Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~

And here we have it! A complete review of the series Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~!! Keep in mind that this review may contain slight spoilers, so those who haven't seen this show or know nothing about what it holds cover your ears!--Er, I mean eyes! Um...On with the review!!



This show was originally released during the Fall 2006 season as a spin-off of the OVA Tokimeki Memorial. I've also seen that, so I'll give a mini review-in-a-review!!

Tokimeki Memorial was an OVA originally released in 1999, due to the popularity of the successful PC game released in 1994. Unlike the game however, the OVA had some pretty bad reviews. The OVA itself was basically about high school students, although the 40 minute video basically peers into each students problems, activities and goals. There. That's it.

Tokimeki Memorial actually has quite an impressive story to the entire franchise, so I'd suggest you wiki it!

Tonikaku! On with the story!

Riku Aoba just transferred to another school due to his father's job. Although the school itself apparently focuses on Freedom, I see it no different from other anime high schools, minus the obscure events. Wait. Scratch that.

Basically, the series revolves around Riku meeting 3 girls, who all fall for him, and his indecisiveness that adds flair to this high school drama/slice of life. All 25 episodes follow the time he's spending in his new school. There. Spoiler 1.

I didn't bother to add all 30 characters. Only the ones that are worth bringing up.

P.S. I pic comment cause I'm bored.


"Is my penis supposed to do this?"

Transfer Stud: Riku Aoba. Dorky, hesitant, and pathetic. Why do girls ALWAYS fall for this type? His personality never changes throughout this animé, but it's a stable attitude that keeps him popular in his new school.


"Gosh I'm hot...Oh, and it's hot in here."

Girl #1: Sayuri Amamiya. The calm, composed, and collected 'perfect girl'. I don't really care for this type of character, because there's no real pizazz to her. She's just there for guys to unquestionably worship.


"Is that tuna-safe dolphin?"

Girl #2: Mina Yayoi. The quiet, timid dolphin-loving girl. That's pretty much her cute side, breaking her 'character set'-barriers for the sake of love. Swimming's her forté, because we want more swimsuit shots!


"I see you're having the breakfast burrito this time..."

Girl #3: Tsukasa Kasuga. The outgoing, lovey-dovey type. Crazy about Riku and Volleyball, she'd do pretty much anything for either without any concern for how the other party feels. Can you say 'stalker'? Cute, though.


"Birds explode if they eat rice, right?"

Demon Bird: Hiyoko. This is the most badass chick I've ever seen. No questions asked.


"And a hentai scene in 3...2...1..."

Teacher: Haruka Wakatake. She's basically the 'hot older woman who doubts her attractive side' or something along those matters. The pictures below basically say it all.


"Are these really the teachers of Japan? Should I still consider becoming an english teacher?"


"It's raping time!"

Delinquent #1: Kyohei Doujima. Although he looks like an overboard gangster, he's really a good guy. Just as long as you stay away from his crush. Who's his crush, you say? What did I say about 'perfect girls'?


"Am I a very pretty man? Or perhaps a very manly lady?"

Delinquent #2: Koya Inukai. Silent and cold character. Basically my favorite guy in the series, although he's only had 1 episode to himself. Pretty much your Devil May Cry's Danté, only he likes to draw and talks even less.


"Are you my daddy?"

Stalker Junior: Momo Aikawa. She's a junior who happens to have the hots for Inukai. The best things about her are the fact that she's your hesitant lovestruck kouhai, and she's voiced by Rie Kugumiya!


"I can read your every thoug--wait, WTF? What's wrong with you!?"

Mad Science Teacher: Yagen-sensei. Ridiculously wicked. Does anything for the sake of 'science' and 'evolution', and I wouldn't have it any other way! Awesome teacher!


"Afros sure are dangerous!"

Afro ghost: ???. She really has no name, although I don't even know why they'd add someone like her into the series. Voiced by Kikuko Inoue, so I'll let it slide this once!


"Yeah, that'll fit!"

Childhood friend: Yukari Higashino. Yes, if I had to pair her up with someone, it'd be either Seto no Hanayome's Luna or Umisho's Maaya Nanako. Those typical girls that like the main character, yet have that history of bullying. Two faced, if you will.


"I can do great things with my balls."

Baseball freak: Ichiro Ishiuchi. Senpai and baseball captain. I have no real reason to add him, other than the fact that he looks exactly like Meito Anisawa in Lucky Star...well, at least before I compared pics.

