With that being said, I declare this blog closed.

All the old entries will still be here as a record of sorts.

In all likelihood, I’ll be back (not in pog form).

Drive home safely.

– Management.

Remember Lelouch?  He’s back, in pog form.

Rating: 9.2 slices of pizza out of 10.

The series that almost everyone has been waiting for has finally returned and with quite the bang.  Everyone’s back and we have a new character, Rollo, Lelouch’s brother.  No, I don’t know where the hell he came from, but I’m sure that question will be answered.

The big difference with the new season is that it is in HD, and it looks superb.  I also thought that the violence and “dramatic scenes” (you know, of innocent people being executed and killed and such) would be toned down since the show was no longer airing late nights (it moved to a prime-time spot on Sundays) but it didn’t look like things were toned down much at all.

Anya,  one of the new characters in R2.

CHINA also looks to become a bigger player in the scheme of things in the Code Geass universe.  We didn’t really hear much of them during Season 1.

And everyone’s favorite knight, Suzaku, pledges to kill Zero himself.   OMG

It’s going to be a great season.

Click here for other screens.

Other things worth mentioning:

• The OP and ED sequences were both not bad.  I like the artwork used for the ending.
• What “rolo” will Rollo play?  Sorry for going there…
• It is now evident that the kotei/Emperor has a Geass eye, too.  Should make things interesting…
• And Pizza Hut and Biglobe gratuitous logo placement is still happening.  Not that it bothers me…

Kaiji’s fate will be determined by—oh, shit, wrong anime.

To continue my Madhouse Studios fanboyism, I will attempt to blog this show and will give summaries, reviews, and commentary about this series.

Rating: N/A (I need subs, I lose)

It’s set in a 1940s-esque world (unlike our own since they use a written language that doesn’t look like anything we know) and two nations are at war. Our heroes are Allison, a spunky fighter pilot, and her sidekick Wilhelm.

This will just be my first impressions of the show.

The OP and ED are both good. Both are slow songs and they seem to fit in with a show like this (it’s supposed to be a shounen/romance/adventure). Fansubbers rejoice: the OP and ED already come with Japanese subtitles.

OP screens:

The character designs look alright to me, as they mostly resemble the stuff from the light novels. A palette of vivid colors is used here; the green of the grass and trees really stands out and the lighting effects during scenes at sunset were really good, too. Then again, this is a series premiere, where extra attention is generally paid to the art and other details. Let’s hope things stay consistent.

Allison displays varying facial expressions

I’m going to need subs to figure out what else happened…

ED screenshots:

Preview for next week:

Do a barrel roll!

More here.

Meanwhile, on a personal note, I am trying to see life in a happier way (no more living life that Zetsubou Sensei way)…let’s hope this works.

It didn’t quite work, as a crapstorm of BS from the family ruined any positive outlook I had. Time to reset that clock and to try this again.

Some other blurbs after the jump.

• I finish school in a little over a month. Craziness.
• I’m still trying to work on my little story (the “Creative Work” I used to write about here). I’ve been taking a break from it to try and brainstorm new things.
• Baseball season has resumed. Go Yankees.
• And with the resumption of baseball, this means Spring is indeed here. Expect more blogs about social outings (watching baseball games, playing softball) to be posted here.
• I took Calculus as an elective (yes, I am psycho) but it seems to be the only class where an A is guaranteed for me. I’m on the verge of getting stuff in the B’s unless I don’t step it up.
• This online English class I’m taking turned into an Honors-level class, with quite a lot of reading. I guess it’s good to enjoy a challenge.
• Lastly, playing Mahjong online is serios business. Only fitting that I have had some bad luck playing recently.

Let’s hope things turn for the better…

It all leads up to this.

Note: I don’t think I have to remind everyone that there are MASSIVE GIANTASSFUCK SPOILERS ahead, do I?

Episode grade: 9.3 tissue boxes out of 10.
Overall series grade: 8.7 out of 10.

The epic conclusion of Tissue Box Raffle has arrived. Kaiji and Mr. Chairman have both drawn blank lots. It is now the Chairman’s turn. As always, he is very deliberate with how he draws.

Then the unthinkable happens for Kaiji: the Chairman draws the winning lot.

Kaiji: YOU LOSE

Kaiji cries out the most manliest tears to date as he realizes his left hand will soon comprise of only one finger. The Chairman (possibly as a form of mock sympathy…watching this show RAW with little knowledge of Japanese is a challenge) places the winning lot in Kaiji’s coat pocket. He also reveals his name finally: Shodo Hyodo Kazutaka (it sounded like Shodo at first…whatevers).

Say goodbye to your fingers

Kaiji is now 20 million+ yen, one ear, and four fingers short by sunrise. He and his buddies realize something: the winning lot drawn by the Chairman was folded when it previously wasn’t! Oh snape, he cheated! He also found the lot he planted inside the box except it was all crumpled up. The Chairman knew?

