The End of Medaka Box (and some musings on the works of NisiOisiN)

image from cxcscans

I’ll be honest in saying that I was a bit sad to see Medaka Box go. Sure, it kinda tired itself out with plots going off-tangent at times but it was also quirky enough to be a unique “taste” of manga that you won’t really see as much in other more popular (and more successful) titles. It’s not revolutionary, what NisiOisiN (of Bakemonogatari fame) did, but out of nowhere twists and parodies and awesome characters (and side characters to boot) were sure as hell fun to read about. I’m not a big manga reader myself though, and if it wasn’t for the recommendation of a friend I probably would never even try reading Medaka Box. Thankfully I did, and I got to see it off with, probably the most awkward ending to manga I’ve seen – and it couldn’t have fit any better.

A Review on KURO: Eternal Night Chronicles, Book One – A Vanished Goddess

art by Nuri-kun

Personally speaking, I have always considered the light novel as a genre of its own. It is not merely the amalgam of fantasy and sci-fi, coupled with romance at times, that stock the Young Adult shelves of today. Granted, I read them not in their intended form, which is that of Japanese text, but it is with the essence of the novel that makes for me the biggest difference. I attribute it to the specific literary nature of the Japanese – a style that is their own; completely common-place to them yet, to the eyes of an outside reader, a relatively new and unfamiliar sight.

An unfamiliar sight indeed, being shared by what I would assume as, a relatively small niche of fans of Japanese media in general. It may even be pigeon-holed as being only for fans of Japanese media in general. Anime and manga fans are a more casual bunch in that regard I should say. To watch a story unfold in anime, as supposed to reading one in a novel is in theory something that most would consider more fun to actually do after all.

Is it really that hard to transcribe that experience, that of anime and manga, into a book?

Author Miko Limjoco wishes to do just that.
With his own spin on writing light novels, he welcomes readers into the land in darkness; Kuro.

Why I Watch Anime?

*cough* damn, it’s dusty in here *cough* *cough* This is an extremely late entry for Kai’s (deluscar) carnival project on “why do we watch anime”. I’m almost certain those of you who would chance upon this post would most likely know what I’m talking about (if not have participated in it and have written their own posts). So yeah, getting right to it; the reason I watch anime is because –

Acquired Tastes in Anime

The human sense of taste is a complex and amazing thing. There’s never a common standard; what’s sweet is just, well, sweet, and if it’s bitter, there’s nothing else you could describe it as. But, what makes the palate so unique is how each of us sometimes go and like the weirdest, or at the least, the more uncommon tastes (you know, stuff like, mint chocolate, Oreo-and-cheese milkshakes, uhh, veggie burgers). We don’t like it right away, but it grows on us – we acquire a taste for them. The same also holds true for a lot of stuff; songs you listen to, books you read, and maybe, in the anime we watch as well.

Leap250′s Answers to Yumeka’s Questions

After catching up to what’s been going on around the ani-blogosphere, I saw that Yumeka from AnimeYume put together a series of questions (similar to AceRailgun’s 50 Questions a while back) for, well, any anime fan to answer. I’m totally late to the party, but I just love these kinds of questionnaires.

My Summer 2012 Lineup

Plus some random Kara no Kyoukai news

But first, my lineup. I would’ve had this up a week ago but I wanted to see if I was gonna add more shows to my initial picks. That wasn’t the case as it turns out, and I ended up sticking to the five shows I planned on watching beforehand (and I still have a bit of a backlog from last season). So yes, only five this season. Starting off with..

Dept. Heaven Review Series – Riviera

For those who’re unfamiliar, Dept. Heaven is the name given to a series of jRPG’s developed by Sting Entertainment and published by ATLUS. Games either known or unknown because of their overly complex game mechanics, They also happen to be one of my favorite game franchises ever. With the release of Gungnir, Dept. Heaven’s latest installment for the PSP, I just couldn’t help but feel nostalgic (since there was a three year gap since, Knights in the Nightmare, the last title that got a North American release)

So, I decided to review all of them (there’s four so far). The first title is Riviera: The Promise Land, the former GBA hit that got a PSP remake six years ago. The review is at YumeState.com so if you guys are interested, keep on reading here

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia: Hauntingly Good Execution

This was totally worth marathoning six episodes.

Ongoing Shows – To Watch or To Wait

After a most epic catch-up weekend I’ve set up for myself, I’m still falling short of actually catching up to the shows I’ve been initially watching since the start of the season. The vacation I had kinda messed up my anime (as well as blogging) body clock it seems.

Leap250′s Ideal Anime/Manga Cast

After sifting through numerous aniblog posts that began piling up after my two-week break, I found Yerocha’s fun blog carnival post about an ideal anime/manga five man troupe. I’m a little late to the party, but I’d still love to squeeze in my cast ^_^

A lot of old-school shows that I’ve watched back in the day had the traditional Five-Man Band formula (The Hero, The Lancer, The Smart Guy, The Big Guy, and The Chick/Heart) with shows like Flame of Recca and Yu Yu Hakusho as prime examples . Nowadays, I haven’t seen much of this trademark team, what with the rise of more popular archetypes like the Anti-Hero, the various -dere types, and “The One Guy” in harems. So, to bring back the old days, my cast will stick to the traditional Five-Man Band. As for the story to go with it, let’s have a classic shounen-style tournament that will decide the fate of the world!