One Piece - Chapter #598 Review

Skull Joke Goes Here

After a month long wait, the chapter is finally out. Taking place 2 years after chapter 597, it did an excellent job showing how everyone has changed during the years apart from each other. However, it did hold back on most of their new moves. I'm sure we'll be seeing them within the next few chapters. They also introduced a group of people pretending to be the Stray Hat Pirates. This will be most interesting once Luffy finds out about what they've been up to while using his crew's names. The chapter also started off in color, which is always nice. I don't know about you guys, but I'm really looking forward to next week's chapter.


What do you guys think will happen? Do you think everyone will figure out who the real Straw Hat Pirates are? Do you think the Marines will interfere? Will they ever cross the Red Line? How do you think the other Rookies are doing in the New World?

Shaman King - Manga Review

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Shaman King #1
The manga starts off with a small boy, Manta, who had missed the train home. He decides to cut through a graveyard as it seems to be a shortcut to his neighbrohood. While in the cemertary he meets, Yoh, a mysterious young boy who has the ability to communicate with ghost. You then later finds out he's a Shama, a link between this world and the next. The manga itself is pretty interesting. They do some good character development and start introducing abilities and lesser characters. It ends with a fight between Yoh and another Shaman, Ren. Ren is a Shaman from China, and his partner is a Chinese Warlord. Not too bad for a first issue. Hiroyuki Takei did an excellent job with the ending. Adding a rival right at the end makes the reader want to go pick up the next volume ASAP.

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Shaman King #2
Hiroyuji Takei gets straight to the point in this volume. Starting off with a flash back of Yoh's life, Hiroyuji Takei sets up the main point of the entire manga; For Yoh to become Shaman King (Which is why it's called that). Then from there, they start introducing other characters, different types of Shamans, and of course explaining more about Yoh's personal spirit, Amidamaru, a legendary samurai. I truly like this volume. Lots of action and explanations. The last half of the volume is one long battle with a martial art expert, Lee Bailong. I'm pretty sure he's based off of Bruce Lee. The fight is pretty intense. You can see Yoh's summer training has made him stronger; However, they have yet to actually show what he does for training. Hopefully, this changes. I do love seeing the characters train to become strong, instead of randomly just getting stronger. Makes it more believable to me, or something.

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Shaman King #3

"I like to go out with my family. No matter how busy I am, I always go out once a week with my fmaily. That's because at those times, the smiles on everyone's faces are genuine. When you see that, who cares about deadlines?"

-Hiroyuji Takei; Shaman King 3 - 1999

I have mixed feelings about this volume. Not only did it not have any real fights in it, but it also took it's time setting up for the main arc. However, the background story on Amidamaru's sword and the introduction of a new shaman ally, made it worth reading. It did tell the story well. I don't know. I just feel that it didn't need an entire volume to do it. Let's hope that the next few volumes are good, now that they have the backstories finished and the main characters set up.

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Shaman King #4

"Wisdom, like genius, is a flash of insight. The ability to bring forth something from nothing. The ability to understand the ineffable. It is the light that reveals new possibilities in this world."

-Silve; Shaman King 4

This volume has some interesting parts in it, but once again I felt that it took longer to get the point across. It showed who was qualified for the Shaman fight. It introduce the Over Soul ability. Did a great job introducing the concept of Mana. However, other then leading up to the first Preliminary fight, he didn't complish anything else. I have a feeling that volume 4 and 5 could be one volume. It seems the author is slowing down with the pace of his story. Either to extend how long it is going to be, or he's just having trouble excuiting it.

On another note. Kororo, Horohoro's Spirit Ally, is pretty cute. So far it looks like she's the/a spirit of Winter. They also talked about animal spirits. There's so much room for different types of abilities with the set up so far. I'm looking forward to reading more.

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Shaman King #5
Things are starting to get interesting. Looks like Yoh could actually loose a match. Possible ally was made along with an obvious villain. I like seeing the main characters loose from time to time. Just seems more realistic to me. And you need that, when you're dealing with inhumanly possible powers. Volume ends in a cliff hanging, making the reader want to read more. Always good thing though. Wanting to read me means that you're enjoying the story. This shows the author did a great job. I'm becoming quite a big fan of Shaman King. Also, this volume is perfect to read around Halloween time.