Kaiji remains beside himself as he is driven to a hospital to have his severed parts reattached. He replays the game in his mind, thinking about what everything could have been if he won.

More screenshots

Final thoughts: I suspected the Chairman was going to use some foul play and I was right. Then again, Kaiji shouldn’t feel too bad since he tried to cheat as well (I guess things evened out). Then again, I was surprised he didn’t say anything when the winning lot was drawn. I knew right away that the thing was folded when it shouldn’t have been but I guess Kaiji didn’t think of that at the time.

This was an entertaining ride (JUST LIKE YOUR—don’t go there) and I’m glad to have watched this. The first few episodes did move pretty slowly, and the voice acting at times came off as dull, but the suspense factor was consistent and things picked up towards the end. Production was very good as well, with good art and character designs that made what was an oddly-drawn manga into something visually pleasing. The art from the manga can look ugly but credit should be given to character designer Takada Haruhito and the rest of the artists at Madhouse for making it look a lot better. The storyline was good, as well, as this series explored the aspects of not just gambling, but also how humans act and behave. This series went deeper than Akagi; Akagi was mainly just mahjong but Kaiji was about games, human nature, and perseverance when everything seems to fall apart. Kaiji had a lot of balls with his gambles (especially during Restricted Rock, Paper Scissors and during E-Card).

As for the ending, I was expecting more. I was hoping Kaiji was going to win and be able to unleash whoop-ass on the Chairman but that doesn’t look like it will happen.

Some good news: there WILL be a second season of Kaiji, based off of the second Kaiji manga. There is still no date for the second season but expect to see it in at least one year.

Other notes: I didn’t realize there was a Tissue Box Raffle reference during the end of the ED, where you see Kaiji smoking his cigarette amidst a background of Furuhata, ANDOUUUUUU, Sahara, Endou, others…notice the piece of paper with the circle on it?

Also, don’t fucking plagiarize; if you’re going to post my reviews from here word-for-word on places like youtube (you know who you are), fucking ask me first.

But whatever, hope you enjoyed.

This must change.

Tease:

The rest of the stuff taken in pure blogger style via cameraphone:

All of this plus milk = win

I plan on blogging three shows from the upcoming season.

Code Geass R2

Allison & Lilia

Macross Frontier

Code Geass will receive the “VIP” treatment here, similar to what I did for Claymore.  Expect lots of detailed posts, wonderful screenshots, along with the subtle stabs and double entendres you’ve come to enjoy (or so I think).

I am most excited for Geass and Macross (much more for Geass, though).  I’m not holding high expectations for A&L but I’m hoping this becomes a dark horse and a surprise…

I don’t know if I am going to add any new shows to my viewing rotation as the season progresses.  If I drop anything, I think you’ll know when I don’t write any new entries for at least four to six weeks, lol.

On the manga front, I’ll still be blogging Claymore and My Balls.

Kaiji’s fate will be decided by a tiny piece of paper towel!

Note: If you’re going to plagiarize from my blog, don’t. LOL at someone using part of my review for this episode as a comment on Youtube (it is the sixth one from the top) and not even attributing anything. Lose.
Rating: 8.9 broken bones out of 10.

The second-to-last episode of Kaiji is here and the Tissue Box Raffle kicks things off. The Chairman seems to compliment Kaiji for awakening him (he mentioned something about beta endorphins; this reminds me of a line of narration from Akagi, where Washizu was described to have various chemicals in his brain flowing about in excitement) and seems to bring up how he has made it this far. Both sides agree to put the winning lot inside the box simultaneously to insure no one tries to cheat. But the Chairman seemed to take just a little bit more time to let go once the lot was inside the box.

Match-up of the century

The suspense was about as high as it was during E Card and some of the Human Derby episodes. The Chairman continues to snicker and glare menacingly at Kaiji while he tries to pick the winning lot. But, he fails, giving Kaiji a sense of relief.

Washi no 1 Pin!!!!!

Bishou no Kaiji (Kaiji of the Faint Smile)

Just as Kaiji goes to draw his lot, he realizes that the winning piece that was secretly planted is now gone, as if we didn’t see THAT coming. He panics just enough so that only he and the peanut gallery know what is wrong. He ends up drawing a lot that turns out not to be a winner.

[Tachiki Fumihiko] ZETSUBOU!!! [/Tachiki Fumihiko]

So Kaiji tries to give himself an advantage but now he and the Chairman are on a “level” playing field. Will Kaiji be able to win first or will he have to parade around with a deformed left hand? It’s a good thing that this series is an adaptation of an already-completed manga, so there will be no bullshit anime-original ending (word to Claymore) and there will be no insanely slow pacing as was seen in the end of Akagi, where the Washizu’s Mansion arc took up almost the entire remaining third of the season.

There was a lot of interesting imagery in this episode that really emphasized the stakes of this match.

Also, the Chairman and Washizu seem to share way too much in common with each other, as both seem to behave identically.

Next week: finale?

More screencaps here.