Gamer--freakz

Opening Songs
OP 1 - FOOL THE WORLD (Minori Chihara)
OP 2 - Breakthrough (Jam Project)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - AXIS (STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION)
ED 2 - RAN (ASUKA)

Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Episodes: 24



"Nobunaga The Fool" seems like a pretty interesting anime at first. It takes place during the olden Japanese war period, it involves both eastern and western heroes of old, it takes a spin on these old heroes and makes them feel fresh. There are gigantic, well designed mecha doing battle, and there was potential for a LOT of badass-ery in this one. Unfortunately...it just doesn't live up to the hype. There were a lot of questionable decisions made, and the entire anime's story line just goes from okay to bad to not so good....to completely retarded. You will question many things that the characters do in this show, and while the show does start off decently well, it only goes downhill after the halfway point. Hell, it'll start to not make sense BEFORE the 2nd half even starts. It does a good job in portraying the characters in how they're supposed to be like IN history, but that just makes things worst. In the end, watching the entire series will indeed, make you feel like a fool.

At least Jeanne is sexy.

To credit the anime, it does have some good opening and ending songs. The first opening song is "FOOL THE WORLD" by Minori Chihara. You know me, I love Minori Chihara songs, and this one felt just right up her alley. It feels a lot like "Terminated", but a little bit less badass. It's got all the tension and awesomeness to make it sound worthy of an opening song. Much like the first opening, the 2nd opening, "Breakthrough" by Jam Project, is pretty good as well. While its does not have as much impact as the first opening, it does have this intense buildup that goes well with the opening animations (Nobunaga does look somewhat weird in this one though).


The first ending theme is "AXIS" by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION. Its hip and funky, it has a fancy beat to boot. Then we have the 2nd opening, "RAN" by ASUKA, which is easily the only "bad" song among the 4 themes used. It just doesn't bring anything memorable like the other songs IMO.



Rating: 6.0/10



It just wasn't very entertaining. Honestly, even though I said that it started off decently, its only DECENTLY. Throughout the entire series, there weren't many exciting segments, and you really don't give a fig about the characters because most of them feel so...insignificant. And during the parts where you're supposed to care...you really don't. The story is pretty uninteresting from the get go, and the only character that was entertaining was Da Vinci (lol, this is true btw).  What about romance? Dude, THERE IS NO ROMANCE IN THIS! The character development for our main females and the way they fell for Nobunaga just made no sense. Its even more mind boggling when he returns the feelings...because he shows almost no interest in them throughout the entire damn anime. The mecha action scenes are pretty well done and do feel badass, but that was pretty much it. The mechas are cool, but you really don't give a damn about the people piloting them, AND THOSE GUYS ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS. And of course, its all made worse when they present to us the ending....that was, pretty much, one of the most WTF endings I've seen in anime, ever. It only amplified the amount of question marks that were already in my head.

Apparently THIS is where all the budget went.

The story stars the 3 stooges, Oda Nobunaga, Akechi Mitsuhide and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. These 3 are childhood friends, and they witnessed with their very own eyes, the art of war that decimates their kingdom, the eastern star. They vowed to change the world, under Nobunaga's will. While all this was happening, back in the unified western star, the child of propchy, Jeanne Kaguya D'arc, was approached by Da Vinci. Together, they set out for the eastern star to seek the savior king, which Jeanne saw in her vision. Of course, on their way to the eastern star, Da Vinci and Jeanne decide to jump ship, and fly to the eastern star on their own with a western vessel, marking them as traitors. Immediately, they are pursued with giant war armors from the west. When they crash landed on the eastern star, Nobunaga is nearby with Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi. He decides to investigate the fallen ship...and finds a giant war armor. After synchronizing himself with it and using it to slay opposing western giant armors, Da Vinci gives it to him. Nobunaga names it...The Fool.


Yeah...I don't usually berate animes like this, but I just had to do this. It has been awhile since I've watched an anime that I genuinely DID NOT LIKE, because "Nobunaga The Fool" just felt really stupid. With the only redeeming factor being the nice mecha fight scenes, there's really little reason to watch this, UNLESS you are a MASSIVE mecha nut. Otherwise, you're better off watching something else, because watching this  to the end only makes you look like a fool.


