As the Summer season ends and the Fall seasons begins. So let’s take a look at what Japan has to offer us this season.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukanai

This series follows 50/50 Japanese/British transfer student, by the name of Kodaka Hasegawa, transferring into a Japanese school and because of his blond hair (improbable genetics) is viewed as a delinquent and as such doesn’t have many friends. He meets a friendless girl who looks a lot like Akemi Homura, by the name of Yozora Mikazuki, and they form a club for people without many friends. I’m sure zany antics ensue like any other slice of life series; probably a romantic triangle or triangles ensue as well. I might take a look at this if I get the time, but it’s definitely not a priority.

Working’!!

The sequel to the first season of Working! It’s really just a slice of life, but instead of school it takes place in a family restaurant. Most of the series is wonky nonsense, but for some reason I like it, I don’t know why, probably because of the first season’s opening theme and that I think it would be and awesome restaurant to go to. However, beware of cross-dressing guys.

Fate/Zero

A prequel to the Fate/Stay Night series it sets up the stage for the series and game. The series is based off the novel written by Gen Urobuchi. Though I haven’t watched or played the original Fate/Stay Night, Gen Urobuchi is one of my favorite modern day writers. I’m not really into the H-game genre he primarily writes for though. However, I will probably give this series a try and depending how that goes I may watch the other series.

Shakugan no Shana III (Final)

I haven’t started this series yet, always wanted to get to it but never did. However, I felt it needed to be mentioned as this is the final season of a relatively popular series and is on my “to watch” queue.

Ben-To

I’m banking on this series being so ridiculous that it’s awesome and given its summary it sounds like it won’t disappoint. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a giant slice of life, love triangle, fanservice anime. Instead I just want a random battle over a half-priced bento, because that just sounds ridiculously awesome.

Zero No Tsukaima Kessakusen

After three years of waiting there’s finally some activity on the ZnT front, but it’s not exactly what I was hoping for. It’s a recap of the last three seasons, but hopefully they fix some of the problems I felt they had with the end of “Futatsuki no Kishi” and pretty much the entirety of “Princess no Rondo” the second and third seasons respectively. Maybe even an extension of the ending of the second season, but I highly doubt it.

Mirai Nikki

The series I’ve been waiting the whole 2011 season for because everything that has come out so far hasn’t held to Madoka Magica’s level of psychological thriller. However, as it has been talked to death about the OVA Deus’ CGI was terrible and I haven’t heard if the series is going to be 12 or 24 episode season. I believe it could be well paced well with three 12 episode seasons, but really we’ll have to wait and see, but this is definitely going to be on my must watch list for this fall season. Luckily the manga series is not on-going and ended last year so they don’t have to put in any filler episodes.

So, those are my thoughts on the new Fall 2011 season. There are other series that may have some promise, but they aren’t something up my alley; they are either blatant fanservice series or just not series I’m interested in. However, this season looks much more promising than the Summer 2011 line up, which didn’t really impress me at all. Though if there's a series you think I didn't give enough credit to drop it in the comments and tell me why you think it deserves more credit.

Also for some fun comments which series from Fall 2011 you think will be cosplayed to death. You know like Light and L from Death Note, C.C from Code Geass. However, don't mention Yuno, we all know everyone and their sister (and maybe brother) is going to cosplay her.

To download the picture and see all the details, click below for the image.

-K. Wolfe

Hi, Nate here. I would've put this in the review section, but my friend kinda gave me this kinda late so I had to place this somewhere more fitting.

Basically, Modern Warfare 2 was, and still is, one of the most popular games of the present, so when I heard that my friend was in-line all night waiting to get one of the first copies of MW2, I decided to get some questions out of him on his experience of waiting in line and playing the game for the 1st time. We'll call him "Cpl. Silva" in this interview, ufufu...

Me: What time to you arrive at Gamestop (or was it GameCrazy?) And how long were the lines?

Cpl. Silva: I arrived at Gamestop at around 11:25 pm and the line was fairly short.

Me: What were people doing in line?

Cpl. Silva: Talking and laughing sharing their ideas about the new MW2 plus the people in the apartments across from the Gamestop were yelling out gears of war phrases like "Frag Out" lol.

Me: Did you see any people with the limited edition night goggle packs?

Cpl. Silva: Yes I only saw one person who was one of the first person in the store to come out with the prestige edition and it was funny cause they ran off with it like someone was going to shoot them for it.

Me: How did other people respond to that?

