Sword Art Online Review (Anime & Manga)

Sword Art Online 

Written by Reki Kawahara

Recently, Adult Swim has picked up a new anime for Toonami. I could not be any more excited for that series which is Sword Art Online. I read/watched this series a while back, and though it seems like it is suited for a male audience, I don't think that is an adequate target group. The audience that should be looking forward to this series is all gaming nerds (myself included). 

The story centers around Kirito who plays a game called Sword Art Online. The console for the game (which I hope can become a reality one day because it sounds amazing!) is a helmet that gives the gamer the experience on being within the game. You can taste, feel, hear, etc while in the gaming world; it feels like you are in the game quite literally. The trick to the game is that you cannot log out of the game, and if you die in the game you die in real life. The only way out is beating the game.

The reason I love this story so much is that I have never heard or read a storyline that was similar to this one. It also made me question like what would I do if I couldn't leave a game; would I be happy or sad about it? There were guilds within the game, dungeon raids, and plenty of other nerd references that just filled me with so much enjoyment. I also enjoyed the characters within the story, though the girl, Asuna, could get a little annoying at times. The stroyline was also enjoyable because it just unfolded very nicely. It wasn't too fast paced or slow, and always left me wondering what was going to be happening next.

My least favorite part is probably the second arc to the series. It just felt more like an after thought to me. I still enjoyed it though. It just didn't flow as well as the first arc did. There was like a stop and go moment to the second arc.

This is also one of the few series that I don't feel like there is a lot of difference between the manga and the anime. So if you are concerned as to which you should view, you can do which ever you prefer more! The anime moves a little quicker than the manga does, but the manga has a few little scenes that aren't included in the anime.

I would highly suggest this anime to anyone! Especially to gamer nerds!

Let me know what video game you would like to be stuck in?

Adult Swim Schedule: http://video.adultswim.com/schedule/

Shows on Saturdays at 1:30 AM

They are currently on episode 4 (this Saturday the 17)

More about the series in general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_Art_Online

Episode guide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sword_Art_Online_episodes

Images From: http://swordartonline.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_Art_Online_Wiki

The Perfect Mobile Game: Robot Unicorn Attack 2?

Robot Unicorn Attack 2

This game has currently been an obsession of mine. After playing this game many, many times, I had finally had the thought that it might just be the perfect mobile game. Let me explain my reasoning...

The first reason that I love this game is that there is a choice to customize your unicorn. Now the choices are not overly feminine with actually makes me happy, because I totally want a bad ass looking unicorn. Each customizable piece also does different things which allows you to tailor the pieces to work best with your style of game play...like a certain person's (ME) inability to master the flying unicorn...

Now the game play is a typical running game play like that of say Tiny Wings. There is, however, an option to change the two actions for game play. The game is set up that when you tap one side of the screen it will either jump or dash and tapping the other side does this opposite. I had to change the configuration and was completely happy that I was able to do so. The original set up was just not working for me at all. Each day is a new map and each map has more than one possible path that can be taken. For the most part, the paths seem to have either a high, middle, or low choice.

Another feature of game plan that I really enjoy, is that each game is made up of three different wishes (as the game calls them). You actually get to see whether or not you beat your last attempt and get extra points for doing so. It is an onscreen icon so that you don't have to remember your last score or distance in an attempt to beat your previous attempt.

My next favorite feature is that there are set goals that are to be achieved. I truly am an achievement whore and love when games give me tons to get. There are two personal goals that the game gives you that you either finish or pay to skip. There is also a daily goal given that obviously changes each day which is nice in my opinion because sometimes I get stuck on the two personal goals. The final goal is one that all players get to be involved with. It is some outrageous goal that each player contributes to getting which makes me feel like I have more friends that I actually do... There is also an in game benefit of getting extra in-game money for each day that you log in and play the game. Makes me want to come back every day and play even more than I did before!

The next two choices that I love being able to have are picking teams (kind of like Alliance or Horde in World of Warcraft) and getting bonuses for rounds. The team picking is important because you battle against each other, and the higher scoring team gets extra in game cash for winning. The bonuses can be super help when trying to finish certain goals. Some of the bonuses help you crash through things in case you are slow on the draw while others pull in game items towards you so that you don't have to be perfectly upon them to get the item. One of my favorites gives you a jump start in the game so you get to skip the beginning bit of the map. (I'm team RAINBOW!!!)

