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Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : October 13, 2015
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Hayate-Combat-Butler-2review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season

Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki

Studio: J.C. Staff

Author: Kenjiro Hata

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U.S. Release Date: October 20, 2015

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 25 Episodes / 625 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Harem, School Life, Parody

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Hayate the Combat Butler Season 1 and Hayate the Combat Butler Season 3: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

Synopsis:

Ever since he first met Nagi Sanzenin, Hayate Ayasaki’s life has become increasingly more crazed and chaotic. Which is a bit of a problem, since, as the eccentric heiress’ butler/personal bodyguard, he’s theoretically supposed to be a stabilizing and protective influence. Unfortunately, Nagi and her friends attract trouble the way dropped lollipops attract dirt, and if Hayate has to take a couple of nasty licks along the way, that’s just part of the job.

The real sucker punch, though, is that Nagi’s increasing attraction to Hayate himself is getting precariously close to transforming their professional relationship into something far less professional and much more like a relationship. Is Hayate up for the emotional perils of a round of “upstairs, downstairs”? Or will the purely physical dangers of life on Her Majesty’s Domestic Service do him in first?

Commentary:

Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season begins with Hayate still working as the Sanzenin Butler, and Season 2 features a lot more Hinagiku, as scenarios that include herself and Hayate allude to potentially mutual feelings between them. Nagi is also interested in escalating her relationship with Hayate, since Nagi’s perception of her relationship with Hayate remains based on the miscommunication that occurred on their first meeting. That is basically Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season in a nutshell. Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season completely ignores the filler material from the first season and picks up from about episode 25 and continues from there. With most of the filler material gone and forgotten from season one, the parody moments have dropped significantly.

Thankfully, with Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season we receive the character development that was missing in season one. However, Hinagiku takes up most of the screen time and some of the other characters lose out on their screen time and the other members of the Sanzenin household, Klaus, Tama, and to an extent Maria, take the back seat for a big chunk of the series. However, I feel that the “Hayate owes 150 million yen” arc was basically forgotten. It was brought up once or twice but it was basically abandoned and replaced with the Harem arc.

The art was bright and beautiful but different than the first season. The characters were well drawn and the background animation was pretty. The music was fresh and upbeat and the voice actors brought the characters to life before your eyes. The “Narrator” was drastically downplayed in this season. All in all, Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season was an enjoyable series to watch and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys this type of series.
Extras:

Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season includes clean opening and closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. This series was released with Japanese with English subtitles as the only language option.

Overall Grade: B-

I feel that Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season is much more enjoyable than the first season because of the amazing interaction between characters. Hayate the Combat Butler: The Complete Second Season has high quality humor and fantastic and likeable characters but most importantly it is just fun to watch.

Hayate the Combat Butler: Season One Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : August 15, 2015
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Hayate the Combat Butler: Season One Complete CollectionReview provided by Andrew and Katie

Title: Hayate the Combat Butler: Season One Complete Collection

Director: Keiichirou Kawaguchi

Studio: SynergySP

Author: Kenjiro Hata

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23 Films

U.S. Release Date: August 18, 2015

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 52 Episodes / 1300 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Harem, Action, Parody

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: The Familiar of Zero and Student Council’s Discretion

Synopsis:

Could Hayate Ayasaki’s life get any unluckier? Because his unemployed parents are good-for-nothings who waste what money they have on gambling, Hayate had to start working at a young age to help out his family. Although such experience has made him inhumanly fast and tough and skilled at things boys aren’t normally skilled at, it has also left him in an awkward position, as his parents have racked up such a huge gambling debt that they have sold Hayate to the yakuza for the value of his organs. Desperate to pay off the 156,804,000 yen debt before he’s converted into black market organ parts, Hayate strikes on the idea of kidnapping oddball heiress Nagi Sanzenin. Unbelievably, however, even that goes wrong and not only does he end up not kidnapping her, he rescues her from other kidnappers. (Apparently this happens to her all the time.)

