Favorite Anime of 2013

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 Gargantia also features fantastic character design. We have Amy and Ledo, who are near total opposites; a cheerful girl from the sea and a mindless warrior from the stars. Their physical appearance and personalities represent each of the respective environments, and personify a clash between the two. However, as different as they may be, they both warm up to each other and learn to support one another.

With it's spectacular story and character design, the beautiful animation is just the icing on the cake. I'm looking forward to season two!

Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!

Yeah, this anime may seem like an excuse for fanservice, but it's much more than that. Outside of that fact, I also enjoyed this series? Why? Well, simply because it got me interested in a new type of sport, wrestling. Allow me to explain.

When one thinks of wrestling, we remember people jumping from large heights, fake fights, and poor acting. It seems like  a sport completely for dummies. However, this anime shows us that there's more to wrestling than that. We see numerous tactics, the intense training, the mind games between the two opponents, and the struggles the competitors face. This is how REAL wrestling is done. Not the fake acting you see on TV. 

Aside from breaking the wrestling stereotype, Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai makes a huge statement. You can be kawaii and strong! Yes, that may sound like a mediocre moral, but it's true. When we look at people like pop idols, some may think they're brainless airheads that only dance around. Following Suisei no Gargantia, this anime shows that you shouldn't count out someone based on their occupation or looks. They may in fact become the strongest in the world. 

Kill la Kill

A female main character? One that grows stronger by the use of fanservice? What is this? One of the reasons why I enjoyed Kill la Kill so much is due to Ryuuko. In my opinion she's quite an amazing character differing from the normal female stereotypes such as: weak, healer, and damsel in distress. She doesn't take any garbage from anyone and actually fights on the frontlines while holding her own. Not to say that a more feminine character is any less, but it's pretty nice to see one that isn't.

What else can I say about the anime? The comedy is alright, but it's not my type of humor. I like the action in the anime, as in it's extremely over the top so you won't get bored. The biggest plus I can think of is the fact that the story doesn't drag or slow down at any point. Each episode gets straight to the point, moving from one scene to the next. That's a rare find nowadays.

Golden Time

Can anyone keep up with this girl? No one, except Tada Banri. 

For the last of my favorites, Golden Time. I was instantly drawn to this anime, because it was one of the first ones I've seen focused on college students. However, when I started watching, it didn't turn out how I expected. On Koko's first appearance in the anime, I was almost turned off. I figured she was going to be another one of those annoying anime girls who would ruin the series for me. However, as I kept watching I grew to like her. While she may not seem like it, she's actually a pretty deep character.

Aside from her, the anime was pretty nice and accurate representation of college life...or so I thought. Throughout the anime there is almost no work or class shown, just miscellaneous events and clubs thrown throughout the show. I'm not quite sure if college is this way in Japan, or if they refused to include that portion of  life due to dullness. Especially since they're law school students.

Still, the lack of an accurate representation doesn't make the anime less interesting. It displays real life situations that come up in college. Meeting old friends from other schools, past memories emerging, new love, risks and dangers, and more. All of these are examples of real life situations that are very common. I'm looking forward to the end of this anime.

All in all, 2013 was a great year in terms of anime. I watched a few others, but these were my favorite. Hopefully you all enjoyed the anime this year as well!

Blogging: New Year Resolutions

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 anime community.
• Acquire the software/technology to begin recording gameplay footage, visual novels, etc.
• Start up my YouTube channel and get things rolling. 
• Add something new and unique to my blog.

That's pretty much the master list of things I'd like to accomplish in 2014. Most of them I'm sure I can at least start, but perfecting is a different story.

 The most challenging I think is adding something new and unique. Right now I focus on Japanese music spotlights, a midst writing editorials on anime. I also throw in a few reviews every now and then, but everyone can do things like that. The goal of my blog is to be unique. So I need to find something that not everyone else does, but still something that would be interesting to others. If anyone has any ideas on this matter please let me know!

Also I need your help. Yes, my readers. If you can offer any constructive criticism that may be beneficial, please do so.

I think that pretty much wraps this up. You can look forward to more anime editorials, gaming, news updates, visual novels, and more in the future. Like it's namesake, Shooting Star Dreamer is shooting for the stars! Thank you for staying with me for this long, and please continue to do so.

Have a happy new year!

Visual Novel: Katawa Shoujo (Disability Girls)

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 Ibarazaki - A short statured, cheerful girl who has prosthetic legs. Is very athletic, and is always running around. Friends with Rin.

Shizune Hakamichi - Class representative, and deaf/mute. Also part of the student council. Speaks with sign language, with the help of Misha.

Rin Tezuka - The "oddball." Has no arms, therefore wears a boys uniform and uses her feet to perform tasks.

Hanako Ikezawa - Shy and a bookworm. Burn victim, uses her hair to hide some of her scaring. Friends with Lilly.

