Winter Anime 2017 Preview-A Subtle Finish for 2017

Hello everyone! This is my preview for the upcoming Winter anime 2017 which begin this January! (Some of the series synopsis are taken from other sources)

Nanatsu no Taizai-Imashime no Fukkatsu: Second Season of the hit manga about Seven former knights who are the most dangerous fugitives in the country fighting to uncover a giant conspiracy...

Overlord Season 2- 2nd season about Aniz Ooal Gown who is trapped in his own video game but is the most powerful demon king who has to balance being an evil overlord and trying to find a way to escape the game...

Violet Evergarden: This story is about a young girl, Violet Evergarden and how she connects people’s hearts as an Auto Memories Doll living at the turning point of a generation.

Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku: 29-year-old programmer Suzuki Ichirou finds himself transported into a fantasy RPG. Within the game, he's a 15-year-old named Satou. At first he thinks he's dreaming but his experiences seem very real. Due to a powerful ability he possesses with limited use, he ends up wiping out an army of lizard men and becomes a high leveled adventurer...

Fate/Extra-Last Encore: Based on the Fate Extra timeline of the same name which introduce Red Saber aka Nero Claudius- The Fifth Emperor of the Roman Empire

Grancrest Senki: Silka, a mage who scorns the Lords for abandoning their creed and a wandering knight named Theo who is on a journey to train to one day liberate his hometown which is under tyrannical rule joined together to free the lands...

Beatless: The humanoid android hiE became part of people's life and was handling the things human couldn't do. Arato who felt sympathetic for the androids was rescued by one hiE named Lacia after a strange event affected all android to go out of control...

Citrus: Yuzu's first day at school was horrible as the all-female school is very strict. Furthermore, the student head council is her new stepsister, Mei who Yuzu butt head with...

Dagashi Kashi Season 2: 2nd Season about Sweet crazed Hotaru trying to convince Kokonotsu in taking over his father's down and out sweet shop.

Darling in the FranXX: Children piloted giant robots called FranXX to battle an alien invasion.

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san: Nishikata has been teased by his classmate Takagi everyday until he got his revenge to make Nishikata embarrassed. However Nishikata has more plans to get back on him...

Koi wa Ameagari no You ni: A love story between Akira, a cool but subtle girl who has a crush on the manager who is an elderly man in her workplace...

Kokkoku: Juri Yukawa's brother and Nephew were kidnapped and Juri was given a special stone by her grandmother to stop time which she used it to her advantage however she is not the only person who has this power alone...

Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan Season 2: Season 2 of the wacky misadventures of Saiki who is a powerful ESP user but just want to led a normal life however his family and peers are a weird and crazy bunch that put him in all sort of crazy situations...

Killing Bites: Yuuya saved a human/animal hybrid named Hitomi who is a honey badger, a fearless creature and became his protector.

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens: A group of hitman played a cat and mouse game in a city full of crime and corruption.

Ryuuou no Oshigoto: The story is about a teenage boy who happens to be a shogi master. One day, a nine-year-old girl turns up at his house announcing that she will take him as her disciple..

Toji no Miko:  Those who wear uniforms and swords are called Toji who are officially called Tokubetsu Saishi Kitoutai (Special Ritual Maneuver Team). They are officially approved of wielding the swords by the government officials to combat evil demons invading our world...

Märchen Mädchen: Hazuki Kagimura love to go to the library and was sucked into another world where the characters of different fairytales and legends come together to study in a special school...

Cardcaptor Sakura-Clear Card-hen: After seventeen years, Cardcaptor Sakura returned as 14 year old Sakura continue her adventures in high school after an incident caused all her cards to lose her powers...

Yuru Camp: Nadeshiko tried to see Mt Fuji but got lost along the way. She was rescued by a camper, Rin and they began to learn about camping in the wild...

Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san: The mysterious transfer student Koizumi-san doesn’t get along with others very well but she’s actually a professional in Ramen and seeks out delicious Ramen every day.

Nanatsu no Bitoku: A spin off from the 7 Deadly Sins that came out a few months back which the focus are the seven virtues angels who came to Earth to find the "Messiah"

Takunomi: Michiru Amatsuki moved to Tokyo due to a change of career. She decided to live in a woman-only share house "Stella House Haruno" with people of different age and occupations.

