Monday, 8 July 2013

Cosfest 2013

Its that time of the year again and here I am busting my ass to take cosplay photos. Its been 2 hectic days and I am tired as f**k right now after running around like a complete idiot.  Anyway, like any other year, "Cosfest" is back, and apparently, this is their 12th year doing it. Have Singaporeans been such otakus for such a long time?





The "Heart & Soul" of cosplay, bold words if you ask me. However, in my opinion I enjoy "Cosfest" a lot more than most other anime related events because the amount of cosplayers are just staggering each year. So much otakus, each doing what they love best, be it the photographers/roamers like me or the cosplayers themselves. Gives me a little bit of a confidence boost when I see people with such a passion for games and anime, and that maybe I'm still not TOO old to be into stuff like that (I'm 19, 20 soon). I have faith in the community....and with that, lets get on with the pictures!

Prepare for a long one folks, this post is 2 days worth of pictures combined together (over a 100 pictures), so grab a seat or something. I brought my camera this year, so a pat on the back for me right there. Still, my photography skills are horrible (I didn't bother to take photography classes or any shit like that), so forgive me if some of my pictures can be a bit....."unprofessional".

Right and if you guys never noticed, my camera's date is set a year earlier, so forget the lousy time-stamps (you probably noticed that for many years already). Plus, I may have a crap ton of animes and games under my belt (over 100 anime series watched, more than a few hundred games played when combining all consoles and handhelds AND PC games), but I still can't tell most of these characters the cosplayers are doing....shame on me.


Okay, dig in folks. Presenting the cosplayers of "Cosfest 2013" !





Yo, my lack of anime knowledge still haunts me. I have no idea who these 2 girls are, but damn they sure are cute. Keep those maid/school uniform hybrid costumes coming, because I love it!




"Accel World", I'm sure of it. I never watched it, so I don't know the characters. Guy on the right is Silver Crow, I know that much, not sure about the girl. Sweet looking costumes, I'm a sucker for armored type cosplayers. Great duo.



They look like a pair of fairies, but I can't really assume so because I have no idea what or who they are. Lack of experience once again, though I'd say they look pretty good. A little easter egg....Kurou Usagi from "Mondaijitachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Desu yo" is in the background.




CAN YOU FEEL, THE NOSTALGIA~~ It's been a long time since I did anything "Yu-gi-oh" related, but its been a longer time since I have seen the old school monsters, Dark magician and Dark magician girl! Now THIS surprised me, and I thought they looked great! First generation for the win!




Caster from "Fate/Extra" and Gilgamesh from "Fate/Zero". I'm not too used to seeing Caster being taller than  Gil (because I'm pretty sure she's not), but hey, its great to see love for "Fate" characters, especially Caster! I was quite sure "Fate/Extra" wasn't that popular, but apparently it was popular enough to see some love in "Cosfest".




It's Inori from "Guilty Crown". Inoris and Shus have been popping around everywhere so I guess its safe to say that "Guilty Crown" is finally getting the recognition it received!




Hello Yozora, please don't get too mad at my shitty photography skills. Seriously, if I remembered, there were Sena cosplayers before in last year's "Cosfest", but none of the other girls. Great to see diversity, and despite my failure of a picture, you can see that she looks pretty good!




I am clueless to who this character is....you probably already got used to that. Girls in kimonos are all too common if you ask me, but I don't really mind. Probably a konoichi, I love konoichis :D.




Another girl in a kimono and another character that I do not know. However, she's cute, and she looks good in that. I'd want to say "Touhou", but I won't take my chances.




I don't know who these characters are, but I would be a complete idiot if I didn't know that they are probably characters related to "Romance Of The Three Kingdoms" or something around that area. They look good in their ancient Chinese/Japanese warfare clothing.




G-g-g-go go Power Ranger! I wonder who still watches "Power Rangers" nowadays...kids are always playing their Ipads and shit. Anyway, this probably isn't their first time here, as I have seen "Power Ranger" cosplayers before. Keep up the good work, or if this is actually their first times here, good job!




Something...something...something...okay I give up. I have no idea who these guys are cosplaying as and once again my lack of anime experience deprives me of my spirit! Still, not a bad duo.




Again, I do not know these characters. Probably belong to some ghost comedy anime or something, because this shit reminds of a japanese cultural version of "Casper".




I'd want to say Harley Quinn, but its probably not, because I suck. Still, have to give her credit for being bold and sexy for wearing that.




Ahh, here we are folks, the flavor of the Spring season animes. "Shingeki No Kyojin" is so popular its stupid, but its awesome at the same time so I don't blame it. Here we have Armin, Mikasa and probably Sasha posing to be awesome. All are girls but it doesn't really matter because Armin looks like one and is voiced by one anyway. Great stuff!




My hotness! Its Boa Hancock from "One Piece", and while I never watched or read it, I've read enough doujinshis to know which are the sexy ones. Well, she's sexy and she knows it, nothing much else to say.



Having just recently watched "Date A Live", I practically fan-boyed at any "Date A Live" cosplayer. I expected to see Tohka, but who knew Nightmare was the first! She looks pretty badass with that stare and cold look, but it would have been better if she had her dual pistols. Who cares, good stuff.




I requested a photo because she looks like Mana from "Date A Live", but upon closer inspection, she may be another character. Still, she's cute, and that costume looks cools, similar to those mecha girl type costumes.




I have no idea who you are, but keep looking cool with those swords. I'd have to look up which character holds a gold and a blue sword at the same time, but this guy looks good!




God dammit, enjoying your time being the top tier of  "Marvel Vs Capcom 3"? I never played ultimate so I don't know the state of Wesker there, but playing so much Wesker only made it easier to spot him. Well, the suit is there, the jacket is there, his pants are there and so is his sunglasses...looks legit. Yeap, its Wesker alright, and he's looking good! Wherever you are Chris...watch the f**k out.