But maybe, just maybe, there might be a tiny, dim light at the end of the very dark tunnel of Hayate’s existence, and the skills that Hayate’s had to develop to stay alive will pay off. Because Nagi needs a butler/bodyguard and Hayate could just fit the bill. But he will have to survive the on-the-job training first. Fate can be a harsh mistress, but Hayate may have just signed up with an even harsher one!

Commentary:

Hayate the Combat Butler: Season One Complete Collection is a hilarious rom-com that is full of parodies from well-known shounen series. They also include many parodies Japanese television culture jokes along with references to famous idols and random television shows. Luckily, they give some background information at the top of the screen whenever this happens so you can fully understand the joke. The romance part of the rom-com is pretty one-sided for this season, but I believe it will eventually even out.

With Hayate the Combat Butler: Season One Complete Collection being mainly a comedy series, it does not have a strong storyline. However, the vibrant characters make up for it. Each character has their own interesting personality which gives equal balance between characters. There are a ton of different characters in this series, almost too many and they do not have much development happen. I almost wish they would have made fewer characters and had more development for them. But, that is why three other seasons have been released. Nagi has to be my most favorite and lease favorite character of the series. She is the tsundere character of the series and basically acts like a spoiled brat to get whatever she wants. However, she is adorable when thinking about Hayate. Nagi is also your basic shut-in teenager who would rather read manga, watch anime, and play games than go to school. Luckily for her, she is really smart so that does not affect her grades.

The animation was pretty and the colors were very vivid. The voice actors did a great job and you will probably recognize many of them from other series. There was not a lot of fan-service and when it appeared, it was well done and tasteful.

Extras:

Hayate the Combat Butler: Season One Complete Collection includes clean opening and closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. This series was released with Japanese with English subtitles as the only language option.

Overall Grade: B-

Hayate the Combat Butler: Season One Complete Collection is quite a long series, but the comedy makes it very easy to watch. Parts of it reminded me of Excel Saga and that made me laugh for a long time. If you enjoy comedies with a little bit of romance added in then I recommend Hayate the Combat Butler: Season One Complete Collection.

Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties-Season 4 (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : June 25, 2015
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Hayate-the-Combat-Butler-Cutiesreview provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties-Season 4

Director: Kenjiro Hata

Studio: Manglobe

Author: Shinichi Inotsume

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U.S. Release Date: June 23, 2015

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Harem, Parody

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: C+

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Amagami SS and Hayate the Combat Butler: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

Synopsis:

Hayate and Nagi are back for Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties and Hayate is back to saving the day. He nurses everyone through an illness, retrieves an embarrassing video before it hits the internet, and returns stolen money; and that is just normal day-to-day life for Hayate. However, as awesome and competent as Hayate may seem, there is actually one thing he is not particularly good at-noticing when pretty girls are attracted to him. But that will not stop the young ladies from trying to catch his eye, even as the art of domestic service becomes inexplicably intertwined with the martial arts?

Commentary:

Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties was a great series up until the last two episodes. The first ten episodes each focused on one or two of the main girls of the series, a-la Amagami SS. I thought this was a good thing as it led to character background being given and character development as they worked through whatever problem was in the episode. The last two episodes really belonged with the previous season, Hayate the Combat Butler: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, as it was an alternate ending to that series. Yes, it did also add to Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties plot but it also took away from the story as a whole.

In some of the character specific episodes we are also introduced to some new characters but they are not well introduced so unless you have read the manga you will probably be lost. If there is a Season 5 I hope they give those characters some background. Each character specific episode can stand alone except for the first as it reintroduces everyone in case you have forgotten anyone. Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties had a lot of funny moments that will have you laughing and there was also some romance but it was only from the girls as Hayate is still clueless. I think my favorite episode was the Maria one because we finally learn about her past and find out that she is very young but very smart.

The animation was very cute and drawn well. The voice actors were spot on as always and I could not imagine anyone else voicing these characters. The opening and closing songs were J-Pop like and were catchy. There was a bit of fan-service but nothing over the top. Also there was a couple of episodes with Hayate cross-dressing so be warned.

Extras:

Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties included clean opening and closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. This series was released with only one language option, Japanese with English Subtitles.

