Bonen no Xamdou: First Look!

Let me begin by saying I am a mega-huge fan of the BONES animation studio. In my mind, they have been constantly been delivering some of the best anime to date, and they are breaking ground in amazing and engaging sci-fi series. So, imagine my enthusiasm when I heard they were putting out a new series! With character designs like those in Eureka Seven (which is one of my favourite shows), robots, mysterious girls, possible explosions... Well. I nearly wet my pants. As of now, I can't wait for episode two!!

Bonen no Xamdou (or Xam'd: Lost Memories) is a feast of heavenly proportions for me. Everything about it is stunning, interesting. The animation is slick, in my preferred style and design. The story struck a chord with me right off of the bat. It left me desiring more. Desperately desiring.

The story goes like this. (And, because I feel lazy and my stomach is full of Subway, big thanks to MAL for the synopsis.) "Sentan Island is a small island surrounded by the Yuden Sea. It exists in a state of dreamlike tranquility, cut off from the war between the Northern Government and the Southern Continent Free Zone. Our hero, Akiyuki Takehara, lives on Sentain Island along with his mother Fusa. He is currently separated from his father, the town doctor Ryuzo, but the bond between father and son remains. One day, after taking Ryuzo the lunch that Fusa has made for him as usual, Akiyuki arrives at school, where he is caught up in an explosion along with his friends, Haru and Furuichi. The explosion produces a mysterious light, which enters Akiyuki's arm, causing him excruciating pain. He's given no time to understand it, however, as the white-haired girl who rode on the bus with him guides him to a power unlike anything he's ever known." It will apparently be twenty-six episodes long, which is a little bit of a shame. And yet... I'm in love!

The opening and ending animation has English themes playing along with it, which I find an interesting touch. Basic rock with guitar melody, a techno grove, echoing singing that makes your foot tap and makes you want to wave you r hands in the air, wave a cigarette lighter, or break out your rave gear. It's already making my head bob. The music playing during scenes instantly stole my heart away. Time to start hoarding money again for another soundtrack...

I am so ecstatic and excited for Xam'd. It has great potential to be one of the best shows of the season, or maybe the year, and I will be along with it every step of the way. I have the feeling Bandai Entertainment will want to pick it up... And I will buy it if things keep going this strongly. Totally.

So, if you are interested, well... America is getting this series two months before Japan. Go download it on your Sony PlayStation in high definition for $3.75, or standard quality for $2.82. It is reportedly the most-downloaded item on the American Sony store so far! It has Japanese audio and English subs.

I highly recommend this. Very highly. Uber-high. Go buy it now. Please.

Miss M ;D

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Review

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

“Y’all know slaughter can’t be spelled without laughter!”

Summary:
Cute girls wielding bloody hatchets? Insanity, paranoia, and intrigue to boot? Sign me up! I honestly knew little of what I was getting into when I started Higurashi. The first episode is rather normal stereotypical moe: New guy, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa, joins the after school club, goes insane, kills his friends, and claws his own throat out.

Wait, that’s not right…

Well that didn’t work. Hit the cosmic reset button Oyashiro-sama, and let’s see if it works out the 2nd time around…

Plot:
Out of all the different crime shows, anime, and literature, Higurashi really stands out. Nothing in this show is spoon-fed to the viewers or makes use of cheap CSI like clichés (e.i. We need to find a bullet casing! You mean just like the one over there?). Based off a series of amateur doujin games (visual novels) Higurashi makes good use of the so called “cosmic reset button”.

In other words, the show is split into separate arcs, each telling a self contained story with the familiar backdrop of Hinamizawa, while playing a bigger part in the entire story. Keiichi Maebara is new to the area and attends the local school with the other kids of the town. Many of these characters will help shape and weave together the story that is Higurashi.

Before Keiichi moved to Hinamizawa, a few years prior, the government had decided to create a dam near Hinamizawa, though it would require it’s residence to relocate, so the area could become flooded. The Three Head Families of Hinamizawa fought against the government trying to convince them not to go through with the dam project. Apparently there was a murder that took place where someone (a dam worker?) was dismembered. Five of the murderers were caught, while it is said the sixth underwent Onikakushi, other wise know as being spirited away by Oyashiro-sama never to be seen again. The dam project was apparently forgotten about for the time being.

According to the locals, every year, for the past four years ever since the dam incident, on the night of the Watanagashi Festival, one person dies, while one person undergoes Onikakushi. This has been regarded to as “Oyashiro-sama’s Curse”.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is only the first season, and explains much of what is going on within Hinamizawa, but by the end of it, not everything is completely clear. Is it a parasite, a curse, a person’s contagious insanity, or aliens (I shit you not, this is an actual theory)? To truly understand this bizarre series, look for the next season, Higurashi Naku Koro ni Kai.