As I said, "Guilty Crown" is getting some love from the cosplayers! If it wasn't obvious enough, this is Shu, and well....he's Shu, and he's doing what Shu does best, posing for the camera.



Don't know who this is, so I can't even take a guess really. Still, sister/nun characters are cute, and this girl has a pretty nice costume. I dig this.



Now that is cute, but I have no idea who this character is once again. Pretty frilly costumes, the dream of every cosplayer girl. Good job!




Oh shit, this guy is badass. I was never a fan of "Rurouni Kenshin", but well, this guy seals the deal for being a badass samurai. He does the job and he does it well to boot!




Hello there, characters of one of my favorite fighting games! Ragna and Hazama, protagonist and antagonist, are just awesome overall. These cosplayers do them justice, because of how cool they look (especially Hazama, but I may be biased towards my main). Long live "Blazblue"!





"Sengoku Basara"? Not too sure but they look like they belong to a samurai anime of some sort. Cool group shot, though I like the 2nd guy from the right the most.




Eh...its Yuno. F**K! Well, any sane human would stay the living f**k away from her, but this is cosplay, so its legit. The knife she puts to her mouth just makes this all the better. "Mirai Nikki" dude, we need more "Mirai Nikki".





God, sexyness and BOLD  is what I would use to describe this girl. She's cosplaying Neko from "K", but the version of Neko where she just has a coat around to cover her body. This is bold, and SEXY! Points for all that, because she's doing a good job.



I don't have to know what character she's cosplaying to know that she is one cute looking school girl! Nothing much to say, she's cute, she poses well, and everything looks great. The collar though, makes me think she's from "Hentai Ouji", but I never watched that.



This is cool as f**k, but I don't know what game or anime she's from. Still, no words needed, that scythe is totally badass. Add that with a cape and dark Lolita clothing and you have an awesome looking cosplay.



You'd be stupid to not know what "Sword Art Online" is. You'd be even MORE stupid to not know the anime's poster girl, Asuna. She's everywhere, and that may be a good or bad sign depending on how you look at it.




My friend told me that she's from "The Walking Dead". If that's true, then she must be one badass, psychopathic bitch, to be dragging zombies around and grabbing a katana. A pretty cool idea, dragging those mannequins around.



I love me some Taiga, I won't deny that. Before I watched "Toradora", Taiga has already been appearing in multiple cosplay events prior to this year's "Cosfest", and I say that's great. "Toradora" is an old anime now, but its great in so many ways...its practically timeless. Simple and beautiful, I like it.




I had to take this, I mean, come on, HOW CAN I NOT?! I loved "Tales Of Graces F", its one of the few RPGs of late that has gotten me so engrossed. I never expected any "Tales Of" cosplayers during my 2 days of visits, and here I see, f**king Asbel here, with his awesome looking knight outfit. However, this cosplayer is a girl, which I'm totally fine with, because Asbel looks pretty feminine anyway.



Remember the "Blazblue" photo above? Yeah, no event with "Blazblue" cosplayers is complete without everyone's hated ice car spammer, freaking Jin. For some reasons, they seem to pull it off pretty well, so here's a good looking Jin, with his sword behind his back.



Man, Dante just can't catch a break can he? Here we have the awesome "Devil May Cry" trio, and even better, they are in their "Dmc 4" egos, which are in my opinion, the best versions of them. Dante is just chilling out with his ladies, Lady and Trish, which is to be expected from a lady killer such as himself. One of the best group shots, and this made me retain faith of the series staying awesome. F**k new Dante, this is where its at!



Some bulky armored dude with an axe and badass helmet. His axe isn't big enough to suit his massively armored body in my opinion, but the design is sweet, and I won't complain. I have no idea who or what he is (I mistaken him for Darius from LoL at first), but hey, he looks awesome!




Another character I'm don't know (excuse the sun, its freaking bright in this picture), but she looks like someone from "D.grayman" or something that's similar. An alluring pose, but due to my shitty photo shooting you only see half her body (f**k me).



When in doubt, wear something that makes guys flock around you! This girl had tons of guys swarming her and taking pictures, which is justified. Well, she's hot, and I'm gonna guess that she's from "One piece", because the girls there mostly dress like this.



Every year we see vocaloid stuff, and every year we see Mikus and Lukas dressed in frilly outfits trying to look pretty. You've probably seen stuff like this before, so you know what's going on.



More "One Piece" (for some reason people love that anime). Its luffy and Nami (I think), which is a pretty common pairing for "One Piece" cosplayers. Simple, yet this kind of posing usually draws a lot of attention.



F** k my poor photography skills, I'll just tell you what this is if you can't piece out the blurry pieces of info from this picture. Its the vocaloid gang from that one "Senbonzakura" song, which is pretty cool, but completely ruined due to the author's flimsy camera hand. F**k me indeed!



I'm clueless once again, but if I were to take a wild guess, it would be Saber and Irisviel from "Fate/Zero", but of course, due to my stupidity, I might be wrong here. Not a bad duo.



More love for "Sword Art Online". Need someone from Alfhiem online? Here's some Lyfa, without her sword. Still alright though, but since it IS "Sword Art Online", a sword would be nice.



Must...resist....inner lolicon. This girl, is uber cute, though I have no idea what character she is. I have 2 guesses, first is that she is Yoshino from "Date A Live" (she has a rabbit icon imprinted on the back of her jacket), the second is that she is Noire from "Hyperdimension Neptunia". Whoever she is cosplaying as, THIS GIRL IS CUTE!



