Despite the Slow Start, My Summer Anime Marathon is going well

So far I’ve watched Clannad + After Story, Persona 4 and School Rumble in the two weeks since I was was released from the hospital. A short time ago, I started the first season of Ah! My Goddess! on DVD. I’m on track to meet my goal of watching 8 Anime by August 20. After this one I’ll be halfway there ^_^

The next Anime on my to-do list is the Anime I bought earlier this month: Death Note.

After that one, I’ll switch from DVD to the Digital Anime sets I own: Spice + Wolf (Xbox 360), Rosario + Vampire (Xbox 360) and Blue Exorcist (PS3). If I have time after that, I’ll watch Ouran High School Host Club (Blu-Ray) to close out the summer. Can’t wait to get Attack on Titan (English Dub) when it’s eventually released.

Are you watching Anime right now? Comment on the Anime you’re currently watching as well as your favorite Anime overall.

The Legend of Korra’s Third Season now available on Xbox Live

 

Just wanted to let fans of the TV Series know and yes, I watch it. I bought the first two seasons via Xbox Live on my 360 when they were released. Season 3 was no different.

 

For those who are fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender (now tenatively renamed The Legend of Aang due to licensing) and even those who are not, The Legend of Korra (henceforth LoK) is a followup series to Aang’s journey and takes place 100 years after the end of Season 3: Fire. Here’s a summary of what happened in seasons 1 and 2 but be warned, there be spoilers:

The first season (Book 1: Air) introduces the new Team Avatar (Waterbender Korra, Firebender Mako, Earthbender Bolin and Non-bender Asami) and introduces fans to a world 100 years later, ending with Korra (born with the ability to Waterbend, Earthbend and Firebend) finally learning Airbending (The opposite of Aang, who was born an Air Nomad and learned Waterbending, Earthbending and Firebending during his adventures).

Season 2 focused on an aspect of the Avatar Universe that up to now was barely touched on: Spirits and the Spirit World. Long ago, the first Avatar Wan worked with Raava, the Spirit of Light to seal Vaatu, the Spirit of Darkness in the Spirit World During Harmonic Convergence. After doing this, Wan sealed the gates connecting the Real World and the Spirit World, separating the two worlds forever. Fast forward to Korra’s time after the events of Season 1: Air. Spirits are attacking people and as the bridge between the real world and the spirit world, it’s Korra’ jon to restore balance. After learning the original Avatar’s story in a flashback, Korra defeats Vaatu and makes the bold decision to leave the portals connecting the two worlds open so that humans and spirits can once again freely travel between the two worlds.

During her quest to restore balance, The Avatar Legacy was lost forever when Raava was torn from her body by Vaatu and defeated. Even after Korra’s bending abilities were restored, her connection to her past lives were lost forever when Raava was defeated by Vaatu. Notice I said “defeated” and not killed. Raava and Vaatu are the spirits representing Light and Darkness. They are also based on Yin (Light) and Yang (Dark), which have a little of the other aspect inside it. One cannot exist without the other. When Wan inadventently separated Raava and Vaatu in ancient times, Darkness began to cover the world. The more bad things people did, the more powerful he became. Wan traveled the world and gained the ability to use all four bending disciplines in preparation for his showdown with Vaatu. During the battle, Raava merged with the Avatar, giving him the power to subdue and seal the Spirit of Darkness. This also marked the beginning of The Avatar Legacy.

Season 3: Change focuses on the aftermath of Korra’s decision to leave the portals unsealed after Vaatu’s defeat. As the world learns to cope with the reintroduction of spirits in the material world, something unexpected is happening: People who could not bend have suddenly gained the ability to Airbend. The surprising revelation leads Korra and her mentor Tenzin (Master Airbender and the son of Korra’s predecessor, Aang) to revive the Air Nation and help new the Airbenders learn to control their powers.

 

…Whew. I covered alot but there were alot more details I left out XD

Oh and yes, I’m aware LoK and ATLA are not Anime or even from Japan but it’s my blog and I felt like talking about them. Before I forget yes, I’m aware some of the episodes for Season 3 were leaked in May. Nickelodeon’s knee-jerk reaction: Move up the release of Season 3 to last Friday. Not only that, they will air two episodes at a time. Based on that, the finale should air on August 8. Like the first two seasons, season 3 is thirteen episodes long. As for after Season 3, who knows? Will LoK have a Season 4 or will it maintain tradition and stop after this season? I’m hoping this is the final season so that they can introduce a new Avatar.

