Final Impressions: Inu X Boku SS

May 14, 2012
Posted by DarrenW

Hi!

EXAMS ARE OVER!!! But I'm still studying for the national exams at the end of the year.

It's me again, and I'm here to bring you guys the Final Impressions for an anime that has been on the waiting list for A LONG TIME.

Oops. The hint is wrong. This review came out first because I wanted to do it compared to the other.

I'm very sorry about this delay because I had to finish those Initial Impressions quickly first before I could get to today's review, "Inu X Boku SS"!!

So the story begins when Ririchiyo Shirakiin, an ojou-sama (rich girl), moves into the apartment complex Maison de Ayakashi. She has the standard character of an ojou-sama, obnoxious and full of pride, however, she's very soft inside, in the cute way.

Everything appears normal in the first few minutes of the first episode, just a girl moving into her new house, but then I find out what the 'SS' in the title means. SECRET SERVICE (Not to be confused with Amagami --> SS <--). Yes, this is no normal apartment complex, its one with PERSONAL SECRET AGENTS at your command.





Like every other normal person's, Ririchiyo says NO to her assigned agent, Soushi Miketsukami. However, the very same day, burglars break in and its then when she realizes another thing. EVERYONE in the apartment has SUPERNATURAL POWERS, specifically, those of demons of which are obtained through blood relation of inhertence. Because of that incident, Shirakiin, touched by Soushi's self-sacrifice, accepts Soushi as her agent.

Basically treated as the special-one since childhood, she has been neglected by her own parents, whom hate her as she manages to acquire that demon power, of which her sister did not get. She basically leads the life of loneliness and quite literally, that of those filled with servants and of no relationships, AT ALL.

Ririchiyo also expresses herself better through that of letters and written material, of which she has very bad socializing skills, as we observe from her sarcastic and rude tone. She does that naturally (Wow).

The story progresses, with the arranged fiance of Ririchyo, Kagerou, who is, in my opinion, very retarded ans spastic, often and always having loud outbursts and classifying everything under S&M (Sadist and Masochist)

Then a real plot develops, of something that happened way before. On Kagerou's return, she suddenly remembers her past, of which she exchanged written letters with him before. This brings up a romance story, between two people who exchanged letters a long time ago, and became lovers. I personally think this was an awesome story.

As the relationship between Ririchiyo and Soushi progresses, the plot makes it all the more obvious, that the two were made for each other.  But I shan't tell you the who lot because it'll spoil your fun.

SPARKLING

SPARKLING

You will get to find out more about Soushi's life, of which is similar to that of Ririchiyo and that of sadness and loneliness as well. Well, that is until Kagerou entered his life I guess.

RACOON DOG?

And I can't stand Zange Natsume, how the hell does he keep his lips so pointy??

Plot-wise, the plot really didn't appear until near the 2nd half of the anime, of which was well expressed over a few episodes, but eventually the climax was a SUUUUUPER LONG EXPLANATION by Soushi, which I felt was okay yeah, but a bit rushed.

The theme of romance is well expressed, and I particularly like this love story because it's very touching. I have never really felt this romance theme ever since I watched "CLANNAD" and "Angel Beats!" last year. It was also logical and not over the top as what I would have expected, and is decent.

LESBIAN

GAY

CUTE. IT'S OK

Art is good, no choppy messes and the majority of the scenes are well detailed. Many of the female characters are actually quite cute.

The atmosphere is warm, with most of the workers in the apartment complex giving the sense of friendship and unity. Not one character in the anime was actually NORMAL.

Climax scene was not at all climatic, though there was real fighting but thanks to Kagerou it was ALL OKAY AT THE END?

Personally I would like to commend that the anime managed something original and gave a good lasting impression at the end of it. Though I was not very impressed with the amount of action, since it WAS an anime with the main characters possesing supernatural powers after all. The use of the supernatural appeared to be just an aid to help the plot and atmosphere for the romance along. Sigh...

Inu x Boku SS has 12 episodes, and premiered on January 12th, along with the Winter 2011 season. It has actually finished a long time ago, but due to delays on my part, this review is super late. It is being fansubbed by EveTaku, Hadena, Commie and Zenyaku. There is also a manga with 6 volumes.



Hint: "I want to find out!!"

DarrenW
Edited by FayeA

Initial Impressions: Upotte!!

May 12, 2012
Posted by DarrenW

Woah. Very late with this review.

Sorry readers. I was busy tending to my collection of OP & ED videos, changing them from 360p to the HD 720p. Yes I collect anime OP and EDs as a habit. Hope I'm not alone on this.

Anyway, today I will be doing a new review on an anime all about guns, Upotte!!

Our story begins in Seishou Academy, which our 4 main characters attend. But, littered in the hallways, are warning signs, "Keep your safety on!" and "Keep your chamber empty." Also, all the students are named after famous rifles, like G3, Fal, or 14.

What? What gives at this school? Well, the main reason is because this ISN'T your normal school. Yes, this is a school, where they teach students how to use... RIFLES, of which they themselves are rifles. I believe the correct term to use here is anthropomorphism.

