Merry Christmas!

Dogs: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark OVAs review

I have just finished the 4 part OVA that is an adaption to the Dogs Manga Series. Now, I have to say that I have not read any of the Manga under the Dogs franchise, so this review is only from seeing the OVAs.

The OVA series consists of 4 episodes, each dedicated to one of the main characters. Each episode reveals the back story or some of it to the audience of one of the characters. The characters are Mihai: a retired mafia Assassin, Badou: A chain smoking free lance photographer with a tendency to be hilarious, Naoto: A sword wielding girl seeking vengeance and Haine: a genetically modified assassin.

The atmosphere of the series is very dark much like Black Lagoon. It labels itself as a action packed adventure but, this defiantly not the best part of the short series. The story and characters itself is the best feature.

Now, the most disappointing part of Dogs is the poor production values, the art looked rather decent until they started moving around. The action was really poorly done with slow editing which made the gun fights seem really fake. The music was really substandard as well, there was one good tune but, it lasts like 10 seconds.

Unfortunately due to underwhelming production values it really compromises the effect Dogs: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark could have. However the characters and the story telling really intrigued me, and it is this that has made me want to read the original material. Lucky for me, Madman are releasing the first volume on the 10th of January 2010. I will definitely be grabbing this as soon as it is out. As for the OVAs, i give them a 6.8/10

Kannagi Review

I was in the mood for something cheery and fun after doing exams, so i picked up this series. First off, I am impressed! I picked this up just for the fun of it but, got something allot deeper then i expected. The characters are good, the chemistry is good, the animation is good and the humour is grand! It really set itself apart from generic school dramas with a well made plot and characters. I expected this to a harem anime but, i was dead wrong. It is very much just a school comedy with a slice of the supernatural, it reminded me of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya or School Rumble (Though the quality was no quiet as good as those two). Each episode gave me plenty to laugh at and the last few episodes showed it's more serious side with well crafted drama.

The biggest stregnths of this show was the humour and the characters. Unlike alot of anime the characters personalitys were not overexaggerated. Some of my favourites were Nagi, the Heronine of this show armed with a child like naitivity and a childish manner to back that up. Zange was a decent character, she created most of the tension of this show though she loses points for being a bit of a bitch (though her design and voice are both very cute >_<). Unlike allot of comedies these days, the males had some good personalities, like Daitetsu, he is the artistic giant who is misunderstood and likes cute things... Kind of like a male Sakaki to an extent. Akiba is also awesome, an Otaku with a fitting name. He is constantly informing other members of the cast that there views of the Otaku community is faulty but, then he goes to contradict himself. His ten minutes of ranting about anime are also amusing.

The animation reminded me ALLOT of K-ON, the resemblance is almost scary. It had the same kind of floppy feel to it, Kyoto must have "borrowed" this art style for their Moe Blob madness.

All in all it is a very good comedy and I would highly recommend this to any anime fan looking for a good laugh. Though, I am kind of annoyed that allot of the supernatural side was left unanswered especially regarding Zange.

I give this series 7.5/10

Code Geass: Shikkoku no Renya

Remember that new Code Geass project I talked about? Well it has been confirmed, it is a new Manga series called Code Geass: Shikkoku no Renya created by Taniguchi Goro, the director of the Code Geass anime series. The story takes place in the edo period in Japan, CC goes in search a new partner to make a contract with and she meets Renya. Renya is a 17 year old boy with a Mechanical arm and uses Shuriken, there is also a character that resembles Lelouch.

More info can be found:
http://www.madman.com.au/actions/news.do?method=view&newsId=1368
http://myanimelist.net/manga.php?id=17311

I personally will read this, it sounds interesting.
Side note: I want to see CC go to Italy... So much pizza...

Winter Season

The lineup for the winter season has been released (this is a little late but whatever). I have to say.. Not much catches my attention.

What I will watch:
Dance in the Vampire Bund - Simply because it has Shinbou Akiyuki as the director, he always puts an interesting spin on things (I haven't seen his works on his various loli shows though)
So・Ra・No・Wo・To - It's K-ON at war. Probably won't be great but what the hell
Ookami Kakushi - Another alternative setting to the Higurashi universe, even though I didn't much care for Umineko, maybe i should catch up on missed episodes

New Code Geass Project in the Works

Yes, you heard right. Bandai has announced a new Code Geass is the works and is coming to us in 2010. You would think a fan like me would happy at this news? God no, I am really nervous, I hope they don't taint the name of Code Geass. R2 had a really satisfying ending and if they stuff with that I will be pissed as hell!

