Tumbl on Over

Due to convenience, I'm moving all my blog-like posts to Tumblr. Whenever I make a post on Tumblr, it tweets about it through my twitter account, so more people are likely to read it than this one. I doubt anyone even reads these anyway, heh.

Tumblr: http://jaytheblog.tumblr.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JaytheRogue

Om Nom Nam

Here are a few more anime I've watched recently:

Negima!
A ten year old boy named Negi shows up at an all girl school as a professor for a middle school class, but it turns out he's a wizard. This anime focuses on Negi's relationships with the girls and how almost all of his students end up having crushes on him. There are actually two different series, but they're both more or less the same but with different plots. The second series has a unique animation style and a really cool opening song (not really a song, but there's music with some of the characters saying poetic stuff that sounds good together). Overall, though, this anime was not really very entertaining.

Toradora!
A story of a nice boy whom has the face of his father whom was a terrifying gangster. He, however, resents his father and wants everyone to see him for who he really was, not how he looked. Unfortunately, he ends up being feared all over the place and at the beginning of the new school year, he runs into a girl whom is in the same situation as he. His name is Ryuji and hers is Taiga (which earns her the nickname Palmtop Tiger). They both find out that they like each other's best friends, so they quickly put there differences aside and try to help each other out (and become great friends while doing so). This was a fun series that had its serious moments, but I would highly recommend it.

Solty Rei
A bounty hunter named Roy is saved by a mysterious young girl while out on one of his assignments, and due to various circumstances, he adopts her. However, he is out on a personal mission to find his daughter whom went missing years ago during the "Blast Fall," an odd phenomena that left many dead, others wounded, and even more missing. This anime is decent, but it's pretty slow at first and never quite got my complete attention.

Spice and Wolf
A traveling merchant, Kraft Lawrence, is visiting a farm town where a childhood friend lives so he can sell some wheat he was carrying. Before he left, he comes upon a women who claims to be Holo, the wise wolf who has been blessing the town. Holo says that the townsfolk no longer wish to be reliant on her, so she wants to travel back north where she is from. This anime is about their travel north, the various exchanges Kraft makes as a merchant (and how Holo helps him with some of them), the trouble they get into, and their relationship. This anime is exceptionally well done (even though it sounds a little boring), so I would recommend it to anyone.

Kurokami
In the world, there exists a system called the Doppleliner where there are three copies of each individual on Earth. Two are known as Subs and one is known as a Main Root. If two subs meet or see their root, they will die and their power is transferred to the root. Plagued by many close ones dying from this system, Keita Ibuki tries to stay away from people so he won't have to bear the weight of more people dying. He thinks this way until he meets a Terra Guardian named Kuro. They form a pact to save his life and begin an adventure to stop Kuro's brother from destroying the world and to stop the doppleliner system. This anime is pretty good, but Keita is really annoying in the first half of the series because he doesn't really do anything to help Kuro when she's fighting. He gets better, and so does the series, later. One character really stood out to me; her name is Nam. She shows up near the end and is a special Terra Guardian who records history; however, what makes her really funny is that she's on a constant quest to find delicious food. She's constantly trying to steal JoyJoy bars from other characters.

Vision of Escaflowne
I heard this series was supposed to be pretty good, so I decided to start watching it. I've only seen one episode so far and it looks like a typical 90's romance adventure anime. It's really similar to Fushigi Yuugi so far in that a girl gets sucked into a sort of medieval fantasy world and is probably going to fall in love with the boy she meets. I personally did not like Fushigi Yuugi all that much, so hopefully Escaflowne will be better.

A Few of the Previously Mentioned

I'd like to take a moment to go over some of the really good anime that I mentioned in that long list in my last post as well as some interesting comments on the order I watched them.

I'll start from the top of the list and move down (which is the order I watched):

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Shigurui
Elfen Lied
Gantz

The above order was quite interesting. At the time, I was told that Higurashi was really great, so I decided to watch it. I then was told about the other three. Of course, I had a ton of other anime that I wanted to watch, but I thought to myself "Screw it, I'll just watch all the crazy psychological ones in a row just because I can." So I did. All four of them are pretty intense with blood squirting everywhere and otherworldly things going on, but they were all good.

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni:

"After moving into the quiet town of Hinamizawa, Maebara Keiichi spends his days blissfully in school often playing games with his local friends. However, appearances can be deceiving. One fateful day, Keiichi stumbles upon news of a murder that had occurred in Hinamizawa. From this point on, horrific events unfold in front of Keiichi, as he soon learns his close friends may not be all that they seem."

It's extremely good. I highly recommend it for anyone; however, there are some scenes that may not be appropriate for children (such as people being beaten, stabbed, and tortured). There is also a twist that you learn about later, which adds so much to the show.

Rozen Maiden:

"Sakurada Jun spends his days online, ordering whatever he takes a liking to, only to return it before the payment is due. Due to psychological trauma from school, Jun generally keeps contact with people as little as possible. One day he finds instructions online that tell him to put his order into his desk drawer. Rubbing it off as a joke, Jun mindlessly does so only to find that his order instantly disappears from his drawer. A package suddenly appears, containing a beautiful antique doll. When wound up, this doll comes to life. Sadly for Jun, this doll Shinku views Jun as an equivalent for a servant. Despite the constant demands Jun now receives from Shinku, she slowly helps him overcome his fears of human contact as well as protect him from the deadly battles that come into his life due to her appearance."

