:::Animazement 2012 by Deretsun:::

Ah, where do I begin?

Oh--I know... *ahem* GOMENNASAI!! ;___;... I know I haven't posted in ages and this post is long overdue, but I intend on making it up to you guys with a bunch of awesome posts coming up! Let's start with this one, shall we? ^^

You know you want to click "Read More"!!

Animazement 2012

This summer, we, the Otaku Reviewers have went to Animazement 2012. Animazement is a convention held every year in Raleigh, North Carolina at the end of May. This is their 15th year running. They're a small convention but they have what it takes to be pretty cool! This was also the first convention that the Otaku Reviewers weighed in on!
(RPGHero's Review of Animazement 2010)
(Chansu's Review of Day 1)
(Chansu's Review of Day 2)
(Chansu's Review of Day 3)

Last time we went as far as to tell you guys that we spent 9 hours on a sweaty bus ride through the night, didn't we? Well this time Chansu himself drove 9 hours straight through the night to get there. Chansu is a man that loves his anime!

By the time we got to Animazement, there was a long line for those who haven't preregistered, which included us.

As you can see there are already lots of anime cosplayers on that really long line!

This year we got to see Kotoko in concert! Kotoko made and sung songs for anime like Accel World and Shakugan no Shana. Deretsun will tell you more about our concert experience so stay tuned!

 Stay tuned to OtakuView for pictures of great cosplay from Animazement 2012!

Here's a cosplay favorite from Animazement 2012!

 Nel and her friends from Hueco Mundo -Bleach

Christmas Contest Giveaway 2011! [Otaku Reviewers Blog]

Overview of Contest:

Do YOU want an OtakuGEAR pack as seen in the video? Well there are only two packs, so prepare to face the random number generator in pitched combat!

First Place:

Manga: The Complete Guide

Great Manga Encyclopedia for manga newbies and veterans alive! Over 900 manga reviews!

Hatsune Miku Wall Scroll

Its so cute you'll moe moe kyun!

A new copy of the newest shonen jump!

Pocky!

Mmmm, pocky.

Second place:

A new copy of the newest Shonen Jump!!!

Marisa Kirisame (Touhou) Mousepad

Let Marisa steal your precious mouse!

More Pocky!

You know the drill.

In order to be eligible:

1. Follow our blog at the top of the page! If you're already following, no need to follow again; you've already completed this step!

2. Comment below with your email address (or send it to chansu@otakureviewers.com) so we can contact you if you've won, along with your follower name as it appears after step 1 in order to enter!

The contest will be going until December 15th, so make sure to enter before then!

Good luck and Happy Holidays!!

-chansu

:::Fall Anime 2011 + Segment Change:::

Hi everyone!  I know I haven't posted in a while!

But that's because...

K: とてもいそがしいですから
R: totemo isogashii desu kara
E: because I was very busy

and I still am! :(....  Gomen ne!

Summary:

1. Fall Season 2011 Anime is out so check the Sidebar for the guide!
2. I'm changing my segment from "Tsundere of the Month" to "Tsundere Spotlight" (temporarily?)

More depth after the jump!  (Click "Read More >>")

:::Otakon 2011 by Deretsun:::

Hey everyone!  It's my turn for my take on Otakon!

Well, where do I start?  Oh--how about the favorite anime of a very famous talented duo known as CHEMISTRY?  That's right!--You heard me!

At the end of their concert Kaname Kawabata (one of the two people who make up CHEMISTRY) shouted out "MY FAVORITE ANIME IS..."

(click "Read More" to find out!! =P)

:::Tsundere Spotlight:::

K:  みんなさん, きょうはおげんきですか？
R:  Minna-san, kyou wa ogenkidesuka?
E:  How is everyone doing today?

Today is a special day for many reasons!  This TSL is packed with a load of info--including an Anime/Movie Recommendation and an interesting video with Shoko Nakagawa! You guys might be able to guess who I'm picking this time from some hints in my previous posts but if not:  This TSL goes to the infamous Suzumiya Haruhi from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)!  

Click "Read More>>" to continue! 

:::Otakon Expectations:::

Flash News!

If you didn't already know, the Otaku Reviewers are going to Otakon 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland!!

A plethora of exciting events await!  Hauu~

Join me as I ruminate by clicking "Read More"!

:::Shiyu-chan's Debut:::

Finally--what you've all been waiting for!  Shiyu-chan has officially appeared as our mascot in full color!  Help her level up on the sidebar to show your support! :)

Shiyu-chan is a tsundere character and what you see before you is the tsuntsun side of course ^^.  Chansu and I created it together--he did the sketch and I did the color.  We hope you all like her because you'll be seeing her for a while!

