Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2019 First Impressions – Are You Lost?

Because of a plane crash a group of students are spending their lives on a desert island where there’s nothing available and they’ll have to make it themselves. The students will show to eat cicadas, how to build traps, a simple allergy test, how to eat hermit crabs, and more.ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA (12 minutes apiece)

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: If things had gone the way they should have, Homare, Asuka, Shion, and Mutsu would be kicking back at a hotel with their classmates, enjoying the first evening of their class trip. Unfortunately, their plane crashed into the ocean, and after fighting through dehydration and shark-filled waters, they’re now stranded on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Luckily Homare knows a thing or two about survival skills due to her father’s teachings, but it might be an uphill climb to ensure that all four members of this unwilling adventure party survive to see their own rescue.

Categories
Special Features

My Pirate Crew… Arr!

Ahoy! I’ve been tagged by Crow of Crow’s World of Anime (thank you for the tag!) to share my ideal anime pirate crew. While I’m always up for something fun, as we all know these sorts of prompts often turn into a serious thought experiment for me. I always want to come up with the best possible answer that I can (and maybe give a shout-out to some of my favorites in the process).

Below are the rules for this particular blogging challenge:

  1. Display the My Pirate Crew logo and add ‘My Pirate Crew’ as a tag.
  2. Thank the blogger who nominated you and post a link to their blog
  3. Link back to the original post here (so I can compare your crews to mine).
  4. Select seven anime characters and give them a position on the crew. These are the positions you can to fill. Warrior, sniper, chef, doctor, scientist, navigator, strategist, mechanic, entertainer.
  5. Nominate 5-10 bloggers.
  6. Set sail and rule the seas!

I don’t know that I’ll be able to fulfill rule #5, since from what I can see most of the bloggers that I follow have already done the challenge. But if you’re reading and want to take it on unprompted, by all means please do! I’d love to see what you come up with.

Warrior – Hyakkimaru from Dororo

Hyakkimaru blends the killing potential of demons with the strength of the human heart.

Hyakkimaru had a rough start. Sacrificed by his father in exchange for prosperity, he barely survived infancy. Now, as he seeks the parts of his body stolen from him, he utilizes special extra-sensory perception to identify malevolent enemies and dispatch them using the swords he hides within his prosthetic limbs.

There were a lot of good options for this position, but having just wrapped up Dororo, I feel like Hyakkimaru is a good match. Not only is he a skilled swordsman (using multiple blades), his senses straddle the human and demon worlds. While his drive for revenge might be frightening at times, in his heart he walks the path of humanity.

Sniper – Ogata Hyakunosuke from Golden Kamuy

Ogata is an incredible shot. Just be sure to stay in his good graces.

Ogata is a man with skills and accuracy honed during the Russo Japanese war. While his loyalties are often in question and he may switch factions at any time, if you can keep him on your team you’ll have a definite advantage.

I somehow became a big Golden Kamuy fujoshi over the past few months, and I just had to slip in one of the characters here.

Chef – Furio from Ristorante Paradiso

Furio creates Italian delights with ease.

I’m a big fan of food-based anime and manga, and while Ristorante Paradiso is a drama first and foremost, there’s still plenty of opportunities for food porn. As Casetta dell’Orso’s resident culinary expert, Furio puts food on the table with elegance and grace. It certainly doesn’t hurt that he, like all the other restaurant employees, are easy on the eyes, too.

Doctor – The Medicine Seller from Mononoke

He can cure your physical and spiritual ills.

I’m all about multi-tasking, and the Medicine Seller really embodies that ideal. While his cabinet full of herbs and tonics can help to cure physical ailments, he also has the skills and know-how to defend-against and exorcise supernatural threats as well. He also has a history of defending ships against seafaring demons – very helpful!

Scientist – Professor from Nichijou

She’s smart, but her maturity level might become an issue.

The professor might seem like any other little kid, but having created a sentient robot and a way for animals to speak, it’s clear that she’s a genius beyond her years. I think I can count on her to invent and discover all sorts of interesting things, while also getting into loads of zany situations. Her professed love of sharks is a bonus out on the high seas.

