Gamer--freakz

Probably my final League related post. After playing League for almost 3 years now, I've FINALLY (yes, finally) settled upon a list of champions that I play regularly. F**k the rest of the champions, these are MY champions that I like to play, and whenever I have to do a role, I usually do with these few champions, and it'll probably be that way unless a new OP champion appears.



Top

I don't really like top lane when compared to the likes of the Mid lane and Jungle. I do love me my solo lanes and if I manage to get one I would like to dominate my opponents, but top usually devolves into nothing but a huge farm fest most of the time...

1. Darius


(+) Pros: - Incredible snowballing nature, - Superb lane bully, - Very strong at all in once he hits 3, and later on at 6, - Pushes lanes decently, - Great at assisting ganks with pull, - Will decimate carries if he gets to them, - Dunks and kills EVERYONE, true damage is broken.

(-) Cons: - No escapes, gets ganked easily, - No built in sustain and is fairly close ranged, gets screwed over by ranged, heavy poke opponents, - Gets kited easily in team fights.






2. Garen


(+) Pros: - Resource-less, - Built in lane sustain with passive, - Great lane bully, - Decent at escaping ganks with a well timed Q, - Pushes lanes like a mad man, functions as an amazing split pusher, - Very high kill potential post level 6, - Will melt carries if he ever gets into range.

(-) Cons: - Characters with strong all in potential will destroy him in lane, - Constant harass will wear him down, - Quite bad at assisting ganks, - Gets kited easily in team fights.






3. Malphite


(+) Pros: - Hard counters many AD tops, - Disc harass is great versus many champs,  - E destroys any chance of auto trading with your opponents, - Great at assisting ganks with slow and ult, - Escapes ganks well with Q and ult, - Great tower diver, - Initiator in team fights, - Shits on ADCs during team fights.

(-) Cons: - Cannot push champions with sustain out of lane, - Cannot efficiently stop NASUS from farming, - Gets destroyed by AP champions in lane, - CANNOT carry a game if fed, he is a tank.






4. Pantheon


(+) Pros: - Heavy harass in lane, can easily zone and push many champions out of lane, - Passive is good for mitigating harass and tower diving, - Great at assisting ganks with unavoidable stun, - Great at ganking with ultimate, - Very snowball heavy, - Good at taking out squishies in team fights.

(-) Cons: - Scales horribly into late game, - Cannot escape ganks pre-6, - Very bad at pushing lanes until he maxes his E, - Get's countered HARD by champions with spammable shields and INSANE built in sustain (f**king Shen).






5. Renekton


(+) Pros: - Pushes lanes hard with Q, - Great lane bully, - Is resourceless, runs on fury, - Built in sustain with Q, - Escapes ganks well with E, - Assist ganks well with stun, - Ultimate gives him a free warmogs, - A great front line tank during team fights.

(-) Cons: - Gets screwed over by constant ranged pokers in lane.






6. Shen


(+) Pros: - Constant harass and sustain with Q, - Runs on energy, will never f**king get bullied out of lane, - Shield mitigates harass, - Fairly strong at all in pre 6, - Assist ganks and escapes ganks well with E, - Global presence with ultimate, - Can split push forever when ult is up, - Taunt is game breaking in team fights if used well.

(-) Cons: - Pushes lanes horribly slowly until he gets sunfire cape. 





Jungle

Probably my most played role, and I regard this to be my "best" role. I'd like to jungle most of the time if possible, as I feel like the jungler has the biggest impact to change the game out of every role.






1. Aatrox


(+) Pros: - Infinite sustain in jungle, - Decent ganks with short ranged knock-up, long range slow, and moderate damage, - Passive allows for some very early level dives, - Strong dueling with Doran's blade start, - Can power farm and scale very well into the late game, - Can eat most characters alive if left unattended in team fights.

(-) Cons: - Auto attack based champion, - Gets eaten alive by CC in team fights, - Not the fastest clearer early on, - Not as powerful without his passive.






