Fall 2012 anime releases were one of the best in my lifetime. It produced so many great anime and many of them became instant favourite. In fact, most of them were so good that it was hard to choose what to watch first.

Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai was one of the anime I left sitting in my external drive for a long time before I touched it. After watching the first episode, I cannot sit by and not watch the rest. There are only 12 episodes all in all and 6 short special episode (by short, I mean 5-6 minutes or so), so it was pretty easy to finish the anime in one day.

Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai is full of what I love – lolis, complexes, confused guys who liked to be notice by girls, girls pretending to be sweet, and a complicated love story. It was so interesting in my eye that I actually wanted more of the anime to be produced in the future (although I am not sure where the story will head).

The story is mainly about Yuuta Togashi, a freshman who one day encounters Rikka Takanashi, a girl with eight-grader complex. Yuuta used to have the complex so he can easily identify it. He put the syndrome behind him as it was extremely embarrassing. Basically, the eight-grader syndrome is when a person believes he is from an alternate world and he has powers he can weild. Yuuta used to be the Dark Flame Master. Rikka, knowing of Yuuta’s former Dark Flame Master status, claims to be the possessor of the Wicked Eye. In fact, she even wears an eye-patch on her right eye.

I am very happy to say that I was extremely pleased with the anime production. There were lots of very interesting elements and the story has great flow.

HITS

One of the biggest hits for me was the fantasy-reality mix-up in just one anime. It was like watching a Shoujo anime, but a Shounen anime at the same time. The reality-blasting parts were really cool. All those weapons had me thinking that this could be a really awesome cosplay item.

Another important hit for me is the story itself. It has good characterization, although not as deep as I want it to be. I wanted the anime to focus on the other character’s past, but with 12 episodes, I guess you could not really do that. I did, however, liked the complexity of Yuuta and Rikka’s characters. The complexes and struggles they face through their freshmen year was nostalgic. At some point, many anime fans would be able to relate. There are things I want to erase in my past because they are embarrassing. There are people I find weird, but never really took time to find out why. All in all, it was like showing me how I was in the past.

There’s a lot of MOE too. ‘Nuff said.

MISSES

I am not sure if this is a miss for me, but I am starting to get tired of Shoujo anime graphics that all look the same. For instance, I am now pondering upon the possibility that Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, Hyouka and Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai may have the same mangaka or producers. Haru (Tonari), Oreki (Hyouka) and Yuuta look too weirdly similar. It’s a good thing they have different seiyuus at least.

Like I stated earlier, I wish there were more episodes to focus on the other characters because they were pretty interesting too. Good news though! According to sources, a second season may appear in May 2013! I’m not sure if they’ll follow schedule though, as it’s already the second week of May.

FINAL VERDICT

I highly recommend this anime if you like cute girls with weird personalities! The story is great too! For me, it is more like finding out the child inside of you. Being mature is great and all, but it is less fun. 


That's it for this review! Have you seen Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai? Please tell us in the comments section below what your thoughts about it are. 

Don’t forget to follow Mission Start Podcast on Twitter @MissionStartP 

Also subscribe to the Youtube Channel: MissionStartPodcast1 

If you guys have any recommendations for an anime review, hit me a tweet @andyloveskawaii

I will be going to Singapore this week and since I am on vacation, I will try to write more reviews for you guys while I have the time off.

Until then,
Andy-chan :3

Thanks to proper ad placement, good updates through the online community and of course good ol' Fandango, I happened to feast my eyes on the latest Iron Man movie to hit the silver screen today, May 3rd.  If the trailers were anything to believe, we could see all of the suits that Tony made (with clear detail for only a decent handful) as well as a set of ten rings, a healthy nod to the appearance of the Mandarin... as well as a bevy of explosions that came off as a bit Michael Bay-esque.

Past the trailer, the movie itself was honestly a great production, though due to the lack of time it's been out, I'll leave out any spoilers.  After a short monologue, the movie starts by playing Eiffel 65's "Blue" as we get a flashback of Tony at a New Year's party being, well... Tony Stark. The events that take place serve as a weighty foundation for the basis of what's to come.  It's in this early arc we also find that the Avengers movie is actually regarded as a canon plot point and otherwise and.. well, I'll bite my tongue and leave it at that.

In regards to the story, it was really well developed and had a couple points that were a tad bit on the roundabout side, but was otherwise steel-clad through and through.  There were some continuity issues that came to mind, though didn't seem to stand out as anything terribly noteworthy. That aside, the elements of tackling fear and coming to action were played in a no-nonsense manner and once the ball got rolling, the rest of the movie just felt like one fluid experience.  Paired with Robert Downy Jr.'s snide attitude, snarky mannerisms and sarcastic quips, the movie seemed to be the culmination of everything that is Iron Man.

For the sake of not being a spoiler-giving jerk, I won't go much more into the plot, but after the events of the Avengers, Tony gets a little... manic with the tinkering. From the beginning of the film, we see that he's currently up to his 42nd Suit and while he has found ideal uses for each suit such as a Disaster Rescue Suit, codenamed "Red Snapper" (Mk 35) or a Heavy Lifting Suit named "Igor" (Mk 38).  I won't delve in much further, But the designs for everything he had been working on to the point of the movie was visually stunning and I wish they were able to showcase more than a handful of designs in full detail on the Iron Man Facebook page.

All in all, the movie was amazing and I would actually pay to go see it again... hopefully with a quieter audience.  Personal complaint aside, I thought the film was absolutely great and I would wholeheartedly recommend it off to any movie goer, Marvel fans especially.  The movie doesn't delve much into the past, but does do a lovely montage at the end with bits and pieces from each of the three movies.  As a viewer, I would recommend watching the previous Iron Man movies and the Avengers to "get in the mood" so to speak, but as a standalone film, it was great.  Check it out in theaters!

