To Aru Majutsu no Index

Not too long ago, I first watched a certain anime about a certain young high school student that seemed to have the worst of luck. He then met a certain young girl who was running from a certain group of magicians through a certain city entirely devoted to science. The series was called To Aru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index).

The story is set in a time where supernatural powers can be gained through science. One of the leading places where this power development occurs is Academy City. Here, esper powers are commonplace and those who possess these powers are ranked on a scale of 1 through 5, with five being the highest. There are only seven level 5's in the city. People who are "power less", level 0's, still exist in the city but are rare.

Anyway, enter Kamijou Touma, one of those level 0 power less people in Academy City. As he is going through an unfortunately hot day without an AC or power in his fridge, he comes across a young girl dressed in a nun's outfit named Index. Index is being chased by magicians because she is in possession of 103,000 magic books...and there the story begins.

I found the anime to be very engaging, but while the anime has technically ended for now after its second season, the light novels in which it premiered continues beyond where the anime ended. Right now, I've found myself hooked on reading some of these light novels. Hopefully soon, I'll get to the parts beyond where the anime covered.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation

For most my life now, anime and Japanese culture has been a huge part of my life. Aside from Sailor Moon (which my sister watched every morning it was on), my first exposure to the world of Japanese anime was a short series called Iria: Zeiram the Animation.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation, my first real anime!

The movie was about a young female bounty hunter named Iria. Together with her brother and another bounty hunter, they go on a rescue mission, but encounter an "indestructible" alien creature called Zeiram. Iria manages to escape, but her brother is assumed to be dead. Iria then embarks on a quest to find out what happened and if he may be still alive.

The series was part of a six-episode OVA that I watched when the Sci-Fi channel originally had its AniMidnight program. After watching the show with my father, I got hooked on anime. I found that the stories more engaging and the art more beautiful, far better than any American cartoon at the time. So as far as I am concerned, Iria is what started my anime addiction.

Hashimoto Miyuki

So far I've posted a lot of things that I have gotten into recently (like new anime and new games I've picked up). So far, I don't think I've visited any of my current favorites.

Anyway, following along those lines, I love Japanese music. The words being sung sound so much sweeter and more beautiful when in Japanese rather than English. I think a lot of it has to do with the way the Japanese language is structured. As far as favorite singers go, I have quite a few: Chelly (who sang some songs for the Guilty Crown anime), Asakawa Yuu, LiSA, Toyama Nao, but by far my most favored singer is Hashimoto Miyuki.

Hashimoto Miyuki

Hashimoto Miyuki debuted with Koko ni Iru kara, an ending theme for the Girls Bravo anime. However, the first time I heard her music (not counting another special circumstance) was the song Innocence which was the ending for the Shuffle anime. At the time, I didn't pay much attention to the song (after all, I skip over credits or don't pay too much attention to them). Later, when I heard Nerine (a character in Shuffle!) sing a song, I was curious to see if there was a full version and what the lyrics were. What my search for that song found was a full version sung by Hashimoto Miyuki. The song was In the Sky, and it was the ending theme for Nerine's route in the Shuffle! PC game that the anime was based on. Ever since then, I have been hooked on her music.

Innocence

Currently, my favorite song is sung by Hashimoto Miyuki. That song is Especially, one of the insert songs for Da Capo II. Since the time I started listening to her music, I have collected all of her albums. Her first album was Lovey-dovey and it contains Innocence from the Shuffle! anime. Her second album is Prismatic Colors (my favorite of her albums) and it contains Especially. Her third album was distributed through iTunes and is called Secret Masterpieces. The fourth album, Brilliant Moment, contains Natural Tone from the Shuffle! Memories anime. Double Flower is her fifth album and it contains Here to Stay from Akane Iro Somaru Saka PS2 game. Her most recent album is Espressivo.

Cover of Prismatic Colors, her second album

Because Espressivo was released in 2010 and it has almost been 2 years since an album of hers was released, I am anxiously awaiting another album to add to my collection. I do know that she is still active as a singer. She still does songs for animes and games through Lantis - one of which was a collaboration with other Lantis singers in Super Affection for the Carnival Phantasm anime. I also do hope one day to see her perform. She has done a few live performances (I subscribe to her website so I often see updates on where she will be performing).

Hashimoto Miyuki Website

 Lastly, I do hope one day to meet her. Her music has always been a bright point in my life so I would at least like to thank her personally for all the happiness she has brought into my life through her music.

Since I'm into MMORPGs...

Well, I am continuing to sample anime this Summer '12. One anime that really piqued my interest was the anime Sword Art Online.

Sword Art Online - Asuna and Kirito

In the year 2022, a new MMORPG (Mass Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) which utilizes a game system called Nerve Gear. This game system allows a person to fully immerse themselves in the game - enabling them to actually perceive the game as reality. The MMO game is called Sword Art Online.