Now this is made a little clearer. This is probably the "Hentai Ouji" and the "Stony cat". I may be wrong, but I see no other alternative. A cute pair, though I do find cosplayers in school uniforms to be hard to differentiate....



Yo, I heard you liked some league, so here's some Caitlyn, so you can play Caitlyn while you look at this Caitlyn. In all seriousness, I'm glad there's some love for league in this year's "Cosfest", and this Caitlyn is beautiful. Not the best, but her outfit and the like is pretty spot on. The cosplayer herself is pretty cute too.



Yo, them thighs and them knee high boots, I'm a sucker for girls with such fashion. I don't know what game or anime she's from, but she looks badass and she has a gun, so kudos there.



I AM YOUR FATHER! Nuff said. Darth Vader? Bad ass. Love for "Star Wars" is always good, and its nice to see my yearly dose of Darth Vader, makes me happy inside.



WATASHIWA, KAMEN RIDER! He was striking a pose with my friend (had to crop it out), and well, Kamen rider suits that don't suck take a whole lot of effort, so this guy does it right. Good job!



You want some?! This guy looks scary as hell, because of how freaking spiky he looks overall. Still, an outfit like that must take some effort, so he deserves a pat in the back!



This shows how friendly the cosplaying community in Singapore actually is. These 2 Jins don't know each other, but when they crossed each other they just laughed at each other and decided to pose together for the fans. Everyone took a photo, and I was one happy guy. I mean, how often would you see two Jins stare off at each other!?



I don't know this character but I would take a guess that she's from "Touhou". I mean, she's holding an apple, and I'm sure the song "Bad Apple" came to mind when I saw this...



She looks bored. Like -.- bored. "Black Rock Shooter" is awesome, and its unfortunate tat there's not MUCH love for her this time round. Still, at least I found one! And her costume is pretty spot on (except for the cannon not being black)...nice stuff.



Damn, if I see a character from my favorite game, I would definitely ask for a photo. "The World Ends With You" is still my favorite game, and that means Neku is still one awesome dude in my book. Well, this guy plays him just right with that pose alone (though I would love it if he shoved his hands in his pocket).



Yo, Square, WHERE THE F**K IS MY "TYPE-0"!?!!! Seeing another group cosplaying as the class in "Final Fantasy Type-0" makes me cringe inside for 2 reasons. 1, its so awesome, and 2, BECAUSE I STILL DON'T GET TO PLAY IT. F**k you Square I'm looking for an English patch RIGHT NOW.



Girls in tight suits are great, especially if they have nice bodies. Even better if they are Celty from "Durarara!", because I was happy to see my favorite headless horse rider in action. There is no remedy for sexiness, because that's what it is.



This guy.....looks like a gundam. I have no idea what character he is, but judging by his big bulky armor he should be cosplaying as someone badass....



Nope, never seen this character before! Blame me for my inexperience while I admire girls with weapons~~~~~



Now THIS is Yoshino for sure! Yay~~ some awesome for "Date A Live". With her right hand inside her sleeve she just looks cutesy. Plus Yoshinon is there too, so everyone can look at his yapping mouth and derpy face!



Some douche bag put his camera right in front of mine as I took a picture. She looks like she belongs in a fighting game, with that stance and all. Not too sure about this one, sorry~.



Another kimono girl with an umbrella! Why do they all look almost the same? I don't know about this one, and not much comes to mind if I were to guess so I'll just leave this up in the air...



Aha! I know this one! I mean, its freaking Vergil, in all his glory! Yes its the real Vergil, now the cocky douchebag from "DMC". First its Dante and his 2 girls from "Dmc 4", now its "Dmc 3" Vergil! This is a good day for old school "Devil May Cry" fans in Singapore, where cosplayers favor the original look of the characters over the shitty new ones! Well, as Vergil, he does it right, though he needs more bishonen looking hair.



A girl with a sword, this can go ANYWHERE. Though the twin tails do help in differentiating who she is, I'm quite sure I've never played a game or watched an anime with a character that I know looking like this. Still, I like girls with swords.



Levi you pint sized prick! Why'd you gotta steal the spotlight?! More love for "Shingeki No Kyojin", and its the guy that every girl likes, Levi (or Rivalle, I prefer Levi because its easier to say). Not much to say here, he's as you'd expect him to be, a fabulous looking prick.



Holy f**king shit, talk about scary! I don't know what character (or monster) she's cosplaying as, but she nails that spirit of a demonic creature just right! Probably the scariest looking cosplay character this time round. She'd fit right into a horror game as a boss or something....



Hello Suiseiseki, do you like my shitty camera skills? Honestly though, she's not hard to figure out. Nice to see "Rozen Maiden" love as well, especially with the new season coming out. She looks good, but I was hoping to see some of her other sisters.



Squall you fabulous piece of shit, why'd you gotta look so damn awesome?! There's not much to say here, the awesomeness speaks for itself. This guy cosplaying as Squall is one fabuous dude, and he sure looks like he's having fun looking fabulous. Great looking gun blade.



More Lyfa, but I couldn't take a good picture because there were so many hoggers around her. Just take a picture and leave dammit, don't just camp there, switch positions and spam pictures with your fancy ass gigantic cameras! This Lyfa looked better than the other one, just because she's pretty. Not much to say here, everything else is the same.



Ta-da! Some love for "Final Fantasy XIII-2" (the game with a f**king shit ass ending), and its none other than our main heroine Serah. Serah is just Serah, and the bow is really well done. Would have really caught me off guard if she brought Mog along, but meh, this works just fine.



Ciel from "Black Butler", anime's curse for turning all girls into Yaoi fan girls when they watch it. Well if Sebastian was here, there'd be a shitstorm of girls, I'm quite sure that would be the case....Still, as a solo cosplayer, this is good.











