Katawa Shoujo Act 1 (Visual Novel Review)

The OELVN community is highly active, yet surprisingly quiet. Most projects tend to slip by in the night, but the very ambitious Katawa Shoujo has a lot of hype outside of the community, probably due to the fact that it was initially born on 4chan. Only the first act has been released, but it's a pretty solid piece of work on its own.

You play as Hisao Nakai, a teen boy with a congential heart disease. Because of his condition, he goes to a school for people with medical needs. Hisao has trouble getting used to it at first, and he feels especially uncomfortable surrounded by people with disabilities, but he manages to make some friends and as time goes on, he might even manage to develop a realtionship with one of them.

The art is pretty solid, although a few inconsistencies here and there are noticeable if you're paying attention. One cameo appearance in particular is a little jarring on the eyes, but it has no real effect on the story. The designs are appealling, if not a little generic, and the level of detail that has gone into not just the characters, but the layout and overall feel are impressive. I would have preferred drawn backgrounds rather than filtered photographs, but the photos do the job and they don't stand out, so I can't complain too much.

The story itself is well written and graceful, albeit somewhat slow at points. However, the pacing is still pretty decent, and I found myself drawn to some of the girls (although I found others plain annoying). In some ways, it's a rather generic sort of visual novel. One guy, and plenty of dateable girls, all with their own personal issues and hang ups. Not to mention a couple Japanese tropes wind their way in (a ghostly girl named Hanako?). Add to that a mildly insane male friend and you've got yourself a story. Thankfully, the fact that all the girls are disabled is really a part of the story and not merely a gimmick to make it stand out. Anyone interested in this sort of quiet tale of high school love will not be disappointed. There's not much outside of it to impress anyone outside of this demographic, though.

Overall, Katawa Shuojo Act 1 is a very nice piece of work and a great addition to the OELVN community. It took two years for this to be released - one wonders how long it will take for the final version to reach completion. Anyone who enjoys this should definitely drop some encouragement in the forum or the dev blog to keep the team going.

P.S.
I got the Emi end, which is frustrating because I liked her the least and found her to be rather annoying. I was aiming for Hanako...better luck next time.

--Ou-bento

Marie to Gali Ep. 05 - Love Coil

Marika is having nightmares that are keeping her from being able to sleep. In at attempt to help her out, Gali takes her to a ramen stand (again?). The guy who runs the stand apparently doubles as a DJ called M. C. J and his ramen stand is also a hot spot night club. He sings an song entitled "Love Coil" which is a song about diodes and electricity. It also involves the right hand rule. The song itself is so boring that it puts Marika right to sleep.

I don't remember much from my physics class in college. As far as I can tell, the right hand rule was an invention meant to make physics students look like idiots while taking their exams as they hold their right hand over the test and twist it back and forth in the hope that it will give them some sort of insight. But then again, I wasn't too bright with the whole physics thing. M. C. J is in fact John Ambrose Fleming, the inventor of the diode, the right hand rule, and a bunch of other very important things that I do not understand (but they're very important). This episode was by far the trippiest of the lot. I think it was the Love Coil music video complete with spinning heads and light up right hands that really did it.

--Ou-bento

FUNimation Licenses Heat Guy J (Probably)

I mentioned previously that FUNimation had been hinting at a new acquisition. Well, from the image clue posted today (see above), it's very likely "Heat Guy J" although there are no promises or press releases yet. It's a "rescue" license, so it's a little bit disappointing, as I'm sure we were all waiting for them to announce something new and fresh. I'm still surprised they haven't announced that one yet, but I don't really know who decides what or how it gets decided. So for now, I guess it'll just be worked on in secret.

--Ou-bento

FUNimation hints at new license and streaming Soul Eater

I don't know how many of you actually bother to read the FUNimation blog, but it's a good resource for anyone looking for some hints and inside information if you're willing to dig. This post hints that Soul Eater episodes might be available for streaming sometime.

More importantly, this post hints at a new license announcement in the near future. I know there's one show they're recording for that hasn't been announced yet, so that might be it. Or it could be that other one that they haven't touched yet. Or it could be something completely new that I don't know about. Either way, I think looking at their past C&Ds as well as the hints from New Years would probably help.

--Ou-bento

Liar Game Season 2 and Movie!

I am so excited. ^o^ The Liar Game drama is getting a second season, and there's going to be a theatrical release. This is good news. According to ANN, the drama and movie will keep the original cast. The first season of Liar Game was pretty good for the most part, although the third round wound up deviating quite a bit from the manga. In fact, I think they actually won the third round (which they lose in the manga). I hope they'll be able to merge it with the original storyline again. The only other issue is Fukunaga. In the drama, he's not exactly a transvestite (although it's implied that he did crossdress at one point in time). It will be interesting to see what they do with him, as he reverts to his womanly ways in the manga as a game tactic. Traps in manga and anime are typically more convincing than traps in real life.