Slow Start: Hana Ichinose is a normal 16-year-old high school student. However, there is something different about her: She enrolled in high school one year late! Her classmates are unaware of this, and Hana will have to work hard to catch up with everyone else.

Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho: This is the story of four girls who travel to the Antarctic further even than outer space.

Basilisk-Ouka Ninpouchou: Ten years has passed since the events of the first Basilisk and two star crossed lovers are caught in a crossfire between the Iga and Kouga Ninja war again...

Miira no Kaikata: Kashiwagi Sora received a parcel by his self-proclaimed "adventurer" father and out came a little mummy that it can fit in the palm of his hand!

Hakyuu Houshin Engi: A remake of the 90s anime of the same name. Taikobo, a young god has been tasked to defeat the evil demon fox, Dakki who has controlled the emperor of China and enslaving the people. Based on the Chinese story Fengshen Yanyi which is a prequel to Journey to the West.

Mitsuboshi Colors: The "Colors" are three cute little girls who hang out together in their world.

Yowamushi Pedal-Glory Line: Season 4 of the high speed cycling anime.

Hugtto Precure: The latest season as the focus is on Dreams and Ambitions with three new girls becoming the next Precure team.

Kaijuu Girls Season 2: The cute shows about the Ultra Monsters as cute little girls. (So the countdown begin for the upcoming Ultraman anime in 2019)

Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion: Hayato Hayasugi discovered his father has created a super robot called Shinkalion E5 Hayabusa and now used it to battle a mysterious alien invasion.

This season is kinda of a mixed bag. We have remakes like Houshin Engi and sequels like Cardcaptor Sakura and Basilisk which older fans will be expecting it. However the rest of the new shows are like the last hurrah before all the new shows in April 2018.

Of course, I will be doing Hugtto Precure which after seeing the screenshots of the new team, I kinda like it and hopefully they go back to physical attacks after two seasons of shooting lasers and whip cream on enemies. Furthermore, there are ongoing shows that have second cours like Black Clover, March come like a Lion, Garo, Time Bokan and Gintama which they finally heading to the final arc!

So what shows are you looking for this January? Until then, see you next month for the new season!

Let's Talk a Bit Ep 1: Ultraman

Hello 2016, everyone! I am starting a new series on my Youtube channel called Let's Talk a Bit that I will talk about some things about some of my favourites shows and series. The first one is one of my
favourite Childhood heroes-Ultraman!

My video and audio skills are not so good but I hope you will enjoy it!

Graphic Novel Review: ULTRAMAN Volume 1 (Retro Hero, New Concept)

Hello everyone! This is my review of ULTRAMAN the graphic novel volume one!

I am a big fan of Ultraman since I was a kid. I watched every series thank to the advent of Internet and with the coming of the 50th year anniversary approaching next year, Ultraman is still going strong despite tough competition from the other big two toku series-Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.

So what happen if you put Ultraman, Men In Black, X-Files, Teenage Drama and Iron Man's suit and blend them all in one? You get this manga-ULTRAMAN and I have one word to say-Awesome!

Synopsis: Years ago, Ultraman merged with Science Patrol member Shin Hayata and defended the Earth from all sort of Alien invasions. When Ultraman finally separated from Hayata and left Earth, he has no memories of him being Ultraman but decided to keep quiet about it. Soon, he got married, became the Minister of Defence and had a son, Shinjiro. However after a near freak accident which leave little Shinjiro unharmed, Hayata started to suspect something is wrong with his son and himself. As Shinjiro begin high school, he too suspected something was wrong with him but before he could find answers, an old enemy from the past attacked him and Hayata. Both Father and Son are thrown into a destiny they cannot escape any more...

If you watch one Ultraman series, you probably watched them all. Since the concept is similar with aliens invading Earth and Ultraman support team will investigate and the final act will be Ultraman battling a monster and save the day. This manga is not your father's Ultraman!

