Skip Beat! is centered on Kyoko Mogami and the events surrounding her as she enters the music/acting industry to take revenge on Sho Fuwa, an upcoming star, for dumping her. This shoujo manga contains both comedy and romance, and I believe that it is suitable reading for all ages and genders.

It was also adapted into an anime last season with Marina Inoue (currently the VA for Alicia in Valkyria Chronicles) doing an excellent job as the voice of Kyoko. However, the anime is only 25 episodes long and merely a fraction of the current plot progression in the manga. I recommend watching the anime if you’re not really the manga reading type, and then reading the manga afterwards if you liked what you saw. The manga is still ongoing and there is probably going to be another season of the anime in the future.

Go start reading the manga now, you won’t be disappointed!

For those Fate/stay night fans out there (like myself), there is a 3D Melty Blood type fighting game out for the PS2 in Japan. As you would expect from the title of this blog, the character I use in this game is Saber in her unlockable fourth costume of Saber Lily. This game has been quite fun even though I am still trying to learn the more advanced combos for Saber shown at the Fate/Unlimited Codes Wiki.

You can see for yourself how the game is like through this trailer:

Besides the 3D aspect, Fate/Unlimited Codes differs from the well known Melty Blood due to the possibility of infinite combos. This basically turns it into a battle of whoever makes the first vital mistake. The menu screen song is Code by Tainaka Sachi who has also done the OPs for the Fate/stay night anime series.

Code – Tainaka Sachi (Saber Lily as background picture):

Feel like playing this game yet?

It also seems that they’re porting it to the PSP, be on the lookout for it!

Production I.G.’s latest project is this season’s Eden of the East. The story revolves around Akira Takizawa as he plays a dangerous game where only the winner gets to live. At the beginning, he has no recollection of the game due to a memory wipe, but he later learns of the details of this “game”. Twelve chosen individuals were given titles of Selecao One through Selecao Twelve, and were given cellphones with $10 billion yen each on it. One of them is secretly designated the Supporter whose job it is to eliminate any Selecao that runs out of funds or tries to escape the game. The game is won when one of the Selecao successfully “saves” Japan.

I always have had high expectations for anime worked on by Production I.G. since they seem to lean towards doing interesting sci-fi anime. One of my favorite anime of all times, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, was also done by them (very highly recommended). Eden of the East does not let down that expectation as the series thus far has a compelling plot, unique characters, an amazing soundtrack, and high quality animation. What more is there to say? This is certainly one of the best, if not the best, anime there is this spring. Noblesse oblige.

Eden of the East OP:

Think about the level of epicness in Gurren Lagann, then apply it to basketball – that’s Basquash! The show consists of many unique characters that compete against and with one another in basketball played by giant human-controlled mechs. The main character is Dan JD aka Dunkmask who constantly strives to conquer new challenges and rushes headfirst into various situations.

I was skeptical at first after reading the premise, but found it to be quite good after I started watching it. For those of you out there that don’t really prefer watching sports anime, fear not. I found it to focus more on the characters than on the sports. Furthermore, the actual matches aren’t stoic, rule-based basketball matches; they seem more like no boundaries, action-packed, trying to clutch the win for the team type of basketball. The OP song is also catchy and sung by Eclipse, a group of three idols in the series. They are Rouge (Haruka Tomatsu), Citron (Megumi Nakajima), and Violette (Saori Hayami). You might recall these voice actors as Nagi in Kannagi, Ranka Lee in Macross Frontier, and Saki in Eden of the East respectively.

Here’s a video of the first OP:

Today’s choice of Spring season’s anime is Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, based on a visual novel game called Phantom of Inferno released a while ago. First of all, I must say that the title does not sound all that good due to the repeated usage of Phantom. It would have been better to use the title of the visual novel that it was based on, but oh well. The anime is about a young japanese male (anime stereotype) that gets his memory erased and is forced to become an assassin for a secret organization simply due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is trained by the organization’s top assassin, code named Phantom and who is called Ein (means “one” in german). Furthermore, he is given the name Zwei (means “two in german) and is ordered to partner up with Ein.

The story is interesting enough thus far with its fair share of plot twists. Some people may be put off by the emotionless voices of the leading characters due to their lost memories or the sometimes melodramatic scenes, but I think this series merits watching. There are numerous action scenes throughout the series for the viewers out there that like violence . It may not be on the top of your anime to watch list, but it should certainly be on there.

Saki and friends

So I guess I will be doing quick overviews of the anime this season as I get used to blogging. The series that I am going to look at today is Saki. This anime focuses on a high school girl named Saki Miyanaga (hence the title of the anime) and her encounters with the mahjong club as they aim for the national championships. In the past, she was punished by her family whenever she won or lost while playing mahjong which resulted in her dislike for the game and the adaptation of a playing style that always aimed to break even. To always break even in mahjong is actually a harder feat to achieve than winning, which the other members of the mahjong club quickly realize. One of the other members is Nodoka Haramura, a National Middle School Mahjong Champion that at first is put off by Saki’s dislike of mahjong, but they eventually grow closer and become friends. Together along with their club, they encounter opposing teams and individuals in mahjong matches as they aim for their goal.

Before I saw this series, I thought it would be somewhat similar to other mahjong series that I have seen such as Akagi or Legendary Gambler Tetsuya. However, it was definitely not what I had expected. Saki focuses more on the characters and the plot than the actual games that they play. When they do play matches, it’s more about their ability to win with flashy hands than it is about the mechanics of the game, but this is what makes it such an enjoyable series. Some people may be put off by anime series that go deeper into the game mechanics like Hikaru no Go, which teaches/explains to the viewer about the ancient chinese game of Go throughout the series. No need to worry about that here though, go watch it now!

The first anime series from this season that I will be taking a look at is K-On! This light-hearted series is about four high school girls who all join the school’s light music club. The four main characters are Yui (plays the guitar), Ritsu (plays the drums), Mio (plays the bass), and Tsumugi, or better known as Mugi (plays the keyboard). They are all usually shown together throughout the series though it seems at the start Yui is emphasized.

K-On! has an enjoyable atmosphere with unique and likable characters. The plot focuses on their goal of improving their band/club in order to have a grand performance before they all graduate from high school. This series reminds me of Lucky Star, though it has a definitely more concrete plot than what seemed to be simply daily life shown in Lucky Star. Anyways, this series is a must see for this season if you want a relaxing anime that gives you a few laughs.

So I finally got around to starting a blog. I look forward to writing about this season’s anime along with some rpgs that I have been playing. That will be all for now.