Enter Kirito, an introverted teenager and Sword Art Online player. Kirito played Sword Art Online during its beta test and managed to get to the highest floor level out of all the beta testers. When an incident happens in the game, Kirito as well as the ten thousand other players find themselves unable to log out of the game. They are told that the only way to leave the game will be to conquer all 100 floor levels of the game. To make matters worse, any death in the game leads to death in the real world. Kirito takes it upon himself to see that the game is beaten while staying alive in the process.

Being a gamer (I have played Everquest, Ragnarok Online, FFXI, and am currently playing World of Warcraft), this series really interested me. The thought of being able to actually experience a game like this first hand is just so tantalizing. Anyway, the base of the story is reminiscent of the .hack series where players are trapped in a game where the stakes is your own life. However, in this case, the ending or goal is much clearer - you just have to beat the game. As for Kirito, his character is quite interesting too. While he tends to be a loner by nature, he does seem to want contact with others. He is a good person at heart, but has a hard time dealing with others.

All in all, this is a very intriguing series to watch. I have already added it to my list of must-watches. If you're going to check it out, Crunchyroll airs new episodes weekly on Saturdays at 12pm PST.

Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai

"Each girl has her own unique treasure, and to me, it is the variety in all these treasures that brings romance to my life."

This quote...and what follows it actually made me laugh. Just recently I decided to take up watching a new anime this season, Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai (So I Can't Play H).

Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai

This series is about a boy Ryousuke who meets a shinigami named Risara. Risara is looking for a person called a special specimen and comes to the human realm to find that person. However, in order for her to survive in the human realm, she must take energy from a partner. She becomes a temporary partner to Ryousuke. The one catch, humans get their energy from a "source" and Ryousuke's source is ero/ecchi (perversion).

After watching the few episodes that are out now, I really like it. It has a lot of fan service (and the episodes I've seen are uncensored - so please take some caution if you don't want parent's or significant others seeing it), but my favorite part is that Risara pretty much seems like the typical tsun-tsun tsundere (my favorite type of anime character).

Summer 2012 Anime

Well, it's that time again. The seasons have changed and so does the anime. Last season was great with such shows as Fate/Zero, Tasogare Otome, Sankarea, and Medaka Box. This season, there are some new and interesting anime coming out that I'm looking forward to watching.

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse takes place in a separate timeline. According to the story, the world is under attack by Beings of Extra Terrestrial origin Adversary to humans (BETAs in short). They have conquered much of the world and are moving in on Japan. The story follows a girl as she pilots mech suits to fight off the BETAs.

Originally, I was interested in this anime because I knew of Muv-Luv from the manga. Despite this series from being entirely different from the manga, I am still interested in following this apocalyptic story.

Dog Days Season 2

When the first season of Dog Days came out, I found it to be an all right anime. I think the only reason I really started watching it was because Horie Yui was voicing the princess of Biscotti and there were cat and dog girls involved. Though the plot was a little boring and the concept was somewhat uninteresting I gave it a go. Now that the series has a new season, I find myself watching it once again...

Anyway, the story follows Shinku a boy who was summoned by the princess of Biscotti in a time of trouble to become the kingdom's hero (in the first season). After returning to the human world, he returns to the world he saved, this time with his two friends to enjoy a summer.

Cardfight Vanguard Season 2

One thing that I'm happy for this season is that I can finally watch the second season of Cardfight Vanguard as well. The second season continues after Aichi and team Q4 win the national vanguard tournament. However, something has changed and the Royal Paladins (Aichi's deck clan) no longer "exists". In order to find out what happened to his beloved Royal Paladins, he must use the Gold Paladins to win his way through an international tournament circuit in order to meet someone who should know what is happening.

There are a few others I'm thinking of checking out, but maybe I'll save those for next time.

Three Dragon Ante

Just recently, a friend of my bought a card game called "Three Dragon Ante". I knew of the game (only in a D&D story), so I was quite intrigued. He taught me how to play and we enjoyed a few games.

The game is a gambling game where gold is wagered in an ante. There are three rounds where players get to play a card from his or her hand. After the three rounds (a gambit), the player with the highest score of played cards (a flight) wins the ante. On each card is different effects that make the game more interesting. Some effects increases the number of cards in your hand while others can steal gold from the ante or opposing players. There are also special sets of cards that will give you different outcomes.

One thing to note is that currently there are two sets of this game out. The first version was released in 2005 and has gone out of print. Three Dragon Ante: Emperor's Gambit (2011) is an expansion to the original, but works as a stand-alone game as well.

If you and your friends love to gamble (for real or for fun), this game certainly is a fun and interesting way to play.