--Ou-bento

FUNimation Simulcasts Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~

And in a sudden and surprising move (well, they hinted at it a few days go), FUNimation will be begin simulcasting Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ today, posting the first four episodes in their video portal at 10:30 CDT (which means it'll probably be up by the time you read this).

I haven't watched it, but I guess I will, provided that the site isn't completely overrun by people watching the FMA Brotherhood simulcast. Check it out, na?

--Ou-bento

Marie to Gali Ep. 04 - Radioactive Ramen

Galileo takes Marika to a ramen shop that looks more like a yakuza hangout than an eatery. The ramen in the shop is heated using microwaves (you see, the microwaves excite the water molecules, causing them to heat up). Mari isn't too impressed with the ramen, so the gang leader/ramen chef serves her the house special. The noodles in it move up and down in a wave formation, the same way that radio waves are sent out from a tower. In fact, they even react when the gang leader gets a phone call. Mari still isn't impressed, so he gives her super super special ramen which she enjoys. However, she says that she still prefers spaghetti.

I want ramen. Gali's detailed descriptions of the ingredients of each bowl made me really hungry. Thankfully, it's the cheapest food on earth. Anyway, we actually learned some science in this episode! Sorta. If the gang leader was any famous scientist, I didn't manage to catch it. So I really have no idea who he is, short of "the gang leader who makes ramen and uses microwaves." Maybe it's Heinrich Hertz? (Edit: I checked the official site - it is, indeed, Hertz.) Either way, I'm off to eat some ramen.

--Ou-bento

Skip Beat! Ch. 139 - Pre-Valentine's Day

Mimori (from Shou's Angel PV) reappears to give him chocolates, but he's as cold as usual. Her career is advancing nicely (she's going to be a Gravure Idol), but he has no interest in her at all. Meanwhile, Kyoko is in a state of despair because she doesn't have a birthday give for Ren. Everyone tells her isn't not her fault, since the magazine she got his birth date from published faulty information. She apologizes to him and says that the gift she ordered won't arrive until the 13th, which means she'll have to give him his gift on the 14th. He says that a smile from her is gift enough.

Kyoko reminds herself that it's only a birthday gift and that she's not giving Ren a V-day gift at all. Besides, she's been blackmailed by Reino into making homemade chocolates for him. While she doesn't like the idea, she realizes that it's a good chance to make chocolate for a lot of people that she cares about, and she can sneak in some extra for him on the side and not feel guilty. She starts making a list of people she owes including Moko, the people who run the darumaya where she stays, and Ren. Yashiro asks Ren if he'll be throwing away all his chocolate again this year, and he says that if he eats one, he'll feel like he's required to eat all of them. Yashiro asks him what he would do if Kyoko gave him chocolate. Elsewhere, Kyoko sadly decides to cross Ren off her list.

I am sooooooooooo happy to have Ren back and in full form. They are SO CUTE together. Kyoko's little pouty face when she apologized to Ren was adorable. Unfortunately, it looks like we're being set up for even more romantic dramas. If Kyoko's going to give Reino chocolate, but she has no plans for Ren, this could easily spell trouble. I'm still really frustrated that Reino is even part of the equation still. Why won't he just go away? D: Oh well, at least I managed to snag this:

HOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I hope he was thinking about kissing her. owo

--Ou-bento

Arisa - Manga Firstlook

Arisa is the latest series by shoujo manga author Natsumi Andou. I really enjoyed some of her previous works (Zodiac P.I. and Kitchen Princess), so I went into this one with high expectations for innocent high school girls, sweet boys, and lots of endearing romantic situations. Never have I been so pleased to have my expectations crushed. Tsubasa and Arisa are twins sisters who were separated when they were very young. Tsubasa grew up to be a tough girl known in her school for being a delinquent. She wishes for the life of a normal high school girl, so when her twin sister Arisa suggests that they trade places for a day, she jumps on the offer. Tsubasa is delighted to spend a day with wonderful female friends, a boyfriend that any girl would be envious of, and a quiet school life. However, her happiness disappears when Arisa throws herself out the window after telling Tsubasa that she doesn't know what's really going on at her school. Determined to find out what's going on, Tsubasa disguises herself as Arisa and returns to the school to find out.