Lilly Satou - Blind, and class representative for the blind/troubled vision class. Tall and ladylike, giving off motherly vibes.

Through the main character's interaction with these girls, he learns to become more comfortable with his  unfamiliar surroundings. As the story progresses the disabilities become a thing of the past, and relationships emerge.

My Thoughts

As I began to play, this visual novel became one of my favorites. I love the fact that the characters are so diverse, and differ from the norm. Anime characters are usually drawn to be perfect in a sense, so seeing characters that are blind, deaf, and missing limbs is quite the rare sight. One would think that such a disability would take away from the character, making development limited or lackluster. However, each character shines in such a way that one could completely disregard their disabilities. In fact, the characters grow by examining their own flaws, and making up for them in unorthodox ways.

The artwork may not seem as defined as anime, but it is very high quality for a free visual novel. The series features fully animated cutscenes as well as beautiful images illustrating the most important events in full form. The helpful screenshot button allows anyone to make their own screencaps of their favorite moments.

While there is no form of voice of the characters, this can either be seen as a hit or a miss. If you're an auditory person you may find it up to keep yourself involved in the story, as reading may become tiresome. Experiencing Katawa Shoujo without the mere voice can also be an added benefit, as voices may not always fit as well as they should. For light readers or those who do not have an English first language, the game is available in others such as French, German, and Japanese.

The story itself is well written, allowing a decent amount of input from the player in order to determine the turn of events. However, I feel that in some parts of the story, putting the decision making in the hand of the player would've been more beneficial, yet this is just a minor complaint.

The story also features healthy doses of comedy, which help lighten the mood despite the health conditions present, ranging from Emi's constant clumsiness, Kenji's rants on feminism (Hisao's neighbor.), to Lilly's impishness.

The game also leaves the player with a good message, as the viewer soon sees each character's disabilities as something that could be considered "normal." I feel this is important in today's society, as disabilities shown in the game exist, and people who are disabled should not be mocked or disrespected. Instead, they should be treated like the rest of us as human beings. Katawa Shoujo seems to push this message to the audience.

While the series being oddly unique may turn away people, it is worth a chance. It's free to download and can be found at it's official website.

I encourage anyone reading to give it a try!

A Few Blog Updates, Content Stolen

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 annoying pop up.  

Now for a somewhat negative update....it seems that someone has taken my blog content. A website known as feedspot.com. I never requested for my blog to be posted on their website and they have taken all of posts; pictures included. 

I would just like anyone who is following my blog on feedspot to please don't. Their website is not promoting my blog in any way, but only making money for them. If you're reading this via feedspot, please click this link shootingstardeamer.blogspot.com. Please follow my real blog! Also, I'm not sure what's being shown and what's not on feedspot. So I'm posting my name here: Rekari Ryuusei. 

I repeat, feedspot, never received in permission from me in regards to posting my content. If you are following me on that website please come to my own, shootingstardreamer.blogspot.com, you can find me by my writing name Rekari Ryuusei. 

Thank you!

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

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 start with Soul Calibur IV. I like Soul Calibur IV's system, because it has good qualities that were removed with the sequel. The first I can think of is the voice system. When creating a custom character, you select voices from a list to accommodate your character. By adjusting a slider you can make the chosen voice higher and lower. This was done very well in IV as despite the highness or lowness of the voice, as it still sounded natural. While you could not do as much with the character's body in the game, the other features: weapon availability, outfits, numerous colours; prove to be useful.

However in Soul Calibur V the voice system was changed. Now voices can be customized by both pitch and tone, as well as malfestation for that freaky monster voice. Sounds like it was a great idea right? Well, it wasn't. The voices end up being robotic sounding depending on how high or low you set them. So while the amount of customization you could do to your character's appearance increased, the icing on the cake slipped through the cracks. However, SCV is still a good game for character creation.

Phantasy Star Online 2 ~ Free, but somewhat troublesome

Phantasy Star Online 2 offers beautiful graphics and vast worlds for combat and exploration. The perfect setting for a writer. One problem, the game doesn't have an english release yet. However, there's no worry. You can download an english patch easily, but the whole setup and updating might be confusing for those who aren't that tech savvy.

Still there is an alternative. PSO2 has it's own character creator separate from the game. You can download it here.

The character creation system let's the player customize nearly everything about their character. From ears, to eyes, to lip shape, you can make your ideal image. For an indepth guide, click here.

Deviant ~ Free or Not

Last but not least, deviantart. Deviantart has a pretty large database of character creators, which are pretty nice if you want to play around. However, some aren't very good and others you'll find are a bit limited. Still, it's better than nothing.

If character creators aren't really your thing, you can always contact artists that draw in a style that suits your fancy. They will usually requests a form of pay for creating your character, but nothing outrageous. 