Overall Grade: C+

Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties is a cute series and would have a higher grade if the last two episodes were not included in this season. Overall, I recommend this season over Hayate the Combat Butler: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You because you get to know the characters better.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Limited Edition DVD/BD

Posted by :Patches On : June 1, 2015
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Hyperdimension Neptunia Limited Edition

review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Hyperdimension Neptunia Limited Edition DVD/BD

Director: Masahiro Mukai

Studio: David Production

Author: Shogo Yasukawa

U.S. Distributor: Funimation Entertainment

U.S. Release Date: June 9, 2015

Format and Length: Blu-ray Combo Pac / 13 Episodes / 325 Minutes

Genre: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Parody, Sci-Fi, Supernatural

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: C+

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Leviathan: The Last Defense and K-On!

Synopsis:

Welcome to Gamindustri, a fantastical world where all your favorite video game consoles come to life right before your eyes! Neptune and her fellow Goddesses rule the four kingdoms of Lastation, Leanbox, Lowee, and Planeptune. For many long years, these countries fought each other over Shares, the source of the Goddess power within Gamindustri. However, fearful that the conflict would pointlessly erode their countries’ strength, the Goddesses signed a Friendship Treaty forbidding them from taking Shares by force. But, their royal duties often take a backseat to their obsession with gaming.

When their button-smashing shenanigans are interrupted by rampaging monsters, hacker attacks, and killer vegetables, the goddesses must transform into stronger, sexier versions of themselves and fight for their right to game! The bosses get tougher as the game goes on, and the girls will have to work together in order to defeat a bewitching goddess of piracy, an anonymous master hacker, and an evil CPU hell-bent on destroying everything in her path – using any cheat code necessary!

Commentary:

First things first, Hyperdimension Neptunia is based off a series of video games. That being said, it does fall into the usual problems that this genre of animes usually have; little to no plot, no character development, and a sense of humor you will not understand unless you are a fan of the games. However, this is also another cute girls doing cute things and kicking butt series so if you can look past the major issues it is enjoyable. I would not say there was a plot per say, instead they used battles to move the episodes along. That did get tiring after a while and I could only watch a few episodes at a time because of that.

While there was not character development or background given the characters were the best part of Hyperdimension Neptunia. You would not have had the awesome battle scenes without them and as this series has an all female cast there was also fan-service. However, the fan-service was not overdone. Neptune has a funny but sarcastic personality that may annoy you at first but it will grow on you. She also seems to be the most immature character of the series. Noire is the token tsundere princess who tries to hide her true personality. Blanc and Vert basically squabble over silly things that seem stupid. Those are the main CPU characters. Then they introduce the CPU candidates, or little sisters of the main characters. Those girls are learning to transform into their full CPU characters. I really wish there had been some character development as the characters were really cute but I did not fully understand them as I have never played the games.

The animation looked good. The characters were well drawn and the battle scenes were interesting to say the least. The background animation was beautiful and added depth to the scenes. The voice actors did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. The opening and closing songs were catchy and I found myself singing along after a few episodes. All in all, Hyperdimension Neptunia is a cute series.
Extras:

Hyperdimension Neptunia Limited Edition DVD/BD includes a transform collection, clean opening and closing animation, Blu-ray/DVD commercials, commercials, promotional videos, U.S. trailer, and Funimation Entertainment trailers as special features. Hyperdimension Neptunia Limited Edition DVD/BD was released with English and Japanese with English Subtitles as language options. The English option was actually enjoyable and as usual the Japanese with English Subtitles was amazing. Both were well done.

Overall Grade: C+

Hyperdimension Neptunia is a cute series and if you can get past the issues then I think you will enjoy it. It is a cute girls doing cute things and kicking butt series as well but it is hard to understand if you have not played the games for some background information.