Here's a bunch of pictures of a league cosplaying group. As a league player, this made my day. Seeing so many cosplayers cosplaying as league characters and then posing as a group...that was just tear jerking. Plus, the group was HUGE (we have Pantheon, Vayne, Leblanc, Miss fortune, Lux, Ezreal, Malzahar AND MORE), so when they all posed, I had to run around different positions and take pictures from different spots to get the full group. It was impossible to fit everyone into one picture, but man, having all these guys in the group was just awesome....



I don't know what game or anime she's from, but she STRONGLY reminds me of the Witchblade for "C9" because the armor she's wearing looks like an armor for Witchblades in "C9". F**K, MY BRAIN HURTS. Awesome cosplay though, a badass girl always makes me happy.



Freaking guy jumping into my shot JUST as I pressed the shutter, f**king douche bag. Erza is hot, I don't have to watch or read "Fairy Tail" to know that, because doujins provide me with all the fap material of her that I need! This cosplayer does a sexy job, and again, swords make me one happy dude.



Color me clueless, because thats what I was when I took a picture of this cosplayer. This one's up in the air people, because I really don't know!



I'd go with the safe choice and say these are "Saint Seiya" cosplayers. I mean, what other characters would dress like that? Not a fan of the series, but these cosplayers did put some work into their stuff....



Some demon....woman? I can't say anything because I'm completely clueless about this one. At least she knows she looks fabulous in that!



Priestess girls? Eh....I'm not confident enough to make guesses (because saying "Touhou" to everything doesn't simply work), so I'll just leave it in the air. "Tsubasa Chronicle" comes to mind, as the pretty girl in the white robe reminds me of Sakura.



Wow, f**k, that's one intense looking costume man. If you'd want to capture the spirit of True Orge, go to this man, because I bet that he's played enough "Tekken Tag Tournament 2" to figure out how badass True Orge looks. I mean, JUST LOOK AT THIS SHIT, IT LOOKS SO ALIKE ITS CRAZY. He looks like he'll just pound you into the ground and go "KO"!



Inner lolicon, do not emerge. DO NOT EMERGE. Cute girl is cute, and its hard to not like her when she holds that little stuffed toy, looking at all us cameramen so innocently. Definitely a heart warmer!



Yo...is that Riku and Rikku? I mean, it totally looks like it! Riku from "Kingdom hearts 2" on the left, and Rikku from "Final Fantasy X-2" on the right! I'm right aren't I?!?! Or am I just hallucinating?! BRAIN, DON'T F**K WITH ME, I CAN'T HANDLE THIS AWESOMENESS.



Its Kobato from "Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai". At least I think it is. She looks so bored though, Kobato isn't bored! If she did her signature "KEHEHE" pose with her fingers over her eyes that would be PERFECT. Still, this cosplayer's cute, I won't say no.



Its easy to scream Miku at anybody cosplaying as a character with long blue/greenish hair and having a variety of different clothing, because Miku is one cosplaying slut herself (look at how many costumes that woman has!). On a more serious note, if this isn't Miku, I have no idea who she is.




Some weird group shot with that woman from before, a samurai dude and a pirate? Completely mindf**ked here. The samurai guy looks cool at least.



Them sexy legs. Looks like Miku cosplay, but it probably isn't. However, having no clue about the character she's cosplaying doesn't mean I don't want a picture, wouldn't let up a pair of sexy legs :D.



Eh, I'm clueless once again. Fancily dressed napoleon looking dude...if I were to take a guess I would say that he belongs to "Hetalia", because that's where all the fangirls are at and that's where guys dress like this. Not bad overall, he has the costume down. 



I never watched it, but I'm quite sure its the main girl from "xxxHolic", an anime with some weird ass animation and visual styles. The cosplay looks pretty good, but you probably can't get the most out of it because of my shitty camera skillz.



Gah, I'm just gonna say its Rin and Len, because I know of no other blonde twins that are a guy and a girl. Pretty sexy clothing, I'd say, the girl on the right (Rin, I guess) is pretty badass looking.



Well, only 1 character in the entire world looks like that, and its Tao! As in, Taokaka, from "Blazblue". Great  to see more love for the game, and well, she looks just like Tao should. I can't remember which year, but I did remember seeing an awesome Taokaka cosplay before.....



Dude, its a good day to be a "Final Fantasy" fan, because after all these years, I finally found a Cecil cosplay! Its paladin Cecil, which is great, and he definitely looks the part! How amazing would it be if one day a dark knight Cecil cosplayer and a paladin Cecil cosplayer just stood side by side and posed for the fans.... 



Ah, never watched it, but I'm damn sure that its "Chobits". Never knew the characters, but well, these girls look sweet together!



Erm...a pair of modern samurai people? I mean, they hold katanas and stuff, but the clothes they wear sure don't seem to belong in the olden days. Cool combo, if I only I knew who they were.



Another fabulously armored dude cloaked in gold. I don't know who he is, so I'm going to make guesses again, and I would say "Saint Seiya"...because I know of no other series where freaks cloak themselves in shiny armor and still try to look fabulous. Well, he DOES look fabulous.



Errr.....bunnies? Bunnies in punk clothing? You lost me there guys, but hey, if you guys did your characters right, then I stand by your decisions! Not a bad duo.



Now this I didn't expect. Its Kurou Usagi from that one anime with a ridiculously long name...."Mondaijitachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Desu yo", there we go. Didn't expect to see any cosplayers from that anime at all! Great to see some love and variety in characters!



Well we have here a cute looking silver haired samurai girl. What? Her name? I don't know! Once again this is another that I'm completely clueless about, but who cares. She's cute.