Cpl. Silva: Everyone was laughing and making fun of him for getting the game first but it was all fun and games :)

Me: What were YOU doing in line?

Cpl Silva: I was talking to this guy behind me about the new weapons that might be in the game and we exchanged gamer tags and I called my cousin who was at another Gamestop.

Me: After you got the game, what time was it?

Cpl. Silva: I got my game about 15 after 12am.

Me: What were you surprised about MW2 that you liked compared to MW1? (Don't just say everything, lol.)

Cpl. Silva: I liked that you could have more than one perk attached to a weapon as well as carrying a primary and a secondary weapon.

Me: What new features in MW2 do YOU like?

Cpl. Silva: One of my favorite features in MW2 that i like is the care packages that you can get when you kill a certain amount of enemies along with the hardline perk that allows you to get your helicopter and air strike faster.

Me: For a veteran CoD fan, what thing do you expect them to like about the game?

Cpl. Silva: The level of difficulty and diversity within the game due to the amount of weapons and perks within the game.

Me: For a noobie CoD player, what do you expect they will like mostly?

Cpl. Silva: SpecOps because you can team up with another friend and enjoy beating down a swarm of enemies with a variety of diff weapons.

Me: How is Single Player mode/Multiplayer compared to the first MW?

Cpl. Silva: The graphics are slightly better and the gameplay is a bit faster and at times can be a bit repetitive for those have played the last ModerWarfare but the campaign mode is still enjoyable and brings many new aspects to the shooter realm.

Me: What mode do you like better?

Cpl. Silva: I enjoy playing team deathmatch simply because its a simple and fun game to play.

Me: How are the weapons being "treated" in MW2?

Cpl. Silva: The weapons are pretty awesome i like how some of the weapons are similar to the last modernwarfare except with diff looks and being able to dual wield to weapons is sweeeeet!!!

Me: I can't think of anything else to say atm, so I'll end it...any last words on your opinion on MW2?

Cpl. Silva: I think if there is anyone who is a shooter fan or new to the genre its a def must have game because of the many different modes it offers for both elite and noob players.

Me: Oh yeah one more question...what does ur girlfriend think about you playing MW2 constantly? lol

Cpl. Silva: =)  Ha ha ha about my gf well lets just say at the end of the day shes the happy one lol jk.

After playing the beta for PC for the time it was up I came to realize that the new Medal of Honor game is pretty fucking hard in mutiplayer. What it really made me think about was that this game could possibility have its own following to the effect like every other popular shooter out there. Halo, Counter-Strike, Battlefield, Team Fortress 2, and even go as far back as Quake. Each major shooter game has it’s own fans and its own difficulty learning curve for new comers to these games. Some are harder then others, but I think Medal of Honor could be the shooter where it takes more then skill and quick reflexes to be good in mutiplayer, but real thought into each move you do. Medal of Honor has a history of critically acclaimed good games but the last time we saw a Medal of Honor game was back in 2002 when Medal of Honor: Allied Assault came out for PC. Since then over the years the Call of Duty franchise has filled in that gap from the 1st Call of Duty for PC to today’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 set in a more modern setting. Since the last Medal of Honor game mutiplayer shooters have evolved over the years especially with the big success of Halo 2 matchmaking mutiplayer games that surpass anything on Xbox at the time and was the most played Xbox live game.

So the question now becomes, what would a Medal of Honor game be like in today’s standards? How about you take the parts of Battlefield Bad:Company 2 and add some Modern Warfare 2 into it and you got basically what the Medal of Honor mutiplayer in a nut shell. Sure this is just a vague description of what it is and I am sure it has more dept to it, but the elements of Modern Warfare 2 you can clearly see in the game. The points you gain with every kill that pops up in front of you, the upgraded weapons you can get when you level up, and different styles you can play as weather you want to play as sniper class or SMG is all up to you on how you want to play. What could possibly set itself apart from other shooters today is that even with the influenced elements of other games in Medal of Honor’s mutiplayer is that this takes more of a realistic approach then running in and getting shot a few times before actually getting a kill in the game. The learning curve for this game is pretty steep and even surpasses other hardcore shooters like Modern Warfare 2’s mutiplayer. I am not saying its better, but I am saying it has a such a high skill level you have to have to be able to survive in mutiplayer. As to Modern Warfare 2 where the mutiplayer is a bit more easier for new comers thanks to its matchmaking system. Its the classic," get your ass kick and learn from dying method,". With the time I spent with the PC beta I was getting killed more often then getting kills myself, and I been playing video games for years especially shooters.