I haven't read a really good shoujo horror since Partner, so I have a lot of hopes for this one. Strangely enough, this one also involves twins. Who knew that twins would work so well as a device for shoujo horror? Going into Arisa, I expected a lot of identity switching hijinks, and possibly some romantic triangles. Instead, I got creepy chanting kids and a mystery that I hope will not disappoint. Arisa's classmates are disturbingly two-faced, acting as close friends one minute, and mentally torturing her the next. The mystery has a supernatural aura to it, which makes it all the more intriguing. Only three chapters are out so far, but I will definitely be keeping my eye on this one.


--Ou-bento

Anime! The Abridged Series Ep. 01 - Girly Girly Romance

After a long slumber, miharaoujirou (of Casey & Friends) has posted another video. This one is not of the 2Kids variety, but rather a parody of the blisteringly popular abridged anime that seems to be running around YouTube these days. The first episode is a sendup of shoujo romance. The ending promises that there might be more in the future?

--Ou-bento

Marie to Gali Ep. 03 - Pretty Boy Newton

Mariko decides to search for a butler host club so she can have many beautiful men fawn over her. Galileo mistakes her interest for a muscle club and has a bizarre image of her eating meat an protein supplements to bulk up. However, Mari's bishonen radar just picked up a signal, and she floats off (literally) in search of her beautiful man. She finds Newton reading under a tree, and Galileo warns her that although he has a nice face, he's really a weird guy. She retorts that Galileo is the weird guy and approaches Newton. He seems nice enough at first, but he goes into an angsty rant about his "type" of girl, which apparently is an apple. He has a very very strange apple fetish and unless Mariko can look like an apple he has no interest in her.

This show keeps getting weirder and weirder, but I'm having trouble taking my eyes off of it. Probably because it keeps getting weirder and weirder. Pretty boy Newton was rather amusing, as was Galileo's imagination of Mariko's "muscle club." We still haven't learned any actual science since the first episode, but I hardly think it matters.

--Ou-bento

Clever Stop Motion Film

A friend pointed me in the direction of this video. It's a very nicely done piece of stop motion "animation" that utilizes stop motion images and a surrounding environment to create a very cool little piece. It's in Japanese, but you don't actually have to be able to read Japanese to understand what's going on. Very cool stuff.

--Ou-bento

K-ON Ep. 02 - Why isn't it that easy in real life?

"Someone who can't even play guitar doesn't deserve a two thousand dollar Les Paul as their first guitar - especially not for only five hundred dollars of borrowed cash." So says mai kareshi (drummer and guitarist) who has been kind enough to watch K-ON with me. And while he definitely doesn't mind the moe overload, I think the DUMB overload is getting to him. Yui shops for a guitar, but her only metric seems to be the cuteness of it, rather than Mio's more intelligent suggestions like neck width and weight. Watching how Yui managed to gleefully skip through the guitar purchasing process with hardly any effort on her part was a little disappointing. Especially since she shows no decent care for her shiny new instrument, spending more time posing and taking pictures with it than actually practicing. Like she says, she "looks like" a musician. She certainly isn't one yet. No actual effort in saving up? No buying a cheaper one for now? Why can't my new best friend own a music store too? I'd gleefully help myself to a new violin and keyboard for eighty percent off (with enough left over to get a Les Paul and a new drum set for him). Watching him yell "Don't!" along with Mio when Yui was about to unplug her guitar from the amp was kinda cute, though. Hmm...I hope he doesn't read this. >.> Anyway. Summary: Yui got a guitar. The end. Here's to more cute next week and less sadness (we're just jealous, really).

P.S.
There's no such thing as a Fender Les Paul, but it magically transformed into a Gibson when no one was looking.

--Ou-bento

Ristorante Paradiso Ep. 01 - A Bizarre Soap Opera

It's like Ouran but creepy because everyone is in their mid 40's or something. Forgive me lack of relevant screencaps - you probably know by now that I'm only in it for the food (unlike all the patrons of the restaurant). The restaurant staff is all male, and they all wear glasses because the owner's wife is big into that sort of thing. Apparently, the glasses fetish is pretty widespread, since the restaurant is packed every night with older women. Unlike the inevitable comparison Ouran, it's not amusing at all. No wit. No jokes. Everyone is dead serious, and the men bear with their strange patrons with more resign than enthusiasm. Why the owner would let his wife populate the restaurant with men to fill her fantasies is beyond me. Especially since she's a lying [bleep] who pretends her own daughter isn't even her own in order to convince her current husband that she's never been married before. Not like her daughter has it all together either, falling for a married waiter over the course of a couple days. Strange indeed. I don't like shows like this at all, but the food is lovely, so I'll continue to cap it.

