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Warning: All who watch anime, play video games, like J-music and K-music, and the like... ARE OTAKU!
At the beginning, KPOP girl group Red Velvet introduced a dichotomy in their music, the ‘red’ concept being youthful and colorful and the ‘velvet’ concept being soft and mature.But seeing how they are now; it is evident that they learned and grew with that foundation in their musicality. Still the same, but better. Let’s get to know more about their new mini album The ReVe Festival – Feel My Rhythm.
Seven months after releasing their EP Queendom last August 2021, they came back with this adventurous mini album on March 21, 2022. And this album was the sequel of their The ReVe Festival Trilogy from 2019, where the worldwide-famous song, PSYCHO, was part of.The teaser for the title track “Feel My Rhythm” was posted last March 17 and it immediately drew the attention of both the fans and the KPOP community. Bach’s Air on the G String can be heard in the introduction.
Feel My Rhythm showcases Red Velvet’s musical color, but more on the ‘velvet’ side. ReVeluvs have mixed reactions. Some totally loved it and there are also some who gave their honest criticisms. But despite wordy evaluations, a lot of fans praised how beautiful the songwriting is. From the word ‘Festival’ in the album’s name, fans concluded that these tracks are a confession, and also a celebration. You can say that it is one of Red Velvet’s most comforting and empowering songs so far. And it was so perfect for Spring.
And now, let’s talk about the music video. First, it was aesthetically gorgeous, with the concept and styling. Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy and Yeri all served stunning visuals, as always. There were somepeople who were creeped out with the bird-inspired costumes. But overall, the comments were fairly positive.
Though the title track has received mixed reactions, most ReVeluvs agree that the B-sides are immaculate. Rainbow Halo serves the usual Red Velvet pop genre. Beg For Me seduces with its sexy and dance-y sound. Bamboleo surprised the fans with its city pop genre. Good, Bad, and Ugly pleased with the typical R&B style. And last, but not the least, In My Dreams proved to be a fan-favorite with its elegant and melodious sound.
The ReVe Festival – Feel My Rhythm mini album has been considered 2022’s best KPOP girl group comeback so far. Basically, it sold half a million copies in Red Velvet’s 8th year, at the height of KPOP’s 4th generation era, proving its relevance in the industry.Embodying the group’s maturity upfront, there’s still so much to be discovered or left to imagine in this album. This may be the start of Red Velvet's 2022 takeover and another great addition to any playlist!
While One Piece is considered to be a part of “The Big Three” anime, One Punch Man also does not lag behind and could be considered a part of the “Big Three” shonen anime that recently came out. Both One Piece and One Punch Man are considered the best shonen anime of all time. Filled with breathtaking action, phenomenal storyline and a large number of characters, both these anime are loved by anime fans all around the world. Let’s talk in detail about both of them now!
One Piece --- The Story
Gol D. Roger was considered the strongest pirate who had sailed the Grand Line. However, he was captured and executed by the World Government. Before getting executed, he told the world about his hidden treasure, One Piece. All the pirates started looking for One Piece and wanted it all for themselves.
Monkey D. Luffy was one such pirate who was looking for One Piece. However, he had no comrades, not even a ship. He was able to befriend a number of strange people, adding them to his “Nakama”. Now, Luffy and his Nakama must travel towards the Grand Line in order to get their hands on the legendary treasure, One Piece.
One Punch Man --- The Story
The story of One Punch Man revolves around Saitama who is a boring man. All Saitama wanted since his childhood was to become a superhero. To realize his dream, Saitama trained hard day and night. His training paid off and he became extremely powerful. He was able to defeat huge and powerful monsters with only a punch.
As time passes by, Saitma gets bored of having weak monsters as his opponents and wanted some thrill in his life. Genos, a 19-year-old Cyborg who had been observing Saitama told him that he would like to be his disciple. He also registers Saitama and himself as a hero so that they could be recognized. Will Saitama ever be able to fight any opponent that is stronger than him?
One Piece and One Punch Man
How are they like each other?
Both One Piece and One Punch Man are action-packed with a huge number of very unique characters with different powers. The action scenes for both the anime are just jaw dropping. Both Luffy and Saitama are extremely powerful and can take any enemy down. The background music and Osts for both of them are also quite enthralling. They make us feel things and create a certain hype as well.
Is this the end of our anime duel?
While One Punch Man’s animation is better than One Piece’s animation, the cast of One Piece definitely beats One Punch Man’s. Initially, One Piece’s animation was not that good. That’s because it came out in the 90s. It’s animation is extremely good now. On the other hand, One Punch Man’s animation has always been good. It’s really hard to compare the two because both of them are on par with each other. However, One Piece’s fan base is definitely greater. They might disagree with this!