Okay, another content warning… Higurashi is EXTREMELY VIOLENT! Even though things are not always explicitly shown, they are still highly disturbing. I am not kidding when I say this either. In one scene, a girl takes a knife, places it against a wall, and beats her head against it until she dies. Stuff like that. Defiantly not for those with a weak stomach.

Animation:
I was actually fairly surprised to find out that Studio DEEN was the company that adapted the game in anime form. I saw their rendition of Vampire Knight (the animation in that was terrible) and there is no real comparison. During the normal first episode, animation was okay nothing really special, but during violent scenes (there are many of these) or points when the face is the focal point, usually used to show a character isn’t exactly sane, animation is very well done. Frankly, they did their job when it came down to scaring the crap out of me. Those expressions will haunt me in my dreams… Just take a look:

But it does go without saying that a few of the “insane” faces to tend to look less than terrifying. But I’m willing to forgive. Backgrounds and settings were fleshed out and very detailed. With such a strong story driving it and better than average animation, Higurashi is Studio DEEN’s masterpiece.

Music:
The opening music is one of my favorite anime openings of all time. “メイン・テーマ” (the name of the song is the same as the series, I’ll use Japanese characters to differentiate) uses a lot of techno sounding effects, while retaining a creepy overtone. Vocals and lyrics both add a beautiful, haunting melody that reflects the style of Higurashi very well. The ending on the other hand, fell flat on its face. Maybe I just don’t enjoy a song sung be a Japanese singer in Engrish (if the previous statement made any sense go give yourself a cookie). It just didn’t sound natural. I guess if you don’t mind Engrish, you may like it.

Voice Acting (Japanese):
Being able to laugh manically, scream in rage and insanity, and still pull off a cute voice when the character is acting normal is no easy feat, and I applaud the voice actors and actresses for a job well done. They pulled off their roles flawlessly. I still get shivers every time I hear one of the Sonozaki sisters laugh in insanity. The only thing I have an issue with, and this is my nitpicky self coming through, but when Keiichi cries it sounds like he’s being strangled. That only happens once or twice though throught the entire series, so it probably won’t bother anyone else that much.

Overall:
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is one of my favorite series. I like shows such as CSI or Without a Trace, but those tend to get very formulaic after a while and Higurashi is a wonderful change of pace that will keep you guessing until the very end. The arc form of story telling may be confusing at first, but after a while, you learn to expect it. If you have a strong stomach and are looking for a good mystery series that doesn’t treat the viewer like a baby and spoon feed everything to them, give Higurashi a whirl.

Final Score: 5/5
-Midori

Battle Angel Review

Hi, my name's Midori and I'm one of the new reviewers for the Hey Hey Anime blog. I thought I'd start my work here with a review for the much acclaimed Battle Angel OVA.

Battle Angel

Zalem; a legendary floating city that overshadows the slums of Scrap Iron City- a dangerous city filled with organ theives and criminals with high bounties on their heads. Dr. Ido is a cybornetic doctor and escapee of Zalem, who one day while looking for scrap parts in a dump, stumbles upon the still living remains of a female cyborg. He rebuilds and gives her the name Gally. She takes up bounty hunting so that she can earn enough money to go to the city up above with the man she loves.

Created as a preview for the manga, this 2 episode OVA starts a worth while story that never seems to find a happy ending.

Plot:

Oh, where to begin. Being how short this OVA is, you can expect very little when it comes to plot, but given it's length they do do a good job fleshing it out. In an attempt to help flesh out the story Chirin was specifically for the OVA. Due to her creation however, their are quiet a few fan servicy type scenes involving a lot of nudity, that frankly felt unnecessary.

Yugo, portrayed as an honest hearted mechanic at first, is quickly revealed to have ulterior motives to further his goal to earn his way to Zalem.



Gally is the heroine of the OVA and quiet a cute one at that. After having her body rebuilt by Dr. Ido she takes up the job of a Hunter-Warrior (basically a bounty hunter) taking down organ thieves, so she can also travel to Zalem with Yugo.



Animation:

For 1993 it isn't bad. With how short it is, Battle Angel could afford to put a lot more detail into it's character designs and backgrounds. The problem lies in personal taste. Certain people will absolutely love the art, while some will vehemently hate it. I personally loved the characters design for Gally, but some of the other designs just looked god awful (Yugo and some of the rogue cyborgs for example).



Where the voice acting fails, the fluid animation shines. The fights between Gally and Grewcica were very fluid and well choreographed. Only occasionally did a scene ever look choppy or unnatural, but that's to be expected of something from '93.


Music:

This'll go quick, seeing as there was a definitive lack of music. There is no opening for the OVA, only a closer, Cyborg Mermaid. Nothing stellar, but not atrocious (which can't be said for many themes to come out of the mid '90s). Background music was forgettable; nothing really stood out to me. Appropriate when needed, absent when not.



Voice Acting:



Oh, God almighty... My ears hurt just thinking about the English dub for this series.