--Ou-bento

Marie to Gali Ep. 02 - Galileo is a Lolicon, Marie Curie is a Ninja

Marika wakes up wondering where she is. She discovers her kind hostess is none other than Marie Curie, who lives just above Galileo. Gali the perv joins the ladies for tea, then goes out on the town with Mari. Mari just wants to go home, but the bridge is destroyed, so she's trapped on the island. Galileo points out other citizens of the island like Newton and Edison, but the only one that Mari recognizes is DaVinci. Galileo repeatedly makes romantic advances on Mari, only to be spin-kicked away by Marie Curie.

Last episode, I made a joke about Gali being pedobear, but I'm not sure if it's really so much of a joke after all. He keeps looking at Mariko in a creepy manner and he even tried to get a kiss out of her. Creepy. Thank goodness Marie Curie is around to send him flying.

--Ou-bento

Skip Beat! Ch. 138 - Spring has Sprung!

It's spring (but only in President Lory's mind). Rather, it's nearing Valentine's Day, a day of love that he adores with all his heart. Moko's manager tells her than she'll need to find a special someone to give chocolates too, or Lory will be sad. Since she's a member of the Love Me section, she'll likely be under even more scrutiny on the day of "love." Moko thinks that spending a lot of money on chocolate that you're not even going to eat is ridiculous.

In the meantime, Kyoko's demons are coming out as she sees schoolgirls happily picking out chocolates for the boys they like. Her angry mood is interrupted by Reino (the lead singer for Vie Ghoul...remember them?) approaching her. He says that she should give chocolate to him, since Valentine's Day is the day that a guy receives chocolate from the girl he likes. She reminds him that it's only the day that a girl gives chocolate to the guy she likes, and as she doesn't like him, she won't be giving him any chocolate. He says that in reality, she's so hot for him that she can't wait to give him chocolate.

Elsewhere, Ren is receiving loads of gifts from crew members, cast members, audience members, fans, and anyone who can manage to cram their present through security. Yashiro is excited that Ren is going back to the Dark Moon set, as he is sure that Kyoko will give him a wonderful gift. At the Dark Moon set, Kyoko sees some people with gifts for Ren, and wonders why they have things for him, as it's not yet Valentine's Day. Surprised, they inform her that today (Feb. 10) is Ren's birthday. Oops.

Okay, that was a little odd. The Chiori arc came to a screeching halt with no explaination or follow-up after Chiori inexplicably joined Love Me last chapter. I'm not going to complain too much, though, as I am incredibly delighted to see the rest of the Skip Beat! cast back. Lory is as great as ever, and I hope that Moko chooses to give chocolates to her good friend Kyoko. >.> Seeing Ren was such a relief (and a little bit nostalgic), and Yashiro's unabashed fangirling was as adorably cute as ever. The only dark spot would have to be the seemingly uncalled for return of Reino, who seems to have no real interest in Kyoko save for the fact that he considers her to be Sho's woman. He's insufferably arrogant, and I kinda felt that his role in the story was done after Sho decided to take his work more seriously. If there's any romantic tension needed, I wouldn't mind Hikaru (from Bridge Rock) playing a larger role in the story. He's got that innocent charm that makes him worlds more likeable than Reino. Either way, I am so so so so soooo happy to have the rest of the cast back, and this looks like it's going to be a delightful arc that might advance Kyoko and Ren's relationship. I'll be cheering for them along with Yashiro.

--Ou-bento

Shugo Chara Ep. 77 - Amu's First Date

In this episode, Ikuto takes a hot, steamy shower. It hardly has anything to do with the plot, but I want more hits on my blog, so I'm adding hot, steamy, shower, and Ikuto to this post because I know some fangirl out there is googling those keywords RIGHT NOW. Anyway, the real thrust of the episode is that Tadase finally learns that Ikuto has been staying in Amu's bedroom. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually learn this from Amu. Instead, he discovers this by visiting her house because she stood him up on a date (she was too busy watching Ikuto in the hot, steamy shower). Ikuto has no problem telling Tadase that not only has he been living with Amu, he also heard Tadase's adorable little confession back in episode 74. Tadase doesn't take too well to this, and runs off crying. Amu chases after him, but isn't able to find him. Ikuto leaves, and is surrounded by suits from Easter.

Well, this episode really dragged on. I'm glad they're advancing the plot, but it certainly took a lot of buildup. I kinda like how they did it, though. It kept building up Amu and Tadase's perfect little relationship, and then gleefully let it crash to the ground. The newspaper children billing Amu and Tadase as the "perfect couple" was a particularly nice touch. Next week appears to be a filler episode, which is wholely frustrating, as the manga looks like it's building up to a nice climax, and here in anime land, we're dealing with another monster of the week. ::sigh::

And here's a picture of Ikuto. In a shower. That is both hot and steamy. Yes, that's all you get. It's a kid's show. Seriously.