Our main characters have been given names such as:

FNC, a rifle that was introduced by a manufacturer in Belgium in the late 1970s.

16, also known as the M16A4 assault rifle produced by America.

L, otherwise known as the SA80 or L85A2, a rifle made by the United Kingdom, which had a checkered history and was defective to some extent.

And Sig, a swiss SG 550 rifle which has the ability to shoot far distances with great accuracy and precision.

Main Characters

Shocked Sensei

Anyway, this is what our arriving character, Genkoku-sensei, a new teacher hired for the job, will find out eventually. Thinking that he got hired for an ordinary academy, he has no idea what's going to happen to him. Well, until he gets fired at. He has the natural ability to produce a perfect pose for firing rifles, but when he shoots, his aim is always way off. He gets shot at by FNC twice, of which he survived both incidents. (LUCKY)

So far, the anime, until episode 3, features the main characters, as well as the other guns from the other schools in the academy, such as the battle rifle class: Fal (FN FAL), 14, (M14) G3 (G3A3) . There's quite a lot to go through. Since then, they have introduced what the guns actually are, and it begins to become something like a documentary at certain times, but of course, other than that, your normal schoolgirl anime plot and theme holds on.

Training

 Personally, I find this anime interesting because I'm not a gun fan, so this anime provides some good insight to the different parts of rifles, especially with the narrator being so specific about it. Art is really awesome because to be able to reproduce the image of the gun in the anime takes some degree of skill, of course unless it was a computer CGI image.

The theme is your usual real-life schoolgirl genre, which includes some humour and action (Well duh it's a show about guns). Since gun-wielding schoolgirls (Angel Beats!, Hidan no Aria) are in demand recently, it deserves a look.

Upotte!! premiered on April 8, 2012 (LONG TIME), and currently has 5 episodes to date, I think, and it will have only 10 episodes with one special. It is currently fansubbed by Commie ONLY. Wow that's surprising. It also has a manga version which has 4 volumes and was released in 2009.

Enjoy learning about rifles!

Hint: Stray cats and ECCHI
DarrenW
Edited by Tr3xus

Initial Impressions: Sankarea

This review has been updated. To view Sankarea Final Impressions, click here.

May 6, 2012
Posted by DarrenW

Woah... I'm BACK.

Very sorry about the delays from me, I'm right in the middle of my mid year exams. The reason why I can post today is because its a holiday tomorrow and I got a tiny bit of time off from studies.

To be frank, I was just about to do the manga review when I heard that there was an anime for it coming out.

Let's start reviewing, Zombie Resurrection Anime Sankarea!!!

Chihiro Furuya

Now what happens when someone dies? What would you do? Sit around and sob about it, or revive the corpse???!!! Well, that is exactly what our main protagonist, Chihiro Furuya, is planning to do.

Babu

Chihiro Furuya is your average high school student has a fetish/love for ZOMBIES, which is very unusual. He wishes to date a cute female zombie, and doesn't have an interest for real human girls.

After the death of his beloved cat, Babu, Chihiro can't take it anymore. He wants Babu to be back alive, so it can spread the joy that was once there when it was alive. Digging up an antique recipe book, he find out that its actually a recipe... for ressurection.

And that's where our other main character comes in. After experimenting at his secret laboratory abandoned resort not far away, he notices that a girl visits the place everyday, a girl called Sanka Rea.

Okay! Now you know where the name comes from.

Remember what you wish for.

Wanko

Sanka Rea is also a high school student, of which she attends the girls school (named after her), across the river from Chihiro's, of which her father is the principal of that school.

After getting to know each other, Chihiro finds out that Sanka's father is real weirdo and sick-in-the-head,  willing to go to any ends of the world to "protect Sanka" and making Sanka do stuff that anybody wouldn't do in thier lives (if we had daughters that is).

Chihiro's Fetish

Hating her life, she says she hated her life to the extent that she would rather die and be reborn as someone else.

But really... She wouldn't expect what happened next.

After completing the resurrection potion, he finally tests it out on Babu, but with no immediate effect. The dead corpse still remains dead. Sanka steals part of the potion from Chihiro, and goes home. Unfortunately, she is caught by her father for leaving the house unofficially, and is locked up.

In an attempt to save Chihiro from her father's henchmen, she escapes once again, but unfortunately, her luck runs out. In a struggle with her father, she loses her balance and plunges down a cliff, her body impaled by a pointed tree stump as she dies.

30 SEC LATER

What will happen now? Will Babu survive? What will happen to Sanka from now?

If you might not have guessed, this is another one of my favourite animes, specifically because I have read the manga a long time ago, and loved it then, so its awesome that they're making the anime out of it.

DEMENTIA IS EPIC

It appears that the anime is following the manga story, so I would already confidently say it has a really good plot. For those watching I'm not going to spoil it any further.  Just some hints, its going to get better.

The theme of dreams, a girl's life, and romance seems very appropriate.