With the help of U.S. special operation soldiers collaboration with this game they made the mutiplayer more realistic to terms of not always running and gunning is your best option. This really could be used by the military to train recruits before doing the real deal out in the battlefield risking their lives. What I think will happen is that this game will have its own fans and I think it will be around for a long time as long as EA supports it with new DLC and patches to balance out the mutiplayer. I think Medal of Honor’s mutiplayer will be the hardest to play then other shooters out there right now. I think the type of people who will be able to really play well will be the people who have lots of patients for this games mutiplayer, but we will all soon find out ourselves how the mutiplayer fares against the other shooters out there.

-by Anthony Beanes

スタアヅライバア輝きのタクト© Ito, Yoshiyuki & Studio Bones

Hey, Ginga Bishounen (Galactic Pretty Boy), are you a tired after a day of protecting your maiden from the Kiraboshi (Glittering Star Crusade)? Well if you’re in Akihabara, Japan, you can drop by the Cure Maid Café, Wonder Café and Queen Dolce Café for their special “Glittering Star Cruciform Crusade” menu.

Along with their already delicious menu, they will be adding a number of various dishes and beverages from Janurary the 26th to Feburary 6th. Each specialty item has a character theme from popular anime: “Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto” (Star Driver: Takuto of the Radiance). Each café has their own menu that differs from another, on another note: Japanese cafés must really pride themselves in presentation.

誘う登場Sasou Toujou
ぎんがびしょうねんGinga Bishounen
タウバアンTauburn!

Nate here. I'll be introducing some of the more popular anime for the upcoming season during the Fall of 2010. If you want to see what the rest of the upcoming anime are, do please check out the awesome picture below...

Toaru Majutsu no Index 2: Possibly the most anticipated anime out of the whole bunch, Index has pulled in a ton a fans thx to it's Shakugan no Shana publishers and, additionally, it's side anime, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. This anime is sure to please.

Letter Bee Reverse (Tegami Bachi Reverse): After the huge cliffhanger Letter Bee fans were dying to know wth was going to happen to the main character, Lag (At least i was, lol.) This sequal will sure to end that dramatic pause.

Motto To-LOVE-Ru!: I can safely say that no one would mind having more To-LOVE-Ru! And with this season, it makes it all the more great. But seeing Yuuki Rito's hair a slightly different color just makes it a but different for some reason. Hopefully the humor stays the same.

Sora no Otoshimono Forte: I don't know much about this, but Alex watches this anime, and all I remember from that one podcast I was in was that it involved "flying pantsu" and if it still has that in there, expect more pantsu in that anime, lol.

Arakawa Under the Bridge 2: I really wanted to check this series out, but I have too many anime on my platter atm. It really looks good through series 1's OP theme. None of my friend's have watched this, but I've been hearing a lot about it over the seasons. It's one to be noted.

Hetalia Axis Powers Season 4: An extremely popular anime, that I also didn't get to watch. People have cosplayed characters from this series around the cons in my area, yet I don't even really know their character's names, and I know they're from Hetalia. Season 4 will be abound this Fall and if you're a fan, you'll most likely be watching this one too...

I could go on with the rest of the sequels, but there are other anime that I want to strongly note. If you want to see the rest of the sequel anime, please check out the picture above by clicking on it..

Nathan's Reccomendations...

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls: I love anything that's related to Samurai, ninja, or w/e similar. And of course, this is similar. Samurai Girls (which just started,) is a mixture of action, fanservice, and if you've played Street Fighter 4, has that graphical ink blotch and calligraphy feature around the charters making the anime look really good. It's something you really should check out. (And if you're a Kugumiya Rie fan, she's in there too *rolls eyes.*)

Iron Man Anime: Marvel fans and anime fans alike will drop and break their jaws when this anime comes out. The animations to this is astounding. Made through Sony entertainment in Japan, Marvel was able to make this anime. (At this this is how I assume it.) I can't say much about it, but just be ready for an Iron Man anime.

Nathan's Predictions...

Fortune Arterial: Red Promise/Akai Yakusoku: I'm totally going by synopis and looking at the cover by this... I see 3 girls and the main one is a girl vampire, the whole thing is dealt in a school-life setting, the guy role is the transfer student. Most likely this is going to be a comedy, possibly ecchi, or action, with  school-life genre in the mix. Kind of like a To-LOVE-Ru clone...keep an eye on this...