Hoho, kimono girls again (nothing against them, its just that there are such a handful of kimono girls). Well, she looks good overall, so I've got nothing to complain about.



I'm buying a 3DS just for this game, so don't question me. Its the protagonists from "Project X Zone", Kogoro and Mii. Its great to see exposure for these characters even though their game just came out in English about a week ago! They must have prepared for these costumes since the Japanese release I guess. Cool stuff!



Top 5 cosplays of Cosfest 2013



I'm pleasantly surprised actually. Most Lightning cosplays I have seen are of older women and they pulled it off well. This is actually the first time I've seen a younger looking girl do it, and well, I'm stunned. Never have I seen Lightning actually look cute...this might be the first. Well, what else can I say? I'm captivated, I love it! Probably among the best of Lightning cosplays I have seen, in my opinion.


Dude, no homo, but this is one "pretty" guy. I know, that's not the right word to describe a male, but still, this is what fan girls always say. "Pretty boy", I'm quite sure that's what's used to describe Vlad, and that was probably what Riot had in mind designing Vlad. That pose is like saying "you mad bro?", which is both an insult and an awesome job. In game, Vlad is a trolling master, with troll pools he makes people rage...this is the perfect representation of Vlad in a cosplayer. He's got the looks, costume, attitude and feel to pull it off perfectly....bravo.

Now I don't want to fight Vlad in league even more.....


LOCK AND LOADED!! Well, nothing to say here, let the greatness flow into your heads right now.....Done? Okay. Raiden, is one badass looking mother f**ker already. Having a cosplayer pull it off must be hard, btu well, this guy did it. It isn't a perfect costume, but I'd give him 80/100, which is already amazing considering how hard it is to pull off a costume like that. Mad props to the dude in this, and enjoy the fans taking photos of you. Now I gotta play some "Metal Gear Rising:Revengance" to cool off some of the awesomeness in my mind......


Nope, its here. I can't resist anymore, my inner lolicon is coming. YEAH! What's cuter than Annie from league? How about Panda Annie? Its the freaking cutest thing I have ever seen in league? What's better than that. A cosplayer of Panda Annie that ACTUALLY LOOKS AS CUTE. BUAH! NONSENSE! Well, just let it all soak into your brains for a second. This cosplayer, she's a little girl, probably not as young as the real Annie, but she's small and short...which makes me tingle inside.

 F**k I must sound like a complete pedophile right now. Ignore me while I go drown myself in shame.....



Bah I don't have to say anything here don't I? You all must already know that "Dark Souls" is probably in among top 5 favorite games this generation (maybe even of all time), so I obviously fanboyed like an idiot when I saw an actual Artorias cosplayer. He might not be the perfect representation, but he does an amazing job! Enough to make me drool (not really, but still). Now if the sword was longer, this would have been the perfect cosplay.





.......Yo you still here? Great job sticking through all of it! That's an insane amount of pictures for one post, but well, it might have been worth it for you (hopefully). I didn't buy much this time, as I already have a shitload of unused anime goodies from previous conventions that I couldn't find uses for...Well, what did you think? Two days of pictures into one post isn't a bad idea if you ask me. Whelp, that's it for now!


Usual content continues with the next post....so, I'll see you guys then. 

PEACE!




Opening songs
OP 1 - Be my friend (Marina Inoue, Kanae Ito, Kana Hanazawa, Yuka Iguchi, Nozomi Yamamoto)

Ending songs
ED 1 - Bokura No Tsubasa (Marina Inoue, Kanae Ito, Kana Hanazawa, Yuka Iguchi, Nozomi Yamamoto)

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Episodes: 12



Yeah its back, you know it is. Given how much fans Sena ha-I mean, the series has, its almost a guaranteed  that we would be getting season 2. "Boku Wa Tomodachi Sukunai NEXT" is the direct sequel to the original and looks to create the greatness that the original did. Honestly, like when I review most sequels, I would say the same thing. Since the overall feel and style is similar, if you liked the original, chances are that the sequel is going to keep you entertained as well. The neighborhood friends club is still silly as ever, and they never cease to impress when they are screwing around like a bunch of idiots. This time even more characters join the fray....as if things aren't crazy enough.


You know it! (Note:She really does say this)

The first season had a really good opening that was incredibly catchy. In season two, not so much. I mean, its still catchy, but it comes nowhere near what the first season had to offer. "Be my friend" is by all the seiyuus of the girls in the club, and while it retains this happy, buoyant, light hearted atmosphere, it's catchy-ness has gone down quite a bit, in my opinion anyway. The ending however, is better in my opinion. It's light hearted as hell, but it has a little bit of the season one opening's catchy feel to it, which makes it a lot more tolerable.


Rating: 8.0/10


Most sequels don't screw up what they're supposed to, most of them also don't really improve a whole lot, so they end being mostly the same, whether its good or not. "Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai" was already really enjoyable during the first time round, having a season 2 merely just gives us more of that awesomeness.  Everyone is still as quirky as before, some even quirkier (we see different sides of Rika and Yukimura), and it doesn't let up. From start to finish everyone will be doing ridiculous stuff, and if you liked season one's style of comedy, this will make you laugh too. To make things better, there are more characters thrown into the mix, like Maria's over the top sister, a new girl named Aoi Yusa (SHE'S SOOOOO CUTE!) and our new student council present, which we didn't get to see much of (but hey, at least she's voiced by Yoko Hikasa).