Student Council’s Discretion Level 2: The Complete Second Season (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : May 12, 2015
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Student Council’s Discretion Level 2: The Complete Second Seasonreview provided by Katie

Title: Student Council’s Discretion Level 2: The Complete Second Season

Director: Kenichi Imaizumi

Studio: AIC

Author: Reiko Yoshida

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U.S. Release Date: May 26, 2015

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 10 Episodes + 1 OVA / 275 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Parody, School, Harem

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: C+

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Student Council’s Discretion

Synopsis:

Sure, sometimes you have to think outside the box, but Hekiyo Academy’s Student Council may go a step further and rewrite their entire universe! At least, that’s what could happen as the second season gets underway and the Council decides that their anime might need a little spicing up. Should they introduce new characters? Add a boy’s-love subplot? Or should they just continue to do what worked previously and spend most of their time chattering between themselves while working towards odd goals that might turn out to have been a little misguided in retrospect?
The answer is “yes” to all of the above and more: class barriers and the fourth wall come tumbling down as a supporting character literally takes up the challenge of moving up to main character status. The plot thickens with the mystery of a missing cake. The boundaries of love between step-siblings get pushed just a few steps beyond what’s socially comfortable and of course there just has to be a hot springs episode. Join 5 student council members in search of an author as the storyline runs amok!

Commentary:

The second season of Student Council’s Discretion continues where the first season left off… No, not really. It’s still a bit crazy and episodic, but that’s about it. In Student Council’s Discretion Level 2: The Complete Second Season, it changes a bit. They still have the standard banter over the white table, in a large room that seems filled with junk. Mafuyu still fantasizes about BL and video games too much. Chizuru is still an evil dominatrix and is overprotective and manipulating of Kurimu, Minatsu still kicks butt, and Kurimu is still the grade school high school girl. And of course Ken Sugisaki is still the pervert who wants a harem. It’s still as random, story less and episodic as ever. What makes this season different? It’s not the same pointlessness of its predecessor, but rather it now focuses more on the developing relationships of everyone else to Sugisaki.

Uncharacteristically, the new season begins on a more serious note, the background story of our male protagonist. This back story was necessary to understand the warped ways of our perverted hero, and how he got to be the hentai loving, harem craving, will do anything for a girl, kind of guy. Mainly the story does focus more on him at this point forwards. Not to say that the other characters are neglected and forgotten. They continue to develop well, and more importantly, their relationships also blossom. Some fans will be happy to see this, others will not. It depends all on the focus you want the story to take. The comedy is there still, but is seemed to fall a little flat at times. A few of the downfalls includes how slow this season starts. When you have so few episodes, it’s not a good thing to take half of them to get back on a roll again, and it never quite reached the level of the first season. Another thing that was missing was the countless number of references and parodies of other animes, found in the original, were very much lacking in the second season. Most of the time they seemed to just parody themselves instead. One of the things that made the first season so endearing was the well played parodies. Also there are a lot more ‘serious moments’, when all joking is cast aside for some serious development. These dramatic interludes are a change from the norm, but I’m not sure yet how well received they will be. I think they had a hard time changing gears from funny to serious, and sometimes the drama just was not executed well. The first season relied more on comedy and character dynamics to entertain, and it worked quite well. Student Council’s Discretion Level 2: The Complete Second Season failed to find this same dynamic, injecting drama into a place that it’s hard to make work right. Even with the addition of new characters, it was unable to recapture its previous glory. That being said, if you are a fan of the first season, this one is worth watching. Just don’t expect the same level of entertainment you got from the first season.

There were some changes for the better. The animation was crisper and more detailed this time around. Yet again though, your scenery is mostly limited to the council room, and school. If you are good at picking up on voice actors, you will notice that a couple of cast changes from the first season. Another thing they did do that caught my interest was the ever changing ending animations. I do get tired of the same old closing credits that recycle thru nearly all series. I often find myself hitting that skip button to get passed it after the second or third time, unless the music was something special, which more time than not, it won’t be. The different ending themes helped to keep my interest enough that I did not skip them.

Extras:

Student Council’s Discretion Level 2: The Complete Second Season includes clean opening and closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. Student Council’s Discretion Level 2: The Complete Second Season has Japanese with English Subtitles as the only language option.

Overall Grade: C+

All in all, Student Council’s Discretion Level 2 is a cute series and if you enjoyed the first season then I recommend this one.