Peace.

Kikuko Inoue

Just call her "Onee-san", because Kikuko Inoue is probably the most motherly or elder sisterly regarded voice actress in the Japanese voice acting industry. She voiced some of the most angelic, mother/elder sister figure type characters, all with that deep, mature voice that she portrays. Of course, even though she's almost in her fifties now, that doesn't stop her from sounding 20 if she needs to. Valkyrie (Valkyrie No Densetsu) and Phillia (Tales Of Destiny) are pretty much the kindred souls that can do no wrong. Cecile (Code Geass) is more of a leader figure, Nanase sensei (Chunibyo series) is a kind and angelic teacher that has her own sense of responsibility. Eleanor (Zero No Tsukaima) has a demonic temper, but can be a loving sister if she needs to be, the exact opposite of Akira (Baka To Test To Shokanju), who's a total bro-con that tries to seduce her brother at all times. Tycho (Devil Survivor 2:The Animation) shows us that she can do an energetic, lively girl no problem, and I-no (Guilty Gear) is just the exact opposite of all of her roles, a total sadistic, bad-ass bitch.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Valkyrie (Valkyrie No Dentetsu), Phillia (Tales Of Destiny), Cecile (Code Geass)

2nd row: Tyco (Devil Survivor 2:The Animation), Nanase (Chunibyo Series), Eleanor (Zero No Tsukaima)

3rd row: I-no (Guilty Gear Series), Akira (Baka To Test To Shokanju)




Aoi Yuki





Aoi Yuki was one of the few voice actresses with a loli voice that I used to absolutely adore, until many others came up. Still, I do love her voice, she's pretty versatile when it boils down to it, and for someone her age, I think she's doing a pretty fantastic job with all of her characters. I think she has a fantastic voice for young, energetic girls. Platinum (Blazblue Series) both fit the bill here Iris (Pokemon Best Wishes Series), and while Kohina (Black Bullet) is rather jumpy as well, she's has a nice, sinister touch to her that makes her super evil at the same time. She makes a great magical girl with a shounen hero personality with characters like Hibiki (Senki Zesshou Symphogear Series) and Madoka (Puella Magi Madoka Magica). She does well as a soft spoken high school girl with Mio (The World God Only Knows), as well as a technical genius with Akira (Valvrave:The Liberator), and she can be plain old, ditsy and clueless if she wants to with Meme (Soul Eater Not!). Then there's the devilish little sister with Komachi (My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU), and Jubei (Hyakka Ryouran Series), whose a badass mix of two personalities.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Mio (The World God Only Knows), Iris (Pokemon Best Wishes), Hibiki (Senki Zesshou Symphogear)

2nd row: Akira (Valvrave: The Liberator), Kohina (Black Bullet), Meme (Soul Eater Not!)

3rd row: Platinum (Blazblue Series), Jubei (Hyakka Ryouran Series), Madoka (Madoka Magica Series), Komachi (My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU)




Rina Hidaka






When it comes to lolis, she's got you covered, almost more than anybody else, really. Rina Hidaka just has a voice that's perfect for the likes of young girls, and she's got a lot to show for it. Her more famous roles come from the incredibly energetic lolis, Enju (Black Bullet) and Last Order (To Aru Majutsu No Index Series), both of which are also capable of insane mood swings. Airi (Ro-Kyu-Bu) is soft spoken, kind, and really shy, while Silica (Sword Art Online) is a typical representation of a damsel in distress (who's also a loli). Nagisa (Strike The Blood) is a perfect middle school little sister, while Anko (Tamako Market) is an even cuter little sister. Hozuki (Galilei Donna) is a fired up little genius girl who wants to explore endless possibilities, while the Red King (Accel World) just wants to fool people with that fake smile of hers and smash all her opponents into bits.



