KrisZ on Anime, Manga, Cosplay and Video Games

ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版: 破 Original Release: June 28, 2009 USA Blu-Ray release: March 30, 2011 Directed by: Hideaki Anno Animation Studio: GAINAX USA Publisher: Funimation   When Neon Genesis Evangelion came out in 1995, it changed the landscape of anime forever. It was an epic and dark anime using esoteric dialogue with a flawed cast of characters. The anime turned the mecha subgenre on its head with its unique take on the genre. The anime and the ensuing movies left such an indelible impression on the anime market that it still has a very strong and loyal following almost 16 years after it was initially released. In late 2002, work started on the rebuild of Evangelion. In December 2006 the tetralogy was announced, with the original creator saying that he can finally recreate Evangelion the way he wanted it to be. Evangelion 1.0 felt very similar to those who are used to the original TV series, but it had a more cinematic feel. Evangelion 2.0 moves in a completely different direction...

Taiwan from Hetalia Anime Conji 2011 - Year 2 of AC Venue: Town and Country Resort, San Diego Sourthern California is a place with lots of anime and manga fans concentrated in a small area. The large concentration of anime and manga fans in such a small area means that there is quite a bit of anime conventions to choose from. Over at Anime LA, I was talking to some representatives from another convention, Anime Conji. As a fan of Anime Conventions and of the cosplay culture that makes it so rich, I jumped at the opportunity when I found out about another anime convention to attend. San Diego is a long drive, but a convention to attend that is drivable from my house in under two hours makes it a no brainer. Here is a short convention report from my perspective as a person who has only recently started attending the smaller local anime conventions. Bang, she got me!!! As a person who tries to be as green as possible, I asked all my friends if they wanted to go and if they did the...

"The song that ends the world" Ar Tonelico Qoga (aka: Ar Tonelico 3) USA release: March 15, 2011 Developer: GUST American Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software America MSRP: Mature Gust is a well-known developer that makes quality games with unique character designs and amazing musical scores. They have two well-known franchises, the Atelier franchise and Ar Tonelico. The former is known for its infectious characters and unique RPG gameplay that is fairly open ended. The latter is known for its involving cosmology, amazing musical scores, and great character designs. It is unfortunately know for another thing, embarrassing dialog and copious amounts of fan service. I will give a short first impression thread of the first 5 hours of Ar Tonelico Qoga ), I will review the final game when I complete it later down the line. Gust is well known for making games that don't have high production values, but they do make up for it in the passionate love for the product they creat...

I normally don't do news notes like this, but this one is so big that it deserves a little blub. Anime News Network is reporting that Sailor Moon 2nd edition and Sailor V will be getting a USA release starting this September. If you don't remember from my blog posting back in January 27th , I pointed out that Sailor Moon's chances of a new USA release increased quite a bit because Kodansha is publishing their own manga. I also said that the manga is the far superior version of the storyline that is much darker and more well-developed. For those of you who don't know, sailor moon was the manga series that started the magical girl genre. It is about Sailor Moon and her adventures to fight evil, right the wrongs of the past, and gain new friends along the way. It has several story arcs and a wonderful cast of characters. Codename Sailor V is about the adventures (or misadventures) of Sailor Venus when she worked by herself. Sailor V actually came before Sailor Moon a...

サマーウォーズ Original Release: August 9, 2009 USA Blu-ray release: March 15, 2011 Length: 114 minutes Directed by: Mamoru Osoda Animation Studio: Madhouse USA Publisher: Funimation Rating: PG   Following the critical and financial success of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Mamoru Hosada embarked on making Summer Wars. It is a family friendly film that explores first loves, the power of family, and our dependence on the internet to communicate. The anime film of summer wars has it all, a great cast of characters, interesting themes, amazing production values, a great screenplay, and an interesting story to pull it all together. Summer wars is an anime movie where the people in the real world go about their daily lives, but they use this virtual world called OZ. This virtual world is important since people use it to communicate, banks use it to do finance, and governments use it for efficient service. The lead character is Kenji Koso, a person who moderates OZ and a math gen...

School Rumble, perfect example Have you ever invested so much time and money in something only to get let down in the end? This is a common story told by fans of the anime and manga medium. They would invest lots of time watching, reading, discussing, dreaming, and anticipating a series that they feel a connection with. After so much emotional investment it ends abruptly or it ends in a nonsensical manner that doesn't fit with the pace of the storyline. There are a myriad of reasons why it happens, but I will hone into two reasons why they disappoint. The two reasons are because they are not the source material or because they were rushed to finish the product. These two reasons are reasons why there are many examples of series with bad endings.

In America, we pride ourselves on our individuality. This is a cultural aspect that emanates all aspects of American life, from our storytelling to the celebrities we admire. This focus on individuality also goes to the clothes that American children and teenagers wear at school, which is up to the individual to wear a set of clothes considered acceptable in school's dress code. There is a loose set of standards that is applied in school that is enforced only when these standards are grossly ignored. This difference leads to a slight culture shock for an American who is watching an anime series. In our culture individuality is sacred, so the idea for many people to have a standard school uniform is unheard of. I will examine Japanese School uniforms and explore why is it that the American school system does not have school uniforms. School uniforms were introduced in Japan in the late 19th century and the country is known for the colorful and unique uniforms that the students wea...

A powerful earthquake has struck Japan, our prayers and wishes go out to Japan. For those of you in Japan, take care of yourselves and take care of those around you. An earthquake destroys the world around us, but it can be rebuilt. What can't be rebuilt are the fires of life lost and the darkness of trauma from a horrible event. Please pray for the safety of those who are in Japan and especially those who will never see another morning.

Xenogears Originally Released on: PS1 on Oct. 20, 1998. Developer: Square Company Limited Director: Tetsuya Takahashi Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda "Stand tall and shake the heavens," that is the inventive and powerful tagline for Xenogears, Squaresoft's classic RPG. It was originally introduced to the American public as a short demo included in Parasite Eve. It only gave a small glace to this epic RPG that clocks in at well over 80 hours for first time players. The RPG is an epic saga about destiny, psychological issues, byzantine power struggles, racism, reincarnation, and humanity's resilience. It is a classic RPG wrapped up with an excellent cast of characters, one of the best video game story lines, and an incredible musical score. My first experience with this game was the demo included in Parasite Eve, I was fascinated by it because of its giant robots and unique setting. My brother bought the game when it came out and he was addicted from the outset. The...