Hayate The Combat Butler-Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : April 12, 2015
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Hayate The Combat Butler-Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Complete Collection season 3review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Hayate The Combat Butler-Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Complete Collection

Director: Masashi Kudo

Studio: T.V. Tokyo

Author: Kenjiro Hata

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U.S. Release Date: April 28, 2015

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Parody and Harem

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: C

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Amagami SS

“Don’t lump me, Sanzenin Nagi, with your typical otaku. Whether it’s a video game, anime or manga, I’ll only rate it after I’ve played, watched, or read the entire thing! Even though I might initially think, ‘Whoa, talk about a total letdown!’ ”

Synopsis:

Hayate Ayasaki’s life has never been easy, though after being sold to Yakuza who want to harvest your organs to pay off your parents’ debts it’s hard to imagine things sinking much lower. However, since becoming employed as the butler/bodyguard for the spoiled, cold hearted teenage heiress Nagi Sanzenin, Haytate’s misery has been primarily focused around Nagi’s insecurity, laziness and the frequent attempts by various parties to kidnap her (with the occasional scheme cooked up by her Grandfather on the side).

When a new and unexpected relative arrives without warning and issues concerning Nagi’s long dead father and his belongings rear their ugly head, Hayate finds himself thrust even further into the deep, dark, messy drama of the Sanzenin clan’s personal affairs. But that is only the beginning of his troubles, as somehow aliens, haunted swords, an untrustworthy kitten and even a cross-dressing curse are thrown into the mix as well. Will Hayate fight his way through these epic complications? Or will his undoing come at a substantial cost?

Commentary:

Hayate The Combat Butler-Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Complete Collection is the third season of the Hayate The Combat Butler franchise however, it is an original concept and is not directly based on the manga. The episodes are labeled as nights, such as first night, second night and so on. The first six episodes were filler episodes and the last six were where all the action and actual plot took place. They tried to give all of Nagi’s background in the first six episodes when they could have condensed it into three episodes so the actual plot and story line would not have seemed so rushed.

Nagi Sanzenin is a spoiled and lazy tsundere character, even more so than the first season. She makes unreasonable demands on Hayate and gets herself into trouble as always. She would rather watch the newest anime series and play the newest games instead of going to school. I really believe she would be happy to just do that every day and never leave the house, living a NEET lifestyle. Hayate, her butler, and Maria, her maid, try and make her understand that she must go to school but it mostly falls on deaf ears. Rui Tsugumi appears out of nowhere claiming to be Nagi’s little sister but in reality she is just looking for the Sanzenin family fortune, the Black Camellia. Rui is also a tsundere-type character and specializes in martial arts. She is also the comic relief character, and is picked on heavily for the entire series, which is understandable, she was a pretty bad character, whose only purpose seems to be to bring even more ‘moe loli tsundere’ to this series, which not only is unnecessary, but makes her a waste and very forgettable. Another issue was Maria, who seemed very dimwitted (see the vent scene) and was very dull and almost drone like. Most of the characters seemed that way towards the end.

Another thing was the art. I still have not gotten over that actually. In the original series, it was pretty decent, and full of color. In this one, it lacked the same. Hayate seems to have changed genders and looks more feminine than ever. Everyone else was designed with the same head with different hair colors and styles. It was even worse than the original. The backgrounds even seemed more dull and lifeless than ever. I guess in the end Nagi was right, “Whoa, talk about a total letdown!”

Extras:

Hayate The Combat Butler-Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Complete Collection includes clean opening and closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. This series was released with Japanese with English subtitles as the only language option.

Overall Grade: C

All in all, Hayate The Combat Butler-Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Complete Collection is more of a standalone series instead of a third season. It is an interesting harem though, if you enjoy the harem genre.

Student Council’s Discretion Season 1 Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : March 28, 2015
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Student Council’s Discretion season 1review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Student Council’s Discretion Blu-ray Season 1 Complete Collection

Director: Takuya Sato

Studio: Studio Deen

Author: Jukki Hanada

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U.S. Release Date: March 24, 2015

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Parody, School, Harem

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Other Titles to Check Out: Lucky Star, Ebiten, Haganai, Haganai Next, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

“Mukyu.”