Seven Deadly Sins deals with a very interesting concept, “The Seven Deadly Sins''. It’s the kind of Fantasy anime that will hook you right in from the start. With a vast number of characters with unique personalities, Seven Deadly Sins is pretty popular amongst the masses. If you’re interested in knowing more about the anime, then read on!
Story
The story opens in a world which is similar to the European Middle Ages. The ruler of the Kingdom of Liones has been overthrown by a group of some corrupt Holy Knights. Elizabeth Liones, who is the princess of Liones sets out on a journey to find the Seven Deadly Sins in order to get her Kingdom back. However, her journey is full of unknown dangers and struggles. Will she be able to find the Seven Deadly sins and will they cooperate with her?
The plot of Seven Deadly Sins is quite straightforward. There are no confusions, twists or turns. That’s why it’s fairly easy to understand.
The story of Seven Deadly sins also focuses on different relationships like love and friendships. Both the concepts are beautifully fleshed out and are something you should look for in the series.
Overall, the story of Seven Deadly Sins is just perfect. It also has a very low filler rate of about 4%. So, it’s a 10/10 for us!
Characters
Seven Deadly Sins features a large number of characters. All the characters present in the series have different personalities and unique powers. The Seven Deadly Sins are a very interesting set of characters. There is a visible character development in them as the series progresses. Each character has his/her own backstory. All the backstories make sense and we get to sympathize with the characters as well. So, the characters are well written as well as well-executed. We don’t have anything to complain about in the character department of this series.
Animation
The animation of Seven Deadly sins is quite unique when you look at it. The character designs are different from that of an average anime. They look beautiful nonetheless. The action is just phenomenal. The movements are also very fluid and easy to follow. When it comes to the background and scenery, it’s very colorful and pleasing.
Music
The music for Seven Deadly Sins is pretty decent. The openings and endings are just average though. They;re not really memorable but we won’t mind listening to them with each new episode. Overall, music isn’t the strongest aspect of this anime but is still pretty good.
Should you watch it?
With 4 seasons and 100 episodes, Seven Deadly sin’s fan base is growing more and more. The fans can’t wait for season 5 to come out already. We loved watching seven Deadly Sins because of its unique storyline, interesting characters, great animation and decent music. We’d definitely recommend you to watch Seven Deadly Sins as well. You won’t regret it!
Frequently in old school RPG games there were some pretty cool abbrev. which classified towns, character, character classes, attacks, magic spells and other story elements.
For example, some of the towns would bear the abbrev. such as St. Christos Lake Town. Such abbrev. would be cool, they would be reminiscent of decades, centuries, and maybe millenia past.
RPG games contained worlds of past, present, and future perfectly blended and mixed. It's no wonder that many RPG fans learn and keep their sense of turn-based mysticism, much the same as IRL eggheads, mystics, and other creatures of nether-celestial worlds.
Maybe just maybe, our new author is the Celestial Pierrot... Either way, she's our new blogger here at the Otaku Reviewers! She's cool, keep looking here to find out the otaku things that she alone likes ;)
Either way, RPGhero signing out.
Next time you see a St. relic in the real world, think about Final Fantasy or something...
"Bleach" is the hit manga by Tite Kubo that has taken the comic book and animation world for a thrilling, action-packed, supernatural battle adventure. Fans come from all countries, ages, and even genders. However, the series is mostly popular with girls and young women. "Bleach" follows the fictional events and story of Ichigo Kurosaki who started out as a fifteen year old high-school freshman that could interact with apparitions of "Karakura Town", the suburban town where he lives. Ichigo met Rukia Kuchiki who transferred all of her "Soul Reaper" power to him both at great cost to her reputation and so that he could save her life in that moment. Eventually the story in the manga post-hocs that of the anime and this manga is still running in North America.
In the manga vol. 65 of "Bleach", the reader sees Zaraki passed out without his eyes closed, defeated by the "quincy" opponents he was battling with.
The main opponents in vol. 65 are:
They're happy-go-lucky seeming girlish women (kind of), that actually disposed of Zaraki's "strongest sword" that he finally mastered, for battle. (Get your mind out of you know where lol). Jokes aside, Zaraki's fighting techniques are, or were, slower than Ichigo's from the beginning, so it makes sense that he lost four-on-one with those chicks.