Reviewed by: Kaz
Reviewer Rating: 4.75/5

Hey everyone! Are you guys having a great day so far? For today’s review, we have BTOOOM! I finished watching the series in half a day since there are only 12 episodes. I seriously hope they make a second season!

BTOOOM falls under the genres that are most interesting to me – psychological, sci-fi, action, with just a hint of romance ＼（Ｔ∇Ｔ）／.  It was released last fall 2012, about halfway when the episodes for Sword Art Online were airing. While it was received well by many anime fans, I think the fact that it has the same genre as SAO (same I’m-trapped-in-what-i-only-used-to-play plot) did not help in increasing its popularity. Include to the  fact that Accel World and Code Breaker (both playing along the same genres) also were popular during the time of its airing. 

Anyway, the plot reminds me more of Battle Royale than of SAO. In SAO, you are trapped and have to kill monsters to live. In Battle Royale however, you will be forced to kill people until you survive. Those who have also read or watched the Hunger Games might connect it to BTOOOM, except that killing in BTOOOM isn’t really for anyone’s honor but survival, so yup… it’s more like Battle Royale (highly recommend reading the book!).

BTOOOM is the story of Sakamoto Ryota, a NEET (people who are always in the online world, usually unemployed). In the real world, he is a nobody, and some people might probably say he’s a loser. However, in the online world, he is Japan’s no. 1 BTOOOM player. He is a big thing online and he has loads of friends there, and even married a girl named Himiko (who he will meet in person at BTOOOM survival mode).  （＞ｙ＜）

One day, he opens his eyes and finds himself on an island. Besides his things, he also has a set of bombs and a crystal-like thing implanted in his left hand. After realizing that the bombs are real, he gets his first attack from another player. Although he did not originally plan to, he eventually kills the guy.

He meets a lot of interesting people in the game. Some became friends. Others are connected to him. Others pretended to be nice, but turned out to be really bad. One of the good guy he meets is Taira-san, from whom he learns that in order to survive in the game, an individual needs 8 chips (the crystal in his hand).

Many things happen even with just 12 episodes. I watched the first episode like months ago, and yet did not pick it up because I thought the concept was so similar to Battle Royale. I read the BR book about 3 times and watched the movie about 20 times already （￣ー￣） . It was different though because BR had students kill each other. In BTOOOM, you get all sorts of people, which make it really interesting. 

HITS

Like I said, the story had a good story line. There were really nice ideas played around with too. As an English major (please excuse me :3), I went around digging for philosophical streams and symbolisms. They played with the ideas of women empowerment, abuse, law protection for minors, death, selfishness, self-worth, revenge, and majorly trust, betrayal and loyalty. BTOOOM created an atmosphere of trusting in humanity’s ability to be loyal. Basically, we can find here many of the moral values of human beings. Seriously guise, I think I can use this for philosophy classes or English classes where we have to discuss critical thinking.  ＼（＠￣∇￣＠）／

While I like anime that is just feel-good and relaxing, anime with mind-blowing plots is pretty interesting too. It makes you imagine about life in general. I can honestly say that there were many times in this anime where I scream, "Stupid! Don't trust him!" or "I cannot kill him. He's too cute." 〈(゜。゜)

I am a sucker for graphics but somehow the amazing plot of BTOOOM allows me to overlook the graphics of this anime. Don't get me wrong. It has amazing graphics. It's just not for me (love Shoujo graphics.. soreeehh.. )
m(￢0￢)m

MISSES

While the story line is interesting, there are moments that I find quit irritating. Mainly it involves Ryouta and his idea of the world. If he had been engaged in a video game where you kill other people, then why can he not for at least the entire season learn that humans would kill to survive. Until the very end, he has this faith in humanity thing going on. Why does he keep repeating the question, "how can people kill so easily?" They're not, baka! It's not easy for them, it's just they need to or they will suffer and die. ＜(。_。)＞


Anyway, that's just me. And it might be part of the character's complexes and stuff. Honestly guise, I cannot find any complaints on this one. It's that good. Oh wait. The ending is freaking annoying. Kinda like how Fairy Tail ended (temporarily) their series. I seriously am hoping for season 2.

FINAL VERDICT
Do not miss this anime. Totally worth your time. Half a day that is.. if you're obsessed.. like me. (●⌒∇⌒●)TRIVIA!!!!OMG. I totally love the opening and closing song. The opening is sung by Nano, who I have no idea who is, but is totally freaking amazing. I skip most songs when I watch anime and prefer listening to them on my tablet, but I seriously watch the opening credits!The ending song is Aozora and is sung by May'n. I love May'n! She's so cute. I want to put her in my pocket and take her home with me. Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ
The anime is directed by the same guy who directed Death Note. Talk about a totally psychotic-anime-obsessed man. 
The manga is on-going. Created by Inoue Jun'ya. 
The seiyuu for Sakamoto Ryouta is Kanata Hongo,  who acted as Ryoma Echizen of Prince of Tennis for the live action, as well as many of the Dream Live concerts. I totally love POT! The seiyuu for Himiko (the girl) is Suzuki Mimori, the same seiyuu for Nanami in Kamisama Hajimemashita. MSP loves Kamisama Hajimemashita! Check out my review here.That's it for this review! Don’t forget to follow Mission Start Podcast on Twitter @MissionStartP 
Also subscribe to the Youtube Channel: MissionStartPodcast1 If you guys have any recommendations for an anime review, hit me a tweet @andyloveskawaii
-Andy-chan :3

The Resident Evil Series has had some issues over the past years with the difficult struggle of defining its genre. The series started out as typical adventure games with the added concept of fighting against enemies with different limited resources. The series then altered into standard action games with the typical view of unloading numerous bullets into everything that moves. Many fans are confused to where the series is headed will it return to the survival horror of its past or will it continue down the road of blistering action? The sixth installment of the series has arrived and hopes to recapture the horror once lost from its earlier iterations but does it succeed?

