Review: The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

I literally just got home from the movie, so I better start blogging it up while its all fresh in my head.

Okay so plot wise, we're looking at what seems to be another romp through North High, with the SOS Brigade planning their Christmas party. Haruhi fans feel right at home as soon as Kyon begins his sarcastic barrage with Ms. Suzumiya. Just when our narrator thinks he's going to be dragged into another outlandish scenario courtesy of the brigade chief, something strange occurs. Kyon arrives at school the following day noticing that the seat behind him is vacant. As he asks his classmates around him where Haruhi is, they reply "Haruhi who?" The tension only escalates as the student who is occupying the seat behind Kyon is none other than, Asakura Ryouko. The film only gets stranger from there. Soon parts of season one and two tie into the story and we begin to unravel the mystery behind the literal disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

This is where the film delivers it's biggest drawback: the references. In order to enjoy this movie in its entirety, and appreciate the madness that Kyon is going through, the audience must be familiar with the source material (be it the light novels or anime). There's no way that you could show a Haruhi neophyte this film and expect him/her to have a great time with the movie. They'd be just as lost as Kyon! Characters constantly reference past (or future) events, and a great handful of the jokes are only laughable if their knowledge of the film extends to previous story arcs.

Despite that major flaw, the film looks gorgeous. The backdrops look almost photographic, and the movement of the characters are fluid. There is some use of CG here and there, but it's well integrated into the film that it doesn't detract from the overall experience. The voice acting is done by the original cast, and sound superb in their roles. The performance of Yuki Nagato's voice actress, Minori Chihara , was simply sublime in this film and needs to be recognized. Without giving anything away, just know that Yuki truly shines in this movie and basically steals the spotlight off Mikuru and Haruhi.

So what's the final verdict? The film is a great supplemental story for existing Haruhi fans to rave over. Past story arcs are weaved in, and new ones are alluded to by the time the credits roll. If you enjoyed both seasons of Haruhi Suzumiya, then by all means you must watch this film! And to the individuals who have yet to experience "Haruhism", get cracking on both season 1 and season 2 of this series because this movie will only make you as confused as a guy who has to put up with an alien, esper, and time traveler.

4 DKT's and 1 sniffle out of 5.

Today...a Podcast is born!

A Link to our Feedburner

So me and my good friend Gian started up an anime podcast. Because this is our first forray into this medium it takes a while for us to get a groove going. I tend to say "uh" a whole lot and almost to the point where I wanted to hit myself. Towards the middle I start to find a rhythm and begin to start pretty spiffy.

I'll be posting updates on the podcast on my blog and also on the main site for the show over at:

Bright Slap

Any and all feedback is much appreciated, and for the record we are aware of the pretty poor quality microphone and just screening the podcast earlier this evening I wanted to "Bright Slap" myself for saying "Uh" numerous times. Overall, I enjoy our finished product and like all great animes it can only get better from here (despite our rocky start).

Support us by listening to the blog and giving feedback!

The One That Got Away

The year was 2007 and the place...AnimeExpo. I was walking alongside the dealer's room, 200 dollars in cold hard cash waiting to be distributed amongst the various vendors that set up shop in these hallowed halls. I thought of 1/6 scale figures and a few gashapons that were just waiting to be blind bought. As I traverse the vast sea of rabid otaku, I spot a booth nestled in the far corners of the hall. This is where I saw her for the first time...and the last.

Sitting above the top shelf of the convention hall sat a box, its clear plastic sheet revealing a damsel in distress. Upon further inspection, I let out a huge gasp and walk closer to the object. It was an authentic 1/1 scale Midori hand puppet from the series Midori no Hibi (Midori Days). I had just finished the series recently and was surfing online for merchandise from this underrated series. I ease my hand into my back pocket, ready to purchase the object until I saw the white sheet of paper plastered on the box reading "$200."

All the money I had allocated to purchasing at that year's convention would amount to a single hand puppet. I thought it would be a foolish purchase, that the amount of money required to obtain that treasure is far too great. So I settled on returning for that item if I did not come across any other goodie that I wanted.



Flash forward to today, and here I am with a pile of figures and nick-nacks almost forgetting where I obtained each one. I have no clue what I used that 200 dollars on three years ago, but I most certainly regret not biting the bullet and purchasing Midori. Each year I go to AX hoping to find that fabled booth, praying that fellow fans had the same mentality that I had back then and passing up on an extremely rare artifact. I set aside two hundred dollars every year at AnimeExpo with a faint hope that one day she'll be resting on that top shelf. And if I do see her, without any hesitation, the two Benjamins in my wallet will be dropped and I will carry her home telling my new trinket "Thank you for waiting for me."