What happens if you don't want to take either route? Well, you can always learn how to create characters yourself through artwork and online programs. Deviantart is not only a great place for displaying artwork, but a good medium for learning. 

Hopefully these tips are helpful for aspiring writers! 

Japanese Music Spotlight #10 Special Edition~

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?

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 viewed by many doesn't make it bad, it's popular for a reason. An example of such would be Naruto. Yes, some of the fans may not be the best people in the world, and the anime is extremely popular, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying it.

For some reason, I just can't seem to understand this part of anime. Why do we criticize different animes? Why do we turn to reviewers to form opinions for us?

Imagine viewing artwork at a museum. There are some that give you the background of an artist, and a description of the art, providing the exact meaning behind the details and symbols. So what's wrong about this?

Well, by reading and accepting this, you lose the power to form your own opinion about things. They already told you what the artist meant behind the painting and it's history. So you already know what to expect. You can't look at the artwork and say "wow, this could symbolize this, and that!" Which is what I believe artwork should be, something that can be interpreted in different ways by a variety of people.

What does this say to you?

The same applies to anime. By immersing ourselves in countless reviews and such, we lose our opinion on the subject. It's good to listen to criticism, but you have to remember that you, the viewer, also have a voice. This is the major reason why I don't like to do reviews on my blog. Also, it's the reason why I don't believe in rating things with numbers. It's all just my opinion, why should I force it on someone else? I'll examine anime and tell you how much I've enjoyed it, analyze the plot, and such, but never give a solid rating. Why? I don't think anime is something you can just rate. Nothing is definite when it comes to anime, as it's still a form of art after all.

So my advice, don't lose your voice! Like what you want to like, regardless of what people say. Determine what anime is good and what isn't by your own standards, but be respectful of other's opinions.

I'd also like to hear from others and their reasoning behind thinking an anime is good or not. You may agree, you may not, but let your voice be heard!

Before Halloweens Ends...My Computer Layout!

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

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 really funny seeing a guy getting beat up by a girl just because he accidentally did or said something he shouldn't have? Why resort to violence?

There's even figma of this.

If we flip the situation, with the male hitting the female in any sort of way it's wrong. The male is labeled as a woman beater, and people criticize the person. The anime is then shoved off as "wrong" because of male on female violence. Yet, in terms of satire, a number of our population also finds this funny. Afterall it's so much fun to torture and physically abuse a girl.

Wrong....it's not right, because women are weak and fragile. After all, that's what society seems to claim.

However, I don't believe that is the reason why both forms of violence is not right. Some women may be weak and fragile, some may be proud and strong. The same applies to males, and is true for either gender. Yet, when one thinks of a man, they think of the manliness. Having large amounts of strength, acting in an aggressive manner, and becoming "tough" equates to being a man. Whereas a woman is required to be passive, and dependent even. They are not complete without a man. They cannot be strong on their own. Again, this is how society speaks.

Should we listen to the general voice of society? I think not. Anime tries to solve that problem with making their woman somewhat violent and aggressive. However, I still don't think this solves the dilemma. Instead, this only leads to more in the future. Looking back at beating and violence among anime characters, it's obvious that males are getting the shorter stick. They're used as punching bags, and are expected to take punishment from females without a care, because it's wrong to retaliate. This is one of the very aspects that turned me off from Bakemonogatari. What is the point of violence if it's repetitive and proves nothing to the story other than allowing the audience to enjoy vicious beatings of a character? Is that really humorous? What if you were in that situation? What is so great about watching a person suffer?

Yes, this post is about anime...but I feel that we find this sort of thing in real life as well. For example, people fall down due to some sort of accident. (Slipping, tripping, etc) People point and laugh. They find the person's suffering to be funny. The same goes in terms of bullying, embarrassment of others, physical pain and emotional suffering is enjoyable to others. Even though I'm relating this to anime, I don't think it necessarily has to do with animation. I feel it traces further into the depths of humor. Back to something known as slapstick comedy.

Free Dictionary describes slapstick as:

A boisterous form of comedy marked by chases, collisions, and crude practical jokes.

That explains a lot of the laughs that are brought on by suffering. Then again this is just a definition, it isn't comparable to human opinion.

Therefore I took another approach. I wanted to learn more about the opinions of other's on this topic so I did a little bit of research....and the results were pretty divided.

A few of the numerous comments on questions dealing with gender roles in anime, and physical abuse/slapstick against someone of the opposite rate. (Usually Female against Male.)

"I just love seeing their suffering."

"Its funny most of the time but sometimes its overdone and gets a bit annoying."

"This kind of relation appeared in anime repeatedly...
Why? This is needed to keep the anime continuous. This will be a good idea to keep the relation between the two unstable. If the two become steady, or irrecoverably heartbroken on the contrary, the anime will end."

"...but he doesn't get beat up 1000x by the same girl. Nor does he do insanely amazing things for a girl for years and years on end only to have her keep beating him up and treating him like garbage..."