2. Darius


(+) Pros: - Good ganks with slow, high damage and a pull, - Very fast clearer with a few points into Q, - One of the best ambush ganker in the game, - Has one of the best dueling of all junglers in a straight out slug fest, - Decent invader, - Almost everything great about lane Darius applies here too.

(-) Cons: - Does not get as much gold for core items as lane Darius, - Horrible mobility, needs proper set ups to get good ganks, - Almost everything flawed about lane Darius applies here.






3. Jarvan IV


(+) Pros: - Great ganks, gap closer is a knock-up, has built in slow with his W, - Provides good, short term burst with his ganking, - Very good at escaping sticky situations with his EQ, also applies to chasing as well, - Provides good CC and initiation in team fights, - Can function well as a tanky aura carrier, or build damage when ahead to slaughter carries.

(-) Cons: - His ult may not fit every team composition, and may not do well against some enemy compositions.







4. Maokai


(+) Pros: - Insanely easy point and click gank, enough CC to lock down target for a good amount of time, - Well sustained in the jungle with passive, - Saplings can be very useful to scout for enemies and objectives, - Ult is useful when activated in the right time during team fights, - Good front line tank and initiator.

(-) Cons: - If team mates do not provide damage in ganks, he is pretty much useless, - Lackluster initiation and peel compared to other tanks late into the game.






5. Nautilus


(+) Pros: - Some of the strongest CC heavy ganks in the games which escalates even further post 6,- Has a hook to catch targets and escape from sticky situations, - Clears well with a few points into W, - Provides great initiation, CC and peel in team fights.

(-) Cons: - Pitiful damage during ganks if shield is popped, damage comes from team mates, not him, - Very weak in the early levels, vulnerable to invasions.






6. Sejuani


(+) Pros: - Powerful, CC heavy ganks that pack decent damage, even more so post 6, - Q serves as a gap closer, knock up and escape, - Does well as an initiator and a peeler during the team fight phase.

(-) Cons: - Early clearing is rather slow, vulnerable to invasions.







7. Volibear


(+) Pros: - Simple, effective ganks with slow and a fling, - One of the stronger jungle duelists and can do respectable damage with W, high damage also scores well for his ganking, - Passive allows for tower dives and also helps out his dueling, - Ult gives him even more damage, which scales his dueling even further, - Can build health to artificially pad himself (W scales on HP)

(-) Cons: - Gets kited like hell during team fights, - Doesn't scale well late into the game, - Auto attack based champion.







8. Xin Zhao


(+) Pros: - Point and click ganks, has a spammable slow, knock-up and very solid early game damage, - Very sustained in the jungle, - Strong dueling in retrospect to his early game damage, - Can initiate fights with a well timed ult, - Can build tanky for pure peel and initiation, or damage when ahead to slaughter carries like no other.

(-) Cons: - Falls off hard if he builds damage, - Will die really quickly even if he builds tank items, a good ultimate is a MUST for him to stay alive in team fights, - Auto attack based champion.




Mid

Probably my favorite role outside of the Jungle. Mid laners can put massive pressure on the map, and a lot of the map is opened up once you take mid tower...so the choice of your Mid champion is going to be crucial as hell. Mid laners can roam or push hard, or both, to make themselves the omnipresent beings they are.







1. Karthus


(+) Pros: - Can AFK farm at tower with a few levels into Q and E, - Scales tremendously into the late game, - Is a relatively safe laner, - Not as mana hungry as he needs to be, - Ultimate has huge burst, can pick off anybody in the map, can be used as assistance elsewhere, and is just a threat at all times during the game, - Provides high, sustained damage during team fights, - Passive allows him to contribute to the fight more even when dead.

(-) Cons: - Pitiful early laning, anybody can kill him for lunch money.







2. Kha Zix


(+) Pros: - High burst and kill potential in lane as early as level 2, - Scales well into the late game as a high burst assasin, - Very easy to outplay opponents with ult and jump, - Different gameplay variety in ways to evolve ultimate, - Very snowball heavy, - High roam potential from mid, - Eats carries in team fights, - If he gets the resets its pretty much over.

