30DAC: Day 5

Day 5
Character You're Most Like


The funny thing is, I've already thought about this. And people I've known have talked told me this, too. I've been told I'm a mixture of:

Osaka from Azumanga Daioh

and

Konata from Lucky Star

Not that these are desirable characters to be. ;_;

Konata is your female otaku-gamer-girl type. She'd rather play video games, read manga, or watch anime than do homework. And most of the time, she does. The funny thing is that it's not like she's actually dumb, she just cannot apply herself to a lot of things outside of her interests. She's also incredibly sarcastic, something I love. There were more things that we were similar on, but for the life of me, I've forgotten them. It's definitely time to rewatch this series.

Osaka is your classic spacey-girl type. Again, not dumb, because she has shown herself to be rather profound when it comes to solving puzzles, but just spacey. A classic moment is when she's in class and she randomly starts to follow her eye floaters around with this big smile on her face. But beyond being spacey, she's also downright weird in a wonderfully hilarious way. However, I'll have to recommend the manga over the anime-- it doesn't do it justice. :c

So take the otaku-sarcasm from Konata, the weird spacey-ness from Osaka, and you essentially have me. A spacey otaku...

Fuck my life.

30DAC: Day 4

Day 4
Anime You're Ashamed You Enjoyed

Oh boy. This one.

This is actually a rather ... difficult answer for me. There's only two series I can think of, and one I still refuse to admit I'm a fan of. There are little disclaimers whenever I talk about them. "It's not like I like it," "I'm not a fan or anything," "UGH GOD I HATE IT SO MUCH likeinepisodefiftybagillionandtwointhedirector'scut," etc. They're both fairly popular in both Japan and America, so really, it's not like a social stigma or anything-- it's just that typically they're not the kind of series I go for, and that in itself makes me feel dead inside.

quit stalling already OKAY OKAY Here goes nothing. There's no turning back I guess. I'm officially a "fan" of them from now on... The first series I'm ashamed I enjoy is:

I WANT TO CHAAAANGE THE WORLD, NA NA NA NA JAPANESE WORDS

Inuyasha. Considering I was 11 when this series first aired, it's not a big surprise that I watched it religiously when I was younger. Every Saturday night I'd turn on Adult Swim, wish desperately that I could have magical adventures like Kagome. This was at the phase of my life where while I was aware that reality was soul-crushingly boring and... well, soul-crushing, I still had some inner hope that it'd turn out differently. And boy was I wrong. However, as I grew up, the series didn't, either. Eventually when I was 15 or so I realized that Inuyasha and his friends weren't actually getting anywhere in the series and that it was just a bunch of rehashed plot points over and over. When Bleach came out, I managed to stay away from that series, because I said, "Oh, it's basically like a boy's version of Inuyasha, except with no adventures."

However, even though I fell out of love with the original series, when the Final Act arrived, I found myself flocking back to the series. I knew how it was going to end... and yet, I still couldn't pull myself away from it. I guess I'd react the same way if the DiC version of Sailor Moon came back: I would hate it with a passion, but it's Sailor Moon so fuck it I'm going to gobble that shit up. It's been about ten years since it originally aired, so I've "known" it for almost half of my life, so I try and convince myself it's understandable that I like the series. At least it's a reason... Which is more than I can have to say for the second series I'm ashamed of liking.

KIMI... er... no..... Uh, ... Kimi...
I WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD, NANANA....

Fullmetal Alchemist. I can't even remember how old I was when this series first aired. I want to say I was 14 or 15. At either rate, I can't blame liking this series on nostalgia. And considering it's not even that bad of a series, I can't explain why I dislike the fact that I like this series. It's like that boyfriend you don't love anymore. You don't want to be with him, but if he goes to leave, OH GOD WHY SO MANY TEARS. And it wasn't until recently that I realized I was a genuine fan of it. I realized that I would actually move away from the computer and pay attention to the TV when it came on (as opposed to my usual style of "watching" where I leave the TV on for background noise). And then when it came to planning out a cosplay for myself, I stumbled across Ed's pocket watch over the net-- I squealed like an idiot and ordered it. That's when I had my crystallizing moment of fandom, I suppose.