Here, the idea of what happened when an Ultra Being leave your body for good and you went back being a normal person? In the case of Hayata, he actually retained a small portion of Ultraman's powers. Named Ultraman Factor by his close friend and former comrade, Ide, Hayata somehow passed on to Shinjiro some of Ultraman's powers to him.

The first chapter is from Hayata's point of view as he tried to piece together the events before he became Ultraman and it was nostalgic to see how things went through during his time as Ultraman. The shocking twist was Hayata's former comrades in the Science Patrol already knew that Hayata was Ultraman but played dumb in order to protect him from government hands. Ide even mentioned that the Science Patrol still exist despite being a front for tourists to see the museum in the day. Ide later showed Hayata a recent airline disaster and revealed that aliens are already on Earth and the Science Patrol has covered the matter from the public. Hayata then decided to join Ide to take on the alien invaders.

The following chapters showed teenage Shinjiro as he could not explain his new powers to anyone. When he nearly killed a thug with his bare hands, he ran away from everyone however an alien named Bermular appeared and tried to kill him. Hayata appeared and tried to fight Bermular but was too weak and Shinjiro decided to help his father-Wearing a new Exo Suit created by Ide, Shinjiro became ULTRAMAN...

Shinjiro played the good natured teen with a sense of justice. However he could not control his strength and nearly killed a person which reveal his fear of hurting another human being. But when Bermular (who is the first monster that Ultraman faced in the original series) claimed that both Hayata and Shinjiro are ammonites and must be eliminated. The fight scenes were pretty hardcore detailing ULTRAMAN as acrobatic with his stylish moves and Bermular who fought with fury. Even the color timer on ULTRAMAN's suit bring a moment of nostalgic and his final attack- Specium Ray left me waiting for more.

But once the battle is over, more questions were revealed since who is Bermular and why Shinjiro and Hayata are marked for death? Furthermore, Ide and a mysterious Alien were beside Shinjiro's sick bed when he woke up. In the end, it is a great start for one of the most beloved Tokusatsu heroes of all time!

Overall, three and a half stars since it took four chapters for ULTRAMAN to get into action! But we are just getting started!

P.S: I actually started reading the Mandarin translated version of ULTRAMAN a while back and in this universe, Ultraman was the only Ultra Being that came to Earth. However we will be getting more characters from the original canon like a certain man whose name is Seven. Go out and get this book if you love Sci-Fi actions or a true Ultraman fan like I am! If you can read Japanese, there is actually a web comic in the Tsuburaya Channel on Youtube based on the first few chapters of this title and I will said this manga has the potential to be animated!

My review on J Stars Victory Vs on PS3!

When we are growing up reading comics or manga, we always talk to our peers or our self wondering who is better? Who is stronger? Who is smarter or so on. So J Stars Victory Vs came by and knock manga and anime fans alike to this crossover game featuring the most popular (and obsure) manga characters from Jump Comics.

As this is the 45th anniversary of Jump Comics, they decided to come up with a fighting game and they have fans vote through a website asking who they want to see in the game. Of course the big guns are there like One Piece, Dragonball Z, Naruto, Bleach and so on. The classic characters like Fist of the North Star, Saint Seiya, Dr Slump and Yu Yu Hakusho are a nice touch for nostalgic but there are also lesser known series like Lucky Man and Yamada Taro which people wonder why such characters are included.

There are all together 52 characters from 32 series in the game. 39 are playable while the remaining 13 acted as support characters. So do everyone play differently? As a matter of fact, yes! Some are faster like Arale or Hi-Ei who can do faster combos while slower characters like Goku, Toriko and Kenshiro take more time to master their combos.

The game consists of several modes-J Adventures which is basically story mode. Victory mode which is Arcade mode, Free battle where you can battle with a friend or cpu, J Custom where you place cards to create different attributes or advantages during battle, J Point Store where you buy new characters and items, Online mode and Gallery mode.

The story mode is where you pick one of the four main characters-Luffy from One Piece, Naruto from Naruto Shippuden, Toriko from Toriko series and Ichigo from Bleach. Once selected, you will navigate on a ship and go around the map finding new characters and quests to continue the story. Most of the time, you will reach a place and battle with a cpu team or accepting a side quest to gain points in order to get new characters or items.