Story:

The sixth major iteration features four different characters each with their own individual story that connects into one large story that intertwines them together. You got Leon Kennedy caught in the middle of another viral outbreak only this time striking some intuitive university grounds. And then Chris Redfield working to fight off another instance of bioterrorism quickly spreading though another major city. And newcomer Jack Muller discovers that his blood could contain the key to putting an end to these bioterrorist attacks. The story is an immense Raccoon City reunion with many biological outbreaks arising across the world and the hunt for the people behind them. The overall story is pretty decent and is particularly designed to be somewhat appealing to many longtime fans of the older installments.

Story: 3/5

Gameplay:

There are four playable main characters each with their very own campaign and slight gameplay differences that set them apart. Leon which efforts at an ephemeral minor return to the survival horror it had once shaped you will fight hoards of zombies where almost every bullet will count. But despite familiar concepts it still falls short of recreating survival horror gameplay is very linear and you will rarely run low on ammo. But despite some hindrances that comes stale of the survival horror experience Leon still comes out having the best campaign out of them altogether.

Then we have Chris which is pure action and has you fighting against enemies very similar to the ones found in the fourth and fifth installments. But the action is somewhat weak when compared to other action games enemies who carry firearms do not always drop any ammo when killed and you are unable to pickup their weapons. These problems with having ammo shortages and an equitably stale action setup makes Chris the weakest campaign of them all.

Then comes the new guy Jake whose has survival action style gameplay similar to what was also predominant with the fourth and fifth installments. Ammo shortage can also create problems here too but to help cope you get an assortment of martial arts abilities that can help out. Jake rounds out in the area of being slightly better than Chris but still faintly weaker then Leon.

Last but now least is Ada whose gameplay is similar to Jake but with some noticeable slight differences. Stealth becomes optional in certain situations but is encouraged none the less and there are brief areas where you are given puzzles to solve. Ada is for the most part pretty good but undergoes some of the exact same problems that Chris and Jake have with their campaigns. Although despite some issues the different playable characters with different gameplay style is an interesting concept for this particular franchise and works somewhat well.

Moving your character and aiming your weapon has been improved to more modern standards. Moving through the environment feels much more smoother and weapons aiming have better precision than before. And of course the much needed and obvious gameplay mechanic of being capable to move and shoot has finally been added which is an ordinary thing in this day and age.

The health system has also been slightly redone to match current systems. Your health meter is divided into six bars and will regenerate only to the nearest bar and you can recover health with revive pills and you mix multiple herbs to gain pills. While the health system for the most part has been marginally improved and for the better there are still some small issues with it herbs can many times be in short supply and are limited to seventeen pills at once.

The ability to use physical attacks has also been improved. In previous games you could perform physical attacks only when you stunned enemies in exact ways now you are free to use physical attacks provided you have energy in your stamina meter. While the ability to freely use physical attacks can sort of dimmer the survival horror experience it is very much still an accessible tool that comes in handy in many different situations.

The weapons upgrade system from the previous games has been replaced with an original skill system. Throughout each level you will find skill points they are sometimes dropped by enemies you defeat otherwise they are occasionally found through every level and can be used to acquire different skills. These many different skills include multiple things like increased firepower in weapons to stronger physical attacks to reducing damage received to infinite firearm ammunition and other different abilities you can choose from.

Besides the main campaign you get The Mercenaries returning from previous installments and the new mode Agent Hunt. The Mercenaries where you kill endless enemies within limited time is just as entertaining as its constantly been. And the new Agent Hunt mode allows you to control zombies and other monsters in another players campaign when they play online.

Although despite some minor survival horror style moments just like its predecessor mostly focuses on action. And even though the action is somewhat weak compared to its predecessors and other action games it is still worth playing by action fans. But for those who have been eager this game would bring back the survival horror it once started you made find yourself in distress.

Rating: 4/5

Design:

Just like with the fifth installment you are joined by an ally who will accompany you through the entire game. And just like the last installment is controlled by computer or with another player either just locally or by online. When controlled by the computer it does an acceptable job but unlike the last game there is no need to supply them with any ammo or even keep them healthy.

Although the inventory system is just as annoying as its even been with the only improvement being that all your firearms are stored separately. And just like before when you drop items they are gone forever and items outside of the inventory cannot be even mixed or used. Also just like the fourth and fifth installments every slot is limited to only carrying an exact amount of ammo which is still annoying.

The level design is pretty linear which dampers the survival horror experience but is none the less good.  There are minor moments where you will split off from you partner which when playing the campaign cooperatively can keep things interesting at times. And instances where you will search the area for keys to progress which does remove bits of linearly but that is not saying much.

Besides the typical zombies making an unnerving return you also have the new enemy called Javo although similar to the enemies from its predecessors also can rapidity mutate into many different creatures. There is also an ethical variety of monsters to deal with including an armored shelled behemoth an enormous spitting lizard an insect swarmed humanoid and not to mention of course an almost unstoppable chainsaw wielding manic. There are plenty of boss battles to face and for the most part they are good with the most memorable boss encounter being Ustanak an anamnesis to Nemesis faced throughout Jakes campaign.

The usage of vehicles another brand new element has also been inserted into different multiple scenarios. And while the mechanics of the vehicle sections are not the best you will defiantly fine they are pretty fun moments none the less. And there are also some very brief instances where you will swim and to be truthful the controls for swimming are just simply atrocious.