Overall, the only thing that I would love to see included in possible updates of this game is a stats tracking which tells you how many of each item or things you dash through on an average run. They could also include a tracker of what kills you for the rounds.

So you should play now!

(While it is still free in the app stores!)

Let me know your favorite combination from below!

Mine is Row 2/Column 1!

I do not pretend or act like I own these above images or the game itself. 

The game has been updated recently and I love the things that they have added. Now among the little blue droplets that you collect to buy the items to customize your robot unicorn (which there are also two new sets that you can buy), there are orange droplets that allow you to resurrect after dying in the game. It goes to show that the company truly wants to keep improving their game which I love! I'm excited to see what else they change in the future.

Review of Boku no Hatsukoi o Kimi ni Sasagu (I Give My First Love to You) (Manga)

Boku no Hatsukoi o Kimi ni Sasagu (I Give My First Love to You) is written by Kotomi Aoki and was released from December 20, 2005 till August 26, 2008. It is actually a spin off from Boku wa Imoto ni Koi o Suru (I’m in Love with My Sister). I have not read this one yet, but it is next on the list because it seems to have a very interesting and odd story line.

Back to the manga being reviewed! There are ten volumes to this spin off. The series follows Kakinouchi Takuma who has a heart disease that leaves him with the diagnosis of not living past 20 years old. Taneda Mayu falls in love with him at an early age because she is the daughter of his doctor.

Review Time!

Storyline: The storyline is somewhat jumpy. It reads like someone telling the story of their life but jumps to different parts throughout the storyline. There wasn't as many fluffy moments as I had wanted their to be, but there was a lot of awkward and funny moments. I did like that the chapters were a little longer than I am use to; about 20-25 pages every time.

Ending: I was not a big fan of the ending. The moments leading up to the ending were probably my favorite part of the whole manga, because they felt more put together and cohesive than the rest of the story line. It felt like the ending was very quick and sudden however. =/ And there were characters that I wanted to know more about that didn't get any mention in the end which makes me sad.

Characters: 

Kakinouchi Takuma - He jumps between emotions almost every other character which was frustrating. It was like going between loving him and then hating him. He'd truly go from being a jerk to an awesome guy.

Taneda Mayu - She was far too cliché for me. There couldn't have been a bossier girly girl in the series...I'm not a fan of characters like that.

Side Characters!! They were probably the best part of the series! I felt like I would actually get attached to them instead of the actual main characters that I felt no attachment to.

Artwork: The background artwork was good along with the object details. I struggled at times in the beginning with some of the characters because they looked rather similar. There wasn’t any drastic difference between them all except for Takuma eventually had blond hair. That left me very frustrated at times, because I sucked at guessing who was who throughout most of the manga. The fact that they are attending a boarding school with school uniforms doesn’t help either.

OVERALL: I’d give the whole thing a like 4 out of 10. It wasn’t my cup of tea…

Random thoughts I had while reading the manga:

They make a video game reference! =O  

DEVIL MAY CRY =O

Is he wearing leopard jacket!? What!? =O

"Bitches be crazy," wait, 

nope "Bros be crazy"; *headache*

Haha, did they really just talk about wet dreams? lol

Grape fanta...gross...no use 

crying over that spiled fanta lols

Possible love triangle! =O Nope its a square!! 

dun-dun-duun! oh em gee! drama bomb!

Only girls confuse "I don't dislike you" 

for an "I like you" (bitches be crazy...)

Too many people are liking too many people; 

it's like a pentagram...it's so crazy-insane.

Only bitches take the answer to do you dislike 

me of no as "OMG, we are totally dating now!!!

Seriously bitches be crazy....

This is a revolving door of confusion.

Are there any non-forced kisses in this thing?

You can't demand a date from a girl and then 

push her towards dating another guy...wtf mate!

RANDOM CORGI SCENE! I IS HAPPY NOW =D

Qualifications???? What???? There are 

qualifications to liking and confessing to someone

...how cute...and thoughtful...and weird...

I like when the characters do what I'm thinking; 

Thanks for throwing that book at the back of 

his head!; Psychic powers, watch out =P

Kou was emo on his birthday and joking about 

dying in a car accident and then it happens! 

=O ...yup that just happened...

Did that bitch die...