As you may already know, moving to .com was part 1 of our Website Revamp.  And now this is part 2!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Oh, it seems deredere Shiyu-chan has a message for you all:
"Yoroshiku ne ;)"

(Click "Read More" to view Shiyu-chan's journey from pencil to pixels!)

:::Summer Season 2011 Recommendations:::

みんなさんこんにちは！ / Minna-san konnichiwa! / Good afternoon everyone!

Today I bring you my recommendations on some promising anime for this Summer Season!

(Click "Read More" or this for the full post!  Alternatively, here's a summary!)

Recommendations:  (in no particular order)

::: Kamisama Dolls :::

Unique & Interesting

Genres:  (Action / Drama / Supernatural / Seinen)

[MAL / ANN]

::: The Idolm@ster :::

Relaxing & Cute

Genres:  (Music)

[MAL / ANN]

::: Usagi Drop :::

Steady & Beautiful

Genres:  (Slice of Life / Josei)

[MAL / ANN]

:::Random Videos:::

Hey everyone! Usually this is RPGHero's department but I felt compelled to make this! >:)

I hope everyone's had a wonderful Fourth of July! Remember--July 7th is Tanabata so don't forget to learn the song and sing it when the time comes! ^^

Alright, so let's move onto the post! :D

First we have two very interesting AMVs that I really liked:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AMV - Around The World



AMV - Do You Know Your Anime?



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next we have this Otaku Breakdancing video!  The whole story is pretty funny--see for yourself!



Next we have Tarako Tarako Tarako by Kigurumi! This song was released in June 2006 for "Q.P. Corporation's (Kabushikigaishu) spaghetti sauce" (source). This song has set a record for making it to the Top 100 Singles on the Oricon charts with such young performers! (source).



And now to break the record of the youngest performers on the Oricon charts come Kaoru and Tomoki. Together, in a viral song called "Maru Maru Mori Mori" which is the ending song to the very popular Japanese Drama (and by "very" I mean VERY--20% of the Japanese population is said to know it!!!) "Marumo no Okite", they have pushed up to #6 on the Oricon Charts!!!

Look at this quote from Wikipedia: 

"This singles album debuted on the Oricon charts at the 3rd position with sales of around 35 thousand albums a week. This makes the group Kaoru to Tomoki, Tamani Mook ( 薫と友樹、たまにムック Kaoru to Tomoki, tama ni mukku?) the youngest group ever to debut in the TOP10 charts at the average of 6 years old, beating the previous record set by the group Kigurumi ( キグルミ?) for their singles Tarako・Tarako・Tarako ( たらこ・たらこ・たらこ?) in September 2006."

And now for the song and dance! :)



There was an interesting news program on this as well:



And here's a fanmade version incase you feel like learning the dance =P.
And I thought this video was funny ^^.

And last but not least is the hilarious Mameshiba series!  It reminds me of Fireball (MAL) and they are totally worth watching!  There's 20 of them, so watch them all! >:).

"What exactly is Mameshiba?
They're not quite a bean, nor a dog
but rather a hybrid of both.
They love to appear out of nowhere
and offer random bits of trivia
whether you asked for it or not..."

Here is the first video (I will provide links to the rest of the series later--or you can just click the next episode from the related videos).



Entire Series:
(1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my Random Videos post!

That's all for today!

Thanks for reading! ^^
:::Deretsun:::

:::Tsundere Spotlight:::

Hey everyone!

(deredere) First off I just want to say thank you to all our followers for helping Shiyu-chan (who's still "getting ready" for her Grand (2nd) Appearance) level up to 25! ^^
(tsuntsun) But it's not like we needed your help or anything! (Mattaku...)

Alright, so this TSL goes to another one of the Four Tsundere Wonders! And that is none other than the "Flame Haired Red-Hot Eyed Hunter": Shana from Shakugan no Shana!

(Warning: Minor spoilers ahead (mainly from episode #1); escape option: watch the first episode!)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever taken a walk through the city one day to find that all of a sudden time just decided to... oh, I don't know... stop? And then a flame haired girl with a wicked-cool katana appears out of nowhere and saves your soul from being eaten by some giant freaky spirit-like monster? Oh, and then you find out that you're actually already dead and your existence is slowly fading away from reality? You know, everyday stuff.

Hmm, w-what's this? Y-you haven't?? Then you obviously have n-never met Sh-Shana! (I can hardly believe it!) Well then!--allow me to introduce you to her! >:)

Shana comes from a romance / comedy / action anime entitled Shakugan no Shana (literally: Shana of the Burning Eyes). Voiced by my favorite voice actress, Rie Kugimiya, she stars as a mysterious unnamed Flame Haze in this spectacular anime. Well then--how does she get her name?

That's easy!

