:::Tsundere Spotlight:::

Hey everyone! This TSL goes to Misaka Mikoto from Toaru Majutsu no Index & its sister anime, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun!

Time for a little background of Misaka!

So Toaru Majutsu no Index is where Misaka first stars (before moving into the sister anime counterpart). In this anime Misaka is an electromaster who trained very hard to go from a Level 1 ESPer to the highest rank of Level 5. There are seven Level 5 ESPers in Academy City and she's ranked the third strongest and nicknamed the "Railgun" (hence the sister anime's title).

When she meets the main character, Touma, who has the ability to cancel any ESP or magic ability with his right hand--she is humiliated that a mere Level 0 ESPer can stand up to her. And that's where her one-sided rivalry originates from. Throughout the anime she tries to rematch Touma who refuses to fight her.



She eventually develops a soft spot for him <3

(*cough* Misaka & Touma > Index & Touma *cough*).














Sort-of-a-Spoiler Pic

Misaka attends a very rich and elite school which leads people to think she's a "proper lady" but in reality she's a short-tempered tomboy who secretly likes cute and childish things such as flowery pajamas. And despite what she claims, she has a very strong sense of justice and won't let anything unjust go by without Judgment! That's where you can see Misaka in action =P.

Okay, enough background--onto the Tsundere analysis!

Misaka has very cute character design, especially when portrayed in the completely awesome, action & moe-filled duo of Kuroko and Misaka! (See snapshots). She has a very cute voice as well, voiced by Rina Satou (who also voices Haruka from Minami-Ke! and Shiina from Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu to name a few).

Her Tsundere type is very unique and appears very rarely in any anime I've seen. I like to classify her as a perfect definition of my name: Deretsun! Contrary to normal Tsundere characters who usually act tsuntsun and eventually or randomly become deredere, Misaka is usually deredere and has sparks of tsuntsun when necessary.

So if you'd like to see the cute Misaka in action, check out Toaru Majutsu no Index (the second half) and the pure moe form (Index-less): Toaru Kagaku no Railgun!

(Note/Disclaimer: I am against Index (the character) completely, and I hate the first half of Toaru Majutsu no Index because she's in it. So don't complain if you feel the same way when watching it =P.)

Time for some...

Tsundere & Moe Snapshots!






Stay tuned for next time!

That's all for today, thanks for reading! ^^
:::Deretsun:::

Oh, and two parting pictures =P.



(Woah! Where did that last one come from? Is that Shana? :o)

:::Action Time:::

Hey fellow bloggers, I know I haven't posted in a while due to lack of ideas, but I suddenly regained some inspiration so it's time to jump into a review! ^^
__

Have you ever thought about what makes an action anime... a good action anime? Well the reason may differ from person to person but in my opinion it just needs a base storyline and well thought out fights. Fights where they just thrust swords at each other and the storyline seems to repeat itself... *cough*... are not too fun. So in these favorites of mine you'll find tons of well-thought out battles with satisfying story lines.

You must be itching to know what my favorites are... well then... without further ado... onto the review! :)

I now bring to you... my TOP 3 action animes! o.O

Number one: I know you all have probably heard of this one before; one of the most popular animes in the world; one that exceeds all average action expectations that one may have; one that will cure your apathy and inspire your dreams; one that will... (did I say "one" enough?)... forever be the famed anime called One Piece!

This anime has everything--from romance, slice of life, extreme drama, and crazy twists to hilarious moments, randomness-you-just-have-to-accept, well-written fillers (Yes, I said well-written and fillers in the same sentence), as well as epic and explosive action. What more can you ask for? Key Magic? They have some of that as well! =P

So just what is this anime about you ask?
(...wait, you don't? *evil stare* Well...I'm telling you anyway...)

Well, if you can't tell just from looking at this picture, it's about a group of pirates who journey across the sea in search of the greatest treasure--"One Piece"! The main character, Monkey D. Luffy, ate a devils fruit that allows him to stretch like rubber! As he journeys he meets other friends who all aspire to make the best of their lives and achieve their goals. As they sail to the future what will become of them? Will they become the best or fall in defeat? You'll have to watch One Piece to find out =P.
_________________

My Personal Experience:

At first when I started watching this anime, it took me a little while to get used to the animation--but once that phase was over I realized just how amazing this anime is. The story line is so well written that even the fillers are good!!! If I didn't look up which episodes were fillers I'd have no idea! Even the moments where you think they can't use that portion of the story effectively blows you away. The structure and planning of the story and how it all comes together + the amazing twists they come up with--and the consistency of that amazement is off the scale for me. I HIGHLY recommend this anime if you're an action and adventure fan =P.

Opening:

Here you go! ^^

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This anime is very similar to my next review: The Law of Ueki.

Like One Piece, it is very well thought out and contains the most unique powers I've ever seen in an anime.

And that's not the only similarity. The main character in this anime, Ueki, has the ability to turn trash into trees. (Wha-?) You heard me. Trash. Into. Trees.

... And although Luffy's rubber ability and Ueki's trash-into-trees ability both don't sound very formidable, they're both extremely strong abilities if you know how to use them.