These were all taken from different sources and people. It's interesting to see that people are divided on the subject at hand.

Even girl on girl abuse is present.

In my opinion, I feel that yes it's a way to continue the anime, but not a good way. If your only interest in the anime is making it sell then sure go for it. Majority of our population will appreciate it, and it will sell. However, will it well liked by everyone and appreciated? The answer to question might differ based on the actual contents of the series.

 I feel that the beating, bullying, or any form of attack on someone isn't really good. Sure, in fighting anime I can understand violence. That's the point of the show to be violent, but in the realm of slice of life where Tsunderes roam free, and male main characters are subject to their conflicting words and actions and abuse, it isn't okay. I'm not saying that males are the victims, they're just subject to this kind of treatment more often.


I don't think it's funny anymore, and for me it was never really hilarious from the start. Regardless of the gender or circumstances, it's just not okay. Male on female violence is already considered wrong, but the reverse should be grouped in the same category.

"Guys are tough so they can take it!" What kind of thinking is that? We're not in the past anymore where gender decided your life. We're in the 21st century, where we (attempt to) promote equality.

It's a double-standard, it's something that's carried through tradition and history, but that doesn't mean we have to accept that. Just because anime is not generally directed at the western audience doesn't mean we shouldn't care. By letting things slide by, we allow more to continue. While we may be a small fraction of viewers compared to the Asian audience, our voice still counts.

I feel we deserve better than the generic "girl hits male, male does nothing, but creates comic relief." We should have more diverse characters than the violent and conflicting tsundere. We deserve more intelligent humor than the simple-minded slapstick. We deserve change.

Japanese Music Spotlight #9

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

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 no clue what was going on from the first episode, and nothing seemed to make sense. The anime starts off in a dim scenery, and we just see a brief conversations between two classmates, Araragi and Hanekawa. Shortly after, we skip to Araragi encountering a girl by the name of Senjougahara. They converse a bit, about who knows what and staples Araragi out of nowhere. However, Araragi easily recovers from the wound due to his ability to heal from fatal wounds. The story progress from there on.

To avoid spoilers, the story doesn't really change much from there. Each character has their own "story arc" and Araragi usually gets the daylights beat out of him. The girls are then turned back to normal, and the next girl requiring assistance appears. The story doesn't change much from there.

When I first watched the anime, I was assuming that this was just temporary; I didn't expect the story to continue on this path. Yet to my disappointment it did. In between the major points of each episode there are sections ranging from miniscule conversations to witty jokes and puns. However the conversations are not even fully done in terms of artwork, they range from still shots of the character in certain unflattering ways, to blank scenes and objects that have nothing to do with what's going on. I understand the anime's want to instill the fact that there was a certain meaning in these techniques, but in my opinion they are overused. Sure, having something like that once in a while would be fine, but throughout the whole series? I feel that doesn't not make the series different or unique, but just redundant.

While watching I tried to relate and like the characters, but it was hard for me to do so. We have a wide range of girls, who fulfill the generic stereotypes; the mischievous loli, innocent loli, tsundere, sporty girl, intelligent glasses wearing girl. I feel that these characters could have been written better. Araragi is unique to me due to his way of going about things, he's a vampire, but refrains from using violence. He's a nice guy, but still has a sense of perversion. He's not the perfect person, he still has flaws.

The series worsened towards the end, as Nadeko's character arc felt rushed and incomplete, and was less fulfilling as the previous ones. The ending was okay, but I was somewhat left with a bittersweet feeling, as if I was slightly happy for it to end, and was emotionally unattached to the characters.

The weird camera angles and odd objects made my head hurt. Araragi's constant beatings present throughout the whole anime were  big turnoffs, especially when they became gory and heavily animated. Not only this, the fact that he wouldn't fight back was also pretty annoying.

To sum things up, while the anime was going for eccentricity and such, I feel it tried too hard. Not only that, it tried to cover up it's flaws with the unusualness. I can understand how people would like the anime, however I'm not one of those people. In my opinion, it wasn't a good anime. It has appeal and is liked, but I don't think it should be considered good. It's just average, as there's a lot that could be improved. I really wanted to like the series, and I tried to enjoy it, but it just didn't click with me like others do.

Nintendo Direct Live Stream Recap

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 cartridges and handheld systems when all your Pokemon are being safely stored elsewhere. It allows you to store your Pokemon in cloud storage for a set price.  The Bank grants storage of 100 boxes, with leads to a outstanding storage of 3,000 Pokemon.

Aside from the outstanding news of Pokemon Bank, we were also shown the mega evolutions of the original three starters, Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur. We were also informed of a device called a Mega Ring.

A midst these many announcements we have learned that the 3DS bundle is coming to America, and will apparently be available as early as September 27.

What do these changes mean for the future of pokemon?