They just look like they got raped HARD

Kodaka is still Kodaka. Yozora is still Yozora and Sena is still Sena. Everyone stayed the same, despite what happened after season 1. Yozora has short hair now, and life goes on in the club as usual. The club policy still stays, where members join to make friends. Sena still plays her eroge, Yozora reads books quietly, and Yukimura just stands there being a maid. Maria pops over from time to time, though we get to see her bustier sister this time round (she's basically Maria with boobs and ass). Kobato is just kobato, and she just does Kobato things, which is not attending the club activities and only turning up when she has to. Will Kodaka actually bond with the club members and make friends this time round? Well, a lot happens this season, so keep your eyes peeled.


Season 2 is a blast....well its not like season 1 was unappealing anyway. Like most sequels, the sequel is BOUND to suck you in if you enjoyed the original. "Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai NEXT" is a wonderful sequel, where nothing really happens except for screwing around. I was hoping some of the enw characters appeared more, because they were really funny and needed more screen time than they were given. Other than all that, its the same great show with new episodes, so why the hell not?


Peace.

"Persona 4".....need I say more? This game has been getting a shit ton of love from Atlus lately, and I can't complain, because it's that f**king good. "Persona 4:Golden" for the Vita? Hell yes. "Persona 4:The Animation"? Oh hell yeah! "Persona 4:Arena"? Now you are just pushing it, take all my f**king money Atlus! Even though the game itself released way back in 2008, does that make it any less irrelevant or outdated? Well, of course not.

*SPOILERS*

Bitch please I'm fabulous


Name: Yu Narukami
Traits: Versatility, Wild card
Rating: 10/10


Same deal as Minato/Hamuko or any SMT protagonist ever made. You shape him to what you want to be, and because of that, he is badass. He can equip multiple personas, can switch them in battle, and can change the entire tide of the battle by just being there. As long as you got the personas to back it up, your main character is pretty much an unstoppable catalyst to carry your team to victory.



Captain resentment!



Name: Yosuke Hanamura
Traits: Wind attributed, Physical DPS, Buffer
Rating: 8/10


Yosuke is actually pretty damn good from start to finish. He has some great stats in his persona, though speed is probably the main growth focus. His magic and physical damage can be pretty good, but most of his end game skills mostly spell him as an assassin type character with fast, hard hitting physical moves. Early on he's really good because he has Dia, and during such early levels, he's one of the few that can cover your party when they need it.

He has buffs (mostly speed buffs) which help, and his persona is wind type. So say goodbye to Yosuke when you see Ziodynes come in. Using dual kunais give him points for style, and since he is fast, he'll make a good anchor man. And hey! He's your best friend, and one that's actually not too big of a loser/douche bag, so he's plenty likable.


I'd stand by her decision, meat is the best 


Name: Chie Satonaka
Traits: Ice attributed, Physical DPS
Rating: 6/10


Chie is straight in your face, that's what she is. However, Kanji is also straight in your face, and he hits easily 2 times harder. Chie thrives on physical DPS, so does Kanji, but he does it better. Both Kanji and Chie suck in the magic department, and because Kanji has so much damage, Chie is a little obsolete. You pretty much have to use her early on, then when you get Kanji, you can swap her out. Her early damage isn't bad, but really, she gets outclassed.

She is ice type, but since her magic damage is pathetic, it doesn't really serve much more than a weakness and a tool to knock enemies down, it isn't a reliable source of damage. Since she's based off martial arts, she just kicks people in the face, nothing too cool there. However, she is a funny person, character wise, I do like her quite a bit. Oh, she gets smoked by the Yukiko boss, HARD.


Yukiko overload!



Name: Yukiko Amagi
Traits: Fire attributed, Magical DPS, Healing
Rating: 9/10


Yukiko is awesome. She has no physical damage whatsoever, and she is pretty frail compared to the rest of the cast, BUT, her magical side is super effective. She's a character based completely off magic (the opposite of Kanji), and she brings great damage to the table. Because of her ridiculous damage, she gets to wreck people, and hey, if your team is ever in a jam, salvation will save your ass BIG time come late game. Healing plus insane magic DPS = instant staple for your team.

I did mention she's fragile right? She's fire type, so throw an ice cube at her and she's done for. In fact, most physical based bosses/enemies can smoke her really hard if they get lucky and throw multiple hits on her in one turn. She fights with a fan, stupid, but it's better than some of the cast. I dated her on my first play through, because she's basically a sexier version of Mio from "K-on".



Dafuq you looking at?!



Name: Kanji Tatsumi
Traits: Lightning attributed, Physical DPS
Rating: 8/10


You gotta love Kanji. He may be gay, but he's pretty damn cool. Having easily the highest health/defensive growth in the game, he'll probably be the last to fall in a fight (unless you neglect him in healing you selfish piece of shit). He's basically the Aegis of "Persona 4", with SOME magic. He brings insane, godly DPS to the table, Primal force late game kicks the living daylights out of EVERY (almost) boss in the game. He will just beat the f**k out of shadows when it comes to physical attacks.

Magic? WHO NEEDS MAGIC. He has some lightning magic because he is lightning attributed, but he has probably the lowest magic growth in the game, so he does next to no damage on the magic side. He fights with.....a steel chair? He's a bro, probably one of the most well characterized characters in the game if I do say so myself.



Kumakumakumakumakumakumakumakuma



Name: Teddie
Traits: Ice attributed, Magical DPS, Healer, Buffer
Rating: 8/10


Gotta love good ol' Teddie. Other than being a lovable fluffy bear thing, he fights pretty damn well, better than most of the cast. If I'm not mistaken, he is 2nd to Kanji in defensive stats, so he won't be falling in a fight soon. I'll put him under the "tanky caster" classification, as he is mostly a mage type. He does bring some good magic DPS to a fight, but lets not forget that he heals as well, with "Mediarahan", in fact. So if you pair him with Yukiko, you get a max survival team. Lets not forget buffs, his defensive buffs are pretty good in too.