The fighting system take a while to understand. First it is not button mashing and you are confirmed to a square arena to battle. If you rush into battle, chances are you will be defeated quickly as the cpu tend to do a lot of damage in the early minutes. The trick is actually playing defense and counter. This can be done with listening to a beep signal before the cpu begin it's attack. You then press R1 and the direction of the left analog stick to avoid it. If you master well, you won't even get a scratch when the battle ended.

But the fighting system also has flaws. One, the camera angle tend to go too close and sometime you can't see yourself or your opponents especially if you are facing a wall or being surrounded. Next, when a opponent suffered damages and get up, there is like a five second invulnerability that surround it and your combo can't continue. This means you have to fall back and wait for the opponent to end it's invulnerability which can cost some precious time as there is a time limit in every battle. Every character have 3 special attacks which can be activated by pressing the circle button plus analog or R1 button like Super Smash Brothers. But sometime you can accidentally press the Up left analog and circle button causing a special attack which you do not wish to perform and this can be disaster if an opponent take advantage of it.

All characters have a stamina bar and you can recharge it with R1 and X button together. But the problem is R1 is also the guard button and if you press too fast, your character remind in a guard position. The victory burst is basically your ultimate attack and you perform it when the victory volt gauge actually move to the left or right and it signal the R3 button to appear. When that happen, your character will have a short time to activate their ultimate attack like Goku's Spirit Bomb but some characters will get additional power ups like Seiya's Sagittarius armor and the ability to use the golden arrow before the time run out.

However some characters like Bleach's Ichigo who use his Final Getsuka Tenshou will lose a life or Yusuke from Yuyu Hakusho if he get defeated during the cpu's victory burst mode will become Majin Yusuke but will lose a life once his time limit run out. Goku and Kenshiro although fun to use but surpisngly I find myself laughing away whenever Bobobo or Gintoki used their attacks and their combos are much easily to perform than the usual popular characters.

I didn't play much on Victory Road as it is basically selected a team of three and battle with other random characters. I didn't try the online battle due to my bad Internet connection. The J point shop was a bit complicated as you don't buy characters based on the point system but rather the Friendship gauge on the right hand corner of the screen. The higher the gauge, you will be awarded with tickets and together with the right amount of points, you then can buy your characters that can be used during Victory Road or Free Battle. This make things more harder to get since you will be wondering whether you are awarded with the tickets or not.

If you are a fan of your favourite Jump characters, this game is for you but if you want a good or at least an interesting fighting game, this might hold you back a bit. I get it what Bandai Namco is trying to do with the licences but if only the fighting system isn't that annoying, it could be a great game.

Pros:

-Every characters is unique and sometime funny in their execution of special attacks.

-Interaction between different series is interesting.

Cons:

-Camera Angle is bad especially close up.

-Buying characters is annoying.

-Story mode felt like a chore and wish could be more faster.

-No option menu to change difficult setting or controller.

-Last Boss is not really a last boss.

Final Verdict: 7/10 (If you are a fan of Jump Comics) 6/10 (If you know nuts about all these characters and the fighting system is annoying)

DIGI NEWS: Super Robots Wars UX, Macross 30 and Project Versus J

We have three big new titles for the first half of 2013! First Super Robots Wars UX will be in Nintendo 3DS and the line up is probably the most strangest line up this time around. We have DemonBane, Wing of Rean, Mazinkaiser SKL, Gundam 00 the movie, Heroman, SD Gundam Brave Battlers Warriors, Linebarrels of Iron and Hatsune Miku in a Virtual-ON Fei Yen?

So the big three characters-Nu Gundam, Mazinger and Getta are taking a back seat which is not a bad thing but seriously who want to see Gundam Seed Destiny and Dancougar Nova again? Anyway the graphics look similar to the Nintendo DS counterpart although there will be voices and animation cut-in scenes which is a good thing. It will be out March 14 2013 on Nintendo 3DS.