Synopsis:

At Hekiyo Academy, the Student Council members are elected via the usual popularity contests, and since most teenagers think more with hormones than brains, those seats are filled by the school’s most beautiful girls. But one student is chosen based on academic scores. Besides being the council’s only male member, one of Ken Sugisaki’s main assignments is writing stories informing the student body what the student council actually does. To do that he’ll have to manipulate the truth just a bit, and given that Ken’s an obsessive fan of dating sims who fantasizes about his fellow council members as his “harem”, things tend to get even more out of hand. Plus, exactly who’s going to be the leading lady is up for debate, as immature Kurimu, tomboyish Minatsu, twisted Chizuru, and “boy’s love” obsessed Mafuyu are all trying to add their own particular spins to everything. If that’s not enough, the journalism club has it out for all of them.

Commentary:

Dragging the otaku culture, kicking and screaming the whole way, Student Council’s Discretion Blu-ray Season 1 Complete Collection, brings more anime memes and parodies than you can possible count. Just in the opening sequence of the first episode, they have over ten references before they show the opening. With some touching on the obscure, they can make things a bit difficult, so it does help to know what they are referencing for a lot of it to make any sense. This series will probably be more entertaining to those who are familiar with otaku culture.

Student Council’s Discretion Blu-ray Season 1 Complete Collection follows Ken Sugisaki and the rest of the student council (aka harem) on their daily activities of conducting the student government. That just sounds like some fun stuff doesn’t it? The catch is that they really don’t do anything meaningful, often each doing their own thing, as the meetings hardly go as planned, if even planned at all. The Student council president, Kurimu Sakurano, the resident loli, leads in the randomness with sheer determination and cuteness. Ken Sugisaki, Vice President, has one thing on his mind and being a teenage male, you can easily imagine what that is. So what is this series about? Nothing really. No, seriously. It’s episodic and random. It’s very Seinfeldish, if you will. No central plot, or conceptual story line, loveable characters that are a bit cliché, and random humor, that is sometimes a little misplaced. On a few occasions their jokes did fall flat, but that was mostly on the more obscure references they made. At those times, it felt like I was with a group of people that I had never met and they had a lot of inside jokes, that you had to of been for a while there to get.

The characters were developed a bit, but since they are all standard archetypes, everyone quickly fell into those clichés and not much development was done beyond that. At some point, they even made it a butt of some of the jokes. Another thing that seemed odd is in the first half of the series, you could count on one hand how many locations they interacted in. By the end you probably had to use both hands, so the scenery did not change often. Considering that humor was the main concept, background scenery was also not built up or changed often. The background was decently detailed, and the club room seemed to have a lot going on in it. They had to fill the space with something I suppose. The opening theme was a bit catchy, and the ending theme was ok. Background music was non-existent. The focus was mostly on the humor, and it did not detract from the series.

Extras:

Student Council’s Discretion included clean opening and closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. This series was released with Japanese with English Subtitles as the only language option.

Overall Grade: B-

This series is not for those who are new to anime, or those who have to have a completely coherent story from beginning to end. It’s not there. I found it easiest to watch a couple at a time, as watching too many episodes at once got tiring and I would lose interest. Enjoy it for what it is. Overall it was a decent series, if you are watching it for the parody and humor.

Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : February 26, 2015
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Category: Reviews

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Outbreak Companyreview provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection

Director: Kei Oikawa

Studio: Feel

Author: Naruhisa Arakawa

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks / Section 23

U.S. Release Date: March 3, 2015

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Parody

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: C

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: The Ambition of Oda Nobuna and The Familiar of Zero

Being an Otaku is not just a hobby, it is a government sanctioned mission…

Synopsis:

It really is not surprising that Shinichi Kanou turned out to be a fan of comics and science fiction since his father writes novels and his mother illustrates erotic video games. But, instead of channeling his efforts into writing or illustration, he has instead become one of the world’s foremost experts on “moe,” with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things cute and adorable in every conceivable form of animation and media. This expertise explains Shinichi’s recruitment as an ambassador more moe to the Holy Erudanto Kingdom, a parallel world where things that previously only existed in anime actually exist! How will Shinichi react when de is dropped into a world with actual cute and adorable elf maids and dragons? How will the citizens of the Holy Erudanto Kingdom react to the world’s foremost experts on “moe?” But, why does the Japanese government feel the need to send someone to represent Japan’s moe interests? You will have to watch Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection and find out!