The biggest joke in the design and what could also possibly be the most annoying feature that you will find is the firm presence of quick time events. And there are everywhere to performing certain actions and operating multiple objects it is the most irritating mechanic established here. If there is any single game that abuses the gimmick of quick time events it is for sure this game.

Rating: 3/5

Presentation:

The sixth installment uses the same graphics engine as its predecessor only with some minor enhancements. And while it is showing some slight signs of age it is still very much indeed an abundant looking game. The voice acting is well done with some voice actors reprising their receptive roles while some returning characters have new voice actors. And while the writing is somewhat pretty good there are still moments when the dialog sometimes just gets faintly weird. And just like with the previous two installments the music is good and will most likely have an official soundtrack sometime in the future.

Rating: 4/5

Final Verdict:

The sixth Resident Evil just like with the fourth and fifth games is basically your typical action game with the tension of survival horror. The old identity of the series had been mostly removed which could leave old school fans with thoughts of disarray. While those who have an obligation for action you may want to check this game out because there defiantly is some nice action here. And despite some flaws the different styles of gameplay is still interesting and with some improvement hopefully will be something that the developers will continue to work with for future games in the series to come.

Final Rating: 4/5

Reviewer: Aaron "Aeecee" Clark

To those of us in the Pokémon scene, many of us could tell that Pokémon versions Black and White had their own potential to be great, albeit with some draws that made it come off as mildly unappealing.  With the dawning of obnoxious “fans” claiming that the first generation of the Pokémon games, as well as others that came before Black and White which kickstarted an almost hate based campaign against the newer works, claiming that they were “unoriginal, uninteresting knock-offs with no real draw towards them” to summarize as best I can.  In many respects, I could understand that the guys over at Game Freak decided that if their game wasn’t seen as “good enough” to the fans, then they had no recourse other than to improve.  In all likelihood though, this thought could be a mere conjecture on my end.

Pokémon Black and White 2 on the other hand could be seen as a revised attempt at trying to make their prior attempts at the game better by making something that takes place just a few years after the events of Black and White.  In Black and White 2, we have our standard main characters, but we have alongside us a friendly and interactive rival who practically follows us along the way, providing encouragement, assistance and encouragement along the way.  I guess we’ve come quite some way from “Gary was here, Ash is a Loser!”  Personally though, I think that’s still true since Gary actually got it together towards the end.

Moving along to the plot of the game, we have our standard introductions and apparently taking a word from the fans actually included an option to skip past the instructions for everything in the beginning! It pretty much follows like this:
“Have you been on a Pokémon journey before?”
“Yes.”
“So you pretty much know how the game is, yes?”
“Yes.”
“OKAY! THEN LET’S GET YOU STARTED!”
*skipping through exposition*
“Alright, so you’ve got a pair of Running Shoes, you know how to use them, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I won’t bother you with the petty details. Now go get your Pokédex.”
*skip*
“So you’ve got your Pokédex, do you know how to use this?”
“Yes.”
“Well alrighty then; go on and fill that sucker up.”

THEN OFF YOU GO.  The game doesn’t drag you around any more than necessary and in many respects is a very refreshing change of pace.  The fact that one could actually go through and skip through the nonsense to just get into the game was a good draw; as well as knowing that the standard hand-holding is still there as well also shows that the game accommodates both new and veteran players alike.

Moving into the game, we get our starter (either Snivy, Tepig or Oshawott) and our rival has his hatched from an egg AND IT JUUUUUST HAPPENS TO BE THE ONE WITH A TYPE ADVANTAGE. Seriously. What in all the hells. Afterwards, we get to go on our journey as a Pokémon trainer and at many points along the way, we talk with and interact and help a slew of NPCs that all seem to want to work towards helping us with our goal, and of course to fight against the remaining members of Team Plasma, much like how in Gold and Silver, we had to fight against the remaining members of Team Rocket.

For new elements added to the game, one of the more peculiar draws would have had to be the Dream Theater function, in which the player could actually become a part of a movie.  That’s right, you read right; a movie.  While it’s still kept a bit more on the low key end, showing a general battle mechanic with some “snazzy” dialogue to help spruce the whole thing up and add to the element of being a quasi-cinematic feature.  It’s a bit of a fun twist, and the movies require us to work with a set of stock characters before we can manipulate and use our own Pokémon to spice things up.  As our movies get better and grow more successful, we can see their ratings and rankings as film, even showing us what their net profits were, so as to try and push us towards getting an even better film ranking.

Lastly, Black and White 2 had hopped onto the achievement bandwagon by introducing medals.  I’ll repeat; medals.  Black and White 2 decides to go down the route of console gaming by implementing medals to award the player for various tasks and/or challenges completed.  While some are more mundane such as walking certain distances or visiting the Pokémon Center enough times, others are more demanding, such as requiring the player to evolve x amount of Pokémon or to beat x amount of trainers.  It definitely adds more of a draw to the game, I’ll give it that much, although at the same time, I felt as though it was a bit of a cop-out approach to find something that would just happen to sell.  It did alright though, so I think it’s something that can be glanced over in the long run –a nice plus, but something not entirely necessary in the end.

As months passed, the industry decided to make plenty of Pokémon available over the Mystery Gift option from the main menu at the beginning of the game including Pokémon such as Keldeo, Genesect and just recently, Meloetta.  In many respects, it does add some light incentive to continue playing after completing the game as many fans look toward and use these new wireless additions to add to their team or to test the bounds of their skill and test out the worth presented by these newest additions.