Major spoilers inbound

Bandai never announced the what exactly is the new project but, it hasn't stopped fans taking wild guesses. It could be a range of things, a compilation movie, some OVAs telling side stories and hopefully NOT a sequel to the anime. One fan suggested that the mysterious new project is Code Geass shown from Nunnally's point of view... Wouldn't that be extremely easy to animate?



Another fan has suggested that it could be an anime adaption of the alernate world story from the Manga: Code Geass: The Nightmare of Nunnally which can be found here. Many fans have pointed out that that the word “rebirth” is present in the advertising of this new project and suggesting the rebirth of Lelouch or the return of Lelouch after staging his own death (The speculation of Lelouch's death opens up a another can of worms). When I first heard about the controversy regarding Lelouch's death I had to jump on the “He is not dead” bandwagon because it made for a good story but, my suspicions were cut down by the creator claiming he is in fact dead but, another fan suggested he said this because he didn't want to reveal his plans for a new project.


This news has sent the Otaku Community into a mad frenzy with many supporters and skeptics. All this hype will probably be just wasted on a couple of OVAs. We will See how this turns out.

what is this i don't even

Oh... That's right... we have a blog. It's hard to remember these sort of things after the exams and then freedom. Don't worry new content is on it's way, we just have to get back into the habit. I hope the other two can follow suit.

And this is the Shit that we're missing out on...

CURSE YOU EXAMS.

Kyon-kun Denwa

Yes, I know I am a bit behind the times but, I have recently finished the infamous Endless Eight Arc of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya Second Season. As many of you are aware the arc contains basically the same episode in an infinite time loop.

Before I start, I want to clarify one thing: I am far from a Haruhist. I did enjoy the first season very much but, you can not call me a fanboy of the series. My first impressions of the idea of repeating the same episode multiple times did turn me away but, as I got further into it I began to enjoy myself. It got more and more different from the original run the more you watch, I had fun looking out for the different camera angles, changes in dialogue (very few) and character actions. One thing I noticed which was a bit weird, within the episode the SOS brigade members changed their clothing about 5-6 times (Yuki aside) but, in every episode the clothing for the scene changes. Throughout the whole I arc I don’t think I saw the same thing worn twice, they must have a huge amount of clothes!

My advice to viewers: If you do not like Haruhi very much or did not like the original episode, do not torture yourself and then complain about it, just watched episode 1, 2, 3 and 9 (the necessary ones).

All in all I did enjoy it but, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this could have been done in fewer episodes and still have been effective. I also would like a bit more of a difference between the episodes. For the series so far I give a 6/10.

I look forward to the new episodes.

Happy Birthday Cirno!!

09/09/09

Ohhh yeah... Cirno from Touhou Project would be pleased today, that little weak girls thrilled

Starfish

I like Starfish.
Dozo.
That is all.

Manifest X: Summing it all up.

Melbourne Anime Festival’s tenth anniversary has come to an end. Victorias, and no doubt Australians largest Japanese Culture festival finished off on a good note with most, if not all attendants. After much hard work over 10 years of Manifest, this years festival has no doubt been the best received. Manifest has been through its trouble times, after almost closing before the 2008 festival due to lack of organisation and bad reputation from its predecessor of 2007. The committee of the festival pulled through onto a fresh start with strong determination to make the Manifest of 2009 the best one yet.

And they did just that.

Moving from its crowed home of Melbourne university, Manifest moved to the superior Showgrounds, providing more space, more facilities and better organisation. While the showgrounds lacked the “already available” screens, seats and accommodation that the Melbourne university had, it didn’t take long for the committee to find the businesses to supply such needs. The main events room at the university could fit a maximum of 500 people, at the showgrounds, it could fit 1400 (which still managed to fill). Since Manifest has entered the “main stream” category of conventions, legal rules have been emplaced for what anime they screen. While in previous years, there have been 5-7 screening rooms, each running with fan dubbed anime and already licensed anime, this year the committee has done things differently receiving licences for all sorts of anime, some still airing in Japan (Saki, Natsu No Arashi) while others have no license for Australia (Clannad). This year featured 3 screening room, which was enough to keep anyone from being bored, showing a variety of anime from the 80s, 90s and now. As well as screening, Manifest had plenty of other things to do, gaming, drawing, traders, maid café, cosplay shoots, panels and main events to name a few. Most of all, it was spacious!

The community is really what makes Manifest what it is, the gathering of geeks to share in a fun filled weekend, the friendliness (most of them) of each person, very willing to take part in chat and have a cosplay photo taken (or many!). While spread all around Victoria, and even Australia, when we all come together for a single event, its great fun meeting new and interesting people that have the same hobbies of you. Its even better when you meet someone cosplaying as one of your favourite characters.