Commentary:

Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection is a light-hearted, silly and fun series that is very interesting to watch. The first few episodes are serious but it quickly becomes the daily life of Shinichi Kanou. Personally, I would have liked a bit more of the seriousness as the progress of the spread of anime and manga in the Holy Erudanto Kingdom is completely behind the scenes. Eventually we see it, but most of the time we only see soccer playing, the beach episode, making of movies, and such. The plot escalates quickly for the last two episodes and questions from the first few episodes are finally answered.

The characters in Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection were interesting to say the least. Myucel Foaran plays the role of a typical maid with the additions of elf ears and over the top politeness. She always puts the other characters above herself and her actions always speak louder than words. Myucel is able to make friends and her relationship with Shinichi is one of the most dynamic pairs of Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection. Shinichi sees her as a fantasy fulfillment at first as she refers to Shinichi as her master, however he does not abuse or treat her badly. Instead he befriends her as if she was a human being. Myucel is constantly trying to please Shinichi and apologizes for any behavior she interprets as misdeed. She was my favorite character and I really loved the elf ears. The Empress of the Holy Erudanto Empire is Petralka Anne Eldante III. She represents more of a spoiled child because she is a selfish, stubborn brat. She was very jealous of the relationship between Myucel and Shinichi and treats Myucel horribly because of it. By the end of the series though, Petralka learns from her mistakes and starts to treat Myucel with respect.

The art work was spot on. The Holy Erudanto Empire looked beautiful and the colors were amazing. The music was okay, but nothing stood out to me. The voice actors were alright. I thought that Petralka’s voice actress was really annoying but the rest did a good job at bringing the characters to life.

Extras:

Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection includes clean opening and clean closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection includes both English and Japanese with English subtitles as language options.

Overall Grade: C

I really wish Shinichi’s parents had been mentioned in the series. I only remember reading about them on the back of the box. That really bothered me and lowered the overall grade. Otherwise, Outbreak Company Blu-ray Complete Collection is a lighthearted series that would be good to watch in between some serious series.

Detroit Metal City on Blu-ray (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : December 6, 2014
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Detroit Metal CityTitle: Detroit Metal City on Blu-ray

Director: Hiroshi Nagahama

Studio: Studio 4C

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: Dec. 16th, 2014

Format: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 150 minutes

Genre: Comedy, Musica, Parody

Age Rating: TV MA

Overall Personal Rating: C-

Synopsis:

Get ready for the ear-splittingest, skull-smashingest band to ever assault your senses! Led by phallus-waving terrorist-from-hell Johannes Krauser II (guitar/vocals,) and given pulsing, throbbing life by indestructible drummer Camus and bassist Alexander Jagi, they’re Detroit Metal City, the hottest ticket on the concert circuit! There’s just one catch. That “hottest ticket” is just a meal ticket, and beneath the makeup these ultimate headbangers are hired doppelgangers who don’t even LIKE what they do!

Jaggi is actually Wada, who wants to play Glam Rock, Camus is Nishida, an anime fan with an appalling weakness for curry and NSFW videos, and Krauser is – oh the shame – street-singing Soichi Negishi, whose dreams of singing happy pop seem hopelessly doomed by the success of his rage-fueled alter ego. Worse, he can’t even tell anyone who Krauser is. Not even the girl he likes, who hates DMC!

Will rage against the corporate machine consume Negishi’s tortured soul? Is there life after Death Metal? What’s it like to put your head in a jet engine and turn UP the volume?

Commentary:

Detroit Metal City may have high praise and been noticed as one of the better written manga from 2005 to 2010. The thin about the series that leaves me flat is the approach to the parody and sense of humor projected. I get the fact this is about living in two completely different worlds to the extremes, but in doing Soichi (the main character) become boring in either role. The over-the-top personas presented for Krauser and the totally talentless anemic charter of Soichi and a pop musician play against each other in a way that is both sad and frustrating. I completely understand what Kiminori Wakasugi (the creator of the series) is doing, but I feel like he just went too far with each persona.