Sakai Yuji, the lead male character in the anime, gives her a name: Shana--for proof that she's not "just a Flame Haze" but that she has value as a person. But he's one to talk--he's already dead! (Like he knows what it's like to be human... =P). Yuji learns that his current self is a "torch"--a substitute for people who had their souls "eaten" by "Guze no Tomogara". Unfortunately--it's a torch that loses its flame, which means he only has a limited amount of time to live before his existence is completely dissipated... or does he?

And so the romantic struggle in this anime is between Yuji and Shana--who both struggle to recognize their devotion to each other. Yuji is just typically oblivious while Shana struggles to see how someone like her, who's "just a Flame Haze," and not a human, can have or deserve to have a relationship. Plus, add a third wheel (Yoshida) and the fact that Yuji is hardly real and you've got yourself a complicated romance =P.

Alright, that's enough of an introduction, don't you think? And just so you know, it's not like I went out of my way to introduce her to you or anything! Mo...

Time for the Tsundere analysis!


Alright, so Shana is mostly a COT-type (Change over time) Tsundere because her overall personality changes from apathy (tsuntsun) to embarrassment (tsundere) to shyness (deredere) when dealing with the topic of "love" as the story progresses...

Alright, so we know she's multifarious on the inside--but what about on the outside?

If you haven't already noticed (angryface if you haven't)... Shana is very kawaii~ (well, at least to most anime lovers on the planet >.<...). Her art design is very original and moe--enough to build up a very frightening fan-base and garner millions of fan-drawn replicas and figurine models. All of which is more proof that Shana is beautiful--both on the inside and out (hauu~) :).

And if you didn't know already--part of what makes Shana so unique is her duality: her "human" form and her "flame haze" form. The latter being the one with the flaming red-hot hair :). And somewhat metaphorically, as you might have already read in my Top 5 Moe List (which is quite out-dated), her Flame Haze form resembles her Tsuntsun aspect while her Human form resembles her Deredere aspect.

So exactly how popular is SnS?

According to MAL, Shakugan no Shana ranks #29 in Popularity (which is 3 above One Piece (#32) and 2 under K-On! (#27) (incase you can't count)) and she's frequently referenced in many animes such as Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu and others that I can't recall off the top of my head--which is proof that it's a classic (and a masterpiece as well).

Other animes have tried mimicking the theme of Shakugan no Shana--most notably Kurokami and Hidan no Aria--but none have risen to the legendary status of SnS.

Well what makes Shana so popular?


Besides radiating a fiery personality and capturing people's hearts through moe (kya~), Shana is enveloped in a very fun and unique storyline that's geared more towards romance aspects while still containing just the right amount of action to satisfy a little shounen-hunger.

If you're a fan of Toradora--imagine Toradora with the genre trade-off of slice of life for action and a few details here and there... everything else is practically the same: Taiga and Shana have the same voice actresses and Yuji's name even resembles "Ryuuji" from Toradora!

Another interesting thing to note is that rumor has it that Rie Kugimiya (Shana) was actually going out with Satoshi Hino (Yuji) during their collaboration in both Shakugan no Shana and Zero no Tsukaima. I have yet to find proof of this, but it is definitely something to consider and might serve as a possible explanation as to how they were able to work so great together :S.

And so, Shana continues to stand on top of many as a symbol of fire and hope while sitting on her Royal throne on the Board of Legendary Animes (well... don't you think there should be such a board? =P). And by being the first of the Four Tsundere Wonders to reach an anime adaption, Shana has become the essence through which Rie Kugimiya has proudly taken up the title: "Queen of Tsunderes".

Won't you join Shana's fan-base and fuel her fire? If you do--perhaps someday she will rule the world >:)


Time for some snapshots! ^^













And here's the opening! (Couldn't find a good one with subs, sorry!)



Lyrics

Don't forget to catch Shana in Shakugan no Shana! She's burning with desire to meet you! >:)

And look out for the third season that should be coming out within the next 2 years (hopefully within 1)!

Well that's all for today! Thanks for reading! :),
:::Deretsun:::

Oh, and of course--a parting picture! :)

Update: The Otaku Reviewers are going to Otakon 2011! :D!

:::Tsundere Spotlight:::

This TSL goes to none other than Anjou Naruko ("Anaru") from AnoHana!

As you've already heard from RPGHero, AnoHana is one of the hi-lights this season, and personally my favorite for Spring 2011!

So without further ado... let's begin the review! =P
---------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever had a childhood friend that you lost contact with? Do you ever wish to regain that bond that you once had?

Anaru makes her appearance in AnoHana as a caring character who experienced her friends dissipate after a haunting incident in the past. They were a friendly group of six who drastically became five after a girl named Menma had an "accident" and died.