All in all, I think that the newest installment did a good job in improving the franchise, although it’s a shame that its prior installment had come under such fire to begin with.  I think the game did quite an impressive job in providing an overall entertaining experience and in many respects, reminded me why it is that I like playing Pokémon to begin with.  As for whether or not we could be looking at a Gray version any time soon is starting to appear less and less likely, although in time, I would like to see a slight twist to these two installments to tie everything together, although there’s nothing I can terribly complain with for Black and White 2.  Altogether, it was impressively made and did help rekindle my interest more in the genre.  Honestly, since I’ve been working at playing my copy of White 2 more often, it’s really helped me look forward to the upcoming releases of Pokémon X and Y --slated for October of this year.

Reviewer Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewed by: Kaz

To be honest folks, I’m not entirely sure how I can talk about this game safely without having to worry about stepping on any toes here.  I do want to give a disclaimer before anything else explaining that PETA and its affiliates are ones I would neither consider allies nor enemies.  I think that the organization itself and the messages they have are important and fundamental in the equal treatment of animals… however, I cannot condone their shock-and-awe tactics as a basis to get people on their side in what I would consider fear-mongering.  I think they’re well intended, but flawed in their methodology and one can equally argue that they’re a hypocritical agency that effectively scorns humans for being just that; humans.  Moving right along, I think it would be best to cut politics out of the equation for now and evaluate PETA on their latest stab at Nintendo.

For those who may be out of the loop (or quite frankly never bothered to pay any attention to PETA for any imaginable reason), PETA and Nintendo have never been on the best of terms with one another, for a frame of time I cannot personally make an accurate guess to.  Previous shout-outs against Nintendo on their part can be seen through previous articles on their website and more importantly, through the various flash games they have incorporated onto their site.  Mario was initially the biggest target as an Italian plumber jumping on turtles was deemed too inhumane, then Cooking Mama followed not terribly long ago in a campaign they had to promote veganism/vegetarianism, Mario again in their campaign to end the wearing of furs and of course in this latest installment against Pokémon to make a stance against animal fighting.

Again, I will make this perfectly clear; I think that PETA is a well-INTENDED agency.  The games that they made however; depict carnivores such as myself to be horrendous human beings that take pleasure in seeing the suffering of those weaker than us -at least in the Cooking Mama parody game- to be utterly barbaric and with no regard to food sanitation, preparation and with a taste for sadism.  But I digress.  The sake of this article will be to evaluate ‘Pokémon Black and Blue’ on the merits of being a flash game on their website.

For those of us who have paid attention to PETA in the last few years, one could see that they’ve been making game “parodies” to help push their own message and to make their causes well known to the general public.  I will admit, in their own way, they are effective, because their shock-and-awe tactics actually DO get people talking… but unfortunately for PETA, the talks are usually filled with disdain, anger and ridicule.  In their latest game attempt, they tackled Pokémon for being akin to dog fighting or cockfighting, an illegal act that people bet on and watch for their own entertainment.  Again, there is some merit to this thought as Pokémon has devolved as of late into fine-tuning “machines” into ideal fighters and to see who can reign supreme.

The game itself is very straightforward; breaking down to Pokémon going and fighting against their old trainers to promote more animal-friendly messages and to promote an end to Pokémon fights as a whole.  The design for the Pokémon that the player gets to use upon freeing them from their captors Cheren, Professor Juniper, Ghetsis and Ash do paint quite a grim picture that is supported through animal abuse and while a mapping of this thought was applied to the trainers listed... well quite frankly, it came off more comical than anything.

In the game, the Pokémon that we got to use were all given four moves, par for the course, however two moves are based off the original games’ moves while the other two were PETA based and included everything from Protest, Group Hug and Shame.  Upon defeating a trainer (listed in order earlier), there’s a short speech between the Pokémon and the trainer explaining how Pokémon fighting each other is a morally wrong practice.  After defeating each trainer, the small, ragtag party you assemble with Pikachu and the Unova starters talk amongst each other before the player is given a treasure chest with the following “prizes”: a depressing video showcasing animal abuse, a ‘Pokémon Black and Blue’ wallpaper and lastly, a set of trading cards relating to the game and based off of the current Pokémon cards we see today only differing just enough to skirt the lines of copyright infringement, if one says they're not blatantly doing so.

The game tries to appeal to a younger (see teenage) audience to try and compel players to promote their notions of animal rights activism by interspersing the “I herd u leik Mudkips” and Slowpoke memes but again, I felt as though they -tried- at least to make something better than decent in that regard but the plan fell on its face and the lines came off flat.  If anything, the dialogue of the game and by trying to make something similar to the Pokémon franchise made the whole thing feel like a Korean knock-off with PETA’s message heavily mixed in.

If I may address the contradictions I their game though, I would like to point out that PETA tries to paint a grisly, violent lens over Pokémon, but as anyone who had watched the show can say, caring about one’s Pokémon is one of the focal points of the entire show.  Within the first episode, any viewer could see that Ash was willing to throw himself to certain death just so he could protect his Pikachu.  In the first movie, in an attempt to stop the fighting between the trainers’ Pokémon and Mewtwo’s clones, he ends up getting caught in the psychic blasts and dying (or turned to stone if that sense of petrification doesn’t count as a death).  Hell, throughout the series, Ash has been repeatedly been abused by Pokémon at one point or another (especially with the Charizard he raised), but through it all, the one thing that has been capitalized is the fact that the entire series has been dedicated to him and his friends showing nothing but compassion towards their Pokémon, their teammates, their friends. The same message is translated into the games by the player fighting against terrorist organizations that seek to monopolize and use Pokémon to seek out their own selfish ends.

All in all, I will say that I give PETA points for trying, at least.  The fact that they angered a monstrously large fanbase however does not help out their cause any, and I would say that even though they tried to address a very important and underlying message in the Pokémon games that Pokémon should have their own rights (see Team Plasma), the process by which they went about it was flawed.  Their flash game, I think could have been much better if they had actually done some research into the series as a whole and patched up any flaws in their game’s design.