Pokemon: FireRed - Challenge Update

This is my first attempt at recording game play. I decided to try out one of my own challenges, since I actually have been thinking about it for a few weeks. Even before the blog site idea popped into my head. As you can see in the video, I'm doing the Lone Wolf Challenge. 

• Can't Capture Pokemon
• All TMs/HMs
• All Badges Collected

I'm not sure if I'm going to bother doing the all TMs/HMs part of this. It's mostly to see how far I can get, before my Pokemon KO's. That's right.... I'm borrowing Rule 1 of Hardcore Mode.

• Release Any K.O.'d Pokemon

I also created a point system. I figured it'll give it a little something extra. Let's see who can get the High Score! The point system is as follows:

• Bulbasaur As Starter = +2 Points
• Squirtle As Starter = +5 Points
• Charmander As Starter = +7 Points
• Beat Rival = +10 Points For Each Pokemon
• Each Trainer Defeated = +5 Points For Each Pokemon
• Gym Leaders & Elite Four = +50 Points Each
• Level Up = +1 Point (Might take this out) 
• Pokemon Center or Rest (Not the move) =  -2 Points
• Run Away From Battle = -5 Points
• Every Non-Key Item Used = -1 Point (Might take this out)

The video only goes from the beginning of the game to after I defeated the first gym leader. I edited out all the random battles, since it was pretty boring to watch. Not to mention the video started to get pretty lengthy. I finished with 107 Points. Can anyone do better?

Fall 2010 Anime List - Prediction Review

It's that time of the year again. The leaves are starting to turn, the wind is picking up, school is starting, and the new season of Anime is starting to air. Bellow is a list of new Anime airing in Japan this season. Along with any information I could gather on and a personal opinion review on each one. Once I get a chance to watch more of each show, I'll probably do individual reviews.

http://youtu.be/hOVCd_7RsBY

Star Driver: Kagayaki no Tact
Genre: Mecha, Fighting, Action

On a cross-shaped island in the South, a mysterious and gigantic humanoid robot known as the "Cybuddy" is discovered sealed in the underground ruins. The Order of the Glittering Star Cross abducts a girl named Wako Agemaki, the key to activating the robot. A boy named Takuto Tsunashi arrives with his own Cybuddy named Tauburn to rescue her.

Sounds like a pretty basic giant robot anime to me. Judging from the sound of it, it could either be like Gundam, or Gurren Lagann. I hoping it's the later. It'll be interesting to see that kind of scale along with the comedy mixed together again. I however don't have very high hopes for this. Reason being; Most Mecha Anime shows are pretty much the same.

http://youtu.be/Jq2kFH7K3Ms

Hyakka Ryoran Samurai Girls

Genre: Action, Fighting

In an alternate future, the Tokugawa shogunate never lost power and Japan mainstrained its enforced seclusion from the rest of the world. The 25th shogun assumed the mantle of Japan's leadership 20 years ago, and the student council enforces the suppression of rebellious elements at a giant academy for children of military families at the foot of Mt. Fuiji.

This one actually sounds really interesting. It's pretty much old school Samurai within the modern world. I personally love alternate history/timelines stuff, and look forward to seeing how well done this turns out. Judging from the name, it's probably going to be a bit Ecchi too. Which can be a good thing, but also can take away from the seriousness of the show.

http://youtu.be/iZbGlVqKXTM

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

Genre: Comedy, Fighting, Supernatural, Ecchi

The story revoles around two angels - "Panty" (a blond-haired girl who wears teen-celbrity style fashion); and "Stocking"(a black-haired girl in gothic-lolita attire) - are send from the Upper Region to battle against "Ghosts" on Earth.

I'm actually not sure about the genre of this one. I only guessed, since I couldn't find much information at the moment. Judging from the name, it's gotta be an Ecchi Comedy. It seems there is a large number of comedy shows airing this season. Might be a good thing. It evens out when you take in the account that the mainstream Anime shows are reaching major storyline climaxes. 