Rozen Maiden is a very cute and funny show that is a really nice watch. It does get a little serious near the end of both seasons, but everything leading up to those points is pretty hilarious. Of course, it also contains Suiseiseki, a character known as the "Desu Queen" among several internet communities.

Darker Than Black:

"In Tokyo, an impenetrable field known as "Hell's Gate" appeared ten years ago. At the same time, psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. Hei is one of the most powerful of these psychic agents, and along with his blind associate, Yin, works for one of the many rival agencies vying to unlock the mysteries of Hell's Gate."

Darker Than Black is either a love or hate it type of show. I absolutely loved the show, mainly because of the main character not [seemingly] having emotional attachment to anything. But the show definitely advances and delves deep into story and action fairly quickly. Not to mention that the episode titles were really poetic and awesome.

Bakemonogatari:

"The story centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who has recently survived a vampire attack, and finds himself mixed up with all kinds of apparitions: gods, ghosts, myths, and spirits."

Though the description seems to be describing an action-packed adventure, this anime couldn't be further from it. Most scenes consist of talking, but this dialogue-driven story keeps you interested because of the jokes, puns and odd camera angles that are involved. The title is a portmanteau of the word for monster (bakemono) and story (monogatari).

Tower of Druaga:

"It is said that every few years, there is what's known as the "Summer of Anu." During that summer, thanks to the divine protection of the sky-god Anu, all of the demons in the tower lose their power. The country of Uruk has begun an invasion of the tower in order to suppress the demons. They've built up positions inside the tower, with their sights set on getting to the upper levels. The Uruk army knows that this is the third Summer of Anu-a perfect time to launch a mission to suppress the monster Druaga once and for all. The army soldiers aren't the only ones in the tower, though. An enitre city called Meskia has formed inside the tower's first floor. It plays host not just to soldiers, but also to adventurers who have heard rumors about a legendary treasure called the Blue Crystal Rod, which is said to rest at the very top of the tower. With all these different groups in the mix, each with its own agenda, one can only guess how things will play out during this unusual summer."

The best part of this series is that it has great filler. Most people don't like filler in anime, and I'm no exception; however, this filler actually advances the plot with some hilarious way of doing so. Not to mention that the first episode completely makes fun of the average action-adventure video game. This anime was based off of an old arcade game, though there aren't really that many similarities. I'd recommend it just for laughs (though, the story does get pretty intense later on).

Baccano:

"During the late 1930s in Chicago, the transcontinental train, Flying Pussyfoot, is starting its legendary journey that will leave a trail of blood all over the country. At the same time in New York, the ambitious scientist Szilard and his unwilling aide Ennis, are looking for missing bottles of the immortality elixir. In addition, a war between the mafia groups is getting worse. On board the Advena Avis, in 1711, alchemists are about to learn the price of immortality."

As the description points out, this anime takes place all over the place. And it will often skip from one year to another (1711, 1930-1932) which some find bothersome, but I personally liked it. Also, the way the story is presented just adds so much suspense to the whole thing; mainly because you don't know who is an immortal or not until near the end. This is also one of the few anime that I'll tell you is much better to watch in English than Japanese simply because of the accents involved (though some may be over-exaggerated).

Hanamaru Youchien ("Hanamaru Kindergarten") :

"Anzu goes to a kindergarten with her friends, the shy Koume and the eccentric Hiiragi. Together they try to attract attention from their caretaker Tsuchida. However, he is clearly more interested in the pretty Yamamoto who supervises the class next door."

This was such a cute show that it really lights up your day. The way the kindergarteners act captures children really well and clearly derives a lot of its comedy from that. A lot of things happen, but this show is really a joy to watch.

Kara No Kyoukai ("Garden of Sinners"):

I couldn't find a small description of this series because it's split into several full length movies. However, this show touches upon the supernatural and the lives of a few people during their school life and afterwards. This show mainly is about solving serial murder cases through unconventional means. It was really well done.

The Book of Bantorra:

"In a world where dead people turn into books and are stored in the Bantorra Library where anyone who reads a book can learn their past, Bantorra Library is maintained by Armed Librarians who wield psychic powers and their enemy is a religious society known as Sindeki Kyoudan."

The head of the Bantorra Library is a women whom you'd love because she's so evil, yet good. You wouldn't understand unless you saw some clips, but she's quite something. This show definitely is full of surprises and twists as well as a different world. Though the ending is a little over-the-top, the show is a great anime to watch.

Eve no Jikan ("Time of Eve"):

"The future, probably Japan. Robots have long been put into practical use, and androids have just come into use. Influenced by the Robot Ethics Committee, it's become common sense for people to treat androids like household appliances. Their appearance - indistinguishable from humans except for the ring over each android's head - has led some people to empathize unnecessarily with androids. Known as "android-holics", such people have become a social problem. Rikuo, a high school student, has been taught from childhood that androids are not to be viewed as humans, and has always used them as convenient tools. One day Rikuo discovers some strange data in the behavior records of his family's household android, Sammy. Rikuo and his friend Masaki trace Sammy's movements, only to discover a mysterious café that features a house rule that 'humans and robots are to be treated the same'..."

Time of Eve really brings up some questions about the boundaries between robots and humans. This show is wonderfully animated and is relatively short. However, that doesn't mean that it isn't great. This anime was extremely interesting and I loved every moment of it. I'd recommend it for anyone.