What!? That bitch is dead...what!? 

What what what what?

It makes you feel like crap about having an illness =/

She offers kisses, hugs, and sex and he says no...bullshit!!

He's brain dead =""""""""""( 

I refuse this reality!

Why are the dads the only sensible 

people in this whole thing!?

Haha he has porn magazines under every bed he has: 

hospital, dorm, and home!

I do not own any images or characters talked/shown here; just the thoughts expressed.

The Croods (2013) Movie Review

The Croods(2013) is directed by Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders who also act as writers along with John Cleese.

The cast was Nicolas Cage as Grug, Emma Stone as Eep, Ryan Reynolds as Guy, Catherine Keener as Ugga, Cloris Leachman as Gran, Clark Duke as Thunk, Chris Sanders as Belt, and Randy Thorn as Sandy.

Seeing previews for this movie didn't really make me want to see it all that much, but it was at the local dollar theater so I saw it. The beginning of the movie is rather slow on the pick up. Truly the last 30 minutes or so is the best part of the movie; I completely loved it! (The last part).

Oddly, I was surprised from the voice actors. Truly, I thought that I wasn't going to love Ryan Reynolds as much as I did and I thought I was going to hate Nicolas Cage. Ryan Reynolds has an amazing voice and I just loved, loved, loved it! I have always found Nicolas Cage to be somewhat monotoned when acting, but his voice acting had so much more depth and range than his other acting.

My favorite character was actually the saber tooth tiger that you see in the picture above. There was just something about his proportions and looks that drew me to him. The other character's were okay, but I just never felt fully attached to them. Belt has a few good moments throughout the whole movie though.

The scenery for the movie was beautiful. It was well thought out which I really appreciated. There was actually a moment that I felt like I was looking at Oz because it was just so foreign and fantasy looking.

Overall, it is not my most favorite animated film but I did enjoy it more so than I thought that I would. I might buy it on DVD if it is marked down but I probably won't get it. It's a good one time seeing; I just won't watch it multiple times so I don't want the DVD. I'd give the movie like a 7 out of 10.

Man of Steel Movie Review

Man of Steel (2013) was directed by Zack Snyder and written by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan. The movie stars Henry Cavill as Kal-El (or Clark Kent), Amy Adams as Lois Lan, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent.

I wasn't as blown away by the movie as I wanted to be. The first 30-60 minutes felt really slow and boring. It was needed background information for anyone who didn't know the background story to Superman. It sticks fairly close to the story of Krypton imploding upon itself and Kal-El's parents sending him off  to save his life.

After the movie ended, I found myself loving Russell Crowe and the character Jor-El. (I, however, always love Russell Crowe's acting) He plays the role so beautiful that I actually felt bad for loving the character more than Superman, though Superman has never really been a super-hero that I am overly fond of.

The only actor that I wasn't quite feeling the acting from was Kevin Costner. It wasn't that he did a horrible acting job or anything. There was just something about the character Jonathan Kent that just felt weird. 

My favorite moment in the move was that they didn't overdue the clique jokes about the super hero. Superman's name is pretty much known to everyone so it was nice that they didn't shove the jokes in your face. The best example I have of it is a scene where there is a sign reporting the number of days since the last accident on a job site. The sign gets hit which knocks off two of the numbers and leaves it saying 0. I had thought that they would going to make the scene the backdrop when Superman stood up in front of it but they didn't. They were showing that they could tell a joke without having to shove it down my throat which I greatly appreciate.

My least favorite thing about the movie is the end fight scene. Early in the movie, there is this amazing sequence on planet Krypton that I was truly blown away with. Loved it! That scene made the end fight scene not seem to be put together. The early scene was well shot and seemed better planned out than the end fight scene. The final battle seemed to just keep creating the same move of the two just ramming at each other head on, which I wasn't overly impressed with.

All being said and done, I wouldn't pay for the IMAX or the 3D versions (especially not the 3d). There is really only one sequence worth the IMAX experience. The movie is rather stop and go feeling with its progression so I'm left having to give it a 6.5. It seemed better suited for those who weren't comic nerds than the comic nerds themselves (I'm fairly hopeful that the next movie will be much better though (fingers crossed for Kara Zor-El or better yet, Power Girl?)

(I will probably want it on DVD though....I'm a super hero addict though).

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770828/