(-) Cons: - High skill cap, the timing when Kha Zix can enter a team fight is VERY strict and limited, - A cleanup champion, if goes in at the wrong time without cleanups and resets, he's f**ked, - Early laning can be pitiful against certain laners.






3. Lissandra


(+) Pros: - Mid ranged poke in lane with Q, - Very mana sustained with passive, - Great at assisting ganks with E, W and ultimate, also works the same way when ganking other lanes, - E and W can be used to escape ganks, - Ult can be used on herself to mitigate all damage on her, combine with zhonya's for a stupidly long invulnerability period, - Can lock down carries or enemy VIPs with ult in team fights.

(-) Cons: - Burst is somewhat lacking compared to other mid champions (gets better with DFG).








4. Pantheon


(+) Pros: - Heavy point and click harass works even better on mid lane squishies, - Can max E for stupidly strong all in potential, - Ult ganks from mid are more efficient from the ones at top, - Gets all the benefits that top Pantheon can get.

(-) Cons: - Gets all the flaws that top Pantheon can get, - Some negative lane matchups against opponents with very long range.







5. Sion


(+) Pros: - Incredibly powerful early game burst, - Shield mitigates a lot of harass and can push lanes very well, - Shield explosion burst can serve as decent harass, - E to last hit minions and gain HP, - Easy to roam and gank with him, - Has pretty much infinite sustain in lane once he hits 6, - Insta burst squishies during team fights.

(-) Cons: - Gets kited hard during team fights, - Only 2 skills scale on AP, - Falls off hard late game.






6. Zed


(+) Pros: - Great harass and all in against most AP mids, - Resourceless, - Pushes lanes very hard, - Great ganks and roams post 6, - Scales well into the late game, - Can 100% to 0 anybody during late game team fights.

(-) Cons: - Gets countered hard by barriers, zhonyas, cleanse and mercurial scepter. 



ADC

Probably my worst role in the game. The laning phase is okay since it's mostly about last hitting and letting my support babysit me, but I have terrible positioning during team fights and always gets insta killed by their AP mid/top laner...then I go on to whine about how ADCs have no impact in team fights. This is why I like to play ADCs that are relatively safe and have escape tools...






1. Caitlyn


(+) Pros: - Is a whore in lane with dat 650 range, - Lanes rather safely, can last hit and harass from afar, - Her Q is good wave clear and harass, - W helps scout important bushes and can come in handy during a pinch, - Her E is an escape tool and a slow at the same time, useful when assasins are always trying to jump your ass, - Ult lets her get free poke on opponents or finish off low health enemies, - Her range allows her to attack from a safe distance in team fights.

(-) Cons: - Early all in potential is rather weak, needs more items than most other ADCs to ramp up.






2. Corki


(+) Pros: - Relatively strong all in with Q and E, - Decent poke pre 6 with Q, strong poke post 6 with ult, - Passive is really useful during late game team fights (true damage OP), - W can help escape ganks and attempts to jump on you during team fights, - Trading and all-in post tri force is godly, - E armor shred is massive during late game.

(-) Cons: - Terrible trading early game, - Is an all in ADC, but still loses out to the likes of Draven and Graves until he gets Tri force, - Can be hard to position during team fights.








3. Ezreal


(+) Pros: - Q spam in lane is very effective harass (provided you can hit them), - Relatively safe laning phase with a long ranged spammable Q to farm and harass, as well as E to escape ganks or to all in on opponents, - High damage early, - Trading and all-in post tri force is pretty strong (not as strong as Corki's),  - Ult can provide damage across the map or pick of targets, - Slippery during team fights.

(-) Cons: - High skill cap, - Is an AD caster based carry, does not provide hyper carry status damage late game.







4. Jinx


(+) Pros: - Very easy to play (I can testify to that), - Very efficient auto trading with rocket Q, and strong all in with her gattling gun mode, - W serves as a poke, zoning tool, and a chasing tool, - E is great for ganks and escaping, - Ult execute does A LOT of damage, especially effective if it hits a group, - Passive allows her to snowball in team fights, - Rocket AOE is insane DPS when the enemies are all clustered up.