Navigator – Luca from Bodacious Space Pirates

Her persona is a little offbeat.

I was going to try to get through this challenge without obtaining the services of a legitimate pirate, but I just couldn’t resist drawing from a series that I really enjoy, Bodacious Space Pirates. Luca’s personality and her perception are somewhat offbeat, but I think that’s a plus. Having a psychic on my crew will give me an advantage if I have to outrun any interlopers.

Strategist – Togame from Katanagatari

She claims to be a strategist for the government, so why not have her prove it?

Togame is a self-proclaimed strategist, and while her clumsiness and emotionality may call that into question at times, she’s goal-oriented to a fault. At the very least, having her on my team would definitely ensure that things stay lively.

Mechanic – Mogura from Redline

That’s the face of experience.

If anime has taught me anything, it’s that crusty, curmudgeonly old dudes tend to make the best mechanics. Mogura managed to tune a hot rod so that even a lowly human had a chance to win an interstellar death race, so I image that he’d be able to keep my ship in tip-top condition at the very least.

Entertainer – Aijo Karen from Revue Starlight

Karen is ready to impress.

Revue Starlight is full to the brim with character who are ready to entertain their audience, but Karen is the one who ultimately takes her performances (and her fate) into her own hands. Not only that, she’s an incredibly loyal friend and ally – always a plus when you’re engaging in pirate-like activities.

As I said, I’m faltering on who to tag, but if you feel like putting together your own crew, link back here and let me know!

Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2019 First Impressions – To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts

During a protracted civil war that pitted the North against the South, the outnumbered Northerners used dark magic to create monstrous super-soldiers called Incarnates. Now that the war has ended, those Sacred Beasts must learn to make their way in a peaceful society, or face death at the hands of a Beast Hunter. Nancy Schaal Bancroft, the daughter of an Incarnate, turns to hunting the hunter herself. But once she catches up with her quarry, she discovers hard truths about the lives of these Sacred BeastsANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: In the young country of Patria, a competition for resources pits the armies of the North and South against one-another. The North is vastly outnumbered, but they have a special tool at their disposal – the Incarnates, unholy fusions of man and beast that have unimaginable power. This helps tip the scales to the side of the North, and hopefully, eventually toward peace.

When one of the Incarnates goes rogue, the downside of this incredible power becomes apparent. Eventually, their human souls become unable to fight off the beast personas within, and only death can stop their rampage. Elaine, the doctor who created the Incarnates, plans to kill them one-by-one to prevent anything bad from happening. Unfortunately, after she fires a fatal shot at Hank, captain of the squad, she’s murdered by Cain, one of her creations. Hank miraculously awakens two months later and learns that the war has ended, but the leftover incarnates are causing trouble across the land. He becomes a hunter of these rogue incarnates, in order to stop them from murdering the populace.

Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2019 Anime – What I’m Looking Forward To

Perpetually behind and painfully aware of it is how I tend to live my anime lifestyle. With tons of other events going on lately it’s been easy to forget about the fact that a new anime season is almost upon us. Yikes! I’m still catching up on Spring series (and there weren’t that many I planned to watch). But, as usual, here are the list of some upcoming series that have caught my interest. As usual, the proof is in the pudding; I could be way off the mark with any of these predictions and I know there’ll be a few surprises in the mix.

Categories
Book Club Special Features

“Legend of the Galactic Heroes” Week 3

I’m currently coming off of a late-night video game high; this year I took the opportunity to attend Summer Games Done Quick, since it was held at a hotel very close to where I live. It was loads of fun, but staying up late, playing physically-demanding arcade games, and screaming, clapping, and cheering as the event raised $3 million for charity has taken its toll. I don’t think I’ve ever longed for my bed as much as I did at about 2am Sunday morning when we stumbled back into our apartment. Now I’m ready to sit back in my chair and return to my “stories.”

A painting of the first Goldenbaum Kaiser. All Screencaps from Hidive.

Note: This post contains spoilers for episode 8-10 of the series.