Early on, Ichigo shows up and wants to fight, saying to Zaraki that he, "Came to help...". In review, I think that Ichigo's character hasn't been radically developed by vol. 65 or he would have learned how to talk to Zaraki's character on a more equal level, maybe Ichigo would even address Zaraki's more senior level "Soul Reaper" status than by a friendly kind of patronizing... Either way, Kubo probably decided that it is in the best interest of the manga not to radically change Ichigo's personality.
Not to reveal all of the contents of the volume, Ichigo takes on the four quincy chicks at once also, in a battle which shows the usual "Bleach" style onomatopoeia or sound effect speech graphics. Bleach onomatopoeia are easy to follow probably easier than "Naruto" but not as interesting as "One Piece".
Anyway, Ichigo fights and is caught in an awkward moment where he could have been defeated (not pictured). You'll have to read the volume for yourself. I believe, that's good enough reason to pick up a copy.
Throughout the volume on a few sporadic pages, the story follows the antics of the current antagonist, "His Majesty", who seems to be a quincy male with "untold power". That's while Ichigo is spending his "battle energy" on the four girlish women (kind of) who work for "His Majesty". The antagonist follows Kubo's typical "Bleach" event progression formula where "they" are off-scene from the main sequence and also from the "protagonist. Then that antagonist is advancing in a separate plot that hasn't yet encountered any relevant opposing influence (to the antagonist plot). In other words, Kubo uses a popular anime / animation trope for the antagonist characters. I think, that for Kubo and "Bleach" it works and he hasn't really changed his author approach in terms of that formula. Go Kubo?
The characters and their idiosyncrasies are where Bleach changes or progresses in its story. That's where "Bleach" has made its great success. Then in addition, for vol. 65, there's some funny jokes made by Urahara Kisuke (not pictured).
In review, there's good enough reason to pick up a copy of Bleach vol. 65 wherever and whenever, you want.
When you watch an anime there are certain things that we all look for. They are as follows: Character Development, Artistic Appeal, Opening and Ending Originality and Interestingness, and Plot Complexity. These are our FOUR anime judging qualities and by reviewing this way we can avoid spoilers, I think. So let's begin!
Character Development
This anime diverges from the manga, very disappointing. Up to episode 15 or 16, the story is the same as the manga and all of the main character's stories are put out there. This pertains to Rin and Yukio and their adopted father, Fujimoto Shiro. Shiro is a priest and also an exorcist who is like a father to Rin and Yukiko at great cost to himself. Since, their real father was the devil. After this point (episode 15), it's all up in the air as to what's really from the manga.
Artistic Appeal
Rin's voice actor is Nobuhiko Okamoto who also voiced Origami Cyclone in Tiger and Bunny and Niizuma Eiji in Bakuman, if you know those. Yukio's voice actor is Jun Fukuyama who also voiced Guache Suede in Letter Bee, Watanuki in xxxHolic, etc. They make good brothers haha. The artistic appeal of the show is good. The conceptualization of the different demons from good ones to evil ones was clever, and added a Japanese twist to what you would think is a evil spirit.
Opening and Ending Originality
The openings and endings are alright. The first opening was UVERworld and was very cool. But soon after the opening was changed, and was made to fit an anime with no real plot...
Plot Complexity
Again, this show diverges from the manga which is a disappointment. Anyone can wonder why. Was the manga too sacriligious to be exposed via television in it's fullness? Is the creator and co. trying to get a following for the manga or a newer anime? Who knows? The plot isn't complex, after episode 16 you don't really know anything else about Rin and Yukio's adopted father Shiro. This is why I started to watch the show because his involvement with them is suspenseful and shounen. He's like Jiraiya in Naruto. But then the show goes on to some filler plot...
The Gritty: Don't Watch
Unless you just like sacriligious anime with cool shounen overtones.
Fanlib: "That's right girls worship the spawn of evil"
Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who checks in and also reads this blog. Without you all, we wouldn't be here. I know that some of our readers are from far off countries like The Philippines where there have been some hard times because of the typhoon seasons. Thank you all for reading this blog and liking us on Facebook. You are all the best! A very special Merry Christmas to you all!!!
Anime and manga is a cultural thing. Here in America, everyone is wondering what culture really is, with all of the social change happening. To anybody who likes anime, manga, and games that is their culture, not just a part of it. A big part of life for every Otaku is striving to be better, just like all of those characters from anime. Sure sometimes the days are mundane and the nights are long, but all of it's already been told in the stories of anime... Culture to us, is loving anime and loving our fellow Otaku. ...and that is why we keep blogging, because we are passionate Otaku too, just like you all!