Mega Man The Movie Review: Rock and Roll Edition!

Okay, in case some of you were wondering whether or not I'm talking about a Mega Man movie that's been produced by a major motion picture studio...you're wrong. This is a film made by fans for the fans, written and directed by Eddie LeBron. A trailer for the movie popped up around the internet a while back and now the masses can enjoy the finished project...for FREE!

The story chronicles the beginnings of our favorite Blue Bomber. Doctor Thomas Light creates a line of robots, designed to help improve the quality of life for humanity. He also has developed an android named Roll, who feels and looks like an actual human being. Let's set aside why people would need a robot that spouts out bombs (I suppose demolition) and focus on the good intentions of our lovely Doctor. Light's colleague Doctor Albert Wiley has other plans for the bots, plans of the world domination kind. Light dismisses Wiley when he plans to create a brand new android, fueling Wiley's jealousy and anger. Thomas Light successfully creates Rock, a humanoid robot with no sense of purpose in life other than to play the role of a son to Dr. Light and brother to Roll. When Wiley takes control of Light's robots and begins wrecking havoc on the city, Rock volunteers to put a stop to the madness. Light equips his creation with a weapons system and battle armor, transforming him into Mega Man!

I don't want to spoil too much of the plot to everyone, but just know that if you have played one Mega Man game then you know what you're in for. Since this is an independent film, don't expect stellar performances or top of the line special effects. Anyone who has no clue who or what Mega Man is will have little to no appreciation for the film.



On the other hand, since this film was made by fans, then there's barely anything to gripe about with this movie. Eddie LeBron, who wrote and directed this project, attempts to put a narrative into a franchise that has little to no story at all (okay the X series had a massive backstory but we're talking about pre-X Mega Man). If a live-action Mega Man movie ever came into fruition, this is probably the best we'll ever get without anyone in Hollywood tainting the storyline to reach a wider audience. I love what they did with Mega Man's search for meaning in his life and confess that I was a little giddy when a certain "big brother" makes a guest appearance in the film, complete with awesome yellow scarf.

If you have 90 minutes to spare, check out the movie. Don't grade it so harshly on it's low budget but applaud the people that took the time and effort to produce a film for fanboys and fangirls that spent their Saturdays frustrated at how difficult this Nintendo game was. I want more films like this to be made, crossing my fingers for a Punch-Out film! I can't give this a proper rating of Dark Knight Tears because this was clearly made out of love and not to produce a profit, plus its FREE! I love things that are free, and I enjoy the childhood memories I have of Mega Man blistering my thumbs so a rating would be extremely biased.

Check out the Movie at:

Mega Man: The Movie

The 7 Day Boy Hop

Every week I will go through each Weekly Shonen Jump title (with the exception of Fullmetal Alchemist) that I am currently reading and give my opinion of this week's chapter along with my predictions for next week. So I will say this once, and only once:

SPOILER ALERT: This post may not be suitable for people who have not caught up in Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, and any other manga titles that will be discussed in the following paragraphs. If you value your innocence, close your browser now.



One Piece: A Luffy and Ace flashback arc...this was certainly unexpected. After the death of Whitebeard and the reality that One Piece exists, the gears have certainly shifted with these recent chapters. Now don't get me wrong, these are neat and insightful scenes into Luffy's past, being the main character of the series I feel that I know the rest of the Straw Hat's way better than the captain.

Seriously though, One Piece feels like anime's version of Lost. I fell in love with the series, with the CP9 arc being my favorite storyline. Recently though, I've been wondering...what the heck is going on? The crew is STILL missing and the last arc went on for way too long, at least for my tastes. At this point, I'm just reading One Piece out of obligation. I watched the 1st season of Lost and thought it was brilliant! I never continued my venture into that mysterious island, but my friends tell me to save myself the trouble and avoid the rest of the series.

Next Week's Forecast: Ace will save Luffy and we'll see what exactly is going to happen to all that money Ace has been saving up. My prediction is that his friend will betray him.



Bleach: So Aizen gets rocked by Urahara. Half of the chapter was Kido chanting, ending with two big explosions. At this point, everyone knows this is not the way Aizen is going to go down. Dying by his OWN reitsu? Urahara didn't even use his Bankai yet, so obviously Aizen will come out of the smoke unscathed.