Being an ice attributed bear, fire does scare him a little bit and might burn off his fur. Since he IS tanky, he won't go down too fast even if hit by weaknesses. His physical DPS is pretty bad, but that isn't his fort anyway. And you probably know this, but I think Teddie is awesome, no hating on the bear.



Please let this be canon


Name: Naoto Shirogane
Traits: Dark attributed, Light attributed, Magical DPS, Physical DPS
Rating: 7/10


Naoto is hands down, the sexiest character in "Persona 4". We haven't really seen much confirmation about it yet (when she goes into the female school uniform...DAYUUUM), but I'm going to let my fantasies and the crazy amount of rampart fan art about Naoto go wild. Naoto is a weird character. She is like a mix of Koro and Ken from Persona 3. She has light and dark (which are incredibly luck based) magic skills, she can dish out good physical DPS (You can't look down on that Vorpal blade) and magic DPS (Megidolaon? Yes please).

 But while she has all these cool abilities, none of that really stands out to their maximum potential. Her physical DPS can't match that of Kanji's or Chie's, its Yosuke level at most. And since she only has Megido type spells, she's more of a late game character, to use against bosses with no elemental weaknesses. Also, yes, Naoto has a sexy personality, you can't deny that. WE NEED A GAME WHERE SHE ACTUALLY DRESSES LIKE A GIRL. HOW ABOUT A SCHOOL UNIFORM DLC COSTUME FOR HER IN P4:ARENA EH ATLUS.


Okay here we go.

My Party
-------------------------------------

Yu
Yukiko
Teddie
*Yosuke/Kanji/Naoto

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

Chie tier
-------------------------------------

Chie

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

Lol not to hate on Chie though, but I actually switch between all characters. Normally for my final slot I'd go for Yosuke, because he has great stats overall. If I'm against most end game bosses, I'd use Kanji, as for bosses without weaknesses, Naoto is great because lol Megidolaon.

Peace.






Opening songs
OP 1 - Jojo ~Sono Chi No Sadame~ (Hiroaki "Tommy" Tominaga)
OP 2 - Bloody Stream (Coda)

Ending songs
ED 1 - Roundabout (Yes)

Genre: Action

Episodes: 26



I've been watching a shit-ton of anime that's mostly been the same stuff over and over, then finally something comes by that catches my attention, looks stupid as hell, and I decide "Why not? I've got nothing to lose!". And that my friends, is the love story of how I met "Jojo". It looks stupid! It has this crazy, ridiculous, over the top visual style! And its characters look ridiculously un-proportioned and overly manly that it looks so f**king stupid! "But dude, does that mean you hate it?" Hell. The. F**k. No! In fact, I love it! Its because it looks so different that it perhaps drew me in. I've been so accustomed to how most anime look like nowadays that nothing really draws me in and immerses me anymore, but sometimes shit like this catches me off guard and its actually pretty f**king good! I don't know how to describe it, but "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure" is a blast from the past, taking the famous style of 80s anime and making it try to appeal to the present age. So how does Hirohiko Araki's manga look like on screen in today's modern standards?


The amount of f**ks given.

Lets talk songs first. The songs used in "Jojo" are CRAZY! They range from overly manly, ridiculously fabulous and groovy as hell. The first opening song, "Jojo ~Sono Chi No Sadame~" by Hiroaki "Tommy" Tominaga, is actually the perfect representation of a song to what "Jojo" actually is, and that "JOOJOOO" scream during the chorus is just brilliant. Its a manly song, and that's what the first story ark is...MANLY! Though its not something I'd listen to on my spare time, it just fits as an opening.


Now the 2nd opening song is something that I like! "Bloody Stream" by Coda is too fabulous to actually hate, and to top it off, it has some catchy tunes that sound super sexy. While Coda sounds like a complete 180 of what Hiroaki Tominaga sounds like, it perfectly describes the second story ark, which is of course fabulous (come on, look at the stances of the pillar men, how can you say no)! The ending is actually an old song, "Roundabout" by Yes, which is an English band. Yes, this is an English song, and for some reason, I love it even though it sounds super retro (must be "Get Lucky"'s fault, god dammit Daft Punk).


Rating: 8.5/10


"Jojo's Bizarre Adventure" is exactly what you'd expect when you first look at it. Its....bizarre! The characters look stupidly crazy, the action is over-the-top, and everyone just wants to fight in insane ways! It may look stupid, but that's the thing, its the unique style that "Jojo" brings to the table that probably no other anime can ever do. It stays truthful to the manga (which I have never read, god look at the amount of chapters), and fans can expect what to expect. Characters shout on the top of their lungs, they bash each others brains in, they talk loudly to each other some more, then continue to bash each other's brains in. There are two parts to the anime, each describing a different story ark. Part 1 has a more medieval feel, while part 2 is all about the early psuedo world war 1/civil war period. Part 2 is better than 1, but both are enjoyable in their own ways, each with their ridiculous characters.


Joseph knows it all.

The story talks about Jonathan Joestar, a noble Englishman that lives a normal life like anyone else. One day, his father got into a bad situation, and a man of the Brando family saved his life, being the nobleman that he was, Jonathan's father wanted to repay the favor no matter what. Years later that man died and sent his son, Dio Brando, to live in the Joestar household. Dio, despising the young naive boy that was Jonathan, decided to destroy his life. Dio discovers a stone mask in the Joestar household that amuses him, and decides to plan for an ultimate moment to exploit it...Jonathan soon discovers its dangerous powers, and decides to destroy it. In part 2, his grandson, Joseph Joestar, must continue his mission, but in a much more desperate situation against a much stronger enemy...