Considering Inuyasha is a worse and considerably less thought out story than FMA, I'm surprised that I'm more ashamed about liking FMA than Inuyasha. I couldn't explain why. FMA seems like something I'd like, too-- and adventure story that attempts to have a complex them (attempts, although at times the original story could be cliche). I also can identify with Ed on a few levels, which is strange, because until then, I never identified with a male character. But unlike most series, I can't consciously pin down how I feel about it. At least with Inuyasha, I could say, "I like it, but FUCK that was an awful series."



For whatever reason, these two series have found a way to worm themselves into my heart. What series are you ashamed you enjoy? Are they the same series? Or completely different. And does anyone else get what I mean about FMA???

Til tomorrow, folks~

Sexy Disgusting Perverse Angelic (Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt Review)

WARNING

The following blog post is extremely sexy in nature. Anyone who reads it shall surely be under my spell and will be forced to get a huge naked dog pile with me. Should you feel hot under the collar, DO NOT turn on Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. This will only make it worse. Reader discretion advised.

I could totally get behind this idea of heaven.

How the hell do you even start on an anime like this? Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is without a doubt one of the most memorable and clearly the most insane shows I have EVER seen. "Two angel sisters attempt to get to Heaven by destroying ghosts and demons with the help of a preacher."  Seems like an entirely innocent premise, right? I can only imagine someone in the studio took a hit of something, went silent for a good five minutes, and said, "Oh my god... you know what? No one's ever done? An angel series about the disgusting parts of human life. And I don't mean any of that psychological nonsense. I mean, like, about nose picking, shit, and all that stuff."

"Dude, you're high," the other writers will say. "No way that can be done."

"You're saying it can't be done," the stone writer repeated, more to himself than to anyone else.

"No way!" The others said, laughing.

"...."

this is the first time i've ever made a meme pic
and i am entirely ashamed of myself

So for whatever the reason, we ended up with the mess that is Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. Because it doesn't have a main plot to tie the episodes together in a chronological order, and because it isn't serious, it's hard to review it in the way that I normally do. But let's see if I can tackle it anyways.

Overall Plot
Like I said before, because there isn't a main plot to tie them together in a chronological order, as far as plot goes, you have to take it for what it's worth episode to episode. For the most part, the series centers around Panty and Stocking, two angel sisters who are for some unexplained reason on Earth instead of in Heaven. They must destroy ghosts that seek to create chaos in Daten City, and every time a ghost is destroyed, it'll drop a coin called a "Heaven." Collecting these Heavens will let them actually go back to the real Heaven. However, Panty and Stocking are not your typical angels.

Panty, the older angel, is a blonde bombshell. As depicted in the opening, she's always got sex and boys on the brain-- if she can't fuck it, she's gonna ignore it. Stocking, the little sister is obsessed with a different cardinal sin, gluttony. She eats sugary things all day, never exercises, and never cares. She's pretty gothic for an angel. Somehow, humanity's faith rests in the hands of these two.

The unlikely hero trope isn't new by any means, but I've never seen the extent this show takes. I've never seen an actual episode about the pleasures of nose picking and all the stuff this takes on. It's revolting, but it's also weird and humorous at the same time. It's hard to pin down. It's original in its implementation, that's for sure.

Grade: A
For doing something old in a new way. Completely unforgettable.

Art
Although PaSwG is an anime, the art style is pretty much influenced by western art. In fact, I thought it was an English show until I saw the subtitled version. In fact, the story itself could arguably take place in America. The art style itself seems ripped from Powerpuff Girls, which is pretty cool for me since I've always loved that --




You know what? I'm sorry. I can't take this anime seriously. That's not a bad thing, because it's not supposed to be taken seriously. But oh my god, I can't. I just can't. Why review it? It's a masterpiece of fucked up perversion. It doesn't need to make sense.