Of course, for art, its a different story. The anime has done an amazing job as it looks exactly like the manga, and more specifically, the art is very detailed in a lot of places. Though it was only until this anime that I realised what Wanko's hair colour was.

Sanka Rea

Duoun

Mero

Personally, I've never read a manga nor watched an anime that was about zombies. Of course there was "Kore wa Zombie Desu ka" that was sitting on my waiting list for a long time. It is informative to some extent, of zombies that is. I also have to commend the anime for not showing too much guts spillage or blood in that matter, unlike "Another" which I didn't finish because of that reason.

Screwed-up dad

"Sankarea" premiered on April 5th, 2012, and will have 13 episodes. It is currently fansubbed by AniBlaze, Anifecta-Subs, Asenshi, Commie, Doki, Eveyuu, Hadena and Hatsuyuki (Wow quite the popular anime) . It also has a manga edition in 2009 which is still ongoing btw. The manga's plot far exceeds the anime and most likely contain what the anime is going to show.

First time I've seen a tombstone is used in an OP :P

Hint: BANG!!
DarrenW
Edited by FayeA

Happy Birthday WWHCurrent!!!

May 1, 2012
Posted by DarrenW

It was on this very day a year ago that I wrote my very first review: "The World God Only Knows (S2)". I remember I was very bad at expressing myself so I kept the reviews that time short. But of course, its a very different story now.

For those who didn't know, yes, today we've reached a milestone, an entire year of reviews without much intermission.

We managed to grow from just myself to 8 people, of which I am very proud of to call my teammates. From just 10 hits a day to a dazzling 412 a day, and having comments, which I never got before.

I'd like to thank everyone who has helped WWHC along its journey, including SparkNorkx, for commenting :D, as well as all of you readers out there. Yes, you. You helped us build this website into the way it is today.

By right, I was supposed to have submitted a new promo video, but my windows computer crashed... (Sigh...). In case you don't know my reviews were always from a Mac.

May you continue to support us while we continue to provide you with top-notch reviews (hopefully) of your seasonal entertainment for many many year to come!

*I'm also very sorry that there was not a lot to celebrate about because for some of us, our mid-sem exams are... tomorrow! I will have to go back to studying in a while.

Oh yes, and we will be making a few changes to the site later in the month. This theme has been going quite too long eh?

Thank you again Arisa. Very nice.

Share On.
DarrenW

Initial Impressions: Natsuiro Kiseki

This anime review has been updated. For the final impressions for this anime, click here.

May 1, 2012
Posted by DarrenW

Hey yo!

I hope you readers have been enjoying the reviews that we have posted recently. It was hard to get around but we managed it.

Today, I'll be doing an honest down to heart anime which managed to grab my attention: Natsuiro Kiseki!

Basically, the story starts off with your most normal setting, 4 highschool girls who are childhood best friends, based in the nice countryside in the midst of summer.

Let me introduce them to you. They are:

Natsumi Aizawa, the protagonist-like structure, whom doesn't have any specific character for now. You can say she's quite mature, and stubborn.





Saki Mizukoshi, probably the most adult-ish, mature and also very very pessimistic about anything.






Yuka Hanaki, your supportive and important cheerful friend, who is always super hyperactive.






And lastly, Rinko Tamaki, who is basically, very calm, collected, and follows what everybody else asks her to do. She lives at the shrine.



But actually, the story first starts off with one of the childhood friends leaving for tokyo. Yes, the four, after spending their life together since elementary school are going apart.

Rows start to form as Natsumi and Saki don't get along and they formally end their friendship.

As Yuka forces the four to meet round the wishing rock behind the shrine where they once stood many years ago, they make a surprising but unexpected wish. To fly...

And of course, they DID.

It is suddenly aparrent that the rock they had always wished upon contained supernatural powers of helping people grant their wishes. However, there is one but one condition: They must all wish together as one.

Since young, the four had always wished they wanted to be idols. Will they finally live their dream ambitions? Only time will tell.

Before I got into the plot and theme stuff, I would first like to say that I personally think this anime has the potential to become awesome. Just look at all the previous animes with similar settings: K-On, Railgun and  Clannad. They all had the feel that made you relax and enjoy the anime stress-free and secondly, also painted realistic view on things that you would or could relate to in real life, along with certain good tips.

Ah, of course, there are some things that don't happen in real life, like a supernatural rock, or espers (YET).

Now, for plot. I'm sure you want to know how good it is, but unfortunately, I can't really see where this anime is going for now. I'm sure a more serious plot development is on its way, and we just have to wait. The theme would definitely be friendship, camaraderie and that of chasing dreams. Very vividly obvious after watching the first two episodes.

I have to say, the art is beautiful. A lot of effort is put into the details in the background and character drawings. They really earn praise there. Love the OP. Very nicely sang and the transitions were very nice.

Natsuiro Kiseki premiered on April 6th, 2012, and is currently being fansubbed ONLY by rori, unless you want it in tamil, vietnamese or spanish, which is what i found.


Enjoy relaxing.

Hint: What day is it today?
DarrenW
Edited by FayeA