Invasion! Squid Girl

Genre: Comedy, Fighting(?), Drama(?)

The sea in the world has been polluted. All sort of trash were thrown into thesea, making it upleasant deep under the sea. One of the inhabitants of the sea, Ika Musume (Squid Girl) seeks to exact revenge on humanity for throwing trash into the sea.

I'm not too sure about this one. Sounds like an anti-oil spill anime. However, the picture I found of it made the show look adorable. I'm not too interested in it, but I'll give it a try. Might actually involve fighting and what not. Too early to tell at this point.

http://youtu.be/h-1jTCXt2sY

Super Robot Wars: The Inspector

Genre: Mecha, Fighting

It's a bunch of giant robots beating each other up... No storyline as far as I know.

Eh.... I really couldn't find much information on this. From what I gather, it's just a show about robots fighting. Might be fun to watch, if the fights are done nicely. However, I'm not too sure on the quality of this. I'll need to watch an episode or two, before I can give a better prediction review.

http://youtu.be/4C5Xq-KUICQ

My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute!

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Otaku

Kousaka Kyousuke is an average high school studen who doesn't get along well with his younger sister, the cute and popular Kirino. Then one day he makes a startling discovery: Kirino's secretly an Otaku.

Okay. I'll admit. I thought this was just another incest Anime. We really don't need any more of those, but after talking to someone about it, it might actually be more then that. I added Romance to the genre, because that's what it sounds like it's going to be. However, there hasn't actually been anything announced that states it's a Romance. Might actually be an Otaku anime. 

http://youtu.be/Z-x7GDhEOLg

Otome Yokai Zakuro

Genre: War, Romance, Drama... or Comedy

The fox-eared girls living in the youkai part of town are about to be put to work together with a delegation of young human soliders, to promote interracial understanding. So when will happen when Zakuo's strong personality collides with human sensibilities?

This one can go two ways. It can be a Romantic Comedy, or it can be filled with Drama, War, and Fighting. I couldn't find enough information on it right now. I'm pretty interested in this one, so I'll be looking forward to the actual episodes. I want to see which direction it will take.

Bakuman

Genre: Otaku, Romance, Comedy

Moritaka Mashiro is an average 9th grade studen but talented artist, and Akito Takagi, an overall advanced 9th grader and aspiring writer. Takgi convinces Mashiro to join him in becoming the greatest mangakas Japan has ever seen. Takagi, with his gift of writing, hopes to become a sucessful mangaka, and Mashiro, with his gift of art, hopes to mary the girl of his dreams, Azuki Miho.

I'm looking forward to this one. I truly enjoy Otaku Anime shows and wanted to see another one based around making Manga. 

Fortune Arterial

Genre: Vampires, Romance

The story revolves around a transfer student named Kohei Hasekura who discovers that his new remote island school, Shuchikan Academy, has a female vampire named Erika Sendo within its student body.

Another Romantic Anime based around Vampires. Highly over done these days. As long as they don't sparkle, I'll watch it.

http://youtu.be/_kFGNV69Va4

The World God Only Knows

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Katsuragi Keima is a god at eroge games, while in real life he hates all real girls. However he is approached by a devil, Elsee, from to help her in catching runaway spirits that hide in people. Apparently the spirits only hide in the hearts of girls and the only way to get the souls out is by making the girls fall in love so the spirit gets forced out.

Someone told me to read this Manga a long time ago. I told them I did, but the truth is, I only bookmarked it. Surprising to me, they're doing an Anime now. Which gives me an excuse to also check out the Manga. I'm super interested in this one, because it just sounds insanely funny and ironic. I will enjoy doing a full review once the show finishes.

MM

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Taro Sado is a normal high school boy who discovered a side of himself that is into masochism. Even as he triest to hide his side from his high school crush, he tries to fix it through his school's "2nd Volunteer Club."

Meh. I don't know what to say about this. The main character sounds like a pussy. 

http://youtu.be/Mnh5ETmX6WQ

Yosuga no Sora

Genre: Slice of Life

Haruka Kazugano and his twin sister Sora have found childhood memories of going to the viilage to visit their grandfather during their summer vacations. However, after losing their prents in an accident, the two must move in with their grandfather.