After 10 years everyone seems to have moved on with their lives, separated. No one seems to have remembered both Menma and their friendships.... Until... Until the boy Anaru admires (Jintan, the main character) claims to now be receiving visits from Menma--no, even worse--she's living with him in his house! Bizarre... who would believe it?? But even if something unbelievable comes directly from the person you care about--it makes it that much *points*-->(a bit more) believable.

Inevitably, this begins to catalyze the renewing of Anaru and Jintan's bond... which--to make a long story short--fuels her tsundere-ism and now we rush off to the Tsundere analysis! (=P)

Anaru (voiced by Haruka Tomatsu) has an episodic polarity much like any other tsunderes nowadays...--don't get me wrong--I love all types of tsunderes quite equally... it's just that I feel bad for poor old "Sebastian"... =P

What makes her stand out from other tsunderes is the fact that she's mostly deredere as opposed to being mostly tsuntsun like a certain someone or even what I like to call "neutral".

She seems to be very concerned with her childhood friends and she's also somewhat of a hidden otaku but not as extreme as Kirino. She works at a video game store and that connection + the fact that she has loads of manga at her house, helps her to reconnect with Jintan much more easily.

She seems to abandon her transient friends to try to rebuild the deep and lasting friendship she thought she had with her old childhood friends.

Her progress doesn't go unnoticed, but sometimes she ends up getting a little down. She seems to always be trying to find who she truly is. And easily impacted by what people around her say, she takes things to heart and ends up in a somewhat depressive state. (But have no fear, Jintan is here)... *ahem*...

It seems that all the childhood friends received the death of Menma in their own way... Anaru's way was to try to replace Menma in Jintan's eyes by wearing her clothing style quite often... She knew that Jintan had feelings for Menma and is quite the jealous tsundere over him. And although she tries to hide it, some of her childhood friends can easily see through her. Almost as if she was transparent (like my opening picture! =P).

Anyway... what will happen to Anaru and Jintan's relationship? What about Anaru and the rest of the her friends? Will they ever be able to reunite? Or will they be dragged along in time by their haunting past, refusing to look towards the future? If you're curious to the answer, you'll have to watch AnoHana to find out! =P.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for... (or at least... I hope you've been somewhat anticipating and/or looking forward to this... u.u...) ...

SNAPSHOT time! (^^)






So that's all for today!

Don't forget to catch Anaru in AnoHana!

Thanks for reading ^^,
:::Deretsun:::

Oh and of course, some parting pictures for your troubles =P. When have I ever let you down? o.O

:::Tsundere Spotlight:::

This TSL goes to Aria from Hidan no Aria!

With the infamous Rie Kugimiya as voice actress (Seiyuu) and Junji Majima (who's also Ryuuji from Toradora!) as voice actor (for the male lead, Kinji), this anime kicks it off this season while hi-lighting Aria as another glorious addition to the tsundere Rie family ^^.

Some background: The anime is about a school for training students to be special agents called Butei. Their classes consist of half-normal-school curriculum and half-CIA-type-training. So basically Aria meets Kinji and, after he goes all 『ありあをまもる』 "I'm protecting you [Aria]" in an action scene she decides that she wants him on her team. She says "Join my party!" which reminded me of an RPG game =P.

So it's a typical boy-meets-girl... or is it? There's a twist with both of the characters that is left very mysterious. What is Kinji's "hysteria mode" that he always tries to keep secret?--and who is Aria searching for and why does she think it's Kinji?

Anyway so It's very interesting and I suggest you give it a try if you like Action + Rie Kugimiya :).

Onto Aria's review! :)

Aria's weapons of choice are two guns and two katanas, making "Aria the Quadra" a very unique addition to the Rie family :)

She most closely resembles Shana from Shakugan no Shana, in both tsundere type and general appearance. (If you don't know who Shana is, she's another Rie tsundere who's tsundere type is polar-by-episode as opposed to a change over time. In other words her tsuntsun and deredere sides are found in every episode instead of slowly turning deredere as the story progresses).

So what will happen as the S Rank Assault-Section, Kanzaki H. Aria, tries to pair up with the E Rank Kinji? Is Kinji truly that unskilled? Or is he hiding something that he wants to forget?--could he be another Kamijou Touma (Toaru Majutsu no Index), or is he another first-season Yuuji (Shakugan no Shana)? You'll have to watch Hidan no Aria (Aria the Scarlet Ammo) to find out! >:)

It's time for some snapshots! :)





So don't forget to make this tsundere smile by catching her in Hidan no Aria! :)

That's all for today, stay tuned for next time!! :)

Thanks for reading! ^^,
:::Deretsun:::

And of course, a parting picture ;)