All in all, I can't say that it's been worth anything watching this series, but it may be better to watch than other series from that seaso to this Summer's season. It's definitely something to consider watching if you like any and all slow romantic comedies.

I give it a 6.5/10.

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan TV - 01

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan: The TV series! After just finding this episode, I couldn't help but to watch it ASAP!! And here's what I have to say!



This series takes place after the DVD episodes that came out 2 years ago. Right as I started watching it, I was slightly disappointed at what I noticed. A big difference between the DVD and TV version is that the DVD is uncensored, better quality, and overall funnier, whereas the TV version is a hollow comparison. But this was 10 seconds into the anime, so this isn't all there was!


Sakura Kusakabe: Another Haré.


Dokuro: A vivid Guu.


Shizuki: The "not-so-noisy Maria".


Zakuro: Dokuro's "younger" sister...I feel ashamed...

Anyways, this episode starts with Sakura and Dokuro going on a school trip to a park to sketch scenery, and how his plans to be with Shizuki kept getting foiled over and over.


Oh, and the girl to tthe very right is Minami. Her personality's more like Guu, I guess.


Sakura? WTF!!?


Sakura's white?


Bin-Kan Salary Man: Best sausage--er, part of the series.


Allergies...


...my ass.

So for the most part, there are two parts in each episode. The two parts in this one were the park sketching, while the second one had to do with bathing. Sorry I don't have any pics for that, but it just wasn't funny enough for any attention.


Human view of the park.


Dokuro's view of the park.

Oh, and another thing: Censorship SUCKS!! If they're going to air this, why not air it later at night where kids who SHOULDN'T be watching this WON'T watch it!? All it's doing is making us want to buy the DVD releases...wait. Impressive! Nice marketing skills, jerks!


Beware of monkeys! With hardhats!

And to close this post, here are some GREAT opening theme images!!


Ashame it!


Tear it!

FINALLY!!! Summer Season Break-Down: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly!!

I've finally found time in my busy life of trying for university, getting a new job, and crazy manga sales for some good old blogging!

Now, here's all the Summer shows I've watched and will review based on the first episode of each:

(I haven't had much time to watch, so since I'm burning the midnight oil and blazing through each ep, I'll review them all as a whole rather than post after post after post. Easier for you and me! Hurray!!)

#14 - Moetan - 1/10
This is just wrong. I don't know where to start. I mean, the perverted mascot? The loli high schooler? The targeting of the male "I like little girls" viewers? Isn't this just promoting underage...stuff?

#13- Nanatsuiro Drops - 3/10

I had to crawl by the first episode, which is about as painful as standing in line in a convention for it's vendors. (Which, by the way, overprice all their items just cause they have alot of target customers.) Will NOT watch another episode of this.

#12 - Code-E - 4/10
Weird plot. A girl who disturbs electromagnetic waves, and a guy who asks her out based on that? Dunno where the story's gonna go from there, but I doubt I'll be interested enough to find out.

#11 - Potemayo - 4/10
Weird show, as it's about finding these cute, yet strange human-like chibi creatures in fridges. Nothing more from the show. If you like those slow comedies, like Azumanga Daioh, then watch this, although it's not as good as Daioh. At least not right now.

#10- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai - 4/10
I was VERY disappointed with this series. The first season started off great with it's "Love comedy-turned-dark-then-ridiculously insane" theme! The first ep of this just slowly scrapes by, leaving me to wonder if they've train-wrecked a sequel like Sunrise did for My-Hime franchise. We'll see...

#9- Sky Girls - 5/10
While this series wasn't bad, it was a little boring, although just barely. We see how things got off, and know if you've seen the Sky Girls OVA released a while ago that we know what to expect out of this.

#8- Zombie Loan - 6.5/10
My love for DearS hasn't helped me with this one. I just couldn't get into this particular series. At least of yet. I'll try for episode 2, but no promises, ya hear?

#7- Doujin Work - 7/10
Interesting, yet it seems like it'll die down and fail, cause I get this really messed up vibe from it, similar to Love Love? I hope I'm wrong, cause this concept seems great!

#6- Devil May Cry - 7.5/10
Nice detail, but with MADHOUSE behind the screen, I expect some slowing down with the animation budget. The Death Note anime disappointed me somewhat, because it was straight from the pages of the manga, so why bother watching it? Here in Devil May Cry, they've changed the character's attitudes around, giving it somewhat of a refreshing feeling.

