Summer 2014 - Tokyo Ghoul

Tokyo Ghoul is up next.  If I were to give Tokyo Ghoul a genre, I'd probably have to say supernatural action.  The basic premise is that the world is full of humans and ghouls.  Ghouls are beings that eat humans and have supernatural powers but there is no indication in the first episode of why they exist or how.  However, ghouls remain hidden in the world, disguised as normal humans.

Getting into the episode, we have a young boy (again really?), Kaneki who is interested in a woman at the coffee shop he frequents.  They go out on a date where he finds out that she's actually a ghoul.  At this point, she attacks him and tries to kill him so she can eat him.  Unfortunately for her, something happens, probably not an accident, where construction equipment falls on her, killing her.  Afterwards, Kaneki, in critical condition goes to the hospital where he needs organ transplants.  Thankfully, he can get organ donations from the now dead crazy ghoul who just tried to kill him.  Too bad for him though, now he's half ghoul and apparently when ghouls try to eat anything that isn't human flesh, it tastes like shit, which makes Kaneki go crazy.  The episode ends with a fight caused by Kaneki wandering into another ghoul as he's eating.

Summer 2014 - Akame ga Kill

Back to action we have Akame ga Kill.  If I were to describe Akame ga Kill in one word it would obviously be assassins.  Expanding on that, Akame ga Kill is really a story about a boy from the boonies who travels to the city in an attempt at more wealth for his village.  He finds out quickly that the city is no place for naivety as he is tricked and almost killed by his 'benefactor' who's really a sadistic bitch.  This leads him to meet a group of assassins known as Night Raid who he ends up joining.

Wow, didn't expect to put that all into one paragraph.  Well, I guess it's time for an image.

Animation wise, Akame ga Kill is pretty good.  Some of the more dramatic shots are drawn in the style above which is kind of cool.  Plot wise, it's not terrible.  The fight against the corrupt capital isn't horribly original but it's not an overplayed plot either.  The action itself is quite good although there isn't much except at the end of the episode.  The music is done by Taku Iwasaki, which if you know much about him, means that you get pretty non intrusive music that is quite good and fits the atmosphere well.  All in all though I'd give this episode a solid 7.5/10 for being a good introduction to something that could be good.  Stay tuned for the next anime update, Tokyo Ghoul.

--CsMiREK

Summer 2014 - Locodol

Next up on the summer 2014 anime list is Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita, which hereafter shall be called Locodol because damn if that isn't a long ass name.  In the context of this anime, I'm not sure if this is actually a real thing or not nor do I care, Locodol is a portmanteau of local and idol.  After explaining that, it's pretty obvious that Locodol is another one of those fluff slice of life animes.

Going into the actual episode, we have a high school girl, Nanako Usami, who just really wants to get a swimsuit to go to the reopening of a pool in her town.  Unfortunately, her parents won't give her the money she wants to get a new swimsuit.  Luckily for her, her uncle has a job for her and is willing to pay for her swimsuit.  Thus, she is wrangled into being a local idol with an upperclassman of hers, Yukari Kohinata who appears to be just do it because.  Anyways, we get a scene with swimsuits and singing and all in all it's just plain fluff.

No image this time around because honestly I don't really think there's anything worth putting up here visually.  That isn't to say the animation is bad, it's actually pretty decent, I just don't really think there's that much to put up.

As to what I thought of the first episode, I thought it was ok.  It's relatively cute without being pure cute overload or super moe based.  The humor is light and generally tasteful.  I will however say that I enjoyed the background music.  The music was composed by Hasegawa Tomoki, also known for Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and I think his understated and colorful style really helps out the episode as a whole.  I'd give Locodol a 6/10 propped up by the music.  If you're looking for a light anime, I personally enjoyed Barakamon more but if idols are your thing, I think Locodol does a good job.  Until next time.

--CsMiREK

Summer 2014 - Barakamon

We're gonna keep going until we're done.  More anime, this time Barakamon.  Barakamon is a slice of life comedy about a calligrapher named Seishu Handa living on a remote island after getting exiled for hitting a calligraphy director.  Honestly not too much happens so I'll keep the review short.  The episode consists of learning some of the quirky characters on the island, including a roguish little girl and the jovial mayor.  All in all it's a pretty decent first episode if you like slice of life and comedy without a huge amount of mystery.  As a kind of fluff anime without too much substance it has its fair share of cute with a bit of serious.  I'd probably give the first episode a 6/10.  Since this is a short post I'll just leave this GIF here.  Until next time.