This sounds like a good old fashion Slice of Life story. Probably have quite a few Flash Backs to help tell the story. Might be pretty cute to watch. My prediction is that it's only going to be 12 ~ 13 episodes.

Agricultural Musume

Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life

The story of Nogyo Musume! centers around Hikari and Hikaru Koshino, two sisters who take care of the paddy they inherited from their parents. Together, the sisters grow rice and hang out with their friencs in the local area.

I'm not going to lie. This one sounds incredibly boring. Hopefully the comedy is done in a way that makes watching the entire season bearable. More then likely it's going to be another 12 ~ 13 episodes.

Rita et Machin

Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life

Based off a book by the same name. The books follow the happy daily lives of a precocious five-year-old girl named Rita and an easy-going yet somewhat lazy dog named Machin.

All I can say about this, is that I hope it's not a few hundred episodes long. They tend to over do shows like this, because they target young children. I'm hoping that it'll be similar to Rugrats, in the sense that you can see what she's imagining. 

http://youtu.be/XXu_aMQCw0g

Robin and his 100 Friends

Genre: Silce of Life(?)

The story revolves around a boy named Robin who moves from downtown to Geen Village and is determined to make many friends there.

I wonder if it's going to have 100 episodes. Each episode he makes a new friend? I can see it happening. I wouldn't mind if they did that. As long as the animation and story telling is good. 

http://youtu.be/01OrEoLF1sY

Togainu no Chi

Genre: Action, Fighting, Crime

Akira, the young champion of a street fighting tournament caleld BI@ster, is suddenly arrested for a crime he didn't commit. He makes a deal with a mysterious woman to get out of prison on one condition: to defeat the strongest man, the Il-Re, in a deadly game called Igura, which is taking place under the rule of a drug ring in the abandoned remains of Tokyo.

This one sounds really interesting. If done correctly, I can see this becoming an awesome Shōnen type show.  A bit more mature then the others, but still has cool fight scenes and power-ups.

Soredemo Machi wa Maqatteriru

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Detective

The story centers around Seaside, a slightly odd maid tea shop in an otherwise ordinary shopping district of a mundane neighborhood in Tokyo. (Despite the addition of maids, Seaside is a traditional maid tea shop, instead of one of the maid cafes made popular elsewhere.) Hotori Arashiyama works at Seaside and daydreams about being a high schol gir detective.

Harriet The Spy in Anime form? Sounds about right to me. I'll be looking forward to seeing what end up doing with this show. It has a couple of possibilities. The only fear I have, is that it turns out to be a children's show. With really lame detective parts. Like finding a lost cat or something.

http://youtu.be/cf4r59_DOqw

Psychic Detective Yakumo

Genre: Crime, Supernatural

Yakumo Saitou was born with different eye colors. His red left eye gave him a special ability to see ghosts and spirits. Being asked for help by Haruka Ozawa, he usses his power to help him solve cases.

I think this has been done a few times. Not in anime, but in live action American shows. I remember hearing about a few shows like this. Like Ghost Whisper or whatever it was called. Hopefully it's not too bad.

http://youtu.be/EXPwGA47TkM

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

Genre: Crime

The story takes place in an imaginary world in "the Age of Dectectives", where private dectives and phantom thieves overwhelm the cities. It's about four girls who aim to be great detectives. 

This sounds like One Piece, but with Detectives instead of Pirates. Might be either really good or really bad. Way to early to judge this one right now.

Karl and the Mysterious Tower

Genre: Comedy(?), Mystery

The story centers around Every morning, noon, and evening, an old timekeeping man ringst he bell in a mysterious tall tower built from a stack of building blocks. However, one day at noon, the tower bell fails to ring - leaving the townspeople confused about when to eat lunch.

My prediction is this is going to be a half season Anime. Something about 12 or 13 episodes. Possibly some OVA's and maybe a Movie. I can't see it being very long. There's not a lot of room for story development from what I know so far.

http://youtu.be/rNOOw-V9TG4

Battle Spirits: Brave

Genre: Comedy , Parody

Based off a manga about children's trading cards... in AMERICA!

