Login! Gun Gale Online - Sword Art Online II (Ep 1-4) Review

Genre: Cyberpunk/Fantasy/Action Adventure
*Minor Spoilers*

Sinon GGO (anime.anonforge.com)

It has taken a fair amount of build-up for our protagonist, Kazuto 'Kirito' Kirigawa, to finally log into the cyberpunk cesspool known as Gun Gale Online (GGO). The first three episodes of this story arc were mainly exposition to explain why Kirito was converting to the virtual massively multiplayer role-playing gun game. The reasoning: players from GGO are being found dead in real life after being shot in-game by the mysterious villain known as Death Gun. Who or what Death Gun truly is remains a mystery.

The first three episodes have also introduced a new character into the SAO story, a skilled female sniper named Shino 'Sinon' Asada who plays GGO in order to overcome her real life hoplophobia, or fear of guns.

Kirito SAO (animevice.com)

In episode 4, Kirito finally logs into the new cyberpunk world and, knowing nothing about the specifics of the game, enlists the help of a passerby--Sinon. Sinon shows Kirito around the marketplace, where he is unable to afford any of the weapons, and then introduces him to an impossible game-of-chance where Kirito might earn some extra credits. After analyzing one round of the game, Kirito employs his celerity to overcome all odds, impressing Sinon and onlookers by winning the game-of-chance in a single shot (pun intended).

Kirito then chooses his new weapons and goes through some firing practice before heading out to sign up for the ranked GGO tournament: Bullet of Bullets (BoB). By participating and succeeding in BoB, Kirito hopes to attract the attention of Death Gun so that he might solve the mystery of player deaths.

As stated above, the first few episodes mainly provide exposition for the upcoming GGO story arc and also give viewers evidence of Kirito and Asuna's continued relationship.

The introduction of Sinon, voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro (possibly better known as Canaan from "CANAAN," Celty from "Durarara!!," or Suruga Kanbaru from "Bakemonogatari") saves the first three episodes from being completely slow and dry, but it is not until Kirito, voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Titus Alexius of "Magi," and Kaede Makabe of "Oreimo"), finally steps into GGO that things seem to really begin ramping up.

I am a fan of this anime series as a whole and have watched each arc. It will be interesting to see how Kirito handles himself in a new and unfamiliar VMMORPG genre where guns are the norm and the skill of the players is higher due to the ability to earn real-world money by being skilled.

Rating: 3.75 out of  5
+ room to grow
+ good voice acting
+ cyberpunk-fantasy
+ smooth action animation
- slow to start early on
- heavy exposition early on

Sinon and Kirito in GGO (i-azu.deviantart.com)

Refreshing Ghoulish Delights: Tokyo Ghoul

Genre: Psychological, Horror, Action

Ken Kaneki (8track.com)

In modern entertainment, the preponderance of macabre, fictitious, and supernatural entities is apparent. To say the least, zombies, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts have entered into mainstream entertainment seamlessly. The tales of terror of yesteryear are born again for our viewing pleasure.

And yet, there are still many myths left mostly untouched, such as the Arabic-born ghūl or 'ghoul'. At least, that was true until this fresh mid-summer batch of anime released the first episode of "Tokyo Ghoul" by studio Pierrot and was licensed by Funimation.

The story of "Tokyo Ghoul" follows Ken Kaneki, your typical Japanese-anime high school boy. He is quiet, bookish, an orphan, and is foiled by his best friend Hideyoshi Nagachika, a loud and excitable teenager with a hidden keenness. In their city of Tokyo, ghouls are known to exist and there has been a sudden outbreak of ghoul attacks on humans. It is suggested that the number of the prey has risen beyond reason, as though some ghouls appetite for human bodies has become insatiable.

Ken, being an impressionable young boy, is manipulated by a beautiful woman who turns out to be one of Tokyo's most violent and dangerous ghouls. With some luck and possibly some help, Ken is saved from a savage attack, but he is left on the edge of death.

Ken Kaneki (8track.com)

The medical staff who handle Ken's surgery save him only by transplanting the organs of the dead girl who is also brought into the hospital with him. She, of course, is a ghoul. Following his surgery and recovery, Ken finds that something is amiss with his body. He finds his favorite foods disgusting and there are hunger pangs in him which he simply cannot satiate.

"Tokyo Ghoul" is a danse macabre which employs the voice acting of people such Natsuki Hanae ("Diamond No Ace," "Hamatora," "Aldnoah.Zero," and "Sword Art Online II") and Sora Amamiya ("Log Horizon," and "Akame No Kill"). They might be better recognized as Haruichi/Inaho and Lilliana/Akame, respectively. The show incorporates the harsh realities of existing as a sort of outsider in school, the dark and terrifying supernatural, and smooth, eye-pleasing action animation.

"Tokyo Ghoul" represents a genre which is often underwhelming in anime and it turns that genre into a terror thrill-ride. Warning, this show is quite gory.