Reviewer Rating: 1.5/5
Reviewed By: Kaz

Well, it’s been a great ride so far; having been a grand sixteen years since the original Red and Blue hit US shores.  With the arrival of Black and White, the reviews were mixed between its fanbase on whether or not the game could either stand up to the greatness of its predecessors or potentially stand out as a greater game.

Of the key issues that originally stood out to contrast to the fanbase was the fact that the Pokémon presented forced the player to only look through the new lens of the gaming before opening up its variety later on.  Not to say that this same concept hasn’t been applied before, in Black and White, the selection felt a mite lacking as a large selection of the 156 new Pokémon added were set as their own evolutionary lines with no attachment to prior generations. From these Pokémon that were added, a large selection of them were set to either be a part of their own evolutionary lines or legendaries with only a handful actually being dedicated to being individuals, although this could merely be a griping oversight on my end.


I will say though, when you’ve hit a point where as a company, you try to make more than 600 creatures unique and individualized, there should be some Darwinistic wiggle room available to the developers.  At this point, I would think it should be alright for similar looking Pokémon to be added to the games. Machop, Machoke and Machamp? I see Timburr, Gurdurr and Conkeldurr.  Teddiursa and Ursaring? How about Cubchoo and Beartic as bear counterparts?  Or what about Tepig, Pignite and Emboar to the Swinub, Piloswine and Mammoswine pig groupings?  Point is, at this stage of development, I think there’s room to have more of the same, just given the wide berth of selection that they have available.

In the latest Pokémon installment, we take the role of new protagonists Hilda and Hilbert (horrible English names, I know) as we travel across the Unova region learning about, capturing and training new Pokémon, facing against new Gym Leaders with wacky new Gym designs and fighting against the evil organization: Team Plasma.  I have to say, I rather enjoyed how Game Freak went about designing things in their new installments by adding effects like moving through walls made of honey, firing oneself through cannons and manipulating dragon statues to build walkways to the Gym Leaders.

Alongside our player character, we’re also introduced to two friendly rivals -Cheren and Bianca- as well as our primary antagonist -N- and interestingly enough, throughout the entire game, everyone is kept within a pretty good and friendly area amongst each other. With our two friends (OH MY GOD WE HAVE FRIENDS) in tow, each starter choice gets to be utilized in one way or another as each trainer selects a starter, finally leaving that whole silly “one gets left behind” mumbo jumbo in the dust. HOORAY! EVERY STARTER GETS PICKED NO MATTER WHAT!

As for PETA-I mean Team Plasma, their goals are pretty cut and paste from the other organizations that have appeared through the gaming franchise with their goals to “liberate” Pokémon from their trainers in order to further pursue their own selfish desires for global domination.  Ghetsis, their leader imposes himself as a kind, yet powerful leader who speaks of freeing Pokémon from their captivity and to set them all back onto the path of freedom and happiness, though anyone who plays this game can see that while his WORDS may have merit, his character does not bear any positive traits to relate to. And should one oppose him or Team Plasma? “HURR HURR, FIGHTING WITH DER POKAYMANZ IS BAD. LET’S FIGHT SO I CAN SHOW YOU YOU’RE WRONG.” GENIUS! /sarcasm

In terms of overall plot, I'll admit that I still had the mindset that it was going to suck and wouldn't be able to enjoy it.  Gradually over time though, I found that the game started to grow on me.  As I progressed, I saw myself progressively enjoying myself to what felt like a familiar but COMPLETELY different game.  The dynamics felt and were presented in a more technologically progressive manner, rustling grass (which I’ll get to in a bit) was implemented in wild areas, wild encounters and battles were different and in general, everything seemed so... so different.

Of the things added to Pokémon Black and White, battling was one of the most overhauled dynamics added to the game, with its newly added system of triple battles.  The concept of triple battling is presumably a thought that’s been in the developer’s minds, but in its presentation, triple battling involved having three Pokémon out on the field with each one having the opportunity to hit between three to five opponents.  Given the general fighting mechanics, it’s always recommended to place your strongest Pokémon in the center (on the second place in your party; weird thought, I know) in order to maximize your fighting potential.  By doing this, your “lead” can hit all opponents at the downside of possibly being hit by anyone.  The diagram to the left is a simplified way of illustrating what I've explained.

As for running into wild Pokémon, two new methods have been implemented into gameplay which involve dark grass and rustling grass (or moving environment).  In the former example, dark grass allows trainers to run into slightly more powerful Pokémon than they would in normal grass and occasionally, the dark grass allows trainers to go up against stronger Pokémon and even have the opportunity to fight against two at once.  As for rustling grass (or moving water, moving sand, etc.), this newly implemented feature allows the trainer to come across rarer Pokémon that they normally wouldn’t come across in the wild, or possibly find Pokémon with better stats.

All in all, I would have to say that the gameplay, while innovative did come off somewhat flat in its presentation.  It was almost as though the guys at Game Freak hit a slump and tried to push out another good game, but unfortunately fell short on their presentation.  While the gameplay was fun, it did feel a bit flat.  Thankfully, I took it in stride, acknowledging that they’ve been at this game for just a little over fifteen years at this point.  With talks of the first definitive sequel (without gen-hopping) I’d like to think of Black and White as a beta to the later release of Black and White 2.  It was fun, but definitely something more suited for a laid-back gaming experience.

Reviewer Rating: 3.75/5

Reviewed by: Kaz

It has been half a month since the Fairy Tail anime stopped airing. I felt like instead of an anime review for you guys, it is great to write a tribute post for this particular anime, as a lot of people really love it and (if you're big fan like me) would probably miss it. Many are hoping for Mashima-sensei's good news as well. 