One word: Awesome! I hope this is as good as I think it's going to be. I'm looking forward to a lot of laughs.

Pokemon: Best Wishes!

Genre: Unknown

Based on Pokemon Black & White, from what I know of.

Yeah... I don't know how I feel about this.

Everything else that is coming out is either OVAs, Movies, or 2nd/3rd Seasons to shows that's out already. I wont bother writing reviews on them right now. 

Pokemon FireRed - Review

I know many of you have already played this game. It's quite old now. However, I wasn't sure where to start when it came to reviews, and thought I'll do an older game that I enjoyed. FireRed is the updated version of Red. It covers the original storyline, with a few Generation 2 Pokemon added in. You start off as a young boy/girl who embarks on a journey to become a Pokemon Master. The town's Professor gives you a starter Pokemon. His grandson, who happens to be your rival, also receives a free Pokemon. Depending on which element you choose, your rival will always choose the one that is stronger against the type you've chosen. You then receive the Pokedex and continue through the game collecting Pokemon data for the Professor.

Do you have what it takes to be a Pokemon Master? I've formed a few challenges to for everyone who's already beaten the game, to take. I, myself, am thinking about doing these challenges as well. I need to get a hold of a program that will allow me to record myself playing, so that I can make videos of me doing the challenges.

Challenge 1: 100% Completion

• All TMs/HMs
• Pokedex Completed
• All Badges Collected
• Caught/Evolved All Pokemon In Game Version

Challenge 2: Hardcore Mode

• Release Any K.O.'d Pokemon
• All TMs/HMs
• Pokedex Completed
• All Badges Collected

Challenge 3: Lone Wolf 

• Can't Capture Pokemon
• All TMs/HMs
• All Badges Collected

Challenge 4: Chaos-Mode

• Capture First  Pokemon You See*
• No Pokemon In Bill's PC**
• Release Any K.O.'d Pokemon
• All TMs/HMs
• All Badges Collected
• Can't Capture/Use Legendary Pokemon

*Only counts for Wild Pokemon. As in, non-Legendary. If you already have that Pokemon or have had it, you may choose not to catch it, and catch the next on you don't have or have had.

**If you recieve a Pokemon through storyline or something similar, you may keep it in Bill's PC. However, once you have less then 6 Pokemon in your party, you MUST remove one, in the order they were put into the box, to fill the empty slot(s). 

Welcome!

Welcome! I'm planning on updating with a review every Friday. It will hold my personal opinion, a few pictures, maybe a video, and anything else that I can think of that would be related to whatever the review is on.

Feel free to comment your opinons on whatever is being reviewed, as I will love to have other opinions on whatever it is I'm reviewing. Please refrain from stuff like: 

"You're stupid. This movie is horrible!"

If you're going to comment with an opinion, please make sure you actually explain yourself. Back it up with facts and information. Try to at least sound like you know what you're talking about. Something like this:

"I see your point, but I'm going to have to disagree. The random close up views of the characters when they're talking was way over done and distracted the viewer from what else was going on in the scene. Not to mention that one girl's acting was terrible. It was like she was reading from a script the entire time. I do agree with you that it had lots of action, but that just isn't enough to keep me interested the whole time."

So, why should you care about my opinions? I'm not the average anime watcher who's been watching for 3 - 4 years and loves Naruto and/or Bleach. I've been watching anime for 18 or 19 years. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about when it comes to reviewing. What about manga? The same goes for that as well. Graphic Novels, Comics, Manga, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Adventure Books. I've been into this stuff as long as I can remember. Wondering about movies and games? Well, a lot of people I know have told me that I give great reviews and summaries of movies when they ask. I've been a gamer my entire life. It's only naturally for me to know what I'm talking about in that field. I've even did some programing and messed around with RPG Maker. 

All these facts should be enough to convince you check out my site at least once a week. I will try my best to make it as entertaining to read as possible. I'm not very familiar with this type of website, so it might take me awhile to get everything organized. Feel free to comment with ideas and/or helpful suggestions.