Seitokai no Ichizon ("The Student Council's Decision"):

"The members of the student council of Hekiyou Gakuen are chosen by a popularity vote. As a result, all the members are cute girls except for Sugisaki Ken, who studied hard to enter the council. The story features the endless chattering of the members with full of parodies of 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya', 'Dragon Ball', 'Death Note' etc."

I would recommend this show only for people who have seen a lot of different anime because the characters are constantly making references to anime left and right. This show is hilarious, yet it actually goes into a little bit of the characters' dark pasts. This anime, like "Bakemonogatari" is very dialogue-driven, but that's okay because you'll be constantly laughing at way they say.

K-ON!:

"Hirasawa Yui, a young, carefree girl entering high school, has her imagination instantly captured when she sees a poster advertising the ‘Light Music Club’. Being the carefree girl that she is, she quickly signs up. However, Yui has a problem, she is unable to play an instrument. When Yui goes to the clubroom to explain, she's greeted by the other members: Ritsu, Mio and Tsumugi. Although disheartened at Yui’s lack of musical know-how, they still try to convince her to stay to prevent the club’s disbandment. After playing Yui a short piece which re-ignites her imagination, they succeed in keeping their new member and guitarist. Along with the tasks of school and homework, Yui begins to learn the guitar with the help of the other band members, experiencing many mishaps along the way. However, with the school-festival drawing near and Yui getting stuck with her practice, will the Light Music Club be ready in time for their debut?"

The characters in K-ON! are all really cute, in both how they look and how they talk. This anime is a slice of life of the light music club; however most of their time is spent drinking tea and eating sweets. This show is absolutely hilarious and will keep you interested because of the random things they do, as well as the "fluffy" music they play.

Angel Beats:

"In a world after death, angels fight for their fate and their future. Yuri, the leader of the Shinda Sekai Sensen, rebels against the god who destined her to have an unreasonable life. On the other hand, Tenshi, the chairperson of the student council for the world after death, battles against the SSS members. SSS members utilize armed weaponry to battle it out against the angels harnessing supernatural powers. "

This show has stunning graphics and an excellent story. As they battle Tenshi (literally translated to "Angel"), they find out several things about the world they live in and about their pasts. This show has its funny moments, but the pride and joy of this anime is the emotional build up of the characters through out the series.

Durarara!!:

"In Tokyo's downtown district of Ikebukuro, amidst many strange rumors and warnings of anonymous gangs and dangerous occupants, one urban legend stands out above the rest – the existence of a headless “Black Rider” who is said to be seen driving a jet-black motorcycle through the city streets. Ryuugamine Mikado has always longed for the excitement of the city life, and an invitation from a childhood friend convinces him to move to Tokyo. Witnessing the Black Rider on his first day in the city, his wishes already seem to have been granted. But as supernatural events begin to occur, ordinary citizens like himself, along with Ikebukuro's most colorful inhabitants, are mixed up in the commotion breaking out in their city."

Durarara!! was unexpectedly excellent and created by the same people as Baccano. I began watching and was, almost instantaneously, dragged in. The anime quickly builds on the many characters that inhabit the story as they become involved in a deadly gang battle. The way the characters are introduced and the way the plot runs together are simply great. I highly recommend this anime.

Summer Wars:

"When timid eleventh-grader and math genius Kenji Koiso is asked by older student and secret crush Natsuki to come with her to her family's Nagano home for a summer job, he agrees without hesitation. Natsuki's family, the Jinnouchi clan, dates back to the Muromachi era (1336 to 1573), and they've all come together to celebrate the 90th birthday of the spunky matriarch of the family, Sakae. That’s when Kenji discovers his "summer job" is to pretend to be Natsuki's fiance and dance with her at the birthday celebration. As Kenji attempts to keep up with Natsuki's act around her family, he receives a strange math problem on his cell phone which, being a math genius, he can't resist solving. As it turns out, the solution to the mysterious equation causes a bizarre parallel world to collide with Earth, and it's up to Kenji and his new fake family to put reality back in order."

This movie quickly builds up into chaos. The world begins to fall apart and the many personalities of the Jinnouchi clan start to come together. The best part of this movie is probably how the family is put together. You have the old woman in charge, the history buff, the technologically advanced child, the popular high school girl, etc. It's a good feeling to watch how their dinner conversations turn out.

Kanamemo:

"Nakamachi Kana is a junior high school girl. Her grandmother passed away and she was left all alone. She finds a newspaper carrier station and starts working as a live-in carrier. Her room has a hole on the wall. Other female workers living next door comes in through the hole and start a wild merrymaking."

Not the best description above.. but whatever. Each character in this has a unique personality. Haruka is a pedophile, Kana is a helpless middle schooler, Saki is a reliable elementary schooler, Yume is a cat-like girl who is in love with Yuuki, Yuuki is always jealous when Yume is around others and in love with Yume, Hinata is a tomboy, and Mika is the rich girl who longs for friends. They all come together to create hilarious situations and awkward comedy. If you love silly anime, then this is one for you.

Clannad:

"Okazaki Tomoya is a delinquent who finds life dull and believes he'll never amount to anything. Along with his friend Sunohara, he skips school and plans to waste his high school days away. One day while walking to school, Tomoya passes a young girl muttering quietly to herself. Without warning she exclaims "Anpan!" (a popular Japanese food) which catches Tomoya's attention. He soon discovers the girl's name is Furukawa Nagisa and that she exclaims things she likes in order to motivate herself. Nagisa claims they are now friends, but Tomoya walks away passing the encounter off as nothing. However, Tomoya finds he is noticing Nagisa more and more around school. Eventually he concedes and befriends her. Tomoya learns Nagisa has been held back a year due to a severe illness and that her dream is to revive the school's drama club. Claiming he has nothing better to do, he decides to help her achieve this goal along with the help of four other girls. As Tomoya spends more time with the girls, he learns more about them and their problems. As he attempts to help each girl overcome her respective obstacle, he begins to realise life isn't as dull as he once thought."

