by accident or purposeful, the female (usually) beats the daylights out of him. Sometimes this takes place with numerous verbal insults or comments happening during or outside of the beating. We all stand around and laugh whenever things like this happen, but for what reason? Is it real

Japanese Music Spotlight #9

Image
iTunes(R)Store: 中田ヤスタカ(capsule)プロデュースにより 8月17日(水)ミニアルバム「もしもし原宿」でデビュー!! "PONPONPON" performed by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, produced by Yasutaka Nakata (capsule). Debut mini album "Moshi Moshi Harajuku" (means "Hello Harajuku") 17th Aug. In Stores. More details (Japanese only) http://wmg.jp/kyary/

Bakemonogatari Thoughts

Image
I'm taking a little break from Suisei no Gargantia for the time being. Instead I'd like to focus on another anime by the name of Bakemonogatari. From what I've heard about the series, it is one of the best animes of it's time, receiving praise from numerous fans. Let's take a little look at the description from our friend Myanimelist. "The story centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who has recently survived a vampire attack, and finds himself mixed up with all kinds of apparitions: gods, ghosts, myths, and spirits." So here we have our protagonist Koyomi Araragi. He's a rather interesting character, yet he still shares traits of the generic hero. For example his constant want to help others reflects this. Although, in my opinion he stands out more than other characters in the series. Why? Well I'll go into detail about that later. My first impression on the first episode of the series, was utter confusion. I had

Nintendo Direct Live Stream Recap

Image
Good morning everyone! Today at 7 A.M. EST (4 A.M. PST) Nintendo recently live streamed a new edition of Pokemon Direct. For anyone who missed the live stream, it can be replayed now at the following link . So what new interesting and unique features did we see? Well, let's take a look shall we? From the beginning we see a short recap of the previous Pokemon games, ranging from red, blue, and yellow all the to Black 2 and White 2. It's a great way to show the evolution of Pokemon for people who have not had experience with the games. We're also reminded of the joys of Pokemon Box and My Pokemon Ranch, providing us with features to store our Pokemon outside of our game cartridges. However, who knew that these would lead to a new feature that surpasses all the others: Pokemon Bank. So what is this so called Pokemon Bank? Well, it's basically a storage system that allows you to store Pokemon online. There's no hassle in having to keep track of game cartri