While the anime postponed airing, the manga is on-going. While I do know that manga would always be more superior than anime, I still prefer than anime. Fairy Tail is probably considered one of the best-loved anime this decade. It has a great story, and Mashima-sensei's drawing is really great. The plot might be a little bit recurring, each arc is really interesting. 

I guess one of the reasons why people love Fairy Tail is because of its message. It's obviously all about sticking out for your friends. Personally, I love the whole we're-tight-comrades-here thing. I never had any friends I'd like to lay my life down for, but Fairy Tail sort of teaches us that when we stick by our friends, we can do anything. 

All the characters are also well-developed. Whether it's the main four main Fairy Tail members or the members that are not so often seen or even the villains, each has his/her own unique individuality. Even Lucy's celestial spirits have been well-developed. I think it's anime with well-developed characters that actually become popular with anime fans (think One Piece or Naruto) because the plot can only if the character makes sense. Even before, Mashima-sensei has a good sense of developing characters. I remembered Rave Master (one of my favorites of Mashima's) having really great character development, as well as his other mangas (Monster Soul [highly recommended], Magic Party, Fairy Tale[one-shot, not the same as Fairy Tail], Cocona, Bad Boys Song and many more). 

With the characters being well-developed, even if Mashima-sensei uses almost the same plot (Fairy Tail gets a job or attacked- They fight - they win - repeat first three steps again), it still becomes really interesting. There are many arcs in the series that have the same recurring pattern, but presented in different ingenious ways.

There were a lot of arcs during the running period of the anime, but particular arcs that I thought were great are Tenroujima Island, Nirvana, Edolas, Deliora, and Laxus' Return were some of them. I couldn't judge the current arc as it's not yet done, but I think it is also quite great.

One of the great things about Fairy Tail is the comedic factor Mashima-sensei is able to put into the series. Despite the battles and struggles, each episode has never failed to provide laughs. Even in the most serious battles, a character may blurt out something completely unrelated and funny (most of the time it's Natsu).

I go to Fairy Tail when I am tired of watching sad shoujo anime (mostly it's the Shoujo that makes you cry - except perhaps One Piece). Each character just has a funny side, no matter how serious their past is or how dangerous the current situation they are in. 

Mashima-sensei has a habit of trolling fans. He creates moments for love pairings that are so frustrating. For instance, there's this episode in the Grand Magic Games where Erza and Jellal almost kiss. He also likes keeping fans under a great suspense. If you want to know what I mean, check his twitter account here. He tweets in Japanese most of the time, but sometimes he tweets in English as well. He tweets very random things too. 

Like the rest of the Fairy Tail members waiting for seven years for the Tenroujima team to return, I hope fans can patiently wait for Mashima-sensei's good news. I hope it's not seven years, but I do think that Mashima-sensei should really put in more thought into the story because it is more awesome when he has more time to make them. 

While waiting for the anime to fire up again, I suggest you read the manga. I do not often like reading manga, but Mashima's work is so well-put that you really can't ignore it. 

Juvia-chan is my favorite character. It's like she's on crack every episode. LOL. Check out this Fairy Tail on crack drawing I made here. I'm not sure if I ship Gray-Juvia or Lyon-Juvia, but I definitely ship Gray-Lyon. I'm weird like that. 

I would like to think that the new season would continue this year, but if not, I hope the time that is being put to delaying the episodes would mean that there is a lot of beautiful things to see.

I am proud to say that Fairy Tail is one of my favorite anime, and it probably made it to the top of my anime list at some point in my life (my list changes every time). 

I will be back with a new anime review soon. I am sorting things out right now since I will be visiting Singapore next month. Do you guys know of any May conventions at Singapore? I might go. 

As always, please don’t forget to follow Mission Start Podcast on Twitter @MissionStartP 
Also subscribe to the Youtube Channel: MissionStartPodcast1 

Any anime you want to get reviewed? Hit me a tweet @andyloveskawaii 

-Andy-chan :3

Hello everyone! It's almost summer where I live! It's so hot these days, I feel like I am melting. (〜￣▽￣)〜


Anyways, today's review is another underrated anime. If you have been following my anime reviews for MSP, you probably know by now that I like looking (and finding) great anime that is mostly unknown to many. I feel like creating a hype over something with just great graphics *cough* SAO *cough* is not enough to like an anime. The story must be really great too. Of course, though hipster I might seem, I still watch popular anime like Fairy Tail, which by the way is ending soon *throws big bunny stuffed toy across the room*. (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ


On to the anime, Andy! As I was saying, today's anime is entitled Hyouka. In Japanese, the title translates to "cold treat", but most commonly in the modern period, it is referred to as ice cream (which is the most common cold treat in Japan beside mochi, which does not have a translation since it is in Japanese). 

Hyouka is the story of high school student Oreki Houtarou, whose older sister asks him to join the Literature Club. Now, any bored student like Oreki whose main principle in life is to forever "conserve energy" would refuse. But Oreki's sister is portrayed scary, and therefore he is unable to refuse. 

In the Literature Club, he finds Chitanda Eru, who is bright and bubbly girl. She states her reason for joining the club is personal, but is later revealed to be because of her uncle, who used to be in the club years ago. Together, they open the club and solve mysteries. One of the biggest mysteries they solved is the story behind Chitanda's uncle's expulsion from the school years ago and the meaning behind the annotated book he created entitled Hyouka. In the later episodes, they solve more mysteries concerning the school.

HITS

For one, the graphics is totally awesome, but I feel like I've seen three Oreki-looking characters before. 