Based on the Avatar Cycle, the next Avatar will hail from the Earth Kingdom. Avatar Roku, who preceeded Aang was a Firebender. Aang was of course an Airbender, Korra’s a Waterbender and her successor will be an Earthbender. The cycle will repeat and so on. Here’s hoping we eventually see a series for each element ^_^

 

 

First Look Review: Sword Art Online II (Japanese with English Subtitles)

 

This caught me by surprise both because I was in the hospital with limited internet access for a week and none of my usual sources knew about it. Then I saw an obscure link to an article on the internet announcing SAO2 would simulcast on Crunchyroll and two other streaming sites based in Japan. One word comes to mind: AWESOME!

Now let’s talk about SAO2, which is actually Season 2 of the Anime (feels so good to say that XD). SAO was a hit with fans on both sides of the Pacific from the start and actually had its English Premiere at Anime Boston 2012. I know because that was the very first year I was a panelist at Anime Boston so…yeah. I’d remember that detail (LOL!).

Anyway, in the first season gamers got stuck in the VR MMO Sword Art Online. Doesn’t sound so bad, does it? There is a catch, however: When you die in the game, you die in real life. Basically, SAO becomes a giant cage match. By the time Kirito beats SAO, two years have passed in the real world and 4,000 of the game’s 10,000 players have died. During the course of another year, Kirito is forced to enter the virtual world once again to shut down a copycat game and rescue his girlfriend Asuna, who is being held against her will in another game after SAO is cleared. For Kirito, Asuna and the other gamers who lost two (or in some cases three) years of their lives to the VR MMOs, time stopped for them while they were trapped in SAO. The emotional toll alone…whew.

That’s the spoiler-free gist of SAO Season 1. Now on to SAO2:

 

 

I’ve only seen the first episode so far (Episode 2 becomes available sometime this evening on Crunchyroll) but it does a nice job of both introducing the new plot and bridging Seasons 1 and 2. Here’s what I know so far:

A mysterious player called Death Gun has been shooting top players in a VR MMO. The thing is, the players he shoots instantly die in real life. And I thought SAO was pretty dark. At least this time it’s one person (so far) targeting players and not people getting trapped inside another game waiting to die. Anyway, Kirito is recruited to go into the game and find out if this rumored Death Gun really exists and if possible, find out why he’s killing people.

That’s prettymuch it so far.

Asuna appears throughout the episode with Kirito (except for Kirito’s briefing which happens during a flashback in the middle of the episode the same day) but it’s hard to tell so far what, if any role she will have in the new storyline. Ditto for Kirito’s cousin. Of course, this was just one episode of many more to come.

If you’re a fan of SAO in particular, now might be a good time to consider getting a Premium Crunchyroll account if you don’t have one already. For just $7 you will get to watch new episodes of Anime in progress an hour after they’ve aired in Japan. Netflix and Hulu Plus can’t beat that =D

 

 

 

 

So Anime Boston 2015 is 9 Months Away…

…If someone was conceived today, they’d be born around that time XD

Seriously though, a few recent developments related to my employment status has forced me to research other sources of income in order to make sure I make it to AB2015. I’m two weeks into summer vacation but now I’m planning for things coming up almost a year from now. I’m doing everything I can to make sure I will have the opportunity to keep my commitment to AB2015 but for the first time since I started going to Anime Boston, there is a real possability I won’t be able to pre-register. If you’d like to help me by donating money to help cover the registration fee, shoot me an email at btboston1@gmail.com.

Moving on, I want to go over what I have in mind for AB2015 in terms of panels:

 

