Messages

1

Anime / Re: What Did You Just Finish?

« on: April 09, 2015, 03:28:27 pm »

Hori-san to Miyamura-kun or HoriMiya

I'd watched the first two episodes of this OVA early last year and just discovered the third was out. The OVA is cute, fun and funny. Ultimately it's a teaser for the manga, but a very successful one. After the first two OVAs I snarfed up all of the manga that was scanlated at the time and have been following it regularly since (49 chapters). So I was quite pleased to find the third episode of the OVA.

It's a high school slice-of-life comedy with unusual aspects: It begins with a focus on intimacy without a romantic aspect. The female lead Hori is a pretty and studious girl that runs the household on her own, taking care of her little brother while her mom works late. Miyamura is a quiet otaku-looking glasses-wearing guy with a surprising hidden dark side of tattoos and piercings, always the outsider.

They first cross paths when Miyamura brings home Hori's little brother Souta after a fall and a bloody nose, and she has Miya stay for dinner. Hori is astounded to learn that the multiply-pierced bishounen is the quiet bland guy in her class. Due to the supposed insistence of Souta wanting to see "Onii-san", Miyamura becomes a regular guest at Hori's home and helps with shopping, meals and keeping Souta occupied and entertained.

Gradually Miyamura gains friends at school while deepening the non-physical intimacy at Hori's home. They discover things about each other that they don't want to share, preferring to keep those things to themselves. The pace in which their relationship grows stronger is a little slow, but very natural, and it feels right.

The OVA doesn't really conclude anything, but it leaves you with a warm and happy glow, having more depth in one episode than most long series out there. The animation is a little plain - not a high budget show, but it doesn't need to be. I'm happy with it and give it a 4/5. Then again I'm hooked on the manga, so I might be biased.

2

Enticing to watch... / Re: Other: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, ...

« on: March 06, 2015, 07:41:02 am »

Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
<Parasyte - The Maxim>

Action, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
MyAnimeList overview
Torrents: 720p mkv/mp4, 480p
XDCC: 720p mkv/mp4, 480p

In my mind, this is the show to beat for Anime of the Decade.

It begins with alien spores quietly raining down from the sky one night. Tens of thousands of Japanese people are infected: The spores burrow to the brain, eat your head and take over your body. The parasites then become carnivores/cannibals, eating other humans. The mass media dubs the initial killing spree as the mincemeat murders. The parasite portion can morph to whatever shape it can conceive of and their potential intelligence rivals humans.

Izumi Shinichi is listening to headphones in his room that night, blocking one of the pathways to his brain. The spore then gets sneezed out of his nose and Shinichi freaks out when he sees it. After his flailure, it burrows into his hand, working its way up his arm. Shinichi uses his headphone cord as an improvised tourniquet, which prevents the parasite from reaching his head. In moments it takes over his right arm, but is now trapped there. Shinichi and Migi (Japanese for "right") must then learn to coexist.

Parasyte began as a manga in the late '80s and early '90s. After watching episode 1, I snarfed up all ten volumes in one sitting. I've been inflicting this show on five different friends weekly and have seen each episode a good six times. Every change I've noticed from the manga has only been an improvement to make the plot flow better or to make the art and setting more timely.

The animation is just beautiful and the backgrounds are breathtaking at times. I'm told the delinquent clothing styles match current Japanese trends. I did start a game with one friend to spot the CGI people in the background. They're actually used quite well, often a little out of focus and obscured by the high quality cel-style main characters. The director is not afraid of gore, but the camera angles don't glory in it. The setting feels very current and real. While some scenes happen at school, a lot more occurs in the rest of the city or even the countryside. I love the soundtrack which ranges from quiet piano pieces to dubstep and a metallic OP song.

Overall, this show gets a 10 out of 10 from me.

Pictures
Screencaps courtesy of RandomC as usual, and a little googling.

