12 Days of Anime, Day 4: Tales Comeback!

Image Credit: sky (freedom) from Pixiv

The worst part about having Paint Tool Sai installed on my system is knowing that other artists are using the program to its full potential with a Wacom Cintiq or other expensive tablets that I can’t afford.

…oh well, enough with the jealousy and time for some holiday spirit, and all that other jazz. Day 4, man! ($4k present for Mikoto…please? Please?)

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

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Da Capo II: Scenario Reviews

Two moe sisters? Oh, which to choose!

Following Wahfuu’s run of Da Capo III, finally clearing all of the scenarios in Da Capo II made a certain someone’s presence in Da Capo III a lot more understandable.

Not surprising with visual novels: whereas I found no interest in continuing the mess of an anime that Da Capo II had, I enjoyed the pacing of the visual novel and what it had to offer. Many of its strong traits include the lighthearted comedy between the characters and its heartfelt climaxes toward the end of each route. Never having read the previous installment, Da Capo, I don’t have much of a comparison between Jun’ichi/Nemu and Yoshiyuki/his “sisters” as central leads, but I found them much more likable than fan impressions of the former pair, despite Yoshiyuki not being the brightest bulb in the room.

Without further ado, let the demonic rebirth of the otherwise miraculous tree commence!

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Tari Tari – “JACKASS!”

I’ve heard many interesting and “stylized” translations of 「屑」 kuzu before as an insult. Rubbish, shithead, puke face, the infamous “dreck” from Tales of the Abyss…

But “jackass” is certainly a new one. xD

Sword Art Online 08

MMO marriages. Marital conflicts become ten times more deadly on Sword Art Online.

Think long and hard before you pop the question, Kirito.

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Innovative WAIFU TECHNOLOGY

I just might get one of these, since it’s 4 AM and I’m losing control of my life. No, I think I should make chocolate pudding instead. Yeah, that would be a better idea.

Seriously, foreveralone aside, it’s cute and the general idea of this technology would be helpful for games in the vein of Skies of Arcadia, Tales and Valkyria Chronciles (basically, 3D JRPGs) that go for the whole anime/manga-look. SKIES OF ARCADIA 2 A-GO-GO…? Or a no-no? ):

It would defintiely be awesome for visual novels aesthetically, that’s for sure. Interactivity notwithstanding.

The Podcast With No Name – Episode 1: Popping the Cherry

On the agenda for our pilot episode, we have the upcoming Little Busters! anime, Spice & Wolf and other light novels, Da Capo III and other untranslated visual novels, Tales of Xillia being localized, and of course, plenty of extra topics because we can’t stop talking.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Sword Art Online The Expansion: FAMILY PORTRAITS

A game made for the family.

While I haven’t particularly been enjoying the blatant harem-building some of these side-stories seem to be going for (they’re not that interesting, really), they’re admittedly still decently written. I have been enjoying the Kirito/Asuna ship teasing these past few episodes, but nothing seems to top the first three episodes in terms of quality, in my opinion.

What rattled my brain during episode 7, however, was what seemed to be a family photo in Lis’s workshop shown above. Look at her age! How is this even possible? Wasn’t SAO a somewhat recent MMO (which is within the premise of the story)? If it’s not from the game, could it be an import from real life? Then why is her family wearing SAO armor? Gah. I guess this makes more sense if it was during beta testing (where player avatars didn’t have to resemble their RL bodies), but that’s kind of stretch, in my opinion. How long was beta testing again?

On another note: why are people calling her “Liz/Lizbeth” when it clearly says “Lisbeth” on her combat display? That’s pretty silly. xD

(Also, the dragon. Man, if this was Monster Hunter, Kirito would have been screwed regardless of level. And the cooking system seems to blow the Tales series out of the water.)

Baka! I-i-it’s not like… I like you or anything!

First Impressions and Thoughts of Spring Anime

Progress: Hanasaku Iroha [watched four episodes], Nichijou [watched OVA and one episode], Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san [watched one episode], X-Men [watched one episode], Tales of Symphonia: Tethe’alla Hen (OVA) Episode 4 (completed)

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Top 10 video games that can easily become anime

Honestly. You know, despite how horrible or loose video game adaptations tend to be… Within hundreds of video games, there are those certain gems that are pretty much playable anime. They would have no problem making the transition from one medium to the other. And then, of course, there are those games which actually have better stories than what you would discover in a lot of anime…

(Numbers hold no importance, although #1 is the most wanted one. Also, happy 4th of July!)

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Tales of Symphonia: Tethe’alla Hen (OVA) – 02

“Wonder how far we’ll go into our strange hobbies?” – Zelos Wilder.

Jesus, Regal. I know you’ve lost your lover and you’re bound by some really uncomfortable handcuffs, but don’t you think you’re overdoing your online activities just a tad?

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Tales of Symphonia: Tethe’alla Hen (OVA) – 01

“Come here… hunny.”

“I mean Sheena”!

Zelos is as cool as he was in the game.

I started watching, thinking, “I’ve been waiting 4 years for this. You better make me happy, ToS OVA!” and I was awarded with this scene. <3

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[J-Pop] Tales of Vesperia Opening – English/Japanese Remix

Oh god, I win at life.

Thanks to Bonnie Pink putting “Ring a Bell” in both English and Japanese (“Kane wo Narashite”), Tales of Vesperia has become the first Tales game in which the localization basically uses the same opening song as the Japanese version… with lyrics (I’m looking at you, Tales of The Abyss and your epic, but unnecessary, guitar mix for Karma).

Getting to the point, song’s awesome. I remixed both versions of the songs and made an entirely new version I’d like to call, “BELL wo Narashite”. Subtitles, courtesy of me. Enjoy.