Cosplaying is highly recommended, it increases enjoyment a lot.

Pros

• Spacious area

• Friendly people

• Great Traders

• Social Activities

• Artistic Activities
  

• A+ Cosplays.

Cons

• For those of you who are new to the anime scene and have nobody to go with, don’t come, you will bore yourself easily.
  

• The Weapon Policy was all over the place, there was a massive inconsistency with what could be kept as a prop and what couldn’t (even with permission from committee)

• Each Panel I went to seemed somewhat basic, but that may have just been me.

Manifest this year has no doubt been the best, and I hope to see many of you there next year. Feel free to tap me on the back!

Manifest 2010: August 20^th – 22^nd

Manifest: Here

Manifest Forums Profile: Here

Manifest Day 3: Over for another Year...

The last day of the best weekend of the year… how depressing. Yes, unfortunately
Manifest is over for another year. This isn’t going to be a long post because I am very tired at the moment.



I’m going to miss the atmosphere and the endless sea of people who have similar interests to you even though I can’t seem to find many outside of cons. We also managed to catch the screening of Clannad which has yet to be licensed in Australia (Madman please license this very soon). Clannad already looked visually stunning but on the DVD version it is just… wow.



The loot for today is as follows:

Sloth-X:
Death Note Boxset
Total: $150

Envy1138
Cowboy Bebop Fatpack
The Place Promised to us in our Early Days
Black Lagoon The Second Barrage Boxset
Total: $170

Passing Sparrow
The Place Promised to us in our Early Days
School Rumble Second Season Collection 1
Air - Kano Kirishima Figure
Ranma 1/2: The Moives DVD
Total: $160

GRAND TOTALS

Sloth-X: $235
Mitch: $290
Passing Sparrow: $405
Envy: $430

Wow, I lost. I did spend over $400 at Supanova earlier this year and havn’t had much shifts between that.

WE MISS YOU MANIFEST

Manifest Day 2: The Second Barrage

The busiest, most crowded day of any convention: Saturday. We were really thankful for the new location on this day otherwise the trading hall would just be unbearable. For us this day wasn’t really a spending day, it was more social and photo taking with other cosplayers.

But, the best possible thing happened. We were told there was a Fuko (Clannad Character) cosplayer waiting in the ever so long ticket line. We ran to find her searching high and low. And then… We found her, she was actually Nagisa, the guy got confused. But this was better! What could be more perfect? Lucky she was a really good sport and we took a lot of photos together!



Now as I mentioned earlier that this was not really a buying merch day for us but anyway here are the totals

Sloth-X:
Fullmetal Alchemist Post
Total: $10

Envy1138
School Rumble Season 1 Fatpack
Total:$65

Passing Sparrow
1/7 Chobits “Maid Alice” Chi Figure
Kodomo no Jikan Trading Figure
Total: $80

Manifest Day 1: 3,2,1 Lets Jam

Today the members of TAHO went to the biggest anime con Melbourne has to offer. Lucky for us our school had a day off so we were free to visit the showgrounds and empty our wallets. Yes, we realise this is only the first day of this weekend of non stop anime fun but some of us… May have spent a little more then we should have.

This year the event was hosted at the Melbourne showground instead of Melbourne University. Lucky for this change we have plenty of breathing space within the traders hall, ignoring the fact that Friday would be the least busy day.

Yes, all the writers of this blog cosplayed this year. We went as the male cast of Clannad: Passing Sparrow as Sunohara, Envy1138 as Tomoya and I as Akio. We were glad to have follow convention goers recognise our characters since, cosplayers in Australia generally go for the more popular series.

Anyway here are some pictures from the event:
Pictures pending

The loot for Friday Night alone:

Sloth-X:
Code Geass vol 5
Code Geass vol 6
Gurren Lagann vol 2
Total: $75

Envy1138:
Azumanga Daioh Fat pack
5 Centimetres per Second
Star Trek Manga
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Vol.1
Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica
Fullmetal Alchemist Manga Vol 19
Nyron~n T-Shirt
2x Fullmetal Alchemist Trading Figures (Ed and Al)
Total: $195

Passing Sparrow
5 Centimeters Per Second
Gurren Lagann vol.2
Negima vol. 21
Negima vol. 23
Rosario + Vampire Vol. 2
Rosario + Vampire Vol. 3
Rosario + Vampire Vol. 4
Rosario + Vampire Vol. 5
Rosario + Vampire Vol. 6
Shuffle Collection 2
Total: $185

Mitch (our Pack Mule and Camera man for the day)
Fullmetal Alchemist Collection 1
Fullmetal Alchemist Collection 2
Fullmetal Alchemist Conquer of Shambella Special Edition
Fullmetal Alchemist vol. 19
2x Fullmetal Alchemist Trading Figures (Ed and Al)
Gurren Lagann Vol.2
Total: $290

I am the bone of my sword...