Just watch it yourself and tell me what you think.

My overall grade? I just told you, I can't grade it.

Okay. I give it a #.

Doesn't make sense? Well fuck you it doesn't need to. See you next time.

What's On: Kampfer Season 1

She's actually a he, but she likes her better than him,
and he is in love with her, but she doesn't know,
but they do know, and they love him AND her, but
he doesn't-- GAAAAHLASKJDALSKDAS

In a world where delightfully gross stuffed animals and sexy psychopaths hold the keys to untold power, Kampfer follows the story of Natsuru Senou, a boy who is given a bracelet that turns him into a powerful warrior- a Kampfer. The small problem? Kampfers can only be girls, so he mush transform into the fairer sex. The BIG problem? The main goal of Kampfers is to fight and ultimately kill each other! If that isn't problematic enough, his crush turns out to have feelings for the girl Natsuru! While this seems like a unique and interesting story, it sort of falls apart from there. The story quickly derails and starts to focus mostly on the romantic and perverted side of everything.

From the first episode, they jumped right into the plot with no back story to explain anything, forcing Natsuru to explain everything in a minute in the next scene. The Kampfers started fighting in the next scene, but it quickly stops once they realize they are on the same side. From that point on, the action scenes don't take up a lot of time, and start to be come rarer and rarer, as the other Kampfers wish to stop fighting and start questioning why they were selected and why they must fight.

And then they forget about everything and decide to go swimming.

It's rather disappointing that the story wasn't fleshed out anymore, because it could be very interesting. But there's no question what this series was really about. Halfway through the series, they stop humoring us with a plot and roll into full on perversion. Finally in the last three episodes you see another sign that the plot is coming back, but for lack of a better word, the climax was rather simplistic and left you wanting more.

That isn't to say the perverted humor didn't leave me giggling... for the first two or three episodes. Then it became utterly predictable. Natsuru also has the utterly clueless boy act down to a science, but it goes overboard into being completely unbelievable. For example, he doesn't realize that some girls actually like him romantically, even after they try to kiss him, date him, amongst other things. You find yourself getting frustrated at the main character more often than not, which is a VERY bad idea when the plot itself isn't holding together. It's hard to see what most of these girls see in him.

Bottom line is, Kampfer may have a plot, but the plot derails and is quickly forgotten about. It's simply an excuse for the characters to be perverted. I haven't even watched the mini season they had, because I'm wondering just how many more perverted jokes they can make. I didn't even watch the last episode because it was pure filler in the worst way. It does have a hint of originality and the art is nice-- but it is all executed so very, very poorly.

Grade: D

Because Every Nerd Wants to Learn Japanese

I'm sure that every other person out there who loves anime, manga, and other various Japanese things wants to learn the native language of the art they love. I always have a good laugh when I hear some nerd saying things like, "I'm learning Japanese by watching anime! I'M STUDYING LOL!"

First off, most Japanese used in anime is very informal and is therefore rude to use in an everyday setting (unless you're going to be talking with very close friends). Second, this does nothing to teach you how to read Japanese, so if you're planning to go there, you'll end up being a very annoying tourist, asking everyone what a simple sign means. Third, if you're just learning on your own through anime, you are relying on your own inferring skills, so simply put, you're going to mess up someway somehow. There might be a grammatical rule that you don't understand, difficulties with pronunciation, amongst other issues.

Up Coming Changes

Well, I'm sure most of you have figured out that Nerdspiffy is becoming a big part of who I am lately. I mean, I spend a large amount of time reviewing things and playing new games for it. Plus, I'm starting a webcomic up, which is a big commitment in itself. And I'm starting up a new one, a fantasy drama about lesbians.

This means little-to-no cutbacks with Nerdspiffy. But I will have to cut out other projects I've been involved in up to this point. I'm not quitting a job or anything like that, since I certainly don't earn enough money from this website to support myself... yet.