Characters from left to right


1st row: Airi (Ro-Kyu-Bu), Red King (Accel World), Silica (Sword Art Online)

2nd row: Enju (Black Bullet), Last Order (To Aru Majutsu No Index)

3rd row: Hozuki (Galilei Donna), Nagisa (Strike The Blood), Anko (Tamako Market)




Rikiya Koyama





Here comes the boss! Rikiya Koyama has one of the manliest voices in the voice acting industry, and while his characters range from weird to badass to heroic, its this strange diversity that makes him what he is. He has the perfect voice for villain type characters IMO, especially the calm, cool and collected ones. Kagetane (Black Bullet) is freaking perfect, being a villain who's always unpredictable, and he currently might be my favorite character of his at the moment. Kiritsugu (Fate/Zero) is a badass main character AND father, Azazel (High School DxD New) is just a swaggy old man who likes to joke around, but can really mean business if he gets serious. Then we've got the serious fellas, like Ronaldo (Devil Survivor 2:The Animation) and Mishima (Coppelion), or the bloodthirsty warlord who always craves a challenge, Takeda (Nobunaga The Fool). Kira (Jojo Series) is yet again another delicious villain, while Stark (Bleach) is just a freakishly strong fella who doesn't give a f**k about anything else. Shinigami (Soul Eater) is just troll as hell, no words are needed.



Characters from left to right


1st row: Kagetane (Black Bullet), Kiritsugu (Fate/Zero), Azazel (High School DxD New), Shinigami (Soul Eater)

2nd row: Mishima (Coppelion), Ronaldo (Devil Survivor 2:The Animation)

3rd row: Stark (Bleach), Takeda (Nobunaga The Fool)

Center: Kira (Jojo Series)




Maaya Uchida





There's really not much of an ongoing trait for Maaya Uchida, I mean, she voices all freaking types of characters, its crazy. I guess if its something she's good at...its pretty much everything. She can do innocent, soft spoken high school girls like Rea (Sankarea). She can go full retard, while still being shy and soft spoken with Rikka (Chunibyo Series). Then there's the occasional cocky high school girl that can put up a fight with some epic ability with Frenda (To Aru Kagaku No Railgun S), or Irina (High School DxD New). If you need an older sister archetype, she's got it too with Minori (Outbreak Company). Need a crazy, stupid and illogical girl who just can't shut up about her jokes? Mao (Gj-Bu) has got you covered! How about a typical, serious main heroine who's in high school? Rei (Vividred Operation) is here for all your heroine needs. Badass, merciless slayers? Zero (Drakengard 3) says hi. Then we have my 2 favorite characters from her, Hajime (Gatchaman Crowds) who's cheerful and enthusiastic as all hell, as well as Hiyori (Noragami), who's a funny girl with lots of personality.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Rea (Sanka Rea), Rikka (Chunibyo Series), Hajime (Gatchaman Crowds), Frenda (To Aru Kagaku No Railgun S)

2nd row: Rei (Vividred Operation), Irina (Highschool DxD New), Mao (Gj Bu)

3rd row: Minori (Outbreak Company), Hiyori (Noragami), Zero (Drakengard 3)



Peace.

Opening Songs
OP 1 - BEAUTIFUL WORLD (Joanna Koike)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Promise (Rena Maeda)

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Episodes: 12



Shoujo animes may not be on my preferred list of genres, but once in awhile, something great comes and snags me away into a world of lovey dovey moments. Such is "The World Is Still Beautiful". To put it simply, its a romance anime with a female lead. There are a good mix of characters here and there, but the focus on romance here can be a little bit overwhelming, whether in a good way or not, I'll leave it you to decide. For me, this was indeed, a beautiful experience. The character growth for our two main leads is excellent throughout, and there are plenty of emotional moments. What's starts off as a forced engagement soon becomes a special relationship between two, very different individuals. If you are a fan of love stories, this is a hard one to pass up.

The king and the queen.

The opening song is "BEAUTIFUL WORLD" by Joanne Koike. Its a really energetic song which is befitting of an opening (though its not really my style), and it pretty much sums up the entire anime. Its energetic, its good fun, but at the same time, its lovely. The ending theme is "Promise" by Rena Maeda, the seiyuu of Nike. Its a pretty generic ending theme, though there is some decent emotional feel in there. I just don't like how the entire ending is just a shot of a sleeping Livius.