The recently announced Fate/Stay Night movie has been confirmed to follow the second path of the original Type-Moon Visual novel. The movie is titled: Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and is set to be released on January 23 2010 in Japanese Theatres.

The movie is not a continuation of the 2006 Anime series but, an alternative setting of the Holy Grail War. The only common thing between the paths is the first two or three days and then from that the plot dramatically changes. Even though it is not a continuation I would strongly suggest watching the anime or playing the visual novel beforehand seeing how they will cut a lot of character development.

Though I will be looking forward to be able to see this I am questioning how effective this movie will be, considering the length of the visual novel. The Unlimited Blade Works path alone took me about 24 hours of game play to finish. Can they really sum this up in a movie successfully? The TV adaptation of the first path was 26 episodes long and still struggled to fit in all that was contained in the Fate path. All though the dojo episodes could have run a lot shorter and another fact is they added an extra arc to include Assassin and Caster and in this extra arc used some scenes from the other paths: Unlimited Blade works and Heaven’s Feel. I would prefer if they made Unlimited Blade Works a full anime series and not just a movie.

The anime series was beautifully animated and I hope we can look forward to the same quality because Unlimited Blade Works has some awesome fight scenes that had me at the edge of my seat. I am not going to spoil much but for those who have not played the visual novel you will have an awnser to the biggest question the original series left us with “Who is Archer?”

Moe + Clothing Accessories = Big Money?

Is there any other way to put it? K-On Ties. Obviously Otaku consumers are losing money while the corporates rake it in big time. Whats that? Do i here "DO WANT?" from those who are reading this? Well your in luck, I've done some seaching and have found a little website that sells outside of Japan here. Mind you, you'll be waiting till they get them instock on the 31st of October, then you'll have to get them sent out to you, which could take another 14 days. By the time it arrives all the hype about them will be over. They do look good as a tie though. "What was i thinking!? Wearing this in public?!"

Oh come on, we know you love to show your true fandom to the real world.

Sources: Sankaku Complex

"SHUFFLE! Essence+" in the making

While sources are few, it has been confirmed that there is a new SHUFFLE! game on the horizon. First released in 2004, SHUFFLE! proved a hit with visual novel lovers looking for a "good time"with sexy characters, and Navel (the creators), went on to create three expansions following its franchise. Now, they're back with their fourth expansion, but few would call this an "expansion" and more of an add-on.

As quoted by a HongFire source

"Shuffle! Essence+, carrying the essence of the original Shuffle! and the Playstation2 port "Shuffle! On Stage", then taking it to a new level for its welcome return to the PC.

With delicious new, improved CG images and the inevitable adult content for Kareha and Mayumi's routes in the game. As well as two new Gods. Starting with the purple haired Daisy, a naive, energetic girl"; and Ruri Matsuri, a "princess-type, just as she appears to be." Both who are rumoured to be relations of Sia's."

Basicly, an Add-On would be a more suitable word, for the orginal SHUFFLE! storyline for each "old" character still exists, with the add of more CG images. Two new girls are in on the game of love, both appear to be Gods (sweet!) and of course we have the add ins of some new-old characters from the previous expansions. What a harem!

Girls of Shuffle!Essence+

- Lisianthus (SHUFFLE!)


- Nerine (SHUFFLE!)


- Kaede (SHUFFLE!)


- Asa (SHUFFLE!)


- Primula (SHUFFLE!)


- Kareha (SHUFFLE! On The Stage!)


- Mayumi (SHUFFLE! On The Stage!)


- Nadeshiko (Really?! Really!!)


- Tsubomi (SHUFFLE! On The Stage!)


- Sakura (Really?! Really!!)


- Daisy (SHUFFLE! Essence+)


- Ruri (SHUFFLE! Essence+)


- Kikyou (SHUFFLE! Essence+) - ????????????




11 + 1 Mystery! You guys have quite a selection there. Its a pitty no character from Tick! Tack! made it in, then again thats part of a completely different timeline!

Release Date: 30th October 2009

Source: Navel Offical Website, HongFire.
Credits: All Rights To Characters and Games belong to Navel.

An open letter to the good people at Ezydvd

Yes, I’m a bit of a douche making my first post a rant about a relatively inane subject, but damn it! I want my Battlestar already!


Hailing frequencies open.


