End of Dreams

First, the important issue at hand: the Anime Blogger community is holding a donation drive to help keep the server afloat! The goal is currently set at $1,600USD, which would cover three months of hosting; at the time of this post, we are currently at $994.57USD - we’re almost there! Click *here* to donate!

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Secondly, yes, I’ve once again been MIA. The undergraduate classes that I’ve been taking for the past year and a half have been particularly brutal on my free time. So what has been happening since my last post? I’ve been keeping up with Spice and Wolf, Clannad and Mobile Suit Gundam: 00, although I can’t say I enjoyed Clannad too much past the Tomoyo arc. Spice and Wolf is a unique anime series (The merchant aspect of the series is; the overly cute chibi-esque girls isn’t) that I found to be a good change of pace from what I usually watch. Gundam 00 felt awkward at first, probably because of the exposure that I have to the CE era of Gundam SEED. It’s a good change from the constantly re-used rainbow-beam spamming scenes that incorporated 90% of Gundam SEED and Destiny’s battles - it’s definitely one of my favorites for 2008 thus far and Lockon’s fight with Ali in episode 23 stirred something within me that was present during Kamina’s (GGL: EP#9) and Archer’s (FS/N: EP#14) final fight scenes. Looks like Gundam has added a new GAR-level character to its rosters (Mwu from SEED had his status revoked thanks to a certain director’s terrible decision making during GSD).

As for the spring season series, I’m currently watching Macross and Code Geass. Macross: Frontier had an impressive launch and is something that I am definitely adding to my watch list, although the animation quality seems to have dropped off a bit after episode 2. Code Geass R2, which replaced Gundam 00’s timeslot (Sunrise likely didn’t want competition between their two hit mecha series), shot off its first episode of the season alongside Macross. I’m sure most people have already heard of CG - it’s a huge hit and its R2 was literally hyped to death. I looked a bit into Vampire Knight and Nabari no Ou, but I can’t say I’m too interested in either one. I swear, Code Geass sucks me in and makes me completely uninterested in other anime series - Sunrise is on a roll: first Gundam 00, now this. It’s been another great year so far for the world of anime - although it would be even better if the second season of Haruhi would actually kick off. I’m also hoping that the Kara no Kyokai DVDs become available by the end of the 2008.

Character and Move list for the arcade game, Fate Unlimited/codes - Dark Sakura is missing so I’m assuming that she’s either an unlockable character and/or one of the final bosses.

Gaming-wise, mirror moon has finished and released the translated Unlimited Blade Works route for the Fate Stay/Night visual novel! As if this wasn’t good enough news for Type-Moon fans, mirror moon has also included an option to install full voice acting into your game provided that you own a copy of the Playstation 2 Realta Nua DVD. In addition, Fate/unlimited codes has been floating around for some time now and I’m really looking forward to it being ported in the near future. Trailers ↓:

EDIT: Apparently the cast from Gundam 00 has been unlocked in Bandai’s latest arcade game “Gundam vs. Gundam“. The picture depicts all four of the main Gundam suits, but I’d be pleasantly surprised if Dynames, Kyrios, or Virtue were playable; there seems to be an interesting “backup” attack that involves cut scene-ish special attacks with a suit corresponding to what mobile suit you choose (e.g. Impulse Gundam uses Saviour Gundam). Now I just have to play the waiting game for it be ported console-side since there are no arcades nearby that actually have it /sadface.

Also, has anyone heard of what happened to the “in production” Gundam SEED movie that was announced a good two years ago? It’s extremely odd that there has been no news or updates of it after such a long time; I’m beginning to think if Sunrise was playing a joke on us.

Oh, and to make this post even moar completely random: Warhammer 40k Biel-tan Eldar Farseer art - do want.

It’s amazing how a series that I didn’t even like turned into one that I’ll remember for a very long time. It has everything a fan would love: not one, not two, but several GAR characters, amazing animations, great voice acting (with the exception of pre-time skip Nia - I literally cringed each time she spoke), manly tear moments, and concepts/attacks that are flat out cheesy (e.g. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE KICK). That’s the beauty of Gurren-Lagann; the cheesiness somehow works. I don’t how, or why, but it does. I guess you could liken Gurren-Lagann to One Piece, another terribly cheesy series that is a juggernaut in the popularity department.