As you can see, I gave "Jojo" a really high score, under my "Recommended" zone. However, I'll make this an exception. I really like "Jojo", but its not something I can recommend to anyone. Some people I know just cannot stand the visual style and get turned off immediately, while others think that the characters look too stupid. Its dumb to force someone to watch something, but they just don't know what they are missing, because "Jojo" is a masterpiece....a DIFFERENT kind of masterpiece that not everyone can enjoy.


Peace.


Monday, 1 July 2013

Misao

Gamespot Score: n/a

My Score: 7.3


(+) Pros: - Creepy school atmosphere, - FULL of unexpected scares, - Freedom to explore and how you want to solve the problems presented to you, - Surreal characters (almost like "corpse party" in many ways), - Unexpected and interesting villain, - Quick travel is ass saving.

(-) Cons: - Way short (shorter than most other good pixel horror games), - Solutions to some problems can be a little bit too hard to look for, - Plenty of cheap deaths (save often).


Gameplay time: Less than 5 hours





Well I did mention sometime ago in one of my posts that there was a time where I spammed the hell of out translated pixel horror games. Games like "Ib", "The Witch's house" and so on. I've got plenty of them under my belt now, at least the ones that have been translated by "vgperson" (seriously, she's amazing at what she does). "Misao", in my opinion, is probably one of the weaker pixel horror games, NOT that its bad by any means, its still fun (I find most of these games fun, except "Paranoic", f**k that, it was boring). It has a less refined style compared to other pixel horror games, its in some ways, a lot shorter, and there is less environmental variety presented. However, it has what you're looking for, horror. There are plenty of scares, and its definitely not something that you can breeze through without having some jumps yourself.


Miso is actually story driven (almost all pixel horrors are, except for "The Witch's House"), and it sounds like a pretty cliche high school horror flick's script, but it does its job well. You play as Aki, a female redhead that attends high school. Some time ago, Aki's best friend, Misao, died out of an unexpected incident. Since then Aki has been having weird visions of Misao asking her to find her. One day in school, everyone was gossiping about Misao, when shit finally hit the fan. The entire school grounds got caught up in a curse, and Aki wakes up alone to find a mysterious man who claims to be the student council president. He tells Aki that the school has been cursed by Misao, and the only way to fight the curse, is to find body parts of Misao scattered across the school grounds...

Erm, no...

For a horror game to take place in a school environment....don't you think that reminds you of "Corpse Party"? However, these 2 games are very much more different than you think, at least in terms of the atmosphere. Both nail it just right, but while "Corpse Party" takes on the environment as an old, degraded school with chipped wooden floors, cracked walls and broken windows everywhere, "Misao"'s school is a more modern one, with full out flourished cement wall, floors, ceilings and classrooms with sliding doors. In a way, the atmosphere in "Misao" is creepy because its unexpected. There is nobody lingering in the hallways, and there is always an unexpected aroma of death that may just get you during any time of the game if you take a wrong turn.


Speaking of deaths and scares, this game has plenty. Pick up a note on the floor and suddenly this creepy ass girl jumps at your face screaming, giving you a good jump off your seat. After that, you die. Open a random door in a bathroom and this little girl with a cute face greets you...only to have that transform into a typical anime sadistic/evil face and eventually kills you. How about entering a room to only hear a weird singing voice, and have a ghostly figure tailing you? Having a dead body fall from the ceiling and then having it suddenly cling onto you is scary as well, for it ends your life shortly after. You can never know what to expect, for there are scares lurking in almost every corner.


Death! Death everywhere!

Unlike most pixel horror games that follow a rather linear game progression style, where you just solve problems/puzzles and move from one area type to the next, the world of "Misao" allows you freedom in how you want to solve your problems. Instead of multiple areas, "Misao" only has one big school, a huge playground for you to test your and explore your problems. Many areas in the game are immediately accessible from the get go, and you go wherever you want to explore/look for problems/solutions to existing problems. The characters are also pretty surreal, like you can relate to their despair. While they are not near the levels of complexity from characters in "Corpse Party", you can feel for them when they DIE AND DROWN IN THEIR OWN BLOOD.


The game also has an interesting villain. I'm not one to spoil, but he's pretty much there to f**k with everything and since he is the cause of everything, you can't help but hate him. While many would see it coming from a mile away, it still boils down to the very moment when he reveals himself and you go "I KNEW IT". Another good thing to note is that since the game world is pretty big, and that you'll be backtracking almost all the time, fast travel is a freaking godsend. Many similar games do not have fast travel, and "Misao" having it really saves you time from a lot of mindless backtracking (though you can only fast travel to certain predestined areas).



The cheapest f**king death in the game.

Like most pixel horror games (once again), "Misao" is short, even shorter than most. Even on my first playthrough WITHOUT a guide (okay I had to use a guide when I was searching the classrooms for plants), I clocked in about close to 2 hours (yes, plus the extra epilogue chapter). And yes, this was the only pixel horror game that I had to resort to a guide, because some of the solutions to problems are SOOO hard to spot, its almost impossible. You need to be a king genius to see through some of these puzzles. Also, I did mention tons of scares, and that these usually lead to deaths. How am I supposed to know when I'm going to get jump scared? That's the fun part! Why do you have to punish us for it? As much scares in this game there are, there are an equal amount of cheap deaths waiting. Save often, don't regret.


Pixel horror games are free anyway, so there's no reason to not play "Misao". In my opinion, its the worst of the fun ones, BUT ITS STILL FUN NONETHELESS. The only one you shouldn't play is "Paranoic" (I'm only listing the games on vgperson's site), the rest are good. If you want a pseudo "Corpse Party" feel, "Misao" will fill all your "high school horror experience" needs! Just don't expect to be entertained for too long, because this game lasts as long as "Portal" at most.



Happy gaming!