Dear EzyDvd,
I write to you concerning you practices as an online dvd retailer. Some time in July, I pre-ordered the “Battlestar Galactica (2004) - The Complete Series (25 Disc Box Set)” which was slated for release on the 12th of August 2009. I waited patiently, and when the day had came I looked gleefully at my inbox to see an invoice and conformation that my boxset had been processed and was awaiting dispatch. The date was the 11th of August, So I figured “cool, they’ll send it out tomorrow and I’ll get it by the end of the week. But no. It is now Friday the 14th and my order still has not been dispatched, meaning it is not even in the postal system yet, which in turn will mean another 3-10 day wait for the delivery.
Now, I understand that nobody is perfect; however I feel you’re missing the point of pre-ordering. When I pre-order, I expect to have my product on my doorstep on its official release date. While I realise that you may not actually receive the item needing to be sent until a day or so before it is set to be released, it surely should be dispatched as soon as possible (ie, the next time post is sent, usually 6pm each working day.) What grinds my gears further is that not only do I have to wait longer than I should have to, I’m also paying an extra $30 for this privilege. Places such as K-mart and JB-Hifi have the exact same product (in JB’s case, the Limited edition version) for a cheaper price. Which leads me to wonder, why exactly should I pre-order from you ever again? The shipping is slow (with no option for express post or courier delivery) and the prices are easily beat by almost all retail stores. Also your “exclusive collectors tins” usually only contain the single disc edition of the product. Why would anyone who is a collector only want the singe disc edition? But that is off-topic.
Yes, Pre-ordering is technically only a safe guard for the product being out of stock, but with most other retailers you are also assured quick and easy access to your item as soon as possible. I am very disappointed by the service I have encountered, and have now learnt my lesson and shall not pre-order from you, or any other online retailer again and I shall urge all I can to do likewise.

Live long and prosper,
Envy1138

~Edit~ 14/08/09

Okay, I may have been a little hasty. I got my Boxset today, But still. More expensive! 3 days later than it should’ve been! *cough* yep, the letter is still semi-justified.

Welcome to TAHO

What is Two and a Half Otakus I hear you ask? It is a blog comprised of 3 friends, two otakus and one anime and western geek culture fan.


Two and a Half Otakus (or TAHO for short) originated from the though that me and Passing Sparrow had while having an involved discussion while we suppose to be doing our math work in class. We simply want to share our views to the community and get feedback from fellow internet dwellers who have similar interests.

All three writers for this blog are Australian males who are currently studying year 12 and plan to get into very different career paths. Now enough with broad statements I bet you want to know a little about the writers themselves hmm?


Sloth-X: Oh me? I’m Just an ordinary border line Hikikomori who enjoys Anime. I started watching anime when I was a child; my favourite shows included Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, Ziods, Pokemon. I started watching anime as a fan in 2009 with completing a childhood favourite of Dragon Ball Z and then moved onto other series and genres. My current favourite series are (but not limited to) Tengen Topa Gurren Lagann, Death Note, Code Geass, Fullmetal Alchemist and Full Metal Panic. Unfortunately I am not all that into Manga as of now, reading it on the computer loses a lot of the feel and I don’t have the cash or time to buy many series, though I do have an outdated collection of Black Cat volumes.


Passing Sorrow: The louder, more confident and outspoken member of our little group. Being an Otaku is hard because it difficult to find other who shares your passion for Anime (and I really can’t talk about much else) so I am glad I met him. We can talk about anime for hours on end and we often do, despite the fact we could be doing something productive. When it comes to personal choice, there is one clear answer of his favourite anime and that is Clannad. Like the Haruhi fans are called Haruhist I would call this guy a Clannadist. With Nagisa as his Goddess he follows his religion very purely and obsessively. Some other titles that would rank under Clannad are Ranma ½, School Rumble and Toradora. As you can see he tends to prefer Slice of Life anime but, he is known to venture into other genres.


Envy1138: The half that makes up Two and a Half Otakus. His interests are not as one sided as the other two members but he still holds a great interest in Anime. He refers to himself as “Neutral Geek”. If he is not browsing the internet, watching Star Trek, listening to music, playing games or Not Sleeping (double negative anyone?) he is likely to be watching anime. Some treasured series of this insomniac are Clannad, Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, Azumanga Daioh and Toradora. As you can see not only is he a mix of many geek cultures but his favourite anime series are also a mix of Passing Sorrows and my self’s personal favourites. Some of his favourite non anime series include Firefly, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, The Big Bang Theory and Scrubs.


Now you know a little bit about our blog and us. Hope you stick around for more posts by your new favourite three geeks. Keep in mind the site is very much still in construction. End communication

(I hope you enjoy the post done by a guy with very tired eyes)