Bleach has turned into a guilty pleasure for me. I'm strangely attracted to the fight scenes and power-ups in Bleach, but the story is so bland as of late. As much as I love my Shonen-style tournament arcs, current fights in Bleach are literally moving 5-10 minutes in time per chapter. I think Aizen has been developed as too much of an "uber" villian that the only way he could be defeated is through some ridiculous power-up by a character (Ichigo).

Next Week's Forecast: Aizen will walk out of that puff of smoke only to be in his perfect or near perfect form. His explanation will be that the reitsu that imploded in his body was his "old" reitsu and that he's now surpassed that power capacity. I also still think Gin will betray Aizen, he's too dedicated to Aizen and his cause to be completely evil. If Gin betrays Aizen, it will be obvious to Aizen because he knew it was coming...

Stay tuned for my thoughts on Bakuman, Naruto, Psyren, and Lock-on!

First Impressions - Emma: A Victorian Romance

Okay so I've been wanting to check this anime out for almost a year now. The price-tag was way too intimidating when this series first came out as box sets from Nozomi Entertainment. Thankfully, their online store, RightStuf, FINALLY had both seasons on sale for a ridiculously cheap $26.99 each (plus an additional 10% off from their spring sale). I quickly tossed both seasons of Emma on my virtual shopping cart, looking forward to this "blind" purchase.

The premise seems simple enough: A young man from a wealthy merchant family falls in love with his retired teacher's maid, all set in late 19th century England. I'm a sucker for a good romance story, especially when the romance branches into a "love conquers all" relationship, so my opinion for this show may be a little biased. William and Emma's budding love is truly "love at first sight" and you can't help but cheer the two of them on. William may seem pushy at times, but I'm sure that's how men went about courting women at the time. Emma is also no virgin to attention, since it seems as though she has many admirers who she respectfully turns down. For some reason, she allows William into her life. The main hurdle in their relationship will be the barrier between their social/economical class differences. After watching the first episode, you would swear that you're watching a romance movie with the way Emma JUST misses catching William, in an attempt to return his gloves.



Something that might catch viewers off-guard is how much detail is poured in to really bringing out the backdrop of the show. The cast will often spout out points of interests found in England from time to time, and Emma's maid uniform is authentic(you won't see her in a "French Maid" or "Moé maid" outfit). I can honestly say that Studio Pierrot has done their research in order to faithfully recreate Victorian Era England. The music is simple and the way that the opening theme song is laced into the show under different arrangements is splendid. Most likely, I'm going to start searching for a copy of the Soundtrack after I've completed season one. If you're looking for J-Pop influenced openings and endings, look the other way because 19th Century England is all about the instrumentals. I do wish Emma had a more traditional anime opening animation, with Emma and William being juxtaposed upon one another and briefly running through the entire cast of supporting characters.



The only real flaw of this show feels more like a missed opportunity. Nozomi Entertainment was unable to provide a dub for their American release of Emma most likely due to financial reasons. Seeing as this being such a niche title, the expectations on sales for this anime were set relatively low. The current pricetag on this series when I purchased it may reflect how relatively small the sales were for these box sets and the need for RightStuf to push out their surplus of DVD's. If Emma had a tolerable English Dub (with or without British accents) it would have truly enhanced the reality of the series. Dubs like Baccano! expanded the legitimacy of the series, with my hat firmly tipped at Isaac and Miria's English voice actors.

I look forward to finishing this anime and have my fingers duct-taped in a crossed position, hoping for William and Emma to break through whatever obstacles preventing them from being together. Also, please note that Emma's mistress/master, Kelly Stownar, is awesome. She can be snappy and witty, but at the same time extremely caring and heart-warming. The way she pokes fun at Emma about her obvious feelings for William is hilarious, yet supportive.



If you like your romantic relationships to start with tons of blushing, then this anime is for you. For future reference, I will write all my First Impression ratings as if the anime is someone I just met at a school setting because most of our "First Impressions" began in those years.

First Impressions of Emma: A Victorian Romance: She'd be the new girl I immediately develop a crush on, but am too scared to approach her. I'd pray everyday for the teacher to pair us up in a group project together.

I Just Haven't Met You Yet

While I initially intended to just use this space for all my reviews on all topics of my nerdom, this IS a blog so from time to time I'll keep track of my own life. So some of you may asking yourself, "What's up with the title?" well have you heard the song "I Just Haven't Met You Yet" by Micheal Buble (I'm too lazy to look up the accent for the e, but the e in his last name is accented)? If there was an anthem for my life RIGHT NOW, it would definitely be this song.