I'm going to also comment about the script here, because there were some points that really bothered me. In one scene Dr. Ido and Gally are discussing her becoming a Hunter-Warrior that had some poorly written dialogue as well as poor delivery, that frankly, killed what could have been a perfectly fine scene. Thankfully the entire script isn't as bad and the 2 main characters have decent voice actors, but there will definitely be some points where the script will make you stop and roll your eyes. Both Gally and Yugo's voices are thankfully better than that of the rest of the cast, and ironicly Amanda Winn Lee (Gally) and Spike Spencer (Yugo) would co-star later in Evangelion as Shinji and Rei. I have nothing against Spike, but Yugo's voice made me want to punch the screen at times. He just seems to get cast as the characters I tend to hate.



Amanda Winn Lee does a good job portraying the cute and bubbly Gally, while hinting at something darker about her unknown past. All in all, I think she did the best job.



The rest of the voices on the other hand, sounded very stiff and unnatural.



Overall:

Battle Angel isn't bad by any means, just dated. It's worth a nights rentaland acts well as a preview for the manga, which is the only way you are going to be able to get the rest of the story. If you do happen to be interested in the manga by the end of the OVA, be forwarned, Viz switched nearly all the names around (I think Ido's is the only one that stays the same). Again I'd suggest this title to anyone who enjoys older post apocolyptic anime looking for a good way to spend a friday evening.

Final Score: 3/5

-Midori

Ben 10 Game Creator

Hi everybody it's your lovable blogger NightRoad here with a video game review for ya. If you have forgotten we have a 5-star rating system for everything we review.

So lets get started, today I'm reviewing something I think everybody should at least try. And it's Ben 10 Alien Force Game Creator. Which is a online game where you make the game, play the game, and have others play your game.


Game play:

For starters the controls are standard for your online game: up arrow key=jump, down arrow key=move down, left arrow key=move left, right arrow key=move right space bar=special move.
Now lets get down to business, the game play really depends on the game your playing. It can range from being very interesting and engulfing, to being repetitive and boring, and from being to difficult to even finish the goal at hand. Which brings me to the object of the games. The goals are as follows, it can be as simple as getting to the gate, or just defeating all the enemy's then getting to the gate, or getting all the gems then getting to the gate, or a combination of all three. Now that you know about the goals time to learn about how you go about completing those goals with the characters.


Characters:

There are a total of four characters and they each have there own special abilities.

Swampfire: Swampfire is a fire base character that shoots fire from his hands.
Jetray: Jetray is a flight base character that can fly, and can shoot lasers from his tail.
Spidermonkey: Spidermonkey is a primate type character that can jump really high, grab on to walls, and shoots webs from his tail.
Humongousaur: Humongousaur is a cross between a dinosaur and a really big man. He's very strong and can't jump very high.



Graphics:


The graphics are standard 2D. Don't really know if this is part of the graphics, but every once in awhile the game slows down which slows down your actions. But it isn't a very big problem for me. That's pretty much it.


Creating a Game:



The game takes you step by step through the process of creating a game. In total there are six steps you need to complete.

Step 1: Game starter

In this step you pick from nine platforms on which you build your game on.

Step 2: Background

In this step you pick from nine backgrounds.

Step 3: Hero

In this step you pick from four heroes you play as.

Step 4: Goal

In this step you pick from four goal.

Step 5: Level Design

In this step you pick what obstacles, gems, enemies, etc. that you want in the game.

Step 6: Test

In this step you test the game to make sure it's 'beatable'.



Now after all that the game will be finished.


Rating:


All in all it's a great game, so I give it 4 1/2 stars, but if I was judging individual games it would be much lower. But the creators of the game can't help what people make.


If you want to check it out the title of this post is a link to the game.




Posted by: NightRoad

The Anime KanoKon

Hello There Anime Fans This is your newest Buddy Jiraiya ^ ^ and i am here to review Anime And The Latest Video Games With My Pal Nightroad. Now to get towards are topic today i will be reviewing the series Kanokon. Now This is a Ecchi like series so its graphic for all of you who like like Ero sennin likes it ^ ^. But its not as graphic as it sounds its a Action, Comedy,Love,Romance Series so i mean its not a Naruto, Bleach Or Dbz kinda type action. The Link I gave you is a Preview For Episode 1 With English Subs, Note: This is not a Main Stream Anime such as Naruto or Bleach or Death Note. So for Otaku's who don't like Main Stream Anime this you can watch.

Jiraiya: Yes i ask my self how can u be considered an Otaku if you don't watch all anime ether Main Stream Or Not. In my eyes your still an otaku no matter what because you love anime with a passion.

Continuing now the scenario is a normal boy falls in love with a girl named Chizuru now we all know somethin is fishy. There is always something odd am i right there is no ordinary relation ship. Little dose the boy know she is a Golden kyubi aka Fox so she try's and passes it off as cosplay. But there is a little more to that But watch episode 1 its really good the series its self goes
up to 12 episodes but who really knows.

Well all in all i give it 4 Stars: Its well worth watching and or getting