This anime was probably one of the best shows I've watched. It has a perfect blend of comedy, mystic, and seriousness. This takes place over the course of a few years and every little piece of story is very emotionally touching. If you aren't in tears while watching at least one part of this show, there's something wrong with you because there is so much happiness and sadness in it. I'd recommend this for everyone.

Working!!:

"Set in a family restaurant in Hokkaido, the northern prefecture of Japan, 16 year old high school student Takanashi Souta works part-time along with his strange co-workers: Taneshima Poplar, a high school girl who's a year older than Souta and easily mistaken for an elementary/middle schooler, and Shirafuji Kyouko, the 28-year old store manager who doesn't bother to do any work at all."

There are many other strange co-workers as well and they all add a little spice to the show. This anime is a comedy that mainly focuses on the characters trying to work together without any problems, which turns out to be much harder than they'd think.


Those were all the really exceptional ones; however, some of the other good ones in that bunch were:
Chaos;Head, Elfen Lied, H20: Footprints in the Sand, Chrome Shelled Regios, Heroic Age, Ergo Proxy, Innocent Venus, Candy Boy, Ladies Versus Butlers!, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, The Sky Crawlers, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Sands of Destruction, Mayoi Neko Overrun!, Highschool of the Dead, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Black Rock Shooter

Oh, hello there.

So, I forgot this blog existed, haha.

Since it's been a while, I guess I'll explain what I've been up to lately. I've pretty much been playing video games and watching anime, with the occasional school in there. Since the last blog post (at least, I think it was after it), I've started Let's Playing video games on my youtube account (http://www.youtube.com/user/jaytherogue)

Also, here is a list of all the anime I've watched since last time (since there are so many, I won't give descriptions):

Divergence Eve
Divergence Eve 2: Misaki Chronicles
Chaos;Head
Pandora Hearts
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Shigurui
Elfen Lied
Gantz
Rozen Maiden
H2O: Footprints in the Sand
Gunbuster (Top wo Nerae)
Diebuster (Top wo Nerae 2)
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Getbackers
Chrome Shelled Regios
Heroic Age
Darker Than black
Bakemonogatari
Ergo Proxy
Hetalia Axis Powers
Innocent Venus
Serial Experiments Lain
Loveless
Candy Boy
Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk
Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk
Witchblade
Ladies Versus Butlers!
Baccano
Hanamaru Kindergarten
Dragonaut: The Resonance
Kara no Kyoukai
Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
The Sky Crawlers
The Book of Bantorra
Howl's Moving Castle
My Neighbor Totora
Time of Eve
Madlax
Cat Soup
Nekojiru Gekijou
Seitokai no Ichizon
K-ON (Ongoing)
Angel Beats
Akira
Sands of Destruction
Casshern Sins
Sword of the Stranger
Mayoi Neko Overrun!
Pale Cocoon
Durarara!!
Seitokai Yakuindomo (ongoing)
High School of the Dead (ongoing)
Burst Angel
Summer Wars
Kanamemo
Clannad
Claymore
Black Rock Shooter
Working!!

I'll see you all later.

Resurrection

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd bring my blog back to life (*Jay used a Phoenix Down*).

Anyway, I've watched a lot of anime since my last anime post. I don't really want to have to give a lot of information about them like last time because that would take a while for me to do; however, I will put a few words in parenthesis telling you if it was good or not.

• Berserk (First and last episodes sucked; the rest was great)

• Ouran High School Host Club ( An amazing must-see anime

• Wolf's Rain (Confusing at first, but it got better; the ending wasn't very good)
  

• Hellsing, and Hellsing Ultimate (Pretty cool vampire series; didn't appreciate the occasional cussing)
  

• Blood: The Last Vampire (Precursor to Blood+. It was decent, but not as good as Blood+)
  

• Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (So far, this has been really good. It hasn't ended yet)
  

• Gungrave (Excellent anime, except for the monsters)
  

• Outlaw Star (Pretty good space/mech anime, but not my favorite)
  

• Paprika (Very interesting and confusing Sci-fi anime movie)
  

• Mai-Otome, Mai-Otome Zwei, and Mai-Otome 0 S.ifr (Sequels to Mai-HiME, they were very good. I really enjoyed that they were in an alternate timeline)
  

• Black Lagoon (This is an amazing anime except for the cussing. If there was no swearing, it would have been a perfect anime)
  

• Skip Beat (Very funny, yet epic anime about showbiz)
  

• Chrono Crusade (I didn't like this as much as a friend of mine, but it was still pretty good)
  

• Rosario + Vampire (Really bad camera angles because it always shows every girls underwear... but other than that, it was a great vampire comedy anime)
  

• Fate/Stay Night (This was an interesting anime, and I really enjoyed it)
  

• School Days (The first few episodes were really funny, but it got super dramatic after that. The ending was extremely creepy and disturbing)
  

• Witch Hunter Robin (This was excellent. I thought this idea was simply splendid)
  

• Rave Master (One I watched as a child, but I never saw every episode. I went back ad watched it all, but it wasn't as good as I remember it; still not bad though)
  