With Claymore’s horrible ending (Claymore’s ending seemed so insignificant after watching Gurren-Lagann twenty seven), Gurren-Lagann, along with Darker than Black and Seto no Hanayome, is clearly one of the top contenders for best anime series of 2007. I wonder how the second season of Code Geass will measure up to this juggernaut when it premiers in a few weeks. I was expecting a typical LOLGAINAX ending, so I was somewhat surprised when the last fifteen minutes of episode twenty seven rolled across the screen. I mean, this isGainax we’re talking about; I expected an ending akin to something along the lines of some explosion killing every single character in the series with vague or no explanation as to what had just happened. Those that know me will know that I despise happy endings; mainly because they are a dime a dozen amongst anime. I could not be any more happy with the way Gainax ended Gurren-Lagann - Nia disappearing made it a bittersweet ending, and the twenty year time skip at the end of the episode provided a happy dose of closure to the masterpiece that is Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann.

Viral

As for the final episode itself? Amazing. If I were to pick my favorite episode in the entire series, it would be a deadlock between twenty six and twenty seven; both were so incredible T_T. We get to see Lord Genome (with an actual body) and the Lazengann one last time when he, like Kittan and Kamina before him, sacrifices himself in a GAR fashion to help destroy the Anti-Spiral. The specialized fighting techniques that the Gurren-Lagann gains based on its users was also a nice addition (Yoko sniper Gurren-Lagann and Viral dual-wield katana Gurren-Lagann was badass). Aside from all of that, Gurren-Lagann gets massive props from me for being the first series that I’ve seen to have someone (whether it be a TV show, anime, or movie) grab and mesh together a goddamned galaxy to kick someone’s ass. Not even Galactus did that and he’s the devourer of worlds.

GARnome’s last moments

As much as I liked the ending, it has risen some questions that I felt that went unanswered: What’s up with the opening scene of episode one? I don’t believe they ever went into detail about that and many speculate that it’s actually a scene of the second season of Gurren-Lagann. However, the twenty year time skip epilogue debunks this theory, although I guess they could always do an OVA of some sort that takes place in between the ending of season one and the epilogue.Another theory is that the person with the cape is Gimmy, although the presence of Boota makes me think otherwise. Also, why did time skip Simon have a spiral eye similar to that of Lord Genome? Is it because Lord Genome is now a “part” of him (“Lord Genome, isshoni iku zo!”)? Or is it simply because Simon is becoming somewhat like Lord Genome in the sense that he’s also an extremely powerful spiral energy user and has started to gain immortality or extended life as a result of his proficiency with spiral power?

Simon and Nia

I don’t like randomly throwing out the word “epic” to describe something, but I really feel that Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann is deserving of it. Well done Gainax, you’ve truly outdone yourselves this time. Dare I say “best anime series of 2007″?

So, I got into the Granado Espada closed beta. First impressions? Mindless wholescale slaughtering fun! Think Diablo 2, except that it’s an MMORPG where you can control up to three characters at once as opposed to one. I noticed quite a few clipping bugs and English errors, but that’s to be expected from the very first English beta. If anyone wants to get into contact with me, my Family name is “Seishou”, and I’m in the all mighty Team-Lolicon (GOGO!) Faction.

Team Lolicon, UNITE

Good hack and slash fun. Now if only version 2.0 would hurry it’s way to the English beta. Oh yes, check out Espada’s homepage HERE.

First things first: Happy Chinese New Years! (I’m a day late posting this) - May you all receive many red envelopes of monies. Now moving onto Aquarion:

Yes, I know it’s nearly 2 years old, but this anime has scarred me with an extremely grotesque image that I shall never forget for the rest of my life:

This isn’t the loli that you are looking for.

Sousei no Aquarion deserves its props. I have seen many hilarious anime series in the past 7 years, but none have ever made me spew forth what I was drinking in a moment of disgust/hilarity/amazement like the RenaLOLUMBRELLATWIRLSURPRISE! scene has. Did I mention I actually mouthed the words “WTF” irl? The only thing that held me back from crying out in horror was the fact that it was 4am in the morning - clearly the wrong time in the day to see such a horrifying image. Maybe it’s because the scene was just so completely random and out in the left field that I wasn’t really expecting it, seeing as how Sophia was wearing Fudou’s outfit already. I can’t really say that I loved the anime, but this single cosplay episode totally made it all worthwhile.

Oh, and Silvia is quite possibly the worst Tsundere that I’ve ever seen.

OH GOD, WHYYYYYYY

I feel your pain all too well.

I AXED YOUR UNCLE BECAUSE I LOVE YOU IRL!

13 episodes in - Higurashi is good stuff. First Ouran Host Club, and now this. It amazes me how many good anime series I’ve missed last year.

PS: Ciel (from Tsukihime) being parodied is automatically +5 points from me.
PPS: Needs more Mion.

It’s amazing how fast the anime swings from your normal school / comedy genre anime into the bloodbath that it truly is.

Edit: Season 2 this year as well huh? The good news just keeps flooding in.