#5 - Baccano - 7.5/10
The first ep was all over the place, so I can't really tell what the initial story is, nor where it begins. One thing's for certain: it's based around really interesting abilities that I don't think just anyone can attain. Keeps me intrigued!

#4 - Umisho -8.5/10
I'm expecting alot from this series, because the first episode REALLY caught my attention! It just seems to keep getting funnier, but retains its serious moments! Definitely a keeper!

#3- Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei - 9/10
This series is just spectacular in terms of taking a mundane situation and squeezing it for all it can do! It reminds me of that episode of Gintama where they spent that entire episode trying to eat yakitori(?)! Simple plot, alot to expand on! Only reason I haven't upped the rating was because of my light hatred for SHAFT for screwing up Negima!?. Otherwise, they've done an awesome job with this series! Ganbare!!

#2 - School Days - 9/10
Yes, this may be biased, but from what I've heard about this, I was very hyped to finally see it, and it hasn't disappointed me once! (Well, except for Makoto...damn him...) But this series is really keeping me alert as to what’s going to happen next! CAN’T WAIT!! >__<

#1 - Zero no Tsukaima ~Futatsuki no Kishi~ - 9.5/10
I think this may be the single-best season of this Summer 07', at least for anyone whose seen the first season! Oh god, the Saito beatdown hasn't let me down at all! If anything, they’re really turning up the punishment! Stay alive, Saito!!

The Ai-Kon Experience

Ai-Kon: An animé convention held in Winnipeg in between the months of summer vacation.

For years, I've loyally attended this ritual, diving into an ocean of otaku, some good, some bad, and some ugly, for the sake of self-confirming my nerdiness. Each year has brought less and less to the table, or so it seemed to me, but this year was definitely something unforgettable!

This year, for the first time in Ai-Kon history, we caught ourselves some live American (well, English) VAs!!

Here's a snapshot I've finally obtained due to great buddies:

From left: Vic Mignogna, Justin, Greg Ayres, Matsuro, Whistblitz, (I forgot his name >_<), and Michelle. Yes, that's me with the Burning Eyes. Just call me Shakugan no Matsuro.

Just so you know:

Greg Ayres

and

Vic Mignogna

These guys taught me an important lesson in the fansubbing industry. Well basically, to put it into the exact words printed on Greg's shirt: Fansubbing Kills Anime. Simple as that, I suppose. This line is what kills my soul, though...

During the autograph sessions, (Y'know. Somewhere amongst the 6 they held,) Whistblitz and I bought some box sets for them to sign; us being the first in line to have Greg sign the BECK amplifier box set, thus crowning us "The BECK Crew", and having Vic sign me FMA box set!

I god was I broke!! But it was worth the $200!!!

Ironic, isn't it? That they become guest speakers against fansubbing in a convention that plays 100% fansubbed, downloaded anime?

Someone? Anyone? Well, I thought it was funny.

But besides the infomercial that is my post, there were other things going on in the convention.

-Anime: I'm just a little disappointed that they've only shown a total of 5 anime series from the Fall and Spring seasons...And with that, NO HARUHI!!! That's like attending a Disney Land and not seeing Mickey Mouse!! A world that should not be!!

-Gaming: The same old games people play for competition, Smash Melee, Wii games, DDR...Narutimate Hero 4 was a great game. Unfortunately, I only have up to 3, and haven't played it in almost a year. *Jeez, some gamers are just cheap pricks. I've had my share of horrible losses during my first attempt to play a game, Starting with Soul Calibur 2. (If I ever find that overcoat bastard....) Well, couldn't say I lost the Naruto one. The one who tried to maul me ended up getting his own ass handed to him on a silver platter…With a gold spoon.

-Cosplay: People dressed very true to the characters they were trying to represent. Too bad I'm too lazy to make a costume, yet genius enough to tell people what to do to improve certain qualities. Some people went as far as to special order sharingan / byakugan contacts, and ended up front page in the newspaper!! (You know who I'm talking about!!)

Overall, the VAs were the prime reason I've enjoyed myself so much there. I got to hang with Greg, and he even dubbed me and my friend Whistblitz 'The BECK Crew", so guess what we're gonna cosplay as next year?

(Too bad I've never seen BECK before...I have to watch it someday...