Rating: 8.0/10



I really enjoyed it, a lot more than I thought I would have, honestly. The characters are all really charming, our main leads grow a whole ton throughout the entire show, and the hardships that they face are all quite...real. There's a lot to like about the star couple here, and they both are so different from one another. Of course, them being different only adds on to other factors, especially comedy (the show is surprisingly funny). The story is surprisingly pretty captivating, with some pretty interesting arks. The pacing is fantastic, with each increasing ark becoming more and more important to Nike and Livi's relationship. The supporting cast is great, and while there isn't a lot of action going on, the constant sense of hardship only makes each character seem more important in each episode. Also, while Nike is pretty much a pretty dense princess (I guess are main characters are pretty dumb, even if they're girls), her romantic feelings toward Livi are pretty heartwarming.

Lay off, Luna.

Princess Nike is not what you'd expect out of a princess at all. She hails from the principality of the rain, a continent far from where anyone has heard off...especially if you're from the sun kingdom. One day, the emperor of the sun kingdom, the tyrant that was known for uniting the world with his treacherous tactics, wants a princess from the principality of rain to be wed over to him. Out of despair and luck, Nike, the youngest of the 4 princesses, was chosen to be the sun kingdom's bride. After a long journey to the sun kingdom's palace, Nike meets the sun king, Livius I, who turns out to be a snotty young brat. After flat out defying him at first sight, she is sent to a dungeon, where she quickly escapes from with her powers to control the wind. She goes back to Livi, only to be sent back to the principality of rain. Unfortunately, when she leaves, Livi is attacked and his palace is set on fire. To save him, Nike sings the song of the rain and made it rain, putting out the fire and saving his life. Somewhat grateful, Livi decides to keep Nike as his bride...much to her disliking.


"The World Is Still Beautiful" shows us the beautiful side of an ugly coin. There's not much to a snotty little brat at first, but he develops into a pretty loving character, much like our amazing heroine. Shoujo romance anime once in awhile isn't that bad I guess, especially if they all involve emotional love stories like this one, I'm a sucker for good romance shows. The ending might not be the best thing ever, but at least it either baits us for a sequel...or ensures that the love between our protagonists still exist.


Peace.

Flexile Sentry
HP: 3150
Skills: Double Slash, Lunging Slash*, Mace Combo, Double Mace Slam*
Souls: 14000

Difficulty: 1.5/5
Deaths: 0



So you've beaten the guardians of "Heide's Tower Of Flame"? Then its time to proceed into "No Man's Wharf", a pirate cove of sorts, with undead bandits scurrying all around alongside long armed, reptilian monsters. There's not much to like here other than getting hounded by guard dogs or mauled to death with axes and swords, but there's a pirate ship up ahead, where you'll need to use to get to your next destination. When you do finally make it there...there's a sentry waiting, preventing you from ever steering his ship through the wrong course.

Come at me bro!

Unfortunately for the Flexile Sentry, he's not the hardest boss around. In fact, he's pretty damn easy as long as you don't stand around like a sitting duck. He's rather slow, but his attacks do cover a lot of room and do some heavy. Still, for an early boss, he's very manageable, and if you don't get greedy, you can slowly but surely cut him down. If possible, try dodging more than blocking during this battle, because his attacks may inflict bleed on you.


Double Slash - He slashed you twice with his sword side. Easily blocked or dodged.

Lunging Slash* - He leaps at you from a distance, doing high damage. Blocking may eat up a considerable amount of stamina, dodging is the way to go.

Mace Combo - He slowly swings his maces at you for a few times, easily dodge-able.

Double Mace Slam* - He slams two of his maces down on top of you for massive damage. Roll away for this one, since dodging will leave you wide open for another attack.



The strategy for him is rather simple: just keep moving around. The Flexile Sentry is a very immobile boss with no form of gap closing except for his lunging slash attack, and even for that move, you can easily dodge it. Most of his attacks are pretty slow, so you can just block, or simply just walk out of most of them. His attacks have long cooldown times, so you have plenty of chances to keep going in. He isn't as tanky as previous bosses, so you can take him down pretty fast.


Double slash is simple, he just slices at you twice. As long as you keep close to him, he will spam this move, which is easy to exploit since its so slow. If he's facing you at the other side, he's going to hit you with his mace combo, which isn't very impressive as well. Both can be easily walked out of or dodged, but if you choose to keep a distance, he might use lunging slash, which is probably his most dangerous move (which isn't very dangerous at all). This one will hurt you both health and stamina wise, so dodging is the way to go. Other than that he might just run up to you and try to net you with double mace slam, which is also easily dodgeable.