• Trinity Blood (I totally guessed that there was going to be a Cain. Anyway, this is one of my favorite serious vampire anime)
  

• Akagi (Who knew Mahjong could be so intense? This is an epic anime that anyone could get into. It's kind of like Hikaru no Go, but serious)
  

• Tenjho Tenge (This had serious potential, but it failed for the most part. Too much flashback. This also had the occasional underwear-angle)
  

• Ikki Tousen (This was a good idea, but they made it too perverted... It was okay)
  

• Basilisk (This was like a serious Naruto. It was about two ninja clans battling it out to the death.. very good)
  

• Gun Sword ("Bring me all the spices you've got." Van was definitely an odd character, but it was great. The ending was kind of quick like a lot of anime have, but I enjoyed this mech anime)
  

• Angel Links (A decent space anime. But it didn't quite make sense. You'll see if you ever watch it)

• Mär (AKA Märchen Awakens Romance. I'm currently watching this one. The beginning was kind of 'out of this world' but it's really good after a few episodes. I really enjoy that the battles are not dragged out; one battle equals one episode)

And that's it. Go to http://www.myanimelist.net/animelist/jaythegreat to see a full list of anime I've seen. I've been playing a lot of Stick Adventures Online still... I'm pretty high on the Top 10 list.

Poem Time

I started this poem at 12:43:

You're standing there, in front of me.
I could not believe, and I could not see.
Your mouth is moving but I cannot hear,
I don't understand because it must be something I fear.
Is this the end of my road?

Back to the beginning, my mind's a blur.
It's all a haze, but I could not deter.
I had to find the answers I needed.
But as I look back, I know I'm defeated.
The past is why I fall.

No answers received, only lies I got.
It turned me loose, into something I'm not.
I had to continue, I could not stop.
Out of my rage, I made the dead man drop.
How did it go that far?

Back to now, and there you are.
The time was long and the trip was far.
With arms wide open and with a single tear,
You continued to speak and your words became clear.
You are forgiving me.

Finished the poem at 12:58
The poems title has been decided to be Forgiven

The Game

So, you know about the game, right? You know, the one you just lost?

Well, there are three rules to The Game:

1. Everyone in the world is playing The Game. (Sometimes narrowed to: "Everybody in the world who knows about The Game is playing The Game," or alternatively, "You are always playing The Game.")
2. Whenever one thinks about The Game, one loses.
3. Losses must be announced to at least one person (a statement such as "I lost The Game" is often used)

Anyway, I have decided to write a song dedicated to the game. So far, I have one verse down (maybe the chorus, haven't decided). Here it is so far (lyrics only):

You just made me lose
The game that I always do,
So why must you continue
To make me lose.

And that's it. I'll be updating the blog with more of the song.

A Day in the Life

Hey, I just realized that my last post was on my birthday (haha, I forgot). Anyway, I haven't posted in a while on this excuse for a blog, so I decided to add an entry.

On to my anime! Since I last posted, I have watched:

• Devil May Cry - Although Dante was way too powerful at the beginning (and throughout the entire anime), Devil May Cry was very exciting and enjoyable. The story was excellent, and the characters were hilarious. Don't forget that real men eat strawberry sundaes and pizza.

• G Gundam - One of the first Gundam series I ever saw as a child. I vaguely remembered some things about it (specifically Neo France's pilot), but I didn't remember any of the story. The characters were cool and the love plot was... interesting. However, the Dark Gundam was destroyed three times.. I think one would be enough. Anyway, it was a pretty good anime.

• Paranoia Agent - This was definitely one of the weird Anime out there. The plot focuses on traits of people involving depression, paranoia, and other psychological issues. It was really interesting and highly unreal; however, that "talking stuffed animal dog" was hilarious. It was fun to watch and be confused at its intricasy.
  

• Hikaru no Go - Have you ever had fun playing chess? Sure, most people have, but imagine a game one hundred times more boring than chess. That game would be Go, and Hikaru no Go was about that game. Even though the game itself is boring, the anime certainly is not. Hikaru no Go sheds a new light on Go and actually makes me want to play that riciulously boring game (because the anime makes it look so cool).

• Soul Eater - The first episode was a little odd.. but the series was hilarious and epic at the same time. Every episode with Excalibur in it was way funny and Maka's father was so hopelessly pathetic that you actually wish he was cool (but he also got a lot of laughter out of me). The storyline focuses on "madness" and how it can be very controlling of peoples' minds; however, it can be over come with a little "shaja'at."

• Gundam 00 - Gundam 00 was really good. The only problem was Setsuna's disbelief in a God (however, it's kind of understandable because of his situation). In this series, a group of people, calling themselves Celestial Being, try to eradicate war by intervening in all armed combat on the Earth, destroying both sides. This disrupts all the major countries and causes everyone to join together to take down Celestial Being. It is really interesting and I really enjoyed it (however, there are two characters that have absolutely nothing to do with the plot until season 2).

• Bleach (to the current episode, 224) - I was expecting Bleach to be a boring school drama; however, I was proven wrong the first episode. Shinigami (also known as Soul Reapers) take human souls to the afterlife known as Soul Society (after the humans are dead, of course), but somehow a human, Ichigo Kurosaki, gets in the way of one Shinigami and, through the course of a few events, gets shinigami powers. It is action-packed and fun to watch (despite the random Lurichiyo arc).
  