--Ou-bento

Shugo Chara Ch. 39 - Capturing the Embryo

When we last left our heroes, they were duking it on Tokyo Tower and Amu and Ikuto suddenly got some new transformations. As it turns out, only Amu's was actually a "new" transformation. Ikuto's Seven Sea's Treasure transformation was his original, but another "presence" inside of him was causing him to have a different transformation. So technically this is his pure version with Yoru.

The X-eggs combine into a very large creature that draws out the sadness inside of everyone, but Amulet Fortune manages to purify all the eggs and bring happiness to people using "True Love." Oh yeah, and Ikuto rescues her at some point in time and it's all sexy or something. Anyway, the Embryo appears, and wouldn't you know it - Daddy Hoshina actually gets his old man hands on it! He dashes off to a secret elevator (really) to deliver it to Gozen. Ikuto has an emergency key that will activate the elevator, but it only works once, and apparently the elevator can only hold three people. So obviously, the final three to go into battle are Amu, Ikuto, and Tadase. ::cue suspense music::

Wow. Looks like the story is actually coming to a boil. Showdowns will occur shortly, possibly with more snazzy transformations and talk about love and happiness. I hate the arbitrariness of "It only holds three and it only works once," but I guess they wanted to pare down the number of people actually fighting. Speaking of people fighting, why hasn't Kukai shown up at all during this little scuffle? And I gotta be honest, I'd like to see Kairi return as well. Oh well. Altogether a nice chapter, even if it was kinda ridiculous. Here's hoping for some serious action next month.

--Ou-bento

Sengoku Basara Ep. 01 - Not the best History Lesson

I would have blogged this squalid garden of manliness sooner, but I was busy watching lolis with guitars. Sengoku Basara is based on a video game which is loosely based on Japanese history. So loose, in fact, that the North American port removed all traces of Japanese history from the characters' back stories. However, if you're the sort of history nerd who charts out "Who would win in a battle?" with famous historical figures, this is probably right up your alley. The episode opens up with the incredibly GAR Sanada Yukimura and Date Masamune running around cutting up things while shouting really manly phrases about war or something. Elsewhere, a thousand or so warring clans prepare for battle by showing off their cool moves or killing random people to prove how hardcore they are. The animation is great, and the battle scenes are great. Any plot is thoroughly lost on me, as there hardly seems to be one. The show itself is a bit tongue in cheek, as it's well aware that it's little more than a fighting game thinly stretched over the canvas of the warring period of Japan.

If you like manly men spouting manly phrases (and Norio Wakamoto voicing Oda Nobunaga!) while doing manly things (except for the unforunate Uesugi Kenshin, whose design looks more flamboyant than fearsome), then come watch the manliness that is men cutting and burning and punching each other! It even has ninjas (and Souichirou Hoshi, Mamiko Noto, and Romi Paku)!

--Ou-bento

K-ON Ep. 01 - It's so CUTE

Wow. My moe moe meter doesn't get set off very often, but K-ON managed to do it. As expected from KyoAni. Quick summary: Three girls form a music club/band in school. They need a fourth member, but the only person interested is a clumsy girl who doesn't even play an instrument. They let her in anyway. And I am so glad they did. While the girls don't do much to stray from the stereotypes (dojikko, ojou, and so on), they're still incredibly endearing. The lovely animation (and nicely detailed instruments) make this series super fun and something I will definitely be watching. Plus, the ending song is crazy catchy. K-ON is cute, fun, and energetic. Good for someone looking for adorable slice of life happiness. Bad for those who hate all things moe.

--Ou-bento

Marie to Gali Ep. 01 - Gravity (and levers?)

The weirdness factor on this one is pretty high, but for some reason I really like it. Mari and Gali is some sort of science lesson "cleverly disguised" as the adventures of a gothloli, her pet stuffed animal, and Galileo Galilei. I don't know. It just works. Sorta. In this episode, Mariko moves to a new town and discovers a very strange tower that is not yet leaning. Her pet runs off, so she chases it in and meets Galileo. He's sad that she hasn't heard of him. He helps her chase down her pet and winds up making his tower lean in the process (wacky hijinks are involved!) Then they fall out of the tower and Galileo wonders if objects with different masses fall at the same rate (Spoiler: they do). Mari makes it to the ground safely thanks to the parachute-like qualities of her goth loli umbrella. Galileo is not so fortunate.

Galileo seal of approval?

--Ou-bento