--CsMiREK

Summer 2014 - Argevollen

Continuing with the anime theme is the other main mecha of the season, Argevollen.  Set in a war torn continent, shocker, Argevollen really seems to be a story of a young mecha pilot, Susumu, who gets caught up with an experimental mecha named Argevollen and the young lady, Jamie Hazaford, who we'll say comes with the mecha.

More specifically, Susumu is part of a small squad apparently out in the middle of nowhere as the enemy forces from Ingelmia siege one of the last standing defenses of Susumu's country, Arandas.  In retreating, he and his squad come across a civilian trailer under attack by enemy forces.  Of course, as a young and hot headed soldier, Susumu defies orders to ignore the trailer and goes in like a dumbass.  But hey, if he didn't there wouldn't be an anime to say is full of cliches.

Anyways, he goes to try and save this trailer, which now only has a single survivor, what we find out in the next episode is a young "engineer", Jamie Hazaford.  I say "engineer" in quotes because honestly it seems like she has no fucking clue what the hell she's doing and yea I'll leave it at that.  She boots up Argevollen and makes Susumu pilot it as well he is a pilot and he dispenses with the remaining enemies with nothing but his fists and feet.

Summer 2014 - Aldnoah Zero

First up on the anime review block is Aldnoah Zero.  Taking place in a world where some portion of humanity has migrated to Mars, Aldnoah Zero is a mecha anime focused on the tension between the Vers empire of Mars and the inhabitants of Earth. At the beginning of the episode you're introduced to the crown princess of the Vers empire, princess Asseylum, her name most likely not coincidentally sounding like asylum.  In any case, Asseylum is convinced that there can be peace between the Martians and the humans of Earth.  To that end she decides to make a trip down to the surface of Earth as a sign that she sincerely wants peace.

At this point we switch away from the elegant princess to Earth where we learn that 15 years ago the Martians destroyed the moon in some crazy war.  We also learn that, at least in Japan, teenagers are being taught how to operate mechas to defend against the potential of another Martian/Earth human war.

Anime season summer 2014 START!

Ok so maybe I'm a bit late with this as technically anime season summer 2014 started on July 1st, but I really hadn't watched enough of the first episodes until now to make a substantive effort.  Anyways, just like how US television has shows scheduled around the 4 seasons, so does anime in Japan.  Over the next week or so I'll be posting my thoughts on the first episodes of various anime.  The way I'll organize this is by having a page on the side bar labeled anime.  For each season I do reviews I'll have a link to another page with links to first episode reviews and another page for links to end of season reviews with a small section on my recommended anime for the season.  Seems a bit convoluted but is better in my opinion to needing to actually search stuffs.  Also, for more first episode impressions check out animenewsnetwork which has a lot of anime related information.  Anyways I hope you enjoy the anime reviews.  Until next time.

--CsMiREK

Gear Days - Summer Super IEM Showdown

Since I've been at the headphone collecting game for about a year now I thought I'd start doing yearly headphone roundups broken down by headphone type.  For summers I think IEMs or in ear headphones are worth a look at.  For falls I think that on ear headphones are a good topic.  And for winter I think that over ear headphones are the most fitting.  In spring I'll do the full gambit with a full relisten and a completely updated ranking.  Why such arbitrary month matchups?  Personally I think summer is the season most about traveling and a good pair of in ear headphones can take you a long way if you don't want to get noise cancelling headphones.  In the fall, I like walking around outside as the temperature begins to drop but isn't too cold yet.  On ears tend to be cooler to wear outside than over ears so they get fall.  Winter is the coldest month and over ear headphones can work as pretty good earmuffs so that's that.  Spring is the time for rebirth and a fresh outlook and so a full listen will be good to reassess the top and the bottom alike.  Now for IEMs.

Currently I have 9 pairs of in ear headphones.  Ranked from 1 to 9 they are:
1. Brainwavz B2
2. Klipsch X10
3. Shure SE-315
4. Sennheiser CX200
5. Sol Republic Amps
6. Klipsch S4i Rugged
7. Nuforce NE770X
8. HiSoundAudio HW2 Wooduo 2
9. Zipbuds Juiced

PPPP - House Pizzeria

Continuing on the pizza hunt is another local Austin establishment, House Pizzeria.  Though not hidden in a sub division, House Pizzeria is also easy to miss on the side of the road with a dim lit sign.  Going inside, the building is quite quaint.  Internally, it's dimly lit with a jukebox as the music source.  As an aside, I must say jukeboxes are pretty cool.  Anyways, at 12", the pizzas from House Pizzeria land on the smaller side, good for one or two meals at most for most people.  That said, at $9 pre tax, the price is somewhat normal for a non-chain pizza place.  But enough about the small things let's get a look at this pizza.