So, lately I've been playing some games. Here they are:

• Starcraft - This game was created in the late 1990's, but still has decent graphics, an excellent storyline, and awesome gameplay. I started the campaign mode and decided to beat the game (original, not the Brood War expansion) without using any cheats, a feat I was never able to accomplish as a child. I am currently only 2-3 missions away from completing it.

• Loradon Online 2.1 - This game is my favorite online game. It's an MMO (well, kind of...) but the graphics are 2d. The gameplay is great, yet there is no obvious story behind it. Anyway, you start out as a character with the class of Knight, Thief, Mage, Archer, Titan, or Dwarf. The object is to level up your character and make it through the different dungeons and temples. The best part is that it was created by only a few guys (in High School when they made the first version). They made a company, IfThenSoftware, and are currently creating a new game under the codename "Loradon 3.0."

• Stick Adventures Online - Also made by IfThenSoftware, this game resolves around the idea of stickmen. The player takes control of a stick person and has to level his/her character by defeating enemies (Stinkbugs, Pollenators, and the newly added Itsie Bitsies). This is a fun game and has a surprisingly large fanbase.

One last thing. In a few weeks (July 2 - 5), I will be at AX (Anime-Expo) in LA. It will be my first time going, and I expect it to be a lot of fun.

See you later.

What's been happening.

Well, I haven't posted a blog in a while, so I thought I'd write one.

Today is my birthday and I am now officially 18 years old. This will not change anything and I'll still be doing the same things I do now. I have also been accepted into two colleges (the only two I applied at, so I got 100% acceptance): CSULB and CSUCI; I will be going to the latter one.

Anyway, back to anime. Since the last post, I have watched:

Fushigi Yuugi - Really boring and most of the plot twists were similar; also, the OVAs were uneeded because the storyline was the same as the series and nothing new was really added.

Zoids: Chaotic Century - First half of Zoids - This was one I remember from my childhood, so I was familiar with it. The story was good, but totally unrealistic.
Zoids: Guardian Force - Second half of Zoids - This was also good, but it became really weird when Zoid Eve showed up.

Rurouni Kenshin - This was a really interesting show. I really like how he reformed his ways after realizing that his actions were wrong. This was also unrealistic at some parts, but there was also some real history involved in this show. I liked it.

Zoids: New Century Zero - Probably my favorite Zoids series. I like how this was not a war but was just a series of competitions with an evil group.

YuYu Hakusho - The first few episodes are terrible, but once Yusuke starts training, the series picks up. However, the series dragged on after every season because he is continuously the best and then meets someone stronger and overcomes his challenges.

Zoids: Fuzors - The most unrealistic Zoids series. There is no way that big machines could combine when they were not built that way, plus they would not be able to combine in the way they do. However, the story was good and very enjoyable.

D. Gray Man - D Gray Man was amazing. Well, the ending was left open because the anime caught up to the manga and the director didn't want to make part of the story up, so it ended ubruptly. The story was good and I was not bored and didn't see very much repetition in it. Plus, the characters were hilarious.

Zoids: Genesis - The only Zoids series to not be dubbed in English. This was the most believable Zoids series because it was completely based on technology. However, the main character is only a kid, yet he is a tactical genius and skilled pilot at the end of the series.

Trigun - Trigun is hilarious as well as serious. Similar to Rurouni Kenshin because the main character vowed to never kill. It was very enjoyable.

Gundam SEED - Great story, great soundtrack, great anime. The only part I didn't like was that all of the explosions were pink. This anime stressed me out because of how intense it was, but it was definitely worth watching. I really like it.

Gundam SEED Destiny - Same as the first season, but I was a little disappointed when this series started out being focused around Athrun and not Kira. However, it was great and I liked it (but still, you would thing that Athrun would learn from his mistakes he made in the first season).

Bamboo Blade - Bamboo Blade was really funny. This wasn't very serious and it kept me cracked up the entire time. The energetic main character is always a plus when working with a high school drama, as well as the nonsocial character that is good at everything.

Gundam Wing - I was a little disappointed with this series after watching Gundam SEED. I should have watched this one first. I found it interesting how there were five main characters that started with the same goal without knowing of the others. However, the anime kept me a little bored because there was a lot of talking that wasn't really needed. And there wasn't really that much character development.

Vampire Knight - I was expecting Vampire Knight to have a similar story to the book Twilight (which I never read, but have heard a lot about). I was surprised when it was different (not completely, though). This seemed to present vampires as beings that only work for themselves and the smell of blood triggered their instincts.

And I am currently watched Ranma 1/2 - So far I've only seen the first few episodes, but it has been interesting. A boy turning into a girl when he touched cold water and another boy falling in love with the girl form without knowing the boy and girl are the same.

Wow, that is quite a bit of anime there.
Until next post, I'll see you later.

Final Fantasy

Well, I recently took a break from watching anime and played Final Fantasy IX for about two weeks. This game has long been in my heart because I've played and loved it since I was little; however, I never actually beat it on my own. It took about 2 weeks of playing to beat it; the Chocobo Sidequest took a lot of the time (I ended up wasting hours searching for Chocograph pieces that weren't available yet).

Anyway, the game was fun and I really enjoyed playing it; however, I missed my anime and am happy to finally watch it again.

Since my last post, I have watched Eureka Seven, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Full Metal Alchemist. I am currently watching Kiba.

Eureka Seven had a really good storyline and the animation was pretty cool, but the character development was a little odd. It had a futuristic setting on another planet. Anyway, it was good.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (just Gurren Lagann for short) was very interesting. This was also a futuristic anime where beastmen are ruling the Earth, forcing humans underground to keep the population low. The main character, a human from an underground village, drills his way up to the surface and somehow activates a robot that only he can control. His "bro" is his main motivation and helps him along the way. It was pretty good, but I didn't care too much for the swearing.