(click to show/hide)

A new parasyte is hungry,





... things get messy.



A spore outside of Shinichi's room.



The ear route to the brain is blocked.



After an epic sneeze,



... it tries to work its way up his arm.



Curses! Foiled again!



Early on, the parasite is not very coordinated.



Shinichi confronts his posessed hand with a knife,



... but Migi is strong and fast enough to survive.



With an uneasy truce they learn to coexist. Migi hits the books.



Migi explains what it deduced about parasites, but lacks any memories as a spore or before.



Migi can sense other parasites,



... but it takes some convincing to get Shinichi to investigate.



Not all parasites were lucky enough to land near a human.



This one gets angry and threatening.





But Migi has studied a lot and will prevail.

3

Manga / Re: Krozam's Manga Diary

« on: December 29, 2014, 10:16:08 am »

Yandere Kanojo by Shinobi



Online version
Joker magazine version

I found this on the same scanlator site where I was snarfing up Krozam's latest recommendation above. The first point to note is that the "Yandere" here is an unusual abbreviation of yankee dere, so the main character is a lovey Yankee/delinquent rather than the usual meaning of an insane person in love. The manga is a romantic comedy about the delinquent girl that gets struck with love at first sight with a boring studious guy. Her feelings are quickly returned, but she wants to keep the relationship a secret to preserve her tough delinquent reputation. Cue the comedy.

The manga is released with different chapters in two places, online and the magazine Joker. The cast and continuity are the same in both, but the chapters focus on different scenes of the overall narrative. So it's double the fun each month. It may be best to alternate between the two sources arc by arc rather than snarfing up one completely then starting the other, but that's just me though. So far there are 56 chapters scanlated of the Joker magazine releases and 69 of the online chapters. They are all together on Batoto if you prefer reading online.

Yandere Kanojo's art isn't that great, but the humor more than makes up for it. It uses many cliche elements but still manages to get me to laugh out loud nearly every chapter (although sometimes that's from the scanlator's comments on the credits page). There is a gradually expanding cast and the story delves into their backstories at a good pace to keep the comedy flowing, while still providing some plot and heartwarming moments. Then around chapter 55 (online) things got all serious, but we're back to the goofiness now at c69.

It's not amazing, but I think it's certainly worth the time for a good laugh with occasional drama flurries. Call it between 3.5 to 4 out of 5.

4

Anime / Re: The Season So Far...

« on: May 08, 2014, 05:59:56 am »

So it's been about a year ... This season's spring anime is actually what brought me back here ... I'm just considering picking up any series that are good/recommended when I get back.

5 episodes in, here's some suggestions when you return:
Romance: Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou, Isshuukan Friends, Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii,
Action: Captain Earth (if you don't mind mecha), Sidonia no Kishi (especially if you liked Arpeggio of Blue Steel),

5

Requests / Re: Translate requests visual novels

« on: May 06, 2014, 07:09:56 pm »

1. Neither of these VNs are by Key, so it's unlikely they would be interested. I'm guessing any free time the VN Department might have is already buried under Clannad, Little Busters and any fixes to Tomoyo After. Enough to keep people busy for years.

2. You may have missed the sticky topic Guidelines - Read this first which says "No requesting Doki to sub anything." VNs are a hell of a lot worse than subs for translation volume.

Don't get your hopes up.

6

Support / Re: How to - Apply patches.

« on: April 25, 2014, 03:19:25 pm »

If editing the apply_patch.bat fails for you, try dragging it into notepad. Then you can find the original Doki release file name it expects, and rename your existing file to match before running it.

More troubleshooting: Check the existing file's CRC and verify it matches the pre-patch filename.

7

Anime / Spring 2014 So Far...

« on: April 13, 2014, 09:30:40 am »

Based on the first or second episodes, it's looking like a promising season.