Next year is Macross 30th anniversary and to celebrate the occasion, a new PS3 game titled Macross 30 will united all the characters from every series in a dream battle on a strange alien world (Think Another Century Episode R but with only the Macross series)

Not just that, there will be new Valkyies jets to pilot on and an original story which will explain why the characters are brought here. I am surprised that Mari Iijima who did Lynn Mynmei returned to join the cast although I don't see Roy Fooker's seiyuu-The Great Kamiya Akira reprising his role.

The game will be out Feburary 28 2013 on PS3.

Also celebrating will be Shouen Jump Magzine which turns 45 year old next year! They also will be doing a special crossover fighting game titled Project Versus J. The screenshots show Goku, Luffy and Toriko battling it out.

Shouen Jump has already started a polling contest for fans as they want to know who they want to be in this game. It doesn't matter if the character is a male or female or is not a fighter type. For me, I want Gintoki, Sabea Ryo, Kenshiro, Seiya and the entire female cast of To Love Ru! If they bring back Ayukawa Madoka from Orange Road, my life is complete! (Yeah, I am a old school lover!)

No date has been announced but it will be out on the PS3 and PS Vita! So Western fans who couldn't play Jump Super Stars or Ultimate Stars will be rejoin for this new game!

Ranma Live Action TV special!? (Where is P-Chan?)

As most of you might already know, TV Asahi will be broadcasting the live action movie of Ranma 1/2. We seen this before. Hollywood has tried with Dragonball which failed miserably. TV has Detective Conan which is too close to Kindachi. Now they are trying with Ranma who in actual sense is impossible to do it in a live action setting and on the small screen with a smaller budget?

I don't know what to say. I mean did you see what they did to Hayate no Gotoku? They turned Hayate to be a Bishouen and Nagi look like a teenager girl than a loli. Oh god, what is wrong with TV this day?

Never mind, I will watch it if given the chance and had my verdict about it. Judging from the poster, I can say that Akane look normal, Male Ranma look all right, Female Ranma is a hottie. Kasumi look simple enough though I rather have Takane Rie doing her. (Wishful thinking!) Nabiki look like a slut. Genma's panda form look terrible. The rest of the characters like Kuno and Tofu is a hit or miss to me. The only characters that I really want to see is Shampoo, Ukyo and P-Chan. But I can't imagine how can it be accomplished...

Ranma will be shown on 9 December in Japan TV station.

Ranma 1/2 OVA 2008- Akumu! Shumin Kou!

Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it today! I happen to watch this OVA of Ranma 1/2 which I didn't know it was out for 2 years! Anyway it is like seeing old friends again during the screening. Basically it is for Shouen Sunday 50 years anniversary which Takahashi Rumiko's 3 works-Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura and Inuyasha were given 3 OVA to commemorate the anniversary.

Ranma 1/2 is the works that I am most familiar with so I am going to review this OVA.

The story is basically like an episode from the TV series. Happosai created a incense that can make people sleep till the end of Spring. He tried to use it on Ranma after he foiled his plans but instead Akane caught it and fell into a deep sleep. Akane began to have nightmares and dreams but in reality, she become a sleep walking of destruction-destroying anything in her path. Ranma and friends tried all means to wake her up and all it took was a Good Morning call from Kasumi to wake her up.

Watching it make me feel nostalgic and using new artwork and cells make it more good. The entire cast is back minus Suzuoki Hirotaka who play Kuno Tatewaki which he passed away in 2006. Tsujitani Koji replaced him however he play a less dramatic Kuno and I keep thinking of Miroku of Inuyasha which he is in. Sakuma Rei and Tsuru Hiromi were great reprising their roles as Shampoo and Ukyo who are my favourite heroines in the show. Yamaguchi Kappei and Hayashibara Megumi are still good as both Male and Female Ranma doing what they have been doing in the TV series.

Overall it was fun watching it and ever though Ranma 1/2 ended in 1996. It was the time when Anime are good and even some people will call it a Harem anime by today's standard, it had more to offer it and not every female characters go gaga over Ranma. The show was unique with it's large cast and the point that you can have a male and female character playing the title role make it stand out. I doubt (Hopefully) that Rumiko Sensei will do a sequel given that she is focusing on Rin-En and Inuyasha has become her longest manga up to date. The manga didn't do justice giving an open ending but hopefully she can close the story with a satisfied ending.