Full Metal Alchemist was a really sweet anime. Using transmutation circle and energy from one's own body, people called alchemist can make objects out of other objects. The main character lost his arm, and legs and his brother lost his whole body when they tried to transmute their dead mother into life. The main character then sealed his brother's soul into a suit of armor. They then traveled around to find the Philosopher's Stone which allows alchemists to bipass the law of equivalent trade (to get one thing, something of equal value must be given up). It was a very good anime, and I recommend it (don't forget to watch the movie after you finish the series).

The currect anime, Kiba, has been very interesting and very upsetting. It's a good concept but some of the characters' actions make me mad at them. Especially when people follow "the Ultimate Rules." Anyway, I might talk more about it later.

Adios.

Tadaima! (I'm back!).

Thank you, for that warm welcome. Ha, I wish. Oh well. I guess I'll fill you in on what's been happening lately. I have been working a lot which is good because I get money, but is bad because it's really boring and it doesn't allow me any free time because I also have school. 

School this year has been really easy so far. My english teacher, Mr. Lion (rawr), barely gives any work to do; basically we go into class, do a journal which takes half the class, and then we go over the journal which takes the rest of the class (did I mention we also get a 10 minute break in that class too? Odd, eh?) and we will rarely do any actual work. Then there's my Economics class, which has the best teacher ever. Mr. Toomer (the businessman) as a great sense of humor and he knows how to treat high school students, so that class is really easy. And my third and final class is being a Teacher's Aide, which means I do something usefull for the first 10 minutes and then read for the rest of class. I have the best grade in all my classes... I'm not a studier, but I just use common sense.

Anyway, time to get to the title. I watched some anime in the past two weeks. One was called Blood+ which was better than I expected it to be, so I enjoyed it. It was about this girl, monsters called Chiropteran, and guys called Chevaliers. It was very interesting.

Next, I moved on to the .Hack Series. There are four anime within it: .Hack//Sign, .Hack//Liminality, .Hack//Legend of the Twilight, and .Hack//Roots. Sign was the worst, in my opinion because it had low quality graphics and it's storyine was completely based on dialogue and not action, so it was slow. Roots was pretty much the same thing, but had better graphics and had a little more action. Then comes Twilight, which had pretty good graphics and a lot of action. Then finally, my favorite, is Liminality which had a lot of action and had good graphics. All of the .Hack anime (and Video games) are based on an online video game called The World which is a virtual reality game. Sign, Roots, and Twilight were all mostly in the game (with very few scenes in the real world), but Liminality was almost completely in the real world. The whole point of almost all of the series is that players are mysteriously going into comas and no one knows why.  The storylines were great, but a little more action could have been used. Also, I enjoyed all of the soundtracks. The order in which the series take place is Signs, Liminalty, Twilight, and then Roots.

Oh well, that's enough blogging for now. Sayonara.

Spore

Well, the highly anticipated video game known as Spore came out last week and I purchased it on the day it came out (got the last one in stock at Target).  The game is very well made and gigantic; Over three gigabytes of my computer's hard drive is now filled up and was not a week ago. Anyway, it is a great game.

You start off creating a cell. You then swim around in a pool of water with other cells. You then evolve (I don't believe in evolution because I'm a Christian, but the game is really fun) into a creature with some limbs. Eventually you build a brain and create a tribe. After allying or defeating other tribes, you build a civilized nation. Finally, after conquering the world, you can travel to space and to other star systems.

Throughout the creature and cell stage you can evolve your creature into any form with any type of body part as long as you have unlocked it. Also, during the tribal stage, you can wear different types of "clothing" (mainly just chest pieces and hats). Finally, during the civilization stage and space stage, you get to build houses and vehicles.

The point of the space stage is to get your pilot to become the most renowned in the galaxy (well, not really, but you gain ranks; the highest rank is called "Omnipotent" meaning all-powerful). Also, you are trying to reach the center of the galaxy, a feat hard to accomplish because it is surrounded by hundreds of star systems full of The Grox Empire, the most notoriously evil species in the galaxy.

Once you reach the center of the galaxy, one of the most hilarious cutscenes you will ever see takes place. It's pretty awesome (did I mention I beat the game already, almost twice).

I'd recommend the game for anyone who likes creating creatures, vehicles, spaceships, etc and for people who like virtually interacting with other species.

Conclusion [And Saiunkoku Monogatari]

Yes, I foreshadowed this post in the last one, kind of. I foreshadowed the title (minus the Japanese part), but it's still the same and makes no difference whatsoever to the actual post except when I explain what a conclusion is.

A conclusion usually pulls all the points together that were made in the essay by summarizing the points and restating the thesis in new words. However, a problem people have is with the "conclusion" part. Students tend to add a point in their conclusion that they did not have in the rest of their essay. That is bad. A conclusion concludes, and should not be an introduction to other points. Conclusion paragraphs also state a closing statement, which explains the entire essay in one sentence. A quotation is often a good closing statement as long as it fits well with the essay; however, it is sometimes best to just make up some philosophical sentence because those are always fun.

Anyway, time for the purpose of this post: to talk about a specific anime called Saiunkoku Monogatari, or The Tale of Saiunkoku. in it's English dub. I won't give the plot away very much, partly because I haven't watched the entire thing yet, I don't want to spoil it, and there is way too much plot to be able to spoil. I'll just talk about general aspects of it.