Rating: 4 out of  5
+ good animation
+ good voice acting
+ GHOULISHNESS
+ horror/psychological genre

Today in Supōtsu: Haikyū!! Episode 1

  ***SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT***

Shōyō Hinata (Wordpress)

Tobio Kageyama (Wordpress)

At some point in my anime watching career, I realized that otaku life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Eventually, you simply run out of the archetypal shonen and seinen action-adventure trope anime and you have to start biting into the proverbial chocolates for better or worse.

Fortunately, like most sophomore anime fans, I started to like what I was tasting. "Kuroko no Basuke" was the first sports-filled morsel I had (excluding eastern martial arts as a sport in this context).

Segue to "Haikyū!!", and introduce the unlikely tandem setter-spiker volleyball protagonists: Shōyō Hinata and Tobio Kageyama. Shō is voiced by Ayumu Murase from shows like "Gatchaman Crowds" and "Sakamichi no Apollon". Tobi is voiced by Kaito Ishikawa from "Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet" and "Kuroke no Basuke".

In episode one, we witness Shōyō's first encounter with the sport of volleyball. He watches a t.v. through a shop window and witnesses the amazing feats of a nearby high school volleyball star known as 'Little Giant'. In that moment, Shōyō decides to dedicate himself to the sport. He develops himself, but he is only able to obtain short, ragtag members at around his middle school team.

When Shōyō and his team do finally make it to an actual volleyball tournament, they face-off against volleyball sensation Tobio Kageyama. Shōyō and his team lose though not without Shōyō displaying feats of athleticism.

Shōyō, far from being dejected, is inspired by the loss and vows to see the Tobio again and to defeat him. 

This sports genre volleyball anime has good animation, a likeable polar-opposite, yin-yang duo (think Naruto-Sasuke or Jin-Mugen). While there may have been some somewhat cliché tropes, from what episode one has shown me, I believe that we are in for quite the  show this season.

Rating: 3.7 out of  5
+ room to grow
+ sports shows make you a little less nerdy
+ good animation
+ good voice acting
- archetypal
- men's volleyball

Spring '14 Anime List and My Hot Picks

Chart created by Zana at neregate.com

Spring 2014 is upon us, anime fans.

I am presenting a fairly recent anime chart describing some of the new and returning shows this season. I'm expecting a lot of enjoyable shows to come from this batch, so without further adieu, allow me to point out some shows which I am especially looking forward to.

"Mushishi: Zoku-Shou" from Artland studios is a sequel to "Mushishi". The story focuses on a mysterious, traveling protagonist whose lone driving force seems to be the classification and capture of various spirit-creatures called mushi. The first season was highly enjoyable and I would recommend it (Rating: 4/5) to anyone looking for a mellow, slightly spooky anime with good visuals and sound.

"Soul Eater Not!" from venerable producers Bones and SquareEnix is a prequel to the quirky, fun anime "Soul Eater" (Rating: 4/5). For those who do not know, "Soul Eater" is an anime which centers around a boarding-school type setting, but the school in question is a school for training wunderkind bad-asses to hunt down wayward souls while using unwieldy weaponry. With fast-paced action, smooth animation, and financial backing, this should be one of the season showstoppers.

"Monogatari Series Second Season: Hanamonogatari" is a sequel to the comic 'ghost' story/love story "Monogatari" (Rating 4/5). Season one has some of the most beautiful animation sequences I can recall and also has some very emotional moments. I must caveat that this is by no means a fast-paced, action-driven anime. Rather, it is artsy and breathtaking.

Lastly, we come to an OVA which I am really looking forward to. I do not typically get majorly excited for OVAs, but this season we will see a "Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic" (Rating 5/5) spinoff from A-1 Pictures which will follow the adventures of young Uncle Sinbad. If you have been living under a rock for the last few years, "Magi" is a highly popular running anime that is high fantasy, magical, and political.

As the season progresses I will do my best to bring you reviews of individual episodes. I can not be expected to follow every upcoming show, but rest assured that those mentioned above will be.

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Diamond No Ace: Episode 26 review

Cover of Ace of Diamond, published by Kodansha on September 15, 2006

 In Episode 26 of "Diamond No Ace", we find Seido's elite batting squad in a fight against Akikawa's 'clockwork' pitching.

Fast-pitching first-year Furuya must  face the pressure of Akikawa's methodical Taiwanese transfer student, a pitching ace with unshakable focus on the mound and deliberate at the plate. The Taiwanese pitcher, Yueng, also rocks the megane style, just like Miyuki.

This episode, like this show, works hard to both entertain and to realistically depict what is at the very heart of baseball drama. The tension built behind each of Furuya's full-force, fatiguing pitches and their juxtaposition with each of Yeung's simple, easy pitches really gives this episode a pulse.

Rating: 4/5

+ Good story
+ High drama
+ Realistic baseball references 
+ Megane (if you're into that)

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