Favorites:
Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou - it's a refreshing change having a two person romance again rather than the now-usual polygon. The colors and character designs take me back a decade or two in a nice way, while retaining today's animation quality. The side characters are the funny sort of annoying, in a setting reminiscent of Sakurasou Pet no Kanojo with a larger age gap from H.S. to office workers.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - I've been enjoying the light novels for a while now, and I think they're doing a great job in this anime adaptation. The intro "Mahouka for Dummies" shorts helped clear some infodumps from the main series, but there's a lot of characters to introduce and a lot of world to build here. Good series in my eyes.
Mekaku City Actors - fascinating! Introduces the hikkikomori guy with the cute but obnoxious AI assistant Ena [Asumi Kana sounding much like her Nyaruko the Crawling Chaos role]. A soda-induced keyboard failure forces him to go outside for the first time in two years. Then watch the improbable shit go down. Great visuals, backgrounds reminiscent of Bakemonogatari and perhaps some similar humor. A story that has me laughing and intrigued. Quickly became a favorite after the first ep.
Mushishi Zoku Shou - so glad to have this show back after nearly a decade. The look, feel and sound are just like the original. It's not a show for those that need lots of action, but the slow and thoughtful atmosphere is like almost nothing else today.
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin - I'm hopeful for this one, I love the Indiana Jones-type opening, and it is building up well. I can't wait to see more of this.
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii - an arranged marriage with the Sun king will provide the tiny Rain dukedom with limited autonomy from the world-spanning empire. Nike, the kick-ass rain-calling princess gets Jan-Ken-Pwned by her elegant older sisters and has to be the bride. Intelligent plot, good visuals, interesting characters with depth to them. Looking great to me.

Will watch:
Captain Earth - the Mecha genre usually isn't for me, but this one finally has a decent excuse for a combining mech (orbital delta-v), and the character building is strong so far. No Shinjis here.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr - I laughed at "sitting at a times table." The story is original and intriguing with a more believable-than-most "magic" tech.
Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san - silly three minute shorts that remind me of Super Seisyun Brothers with a cat/dog lovers (and yuri) twist.
Isshuukan Friends - cute designs, pastel visuals, warm and fuzzy little story. The weekly amnesia is unlikely to the extreme, but the story built around it is interesting and believable once you get past that one barrier.
Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara - goofy and fun, non-serious entertainment playing well with cliches.
Soul Eater Not - a well conceived spin-off, lots of cameos, but with it's own feel and story separate from the heavier main series.

Give them three episodes?
Baby Steps - I heard much about the manga being so awesome, so I'll give it a shot despite it's tennis focus and my distaste for most sports anime.
Black Bullet - not expecting much, it was on the drop edge for me before the first ep. Hard to suspend my disbelief.
Hitsugi no Chaika - Chaika's stilted speech pattern is annoying. The fantasy setting is generic, but the magic/tech is interesting. The fast-moving plot succeeded in getting me curious about the backstory. Maybe.
No Game No Life - hikkikomoris transported to a game-type world, but unlike other shows, they don't want to go back. A smooth first ep with potential.
Seikoku no Dragonar - near the edge of dropping. The manga didn't hold my interest either.
Sidonia no Kishi - full-CGI animation like Arpeggio of Blue Steel. Intriguing and gritty space/SF setting. Worth a look.

Dropped already:
Akuma no Riddle - assassin classroom survival game with a yuri tint. Didn't make the cut for me.
Blade and Soul - meh. IRL MMORPG anime tie-in. Krozam is right - "cheap and soulless." Like ... Queen's Blade without (much) fan-service or any humor?
Escha & Logy no Atelier - the setting reminds me of Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita. Cute romantic buildup but unbelievable (for me) alchemy. Not bad, just below my drop line.
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka - cute girls doing cute things. Reminds me a little of Yuru Yuri in a small European town. Neither are my type of show.
Kenzen Robo Daimedaler - ugly mechas, annoying MC, tedious heavily ecchi humor and bad art. Dropped like a rock.
Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to - similar ecchi humor as Daimedaler, good art and character design, but mangaka rather than mech driver. Might work for people liking shows focused on ecchi humor. For me, no.