RPGs are very fun and that's why when I was a teenager, I played RPG games for hours on end. Army people know that the RPG is a term for an artillary weapon blast or whatnot. The RPG game genre is for people who like Role Playing Games and that's where my teenage years were spent over the summers and winter breaks. Sure, I could have been getting out more for real but I was a gamer at heart and the 40-80 hour games were my calling. It is from those RPG genre games that many teenagers learned about a different part of the world. Being that RPG games are different than games like Grand Theft Auto or The Sims, they have brought new elements that teenagers can get addicted to that aren't action or violence. RPGs introduced the concept of the Fantastical whether it was the good guy or the bad guy, each RPG had the amazing or crazy element that they added to only some of the game characters.
Games like Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X, both had the fantastical and wondrous elements. But it was kind of funny because both main characters were not that special, they were both kind of jockish, boyish guys that were catapulted into a world where other people were amazing and daresay Fantastical. That really makes the RPG game player think, especially because the main POV is from the character that is the most regular and ordinary but has to adapt to win the game or the girl. Then there's Final Fantasy XIII in which the main character IS a girl but they gave her the most amazing and daresay Fantastical elements in the game, only lagging from every other bad guy in the game (because the game is that hard). Think about it, Lightning, the game's main character is way more of a soldier than either Cloud Strife from FFVII or Tidus from FFX, and she actually knows how to hold her own in a fight, rather than complain or have the other characters react negatively to the world around them, Lightning is comforting because she is a strong personality, in the game. That goes to show that RPG games are changing too. No more, will teenagers waste those summers solely for Cloud Strife or Tidus, even Serge from Chrono Cross, to be disappointed in their emo, introverted personality styles in the super human worlds of Final Fantasy. Fingers-crossed!
Anime too had changed, becoming more liberal than conservative hehe. The hard smack to the main characters seen in the first Gundam series' are now replaced by LGBT positive humor in the newer anime like MM! or Tiger and Bunny. That's good, because its painful to see the main character of those old Gundam treated like a rag doll for frustrated older male characters, just for the main character to climb out of the social hierarchy to be second, only to that one moment... Same goes for anime like Grappler Baki, The Fist of the North Star, and old DBZ. they were all painful to watch when the good guys weren't doing well enough. But even the new anime are kinda painful with Attack on Titan or Deadman Wonderland, they're way more suspenseful and thrilling, in other words not anti-climactic.
Anyway, we hope that anime and video games do keep on changing. That way those who truly like anime and video games will stick with it. The ones who truly like something stay with it through thick and through thin, as their nature and the nature of the things that they like change too. True Otaku will like anime and manga, even to watch the new ones just as much as the old ones. That's the way that Otaku support the changing way of anime media and the treasured manga-ka that continue to create those stories out of the Japanese they were given.
Lucky no Kaze Ni... Dragon Soul and all that good stuff!
Why are old guys in Japan so cool? Man, I would do anything to have a drink with a Japanese old guy. They are always talking about "youth" as if it were something cool to be young and not old. As if they themselves found the secret to enjoying youth and loving life; then love to see new young people being themselves.
These days, a lot of old guys seem crotchety and angry, as if young people are taking all of the oxygen away from their oxygen machines or something. It might or might not have to do with the interweb and the skyrocketing use of smart phones. Then again, it could just be because life can be a b**** or a d***. Hopefully its not beause being old is just plain hard. Then there would be no "COOL" guys to have an ice-col d beer with, those old Japanese guys.
Arakawa Under the Bridge is a comedy and romance anime. The main character is a successful young man who goes to Tokyo University named Kou Ichinomiya. He comes from a successful family, particularly a CEO father who is harsh on him. His father taught him that for anything people do for you, you have to repay them no matter what or else you're not truly independent. While on break from Tokyo U, Kou somehow loses his pants over a certain bridge. While trying to get them he almost falls over the bridge. Nino, a blonde, beautiful, and homeless girl fishes him out of the Arakawa river and saves his life. Kou, now decides to repay Nino with... something as valuable as life. Nino asks for love. And so Kou now lives alongside the river with his lover Nino and the rest of the unique crew of homeless people that Nino calls her friends.
The first season of Arakawa Under the Bridge is about Kou's relationship with his distant father who objects to him living alongside the Arakawa River. Kou is renamed by the people who call the open riverside as their home, as Ric. Ric stands for "new recruit". You'll learn to love and laugh with the crazy and colorful people, that might actually be happier living under a bridge!
The people that live alongside the Arakawa River
Don't maximize the picture! It's a spoiler!