As I watched the music video I couldn't help but think about my version of this song. It'd probably take place at a Book Store and I'd reach for the same volume of manga as the girl and from there we'd parody Buble's video. We'd probably share the comfy seat, then pan over to people dancing in line and maybe an employee juggling novels. At the end of the video it would cut to me being woken up after dozing off in the store's reading area. As I go to return the books to the shelf, someone taps me on the shoulder and asks if a certain manga is out. I pull it off from the shelf and hand it to the person only to find that it's the girl from my dream that inspired a music video!



As much as I enjoy having no real commitment to anyone and am able to pursue my interests in peace I can't help but to wonder where that "girl" is. See the crazy thing is she can be someone I haven't met yet or someone I already know! Seriously life is crazy like that. I blame anime, manga, and video games sometimes for setting ridiculous standards. I know that a girl won't fall out of the sky and onto my lap, a group of women from space will not crash land in my backyard, and none of my relatives own an all-girls dormitory in need of new management.

It helps to know though, that there's hope for little ol' me. More or less it's probably because I'm still working on myself. When I'm done putting together the puzzle that is my life, She's gonna be the one holding that missing piece. I know she's out there somewhere, I just haven't met her yet.

Arakawa Under the Bridge Episode 1

What better way to kick off the season of spring then to spend it fishing next to your loved one! Ichinomiya Kou has been driven with a single mantra to follow in life, “To never be indebted to anyone.” As I watched that opening sequence, I thought to myself “Well that's impossible you're basically in debt from the moment you're born.” That question was quickly answered in a flashback, revealing Kou's father in a baby bonnet and stroller ordering his son to pay the tab that's been running since his birth. So how does one make a story about an individual who never wants help from his fellow man interesting? Easy, give him a debt he has to pay that amounts to the cost of his own life. Enter Nino, a girl fishing under the same bridge that Kou's been griping over for some time because of the absence of his pants. I would think if a group of misfits stole an article of my clothing and hung it over an extremely high place (ex. flagpole, telephone wire) then I would be indebted to those delinquents with at least a severe punch to the face. Kou should have definitely held up his one rule that time, but that would erase our sympathy for the fellow. As Kou pursues his pants alone, Nino offers her assistance. Our hero refuses Nino's aid as he succeeds to pull his pants off the pillar it was being hung. This in turn causes the piece of concrete to topple over and crash in the river, pinning Kou's body in the process. As he laments over his last breath and a life wasted, he realizes that perhaps he does need the help of another. No sooner than experiencing this epiphany, he is pulled out by none other than Nino. Because of the severe asthma attacks that would overcome Kou, he must repay this debt at any costs. When asked what is the one thing she desires, Nino responds simply “Fall in love with me.” And because lovers live together, Kou is now forced to switch his residence to the lovely area under the bridge. With this setup, the true gags, laughs, and awkward situations can truly begin.

This first episode, produced by SHAFT, was appealing to the eye. The color scheme felt like watching a colored cloud, especially the close-ups of Nino. The humor is definitely there, and although I am not fluent in the Japanese language or culture, this series is not that difficult to laugh at. Understanding it is a whole other story, don't try to make sense of it! The zoom-ins on Kou's face are hilarious, but do get stale after the third or forth time. I can see how a person can be overwhelmed by the absurdity of a man in a Kappa costume, but get a hold of yourself man! Towards the middle of the first episode, our protagonist acquires a new name “Recruit”, so keep that in mind when reading further reviews on this show because I will add that to my repertoire of names for our lead man.

As I pointed out earlier, the constant zoom-ins on Recruit's face were getting tiresome for me but the silliness of his situation had me going. Top that off with Nino's magnetic personality, and we've got the makings of a gag anime to be watched this spring. The relationship between these two remind me of Sayonora Zetsubou-sensei's Kafuka and Zetsubou-sensei. While Kou and Nino may not represent two ends of a spectrum, one continues to be reminded of his

First!

My sole purpose of this blog is to practice writing solid, fair, and fun reviews for anime, manga, movies, and video games. I will be focusing more on Anime and Manga, but I do have a stockpile of games that I eventually need to tend to, as well as checking out a feature film in the theater every now and then.

Any and all feedback is welcome because writing is a process and my writing can't grow without the criticism of my fellow peers.

Hopefully my reviews will help someone make a decision as to whether or not they want to follow a series!

My cardinal rule for Anime and Manga is that "there's an anime out there for everyone, regardless of whether or not you're a fan."

Eventually I want to start up a podcast, but let's keep things simple and stick to written reviews first!