Eagerly Awaiting: Hanamonogatari/"Monogatari series S2 +a" - May 31

Continuations:
Date a Live II - I didn't save S1, it will be a watch and delete show for when bored. Still amusing though.
Nisekoi - this show in a word would be "tease" but I'm still enjoying it and laughing.
Tonari no Seki-kun - happily, I think there's another 6 of these hilarious 7-min shorts still coming.
Yowamushi Pedal - I'll probably delete it once it's done, but it's a rare sports-based anime I don't mind watching once.

(click to show/hide)

I think it's hilarious how Onoda is slowly drawing Imaizumi into his favorite magical girl anime. They even saw the anime movie together last ep.

Finally, live action: Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, Orphan Black

8

Support / Re: How to - Download with XDCC.

« on: March 25, 2014, 10:32:22 am »

I'm not Doki staff, so I can't check the file to see if it's corrupted.
The 1080p XDCC link on the Doki Colorful page only shows pack 1434 on the Doki|Homura bot. I'm guessing that's where you tried the dl. I did an @find for the CRC [90BAC5BD] on #NEWS and also found it on Doki|Nagisa. If you haven't tried a dl from Nagisa yet, you could try it while you wait for a staff member to reply/check the Doki|Homura file.
/msg Doki|Nagisa xdcc send 175 

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Support / XDCC dls, 108 bot web search

« on: January 28, 2014, 10:58:42 am »

I found a site new to me the other day: nibl.co.uk/bots.php, a web search engine which indexes the packlists from 108 different IRC bots.



If you're searching for many files, this might be quicker (or easier to read) than copying CRCs and doing @finds in the #NEWS IRC channel.



Another plus, each link is clickable to copy and paste the send /msg into IRC.



I didn't check all the bots, but many are accessible in #NEWS if you like to lurk there. If not, there's the #nibl channel as well.

One small downside is that you can't hover over a file and see it's CRC string, but that's only handy when it isn't already included in the filename.

10

Anime / Winter 2014 So Far...

« on: January 11, 2014, 12:02:18 pm »

*Ep.3 edits* As a whole, it's a pretty "meh" season with few new highlights. I'll probably coast through more shows by inertia than anything else. I'm getting mostly 480p - when I can't be bothered to spend the bandwidth or HD space. *just counted, 2:1 ratio of 480p:720p dls*

Favorites:
Chuu2Koi Ren - I've been eagerly awaiting this (still waiting for the BD release/fansub of the film). The first lite and first full episodes confirm my continuing love of the series. A good balance of new scenes with moments of recap here and there. Lots of laughs with the well-established characters. The first episode battle scene was great.
Gin no Saji S2 - after a three month gap in real time, the agricultural adventures with Hachiken continue smoothly from the first season.
Mikakunin de Shinkoukei (Engaged to the Unidentified) - a cute play on the arranged marriage story. Introduces two sisters living in the household with mom. Quickly adds a newly intruding brother/fiance and his little sister from the countryside. Excellent character building, with hilarious dynamics between the four of them. The first episode gave some laughs and left me with a happy, sappy grin. So far it's the only new show to really catch my interest without any previous seasons/history.

Will probably watch:
Nisekoi - this is looking pretty good. Everything flows smoothly, the voices are well matched and the visuals are shiny. At the end of the first ep I thought I had some things figured out, but one blue scene in the OP threw that for a loop. It seems there will be some mystery here after all.
Noragami - humorous, has potential with the 5-Yen god.
Toaru Hikushi e no Koiuta (Pilot's Love Song) - more story in the universe of the Princess and the Pilot film. Good aerial action.
Tonari no Seki-kun - funny off-the-wall 7 minute shorts: A girl has a quiet yet very distracting neighbor in the back of the class.
Witch Craft Works - has some funny bits ("princess") and the ED was freaking excellent. Might be good, might fail.
Wizard Barristers - There are an awful lot of females in that legal office and a few other things seem unlikely. There's good action, shiny visuals and the fanservice isn't overwhelming. I'll keep watching it.