Yeah, keep trying to hit me.

The Flexile Sentry is simple enough for you to win. For something so easy to beat, he grants a hefty amount of 14000 souls. After this you can go claim your pyromancy flame as well as set sail for the next map, "The Lost Bastille".


...But before you do, you've got an old score to settle.



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






The Pursuer
HP: 3110
Skills: Dashing Slash, 3 Hit Combo Variation*, Horizontal Slash, Curse Stab*, Dark Swarm*
Souls: 17000

Difficulty: 3.5/5
Deaths: 10+



Time to go back to "The Forest Of The Fallen Giants". This time, take the soldier key you got from "The Last Giant" and open up the door to a new, short area. Now kill the little undead soldiers that stand in your way and enter a fog gate...to see something that you'll soon come to despise. Meet "The Pursuer", a large knight that hunts those that bear the sign of the undead...which means you. How are you going to beat this massive hulk of a knight? Its time to die.

Oh god no....

The Pursuer is unlike any boss you've faced thus far, and for the early game, he's probably the hardest boss you have to face. He's has high defenses, he has few openings for you to hit him, he's fast, he has a gap closer, his attacks are powerful, and one mistake can cost you the fight. There are twin ballistas for you to use so that you can deal immense amounts of damage to him, but these require precision, timing, and most of all, your positioning must be perfect. I wouldn't recommend that strategy unless you REALLY need it (you're dieing to him 20 times or more in a row)...if you want to fight him like a man, here's the rundown.


Dashing Slash - His easiest attack to avoid. Blocking this will put you in a stunned state, leaving you open to an attack. Always dodge this, as he just comes straight at you after a brief windup and slashes UPWARDS, which will almost, always not hit you. This is probably the safest time for you to hit him.

3 Hit Combo Variation* - A series of attacks, composed of slashes and shield bashes. It caps at 3 hits at most. You'll need to dodge properly for this one, its going to hurt.

Horizontal Slash - Just a wide, sweeping slash. Dodge forward or backward, this one can be blocked too.

Curse Stab* - His sword glows, then he stabs forward with an unblockable attack. DODGE, if you get hit by this even once the fight is probably over.

Dark Swarm* - He only uses this if he managed to curse you. Its a very power attack where he summons a mass of floating, dark orbs that home in on you. Requires multiple, well timed rolls to dodge, deals massive damage.



At the very beginning of this fight, the game makes it clear to you that you're going to have a pretty hard time. The Pursuer is intimidating, and his bulky build doesn't make it any easier for you. He's going to hit you hard and fast, up close, you stand little chance if you don't memorize his attack patterns by hard. He has a massive shield that blocks a small portion of his body, making it hard to hit him at times, and he can use that to attack you, breaking your guard and leaving you open for an attack that may be your last.


The Pursuer is almost always going to want to be in your face, and he WILL use dashing slash to close the gap every time. If you're not a melee fighter (archer/mage), then you'll want to stay at mid range, where you can have a safe distance for you to start casting, though you might want to be careful, because some attacks can reach you from quite a distance. Anyways, no matter what play style you're using, after a dashing slash, he leaves himself open for quite abit, so this is the safest possible time for you to hit him for some easy damage.

Erm...come at me, bro!

Now then, time for you to actually try to learn his attacks. The one that kills most is his 3 hit combo...this thing f**king blows. Its varied, so sometimes he might open with a sword slash, sometimes he opens up with a shield bash, and every time he tries something different, you need to react differently. If its the shield bash, you'll need to dodge for sure, because that thing breaks your guard and leaves you stunned up for the rest of his combo. The slash can be blocked, but if he opens with a shield bash on his second hit, then you're screwed because he'll get you with his 3rd hit.


While its easier to just block the slashes and dodge the shield bashes, its better altogether, if you memorize the timing and range of his attacks and try to roll past them.  Because The Pursuer has such a wide range of attack, dodging to the sides is never worth it, and dodging backwards just means you're going to have to dodge more attacks since he'll keep coming TOWARDS you for the rest of his combo. That means that, as stupid as it sounds, you'll need to roll TOWARDS the monster. If you dodge his attack, you'll be behind him, and you have the leeway to avoid the rest of his combo and go land some hits on him.