1. Clannad: The Place Where Wishes Come True WILL be back next year. Also, Nagisa will be my copanelist from now on each year I do this panel. It will also be 90 minutes next year because of some extra content I’m bringing next year including some special videos that I promise will leave none unmoved. In a last-minute change, I will also talk a bit about an extra subject that is sort of a recurring theme in Clannad with Tomoya in particular during After Story.
2. Pokemon: 20 Years Later is the special 2-hour panel I will be doing next year. I’m pulling out all the stops to make it the most must-see panel of AB2015. There will be music from the soundtracks of each gen, The PokeRap, Battles (Gens 5 and 6), Trades (Gens 5 and 6), a viewing of the very first episode of Pokemon: Indigo League and a special viewing of a scene from the world famous banned Electric Soldier Porygon episode! It will be the biggest panel I will have ever done. Bring your own 3DS!
3. Tales of Symphonia: 10 Years Later is the panel I was supposed to do this year but didn’t due to my busy work schedule during the last 4 months. We will discuss the fandom, the game, the anime and so on. I will request 60 minutes for what is sure to be an interesting introspective into Tales of Symphonia.
4. Persona 4: Pursuing My True Self  WILL be back next year. It will be 60 minutes long just like this year but there will be a bit more of a focus on the Psychology of the Persona. Video clips will return but I will use different clips from the ones I used this year.
5. Panels: Best Practices is a new 60 minute Workshop I’m planning to do next year. In the panel, we will discuss the process of applying to do a panel, planning what you’re going to do and (hopefully) running a successful panel. Much of the panel will be answering questions and feedback from the audience so if you’ve ever wondered what it takes to be a panelist, it’s worth checking out. Bring a pencil and notebook. You might learn something helpful ^_^

Based on this year’s panel selection process I’m confident my Clannad, Pokemon and Best Practices panels will be approved and slotted in the first two waves. My Symphonia and Persona 4 panels will probably be a choice between the two like this year though I will plan for doing either or both XD

I’m pretty excited about the Pokemon panel in particular. I’ve been a fan for almost 20 years so….yeah. It will be an awesome experience. I will see to it personally. In light of my recent hospitalization, I’ll probably spend the whole summer working exclusively on the powerpoint for my Pokemon Panel. Whew…it will be glorious.

A video sneak peek of what’s to come will be coming to YouTube sometime this weekend =D

 

 

 

 

Time for my Second Annual Summer Anime Marathon!

For the first time last year, I had a complete Manga set when I got all 8 volumes of Code Geass: Lelouch. After doing that, I realized I had a few weeks worth of Anime both physical and digital. Around this time last year was when I moved across town and for a few weeks, I had no internet service in my new house.  So, prettymuch I just watched Anime throughout the summer.

For the first time I believe, here is the complete list of all of the Anime I own. Unless otherwise noted, the listed Anime is the complete series.

 

Blue Ray

• Persona 4: The Animation
• Ouran High School Host Club
• Fullmetal Panic! The Second Raid

DVD

• Clannad
• Clannad: After Story
• Death Note (both Seasons)
• Inuyasha Seasons 1 and 2
• Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple
• Ah! My Goddess!
• Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy (Season 2)
• Ah! My Goddess! The Movie
• Death Note (Live Action Movie)
• Death Note II: The Last Name
• Sanurai Chanploo
• Vandread
• Heroic Age
• Fate/Zero
• Shuffle!
• School Rumble (Both Seasons)
• Kiddie Grade
• Tales of Phantasia: The Animation

iTunes

• Persona 4: The Animation
• FLCL (Fool7 Cooly)
• Pokemon Origins
• Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike
• Summer Wars (Movie)
• Wolf Children (Movie)
• Bleach: Hell Verse (Movie)

Plus seleect Episodes from Inuyasha, Fullemtal Alchemist Brotherhood, Death Note and Chobits.

 

Xbox 360 (Downloaded)

 

• Ah! My Goddess!
• Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy (Season 2)
• Spice and Wolf (Both Seasons)
• Seasons 13,  15, 16, 17, 18 and 21 of Bleach
• Rosario + Vampire
• Inuyasha Movie 3
• Inuyasha Movie 4
• Bleach: Memories of Nobody (Movie)
• Bleach: Diamond Dust Rebellion (Movie)
• Bleach: Fade to Black
• Bleach: Hell Verse
• Shuffle!
• Deadman Wonderland
• Sengoku Basara: The Last Party (Movie)

 

Plus select episodes from Death Note, Dragonball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemst Brotherhood,  Inuyasha and Naruto Shippuden.

 

Playstation 3 (Downloaded)

• Blue Exorcist
• Persona 4: The Animation
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• Wolf Children (Movie)

Plus select episodes from Death Note, Kids on the Slope and Eureka AO: Astral Ocean.

 

In light of my recent hospitalization and my recent buys (Death Note and Inuyasha Seasons 1 and 2), I have less time than before to get through as much anime as possible. On top of that I also have Crunchyroll so…yeah. Best part is I got a brand new air conditioner in my room. It’s going to be a crazy summer!