Maybes:
D-Frag - wacky high school comedy with delinquent males and possibly insane females in the game creation club. I got less interested by the time I finished the third episode. Downgrade to "maybe."
Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha - the manga looks interesting with a good character-driven plot: Fox shrine deity and human friendship (wow, Gingitsune deja vu) and learning when not to use your power. See how the anime stands up to the manga. Still watching it, but the anime is only so-so without foreshadowing knowledge from the manga.
Hoozuki no Reitetsu - it's not bad, just that the very dry humor requires a lot of context and Japanese cultural knowledge for the jokes to succeed. I'm sure many jokes slipped right past me.
Mahou Sensou - magical action show. It might turn out OK but a mediocre start in my eyes.
Nobunaga the Fool - is a strange mix of mecha, alternate history and other worlds. It has nice art and animation and I'm intrigued by the Nobunaga, DaVinci and Arc crossovers from our world to their two worlds. However, it's not yet holding my interest well.
Pupa - rather than the full (or even half-length) episodes this kind of horrorshow/psychodrama needs to build suspense, we get four minute shorts. The art and animation was underwhelming. Strangled by a low budget, it's not living up to my previous hopes. Also, why animate that kind of gory blood spray if you're just going to censor it out with black (yeah, BD sales, but still)? I can't quite call it a waste of time since it's so short but disappointing so far.
Seitokai Yakuindomo - I finally finished S1 this time. S2 is low-priority, occasional laughs.

Guilty Pleasures?
No-Rin - a fanservice and idol romcom set in an agricultural high school out in the countryside. There is some good humor, but a lot of cliches (and even other shows) are scrambled together here. I'm hoping there's enough story to balance the fan/idol service - like Yuushibu managed to last season. That hope seems less likely at the moment.
Onee-chan ga Kita (My Sister Came) - almost like Cyclops Shoujo Saipu grew up and went after another brother: 3 minute shorts where the brand new stepsister has a heavy-breathing brocon fetish for her new ototo.
Saikin, ImoCho - newly married parents, the new stepsister is driven against her will toward ecchi by a perverted ghost hot for onii-san and a bizarre chastity belt. I gave it a chance since the manga wasn't so bad. Nope. Dropped at episode 2.
Sakura Trick - is cute and fast-paced and all about the yuri. The alpha yuri bakauple waste no time: They've kissed multiple times in the first episode while the two beta yuri couples begin to gravitate together. It can get a little too sweet at times, like the syrup they dilute to make soft drinks. Also, so many flashes of fantasy pink background can get tiresome. Maybe.

Waiting to see:
Ghost in the Shell Nyuumon Arise - see if these background shorts are a) subbed, b) good, while I impatiently wait for GitS-Arise #3.
Robot Girls Z - the 4 minute preview was crazy and funny. Said to be 10 minute eps. Meh. I liked the inept villains more than the "heroes." Not going to bother with this one.

Continued from last season:
Golden Time - still watching, but it looks like a forest full of bad ends at the moment. Wait a minute, Banri should go for Nana! Yeah, like that would end well. I do like the in-jokes/plot ties with the old NANA anime.
Kill la Kill - better than I feared. Crazy action and fan-service.
Log Horizon - one of my favorites is from last season. I got impatient and cheated by reading the light novels last week. I have high hopes/expectations for the second half of the anime.
Magi - collecting, but haven't watched any of S2. It will be a watch and delete show sometime that I'm bored enough.
Nagi no Asukara - still has scenery porn all over, the characters aren't as annoying anymore. Going along with this weekly.
Strike the Blood - enjoying the ecchi accidental vampire.
Tokyo Ravens - The male lead is slowly but finally becoming less oblivious than IS' Ichika.
Uchuu Kyoudai - another show I'm collecting to eventually watch (one of these years).
Yowamushi Pedal - holding my interest weekly despite being a sports anime.