Its not quite over though, while his 3 hit combos are killer, he might come at you with a curse stab. While its an easy attack to dodge, it might not be easy to see coming. His sword will glow, then he'll perform an unblockable stab. This thing doesn't really do TOO much damage (it still chunks you decently), it'll curse you and he gets access to his dark swarm ability...which is just frustrating to deal with. Everytime you see the sword glow, just haul ass and dodge with the best of your ability, because that thing will end you.

Just get out of my face...

So, keep playing safe, tactical and cautious....you will EVENTUALLY kill this guy. Killing him grants you 17000 souls, a pretty nice sum for such an early game boss. After all is said and done, you unlock a nest, which grants you access to "The Lost Bastille"...our next destination.



Until then....peace!

Well, today we're back with more fighting game character impressions, this time once again, with "Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax", a fighting game that I'm very much looking forward to, even more so than the likes of "Under Night In Birth EXE:Late" (which looks amazing) and "Guilty Gear:Xrd". As we approach the game's release date (yes, the game has been confirmed for a console release), I would like to state my opinions on the newly revealed fighters since our previous post...most of which are freaking awesome.


Without further ado, let's get started.





Name: Taiga Aisaka
From: Toradora!
Role: Playable Character


Taiga as a playable character is just hype. She may be somewhat of a joke character, but come on, we have the likes of Kirino and Tomoka in this. At least when it comes to fighting, she can kick the ass out of the both of them. Does she really deserve a spot in this though? Well, I do think she deserves the spot more than characters like Tomoka or Kirino (or Asuna, for that fact), but her fighting style isn't really appealing. Sure, she stays true to her character in the anime, but compared to many of the other characters, I wouldn't be too interested in her.






Name: Miyuki Shiba
From: The Irregular At Magic High School
Role: Playable Character


Having watched a little bit of "Mahouka", I think Miyuki is a good choice to add into the game...but Tatsuya deserves it more. Instead, he gets thrown into a support role....wtf. Its not like Kirito, when Asuna was added, Leafa was support, leaving some hope that he might get added into the game...and he was added indeed added in later on. With Tatsuya as support, that just means that we won't get to play as him, which is a shame because he is pretty freaking amazing. At least we get to play with the ice queen, which SHOULD be fun, she seems kind of like of like a zoning type character, with plenty of screen control and low mobility. Not my type of character though.





Name: Himeragi Yukina
From: Strike The Blood
Role: Playable Character


This was one character that I expected. Kojou, no matter how strong he may seem, is just a regular dude with the body of an indestructible vampire. He has no proper fighting skills and all he ever does is stand back and let his familiars fight for him...Himeragi is the one who knows how to do the close ranged combat. Armed with her magic interfering spear, she is sure to go town against most of the characters in the cast, and being a mid ranged rushdown type character, she seems perfect for me. Gotta say though, the one and only super that was shown seemed a little bit "meh" to me. Other than that, she's looks like she's going to be one of my "go-to" characters when the game does eventually come out.





Name: Satomi Rentarou
From: Black Bullet
Role: Playable Character


I, for one, am STOKED about Satomi being in the game. I was really worried that Enju might become playable and Satomi was support (that would have been quite the bummer), but luckily, Sega did the right thing and did things the LOGICAL way. Satomi is prominent in the Tendo martial arts fighting style, and it looks like he'll be doing a lot of tactical fist fighting in this game, true to his character. He also has his handy pistol which fires of varanium bullets, as well as his varanium prosthetic eye, arm and leg, which is REALLY cool in game when he uses it in a super. Since he's primarily rushdown, he's up there in my hype list of characters that I'll be interested in playing.



The revised hype ranking


1st: Misaka Mikoto
2nd: Satomi Rentarou
3rd: Himeragi Yukina
4th: Kirito
5th: Shizuo Heiwajima
6th: Shana
7th: Kuroyukihime (I watched Accel World guys, I do like her a little bit more now)
8th: Miyuki Shiba
9th: Taiga Aisaka
10th: Tomoka Minato
11th: Asuna
12th: Kirino Kousaka