It is possible that my dislike for the series is also based on my dislike of each of the musical genres, but there are plenty of other series that I don’t care for the world the characters live in and don’t walk away with a distain for the main character and most of the others depicted in the series. I can honestly say that I would not want to have anything to do with Soichi and would even try my best to avoid him.

Overall Grade: C-

Even though the series takes on such extremes to make its point and provide the dark humor that it is known for I guess that I can see where the appeal might be. I wouldn’t recommend it as a series for a lover of music, but I see it as a series for those who love stories about the stupidity of the human condition and how most of us loose track of our dreams for some rather dubious notoriety even if it is not a flattering type of ego boosting praise or affection.

Detroit Metal City does exactly what it intends to and that is to mock the extreme musical worlds and also show how silly people can be. It also does a great job of playing on people secret pleasures and some not so secret. I also found it be a wonderful commentary on art / music appreciation and the hypocrisy that goes along with the pretenders that live in the pretentious world.

I am not a fan of Detroit Metal City, but it surely does a great job of showing us how stupid things can be.

Sengoku Collection DVD Complete Collection

Posted by :Patches On : August 11, 2014
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Sengoku CollectionTitle: Sengoku Collection DVD Complete Collection

Director: Keiji Gotou

Studio: Brian’s Base

Author: Touko Machida

U.S. Distributor: Lucky Penny / Nozomi

U.S. Release Date: August 5, 2014

Format and Length: DVD / 26 Episodes / 650 Minutes

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Parody, Samurai

Industry Age Rating: 16 and up

Overall Personal Rating: C+

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Battle Girls: Time Paradox

Synopsis:

Oda Nobunaga is a feisty Warring States era general who is locked in a massive struggle to dominate the land, however, that all changes when a strange light sucks friend and foe alike into our era. But how will the Warring States era generals and their servants adapt to a strange land full of technology? Some will do better than others and become Idols or models while others are determined to go back to their own era. Japan and Feudal Japan will never be the same again when the generals are done wreaking havoc and collecting the “Secret Treasures.”

Commentary:

Sengoku Collection DVD Complete Collection once again brings us an all female cast for the Warring States era generals, but this time they are brought into the modern era. However, I wish that the story line would have meshed together a bit better. Each general had one or two episodes devoted to their adventures in the modern era. The only character that was in almost every episode was Nobunaga. I wish the other characters would have had some more screen time and more advancement of their character. Sengoku Collection DVD Complete Collection ended up feeling like a slice-of-life anime because the episodes are very loosely related to each other and they did not add much to the main story. The name of this series makes perfect sense after watching because it is basically a collection of all of the generals’ stories with no actual plot. You see hints of a story line in each episode, but for the most part there is none.

There were also some problems with the characters. Some of the characters are horribly written and have almost no relevance to their Feudal image that they should have either been left out of the story or shared an episode with another character. One of those characters would be Tsunehisa Amago, the general that came into our era as a four year old child. Her episode really threw me for a loop. However, some of the characters were well written and brought their episode to life. Some of those characters would include Masamune Date, Nobunaga Oda, and Ieyasu Tokugawa. I really enjoyed their episodes and their voice actors really brought their characters to life. Some of the episodes were awesome, most were okay, and a few were a chore to get through. There were also a large number of parodies in this series but most are Japanese-related media so the average viewer will probably not understand the references.

The art work quality seemed to change from episode to episode, however it did not take away any enjoyment from the series for me. I thought the opening and closing songs were catchy and cute. Every episode had different styles and artists for the music depending on the episode and parodies used in the episode. Be forewarned, there is a ton of fan-service in this series and I felt it took away from the episodes and was overdone.

Extras:

Sengoku Collection DVD Complete Collection includes clean opening and closing animations and trailers as special features. This release only included Japanese with English subtitles as the language options.

Overall Grade: C+

Sengoku Collection DVD Complete Collection had so much potential but it was not executed well. This was still an okay series but at times it was tough to make it through an episode.