Kou now named Ric must survive the crazyness!
For the second season of Arakawa Under the Bridge, Ric's relationship with Nino grows stronger as they get more of a connection. Ric must also compete with Star, his rival for Nino's hand. Ric also meets another woman who wants to compete with Nino!
Star and the Mayor of Arakawa who is a Kappa, not in a kappa suit
Kou's voice actor is Hiroshi Kamiya who also voiced Tieria Erde in Gundam 00 and Izaya Orihara in Durarara. Nino's voice actor is Maaya Sakamoto who was also Sayaka Nagasuki in Birdy the Mighty. She does a really good job as a main character in this story. The artistic appeal of the openings and endings is amazing. The creators of this anime experiment with many different types of drawing and filming!
You'll have to watch to laugh
The openings and endings are very unique. While the songs do not seem to me as cool or catchy (I'm used to cool shounen openings and endings) they fit the type of show this is.
Season 1 Opening
This show is a lot like Gintama, it doesn't follow a story and keep going. It's an episodic anime. Some of the episodes tell you more about the actual plot, the relationship between Kou and Nina and how Kou's father is trying to understand why he's living like a homeless person. Other episodes are about the day to day events that happen in the lives of the homeless people that live on the river. Remember
Remember the days when anime figures made sense? Yeah, neither do I.
The popular hit anime Shingeki no Kyojin, or Attack on Titan, has its cool, breath taking moments. But Levi's strange cleaning obsession is not one of those things.
Whoever decided to make this was on a roll. He took the most bad ass guy and clad him in maid attire, and no, not the kawaii kind either.
Go out and get this figure while it's still on sale! Apparently the going price on the day to day is 120 bucks. Why do I still have faith in humanity?
Have you ever heard the phrase, "Men are from Mars and women are from Venus". If you like any part of that phrase, you should watch Vandread. In Vandread men and women live on two different planets in space and hate each other! It all begins when three peculiar guys get caught by a pirate ship, from Mujer the planet of women. Oh and there's giant mechs like in Gundam! And then it all gets better from there!
The male planet of Taraq values manly qualities Like toughness, valor, honor, honesty, endurance, and strength.
The main character, Hibiki, pictured above becomes the hero of the ship, just like in any other giant mech show. However he can only unleash his full power when his ship is "combined" with a female ship and a girl is sitting on his lap! Now isn't that ecchi!
The female planet, Mujer, is more in tune with feminine qualities like harmony and resilience. And don't forget good old female scorn.
This show has a lot of hidden sexual tension within it. It's a great show to watch after a long day at work or school. I have to admit that the battles are anti-climactic and boring. But the plot is reasonable and will keep you watching, if only to see how much men get to know the women and vice versa. This show is on netflix!
I recommend it, but you'll have to see for yourself.
Hello OR followers, it's been a while since I've posted! I had an awesome time at AX; and I will make a great post reminiscing on good times, in due time. But now, it's time for this Otaku Reviewer to, well , review!
Today's Anime of Choice -- Sakamichi no Apollon, also known as Kids on the Slope! Recent release and very game-changing in terms of genre (Historical Fiction/Music/Romance Comedy), this anime is sure to please fans in all categories of general slice-of-life! Have you ever heard of "Moanin'" or "My Favorite Things"? If you have, you're probably a Jazz fanatic, and what a strange mix of Otakudom and musical taste! Well, you're in for a treat, Jazz enthusiasts and normal Otaku alike!
This blog, "The Otaku Reviewers", was started in February of 2010 on this very same platform, Blogger. At first, it was a venture into the informational and informal world of comics, anime, video games, and Japanese culture. In other words, just a random blog.
Over time, the founder of the blog credited with the pseudonym "RPGhero" was joined by two fellow bloggers and friends with the names "Chansu" and "Deretsun". Together the three bloggers looked up interesting Japanese culture facts, recommended new anime, talked about their own "otaku" interests, and traveled across the United States to various anime conventions.
There have been off periods when the blog ceased production of content and there have been times when there would be dozens of blog posts per week. The schedule varies depending on the lives of the people behind the alias'. However the pattern is that we always get back into the game with even newer information about Japanese culture, anime, video games, and other nerdy hobbies.
The motto of our blog is:
"A cure for your apathy and an inspiration for your dreams. ...Applies to Otaku, anime fans, J-pop junkies, and the like"
The purpose is to blog about cool stuff related solely to anime and otaku stuff. There's no other reason we're doing this.
If you like our blog, please support us in however small a way that you would like. We appreciate our readers!