Saiunkoku Monogatar takes place in a land called Saiunkoku where a Young leader ascends through the throne, but not because he is the first born. He is actually the fifth born son. Three of his older brothers died in a war and the his other older brother was banished a long time before. Anyway, the main character is a girl who is originally assigned to be the emperor's consort for six months in order to get the new emperor into shape (he was slacking off and not taking care of his responsibilites). Well, the plot thickens and a lot happens after that six months.

I'm here to explain why this anime is interesting. One, it's a romantic, action comedy, so it's very funny and has a lot of action.

Two, at first the anime seems like it has no where to go because time flies in the anime, with six months passing in only a few episodes. This made me think that it wouldn't go anywhere and would be over soon, However, the anime's first season has 39 episodes and a second season with 39 episodes as well. After watching for a while, I am very surprised and entertained about how they keep developing the plot further and further.

Third, the music is pretty good. Not only is there music throughout the anime, but the main character plays the Erhu, an oriental Japanese instrument. It sounds pretty cool.

Fourth, the characters are just hilarious. One character passed the national exams at the top of his class and is an excellent soldier, but he always gets lost. Like, he gets lost in his own house. There are several other characters, but I'll leave you to find out what they're like.

Anyway, it's a pretty good anime. I'll give it an 8/10 so far (I'm over halfway through the first season). So, if you have time, you should watch a few episodes. You never know, maybe you'll like it.

Body paragraph

Indeed, I am using an essay format to name my posts, for now at least. However, there is a point to that (not really) that I will mention later (first I need to find a reason). Actually it's because I could not think of a name for the first one and I just felt like continuing it here. Also, I was going to say some lame joke about a body of a paragraph; something that personifies the paragraph. Anyway, it was too lame, so I'm not going to say it.

Body paragraphs are supposed to do one thing: get the point across in a strong, clear way using evidence and explanations of said evidence to strengthen the point. That is not what I am going to do here. This blog post is simply going to underline some of my key interests (the ones mentioned in my blog profile). So, here I go.

Rawr. My main interest is anime at the moment. Anime is Japanese animation, like cartoons (American animation), but better. Ever heard of Sailormoon, Pokemon, or maybe Naruto? Well, those are anime. I have watched a lot of anime, but most of it I watched last year when I wasn't in school (I watched an average of ten episodes every school day last year). For a list of the anime I have watched and wish to watch, go see the link at the end of the post, or go to my profile and click "My Website."

I like all anime, even the girly romatic ones. Indeed, I am quite the emotional person. Anyway, anime for me is to allow me to watch something that I wish I could be a part of. It allows me to be a samurai, be in a Japanese high school with little adventures, pilot a giant robot, and much more. It's very fun and exciting. However, sometimes I get way into the anime and get stressed out when a character makes the wrong choice or jumps to conlclusions.

Anyway, another interest of mine are video games. I grew up with Atari at my Grandparents house and a Super Nintendo (SNES) at my house (I didn't get the NES until a few years ago). Super Mario All Stars was my game of choice; it was the rarer game cartridge that includes Super Mario World. Also, there was Kirby and Donkey Kong, and many others. Then came the gameboy, N64, Playstation, Gameboy Advance PS2, Gamecube, Xbox, Wii, and finally the DS. I've played many games, but my favorite game series are Mario and Final Fantasy. My favorite game is Final Fantasy VI because of the great storyline, controls, emotional responses, and gamplay. Video games are definitely very entertaining.

Finally, I will talk about sports. I love sports, but I hate being on sports teams. I also dislike watching most sports (with the exception of tennis and volleyball). Even though I don't play on official teams, I do play sports. My favorite sports require a net and a ball; Tennis, Volleyball, pingpong, Badminton, etc. Not only are they my favorite, but I am pretty good at them as well. I'm an all-around player, so I am pretty athletic and can play almost any sports, but I generally like to stick with the net sports because they are the most fun for me.

Okay, so one last thing to talk about. McDonald's Happy Meal toys. Yes, I said it; Happy Meal toys. The Star Wars Happy Meal toys that just came out caught my eye and I have been collecting them over the past week. I have eight of them at the moment and I plan to collect some more. I hadn't had a Happy Meal since around 10-12 years ago, but when I saw the toys, I figured it was time to have the again.

Anyway, that concludes (foreshadowing?) this post. The only thing left for me to do is post my anime list, so here it is: http://myanimelist.net/animelist/jaythegreat

Introductory Paragraph

The first thing in an introductory paragraph is a hooker. However, since I am a Christian, that goes against my morals, so instead I think I will just use something that gets your interest (lame joke, I know).

Anyway, that was to get your interest. So now I will continue with the purpose of this post: to give an introduction. So, my name is Jonathan, but you can call me what you want including: Jonnie, Johnny, Jonay, Manos, Hand, etc. I actually have a nickname online, which is Jay. I originally got the name for an online game known as Loradon Online (I am now a beta tester for one of their games), but I have now used it for many other things.

If you were wondering about the Blog's name "Jay the Blog," it's because in Loradon I used the name Jaythegreat, Jaythemage, Jaytheknight, Jaythearcher, Jaythetitan, Jaythedwarf, and Jaythenewb. I also created a guild in the game called Jaytheguild. Also, on almost every site I use the name Jaytherogue, or Jaythegreat. It's a fun name to use. If only it were my name, heh.

Anyway, expect more soon. Goodbye.