The Word God Only Knows/Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: I lvoe this anime's sysnopsis. It's about a guy who loves dating sim games. Known on the net as "The Capturing God" Due to the fact that he can "capture" any 2D girl in those games. Later he gets an e-mail saying something about a contract to "capture" girls, he accepts thinking it's a challenge for the normal stuff he usually does, but all this crazy shit happens and stuff. We'll see what happens later...

Weeeeellllp...those are the anime that are coming out this Fall..hope you've got an idea about it! I sure did, lol..

-Nate

Nathan here, we're still alive, so going to say some stuff to keep us active.

Hope you guys are Having a great Summer. I know mine is decently ok. I haven't gone to any anime convention yet since I bought that sweet monitor, but I promise I'll go to the next one. BUT...if you're not having a good Summer, here's some anime that I thought you'd might like to check out that I've been hearing about, watching, problem hearing about AND watching (yeah I can multi-task ;) ) I'll probably give a mini-review about some and a 1st-look about some just to give you a little feel for it, even if I might've said something about it already.

Amagami SS - I've heard some good things about this anime and I'm going to watch this myself I'll know is that like most popular anime, it's based on a visual novel. So expect some comedy.

Angel Beats! - I haven't started it myself yet but knowing that Visual Arts/Key made it (a Visual Novel company) helped in the making of the anime means that the anime is going to be good. And from all of the comments of this anime, I heard it is good.

Bakemonogatari - Although this anime has been out for sometime, the last episode has FINALLY been released, so if you want to watch the entire show to get a more clearer picture from head to toe, I'd suggest that.

Gintama - ALWAYS, ALWAYS a good show to watch. Sorry you Naruto and Bleach fans, but Ginatama-sensei out ranks you.

Highschool of the Dead - I've been hearing it was either so-so or it was great. Overall if you're a horny bastard, and like Tenjou Tenge hairstyles, then the show is for you. I lol at the fact that they enter the 1st epi with showing cleavage then immediately say "baka" right after. Great subliminal messaging there.

K-ON!! - Overall, K-ON! Season 2, if you've seen it before, you won't be upset, Yui and Ritsu are still be fave comedy-wise. I think I liked Mio cuz she had long straight black hair. Azusa, just cuz of the pigtails. Overall lots of nice music, makes you wanna learn some instrument at times, (coincidentally I did because of this anime, lol.)

Mahou Sensei Negima! Mou Hitotsu no Sekai - Some of Negima's final OVAs, (but not the final final.) This series is going reeeally slow, so I'd consider to just grab the current ones and keep this series on hold for now, but the animtion (of course it's standard Negima quality animation,) but they added a LOT of fighting which was a big turn-around.) So yeah check it out.

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi - If you like kitty-shaped boxing gloves...then I'd probably go "wtf?!" anyways, Ookami-san, at first, looks a fuckin-lot like a Toradora-clone (sounds like a talking about a game atm...) The main character is Ookami-san a flat-chested hot chick who looks a lot like an older Aisaka Taiga. (there's a narrator in Ookami-san anime who's VA is the same VA who played Shirai Kuroko from Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. And she insults Ookami a LOT about her flat chest which is lulz.) Ookami-san's VA is lukily, Itou Shizuka voiced a ton of people I liked. There's a Red-head named Akai Ringo, the loli "Minori" of the group practically the smartest out of the 3. And of course the Ryuuji of the group, Minou Ryouji who is the total opposite of Ryuuji. There are also a few supporting casts members who's personality traits are reelay like Yuki, Mikuru, and  Koizumi from Haruhi.

Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~ - AKA Sekirei 2, If you've watched the 1st season then watch this one, though this series is going pretty slowly, so I'd hold on this one for now.

Shiki - The newest (or at least MY newest) Higurashi mindfuckin'  comedy. It stars, it at least it starred a a tsundere pink haired girl named Megumi who had dreams of living in this one castle near the town she was staying in and wanting to live in it with this one guy she fell for. At the moment it's reeeallly hard to find subbers for this anime so it might be awhile to actually get the ball rolling smoothly for this anime, but I can't wait... >.<;

Tales of Symphonia - Tethe'alla-hen - Basically it's the Tethe'alla continuation of the Tales of Symphonia OVAs when the heroes warp and trael from Sylvarant to Tethe'alla to seek help. If you're a Tale's fan it's a definite watch, if you don't know hack-shit about Tale's series, then I'd suggest you expect it to be a gamer's anime.

There's curently a LOT of anime going around this season, so much that I had to drop some that I couldn't keep up with. So be sure to watch your faves and if you have a small hard drive, clean it out as best as you can.

- Nate