In this anime Ueki joins a tournament where the winner gets to become God! No--not for selfish reasons. Ueki joins to stop others from total domination. Will his unwavering Justice be able to defeat Evil? You'll have to watch Law of Ueki to find out =P
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My Personal Experience:

At first when I started watching this anime, I thought it was pretty stupid. Like many animes, this one didn't put a lot of effort into hooking in the viewer in the beginning, assuming people will watch their whole series for the explanation. That didn't stop me, since I had heard many good things about it I kept watching. Right after where I would've stopped (around episodes 1-3) they introduced the explanation and made everything click and I was so glad I did. This arena-style anime was very refreshing and brought me some nostalgia I'll never forget ^^. It climbed into my top 3 action animes and is overall fantastic and highly recommended for all action lovers =P.

Opening:

Here you go! ^^

_________________

And last but certainly not least is my favorite shoujo action! You heard me right--girls can't kick butt too! =P

The sister anime to Toaru Majutsu no Index: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun! Yay!

This action anime has my favorite animation out of all the ones before mentioned. I honestly think it's the best animated action anime, but I haven't seen them all to earn the right to say that =P.

What is this anime about?

Well, it doesn't really have a main story line--it's more like a settled multi-plot action anime which was the first of its kind I've ever seen. If you want an idea--imagine Lucky Star... with Action...and an ESPer city... and... and... ok fine that was a bad reference--but still! It's a great anime. The characters are really energetic and fun; except for the somewhat humorous small series of perverted girl-girl comments/moments from Kuroko (the girl on the left of this picture).

What makes this anime so great?

The best things I like about this anime are the amazing characters, themes, art, and high action thriller it gives you... like... you know: chasing criminals... stopping bad guys... fighting evil... (*ahem*, what do you mean I'm just saying the same thing in different words??)... you know... the good stuff =P.

"But Deretsun... how can girls kick butt!?"

Wha-? You still don't believe me? Take a look at this next picture of the "Railgun"...



Believe me now? =P

...Thought so.
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My Personal Experience:

At first when I started watching this anime I was expecting a main story line like Toaru Majutsu no Index (which I recommend you watch before watching Railgun) so I wasn't too thrilled when I found out it was just "another non-major-plot anime." As I felt forced to watch the rest of it I realized that I was actually enjoying it and then I opened up my eyes without expectations and realized how much I was actually loving it! It was very happy and refreshing to watch and I highly recommend it to people who just want to kick back and watch a nice relaxing action anime. (Kind of an oxy-moron isn't it? But believe me--action can be relaxing too! =P)

Opening:

Here you go! ^^

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So if you're an action fan I recommend all these animes to you! Make sure you watch Index before Railgun though, so you can catch the references.

That's all for today, thanks for reading! ^^
:::Deretsun:::

The Manzai Routine

Calling all comedy lovers!

Hi everyone! I bring to you one of the funniest comedy acts in Japan: The Manzai Routine! Also known as the "Boke-Tsukkomi Routine"

What does this mean exactly?

Well the person playing "Boke" would normally make a stupid comment and then be "punished" or tsukomu'd by the Tsukkomi who corrects him/her. This type of comedy is really funny and is evident in anime and manga as well!

Here are some examples:

In the manga Love Roma, Hoshino's relationship with his girlfriend is usually in a boke-tsukkomi style because of the Always-Honest-Hoshino and the embarrassed girlfriend ^^. Hoshino even claims their relationship to be a Manzai one:

Note: You may have to click the image to see it better (alternatively read this on mangafox here)

It's quite a wonderful manga and I highly recommend it if you like comedy/romance ^^

Another funny Boke-Tsukkomi relationship is from Lovely Complex:



This anime is about a romance between a very tall girl and a very short boy. You can imagine the comedy in that. Although this anime is quite old, it's still a very good story =).

Lucky ★ Star also has some very funny Manzai moments. Take Kagami and Konata for example. Kagami is always quick to jump into her tsuntsun half of her tsundere personality to pounce on the ridiculous comments Konata has to offer. It's also very funny ^^.


Sometimes when the Boke is punished, they actually enjoy it! Take Toaru Kagaku no Railgun for example. Everytime Kuroko annoys Misaka (the Railgun) with her awkward comments, she shoots her with an electric shock that looks very painful.


Another funny Boke-Tsukkomi example comes from my favorite anime: Clannad!
As Kyou tries to teach Kotomi how to play the Tsukkomi role, she ends up being the Boke as Kyou tsukomu's her. Here's a video clip of this in action!

Note: This comes from episode 11, and is a partial spoiler.



(Uploaded myself of course ^^)

And thanks to Chansu for the contributions from the Touhou department:

In this one, Cirno is announced as the "new tsukkomi"--wait! TWO tsukkomis? This has got to be interesting...



A Touhou collection of studio Ghibli jokes... or should I say... Shibli? If you're a fan of My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, or any other Ghibli movie, you're sure to enjoy this:



So as you can see there are tons of Boke-Tsukkomi duos out there in anime, manga, and even fan-made videos, so if you like this type of comedy, don't hesitate to check it out! ^^

That's all for today, thanks for reading!
:::Deretsun:::