...and on TV:
The Big Bang Theory, Castle, Dragons-Defenders of Berk, The Walking Dead

11

General Discussions / Your Favorite Youtube Video(s)

« on: December 09, 2013, 11:23:16 am »

Here's a cute and funny little short I found just before Black Friday. Good timing.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCwBkNgPZFQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCwBkNgPZFQ</a>

12

Manga / Re: Krozam's Manga Diary

« on: December 09, 2013, 11:14:10 am »

First off, I like Gate a lot and think it excellent. It has the depth, action and intrigue that Outbreak Company - while fun and amusing - lacks.

I've also snarfed up Bonnouji in one swell foop. A cute story, sweet romance and silly little bits that had me laughing out loud: "Google-sensei" for one. So thank you for the post Haxton!

And now another manga - Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou by Mikami En and Nakano.



I believe it began as a light novel series, made the jump to manga and was also adapted to a TV drama as well. While googling for a cover image, I also found figurines of the female lead. Anyway, this is a quiet little story, slow paced with armchair mysteries and a hint of (undeveloped so far) romance. A little over one volume has been scanlated of the three published to date, so I've only read four chapters. For a summary, I'll steal from quote the Baka updates page:

"Shinokawa Shioriko, a young owner of a bookstore in Kamakura, unravels mysteries of ancient books that are taken there. The story begins with a young man named Daisuke, who grew up practically without reading books due to a phobia, bringing the complete (and autographed) works of Natsume Soseki, Japanese writer of the Meiji era, inherited from his grandmother, to the mysterious bookstore. Will the shy and introvert Shioriko solve the mystery of the books?"

Another short post. I'm not sure what else to say except that I like it so far and give it a 4/5.

13

General / Re: Post your collection!

« on: November 03, 2013, 04:11:25 am »

Hee! Is there a 12 step program for that?

"Hi. I'm Kenjin and I'm a dakiholic."

Well, I suppose everyone has their obsessions.

14

Anime / Re: The Season So Far...

« on: October 15, 2013, 12:59:51 am »

Initially I had no intention of following Yowamushi Pedal, thinking "meh, a sports show," but after watching the second episode I found myself chortling loudly a number of times. So I'll give it a few more and see if I want to follow for its long term of 39 eps.

Walkure Romanze is on the edge of dropping: Another unlucky guy accidentally tripping into multiple ecchi situations. I also felt that the off-screen innuendo scenes that sound like sex, but are actually something else trope was repeated too much. Same old, shame old. The only new thing is the jousting, and while I like the character designs, that can only take you so far. Even Yuushibu is slightly more interesting now that it's calmed down a little from the first episode fan service explosion. High School DxD has really raised the bar for cheesy ecchi shows and made it hard for them to compete. Waiting impatiently an OVA release date (and S3).

NouCome - dropped after the first episode. Sekai de Ichiban - I didn't make it more than five minutes into #2. Buh-bye.

15

Anime / Re: The Season So Far...

« on: October 10, 2013, 10:57:15 pm »

... That should be all I planned to check out this season.

Well, I have one more for you:

Based on first episodes alone, Galilei Donna has shot to the top of my favorites for the season. The mystery surrounding the descendants of Galileio Galilei is intriguing. The characters are all well defined and three-dimensional. The pacing was good: I was curious what the hell was going on, but with enough revealed in the background to keep going. No monologuing or walls of text explanations needed. It's looking great so far and I truly hope it keeps its momentum.

I've pretty much finished updating the other shows in my previous post, so I'll call it good for now. I'm just waiting to see which shows pan out after three eps and if any more need to be dropped.