Speaking of the characters, character development is superb by my standards! Each character in the story is well-rounded and they sounded completely human (except Oreki, whose crime-solving capabilities might surpass an A.I. Robot). Still, he made a mistake during one arc, which means he hasn't got the "god-ability". ＼(＾▽＾*)

The characters also have complexes, which I like. For instance, Satoshi, Oreki's best friend who joins the Literature Club has the "Oreki-you-freaking-crime-solver" complex. He is obsessed with crime novels and hopes to become a crime solver himself. Although he does not quarrel with Oreki, he secretly hates that he has the ability to solve crime easily and he doesn't.

The mysteries are quite okay. Some are quite obvious, but the arc about Hyouka was very interesting. Second to that would be the school festival arc, which mystery I was not able to figure out easily. 

MISSES

The love story between Chitanda and Oreki is so frustrating. I mean, I did not watch the anime for their love story, but judging that Oreki has super crime solving abilities (high logic understanding), can't his amazing brain tell him that Chitanda likes her? Ugh. Guys are so stupid in this anime. {{|└(>o< )┘|}}

In the same way, if Chitanda is so curious about everything, why isn't she curious about Oreki's feelings? Gaaaahhh. Girls are so shallow.  (;¬_¬) Long story short: Love is so complicated that logical abilities cannot solve it.


Some of the mysteries are also too obvious or easy. Although many mysteries made me reflect for days how the hell the author thought about it, some mysteries were also like "WTH? even a child can solve this". There were also some scenes that are too hard to comprehend, especially if you do not like exercising your brain by thinking (sounds very Oreki).


The scenes are sometimes boring. 

FINAL VERDICT

I recommend this anime to those who love crime solving anime (such as Detective Conan :3). It is definitely for people who like their anime with a whole lot more meaning. I like anime that moves me to think and reflect, and something with a really good story. Hyouka is such.

Ah, it's my summer vacation here now~

Don’t forget to follow Mission Start Podcast on Twitter @MissionStartP 
Also subscribe to the Youtube Channel: MissionStartPodcast1 

Any anime you want to get reviewed? Hit me a tweet @andyloveskawaii Ah, it's my summer vacation here now~ I'll be able to watch more anime~

-Andy-chan :3

Ohisashiburi! Sorry I have been gone for two long months. Work and school consumed me for the past two months. I tried posting since I still had many anime ideas to post, but I was unsuccessful. The life of an otaku who works and studies is never easy. Anyways, I have a very nice anime for you guys today.

Today's anime is Eden of the East. It was first shown in 2009. Although it is quite old, I think the story is very futuristic that it applies to any era we live in.

Before you jump into conclusions based on the poster, this is not a shoujo anime. In fact, this is so un-shoujo in many ways.

The anime is unlike your typical anime - this did not start from a manga. The anime was created and directed by kenji Kamiyama, who became famous for directing animations such as Ghost in the Shell and Blood: The Last Vampire. Basically, most of Kamiyama's work moves around science fiction and this is what Eden of the East is exactly.

Story Plot That Would Throw You Off

If you have been following my posts for MSP, you guys would know that I am a big sucker for graphics. Although Eden of the East is designed really well, it does not at all appeal to me. I like shoujo drawings. Shounen drawings are tolerable. However, I was blown away by the plot of the story. I was totally dazed for days (I'm not joking). It was like reflecting about your life.

The story begins with Saki Morimi. She visits Washinton DC, USA to see the fountain at the White House in the hopes of throwing a coin and making a wish (weird, I know). There she meets Akira Takizawa. Their meeting isn't exactly normal. He was naked when it happened and Saki was being arrested for throwing a coin. Akira had no memory, and carried with him only a gun and a cellphone, which he later found out contained ¥8.2 billion.

In the later episodes, Akira Takizawa slowly learns of the state he is in. He is one of the Seleção, a group of 12 individuals handpicked by a "Mr. Outside" to save Japan. There had been missile attacks before Akira returns to Japan. The phone is operated by Juiz, a digital operator who you can command for anything - even impossible illusions. Each individual is given ¥10 billion. They cannot use the money for individual purposes or steal the other Seleção's phone. Only the individual can use the assigned phone.

The twist to the game is that if you use up the money or use it for individual purposes, the 12th Seleção, called the Supporter, would kill you.

Where does Eden of the East come in this? Eden of the East is a program created by Saki's club. The program allows for information exchange via images. It is really quite handy. You upload a picture into the system and people comment about what or who it is.

As the story progresses Akira finds out who bombed Japan and what the reason for wiping his memory is.

HITS

The story is definitely the biggest hit in this anime series. The progression of the scenes is exciting and the twists are mind-boggling. Ever had a "What the hell" moment? You will find this a lot in this anime.

The anime also developed their characters really well. All the Seleção characters who appeared had their character well-written as if the writer took time to develop each one of them, instead of creating one just to add more to the story.

The psychological impact of the story is also one very important HIT. Like I said, I was dazed for days, thinking about how I could change my country if I had the same powers as Akira has.

MISSES

The only miss for me is the graphics. But, maaah, it's probably just my ultra-hyper-shoujo-graphics-loving self kicking in.

One miss you might find is that the ending is vague. But that's reasonable since there are two movie sequels to the 11-episode anime. Conclusions and more explanations can be found in the movie

FINAL VERDICT

Overall, this is a very nice anime. I have no sympathy for science fiction as an anime genre (although I like scifci English books and movies), but this is definitely an anime you guys should watch. This is one of my most favorite anime especially since I think it impacts your life. Anime should be like that right? It should teach you things.


Don’t forget to follow Mission Start Podcast on Twitter @MissionStartP 
Also subscribe to the Youtube Channel: MissionStartPodcast1 

Any anime you want to get reviewed? Hit me a tweet @andyloveskawaii

-Andy-chan :3