(-) Cons: - No built in escapes, - Is considered a low mobility ADC without her passive.



Support

I am okay with taking the role of the care taker once in awhile. Support is a very easy going role, you don't have to last hit, you don't have to gank, all you need to do is look out for your ADC. If he says to go in, you go in, if he's low, you protect him when needed. Of course, this all depends on the kind of support you play...though I only play 2 champions in this role.






1. Alistar


(+) Pros: - Packs a ton of CC and can go in as early as level 2, - Great at assisting ganks and a great roamer when the need arises, - Can peel for ADCs during fights or act as an initiator with his AOE knockup + stun, - Acts as a counter to most aggressive supports, - Can sustain himself and ADC with E, - Tower dives like a champ with his ult.

(-) Cons: - If he initiates, he can't peel for his ADC, - Against far ranged, poke and CC heavy supports, he can't do jack squat (f** you Zyra).







2. Sona


(+) Pros: - VERY strong and annoying in lane with her constant, high damage pokes with her Q and power chord, - Sustains herself and ADC well with W, - Speed buffs are useful for chases and escapes, very strong when stacked with talisman of ascension, - Game changing ult that is used mostly for initiation, sometimes for peel.

(-) Cons: - Very squishy in lane, if she gets caught by an aggressive support she's gone, - Useless after her ult in team fights.

Opening Songs
OP 1 - Watashi no Bara wo Haminasai (Ali Project)

Ending Songs
ED 1  - Alternative (Annabel)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

Episodes: 13



Now this is a pleasant surprise, never would I have thought that "Rozen Maiden" would be getting a brand new anime...especially years after the original 2 seasons ended. "Rozen Maiden Zuruckspulen" or just "Rozen Maiden 2013" overall is the anime adaptation of the "Rozen Maiden II" manga, which is apparently a manga with a story line that's similar to that of the original "Rozen Maiden", but focuses on a brand new character...along with a few tweaks to the lore. I won't be going too deep into that here, but I'll just say this upright. "Rozen Maiden 2013" is NOT the "Rozen Maiden" of old. It is different in almost EVERY aspect and you should NOT expect it to the more of the same, nor should you expect it to even feel similar. Its completely different, just as time moves forward, "Rozen Maiden 2013"  shows you that it the franchise has moved forward as well. It is a completely different experience overall, but not a bad one by any means. If you can embrace change... this new season will easily suck you into its well written story.

The series's two main heroines, as always.

I'm surprised they got Ali Project back to sing for "Zuruckspulen", and overall, it's been a long long while since I heard anything new from Ali project. Thankfully, they haven't quite lost their touch, "Watashi no Bara wo Haminasai" is SO Ali Pro, and listening to it just reminds me of their songs of old. Its a nice step up over any of the old "Rozen Maiden" openings except for the opening of "Traumend", "Seishoujo Ryouiki". The ending theme is "Alternate" by Annabel, and as we all know by now, Annabel's songs are mostly ballads, which this one is. Fortunately, its one of the better ballads that I've heard. It does well for an ending theme.



Rating: 7.5/10



It's a very different series as far as I'm concerned. The "Rozen Maiden" anime seasons of old had some sort of a mini doll harem with Jun. They would screw around, have fun, make stupid jokes about each other, and sometimes they'd fight battles, be it with the 7th doll or Suigintou. It's very different from what "Zuruckspulen" has to offer. It talks about the Jun who did not wound Shinku...in another time. A life without the dolls...you already know that it's going to be fairly different. It deals with different themes, it still bears the fantasy feel with the dolls and the battles...but it put those aside for the most part. The anime goes for a more realistic feel in the eyes of a man whose life hasn't been the best. It's a different feel and perspective, but its also interesting to look at it from this view...as the dolls we all know and love ARE a part of this. How do the dolls with such vibrant personalities fit in this world? You'll just have to find out.

DESUUUU~

In a world where Jun didn't wound the key...lies Jun himself, whose life hasn't changed at all without the influence of the dolls. He remained a shut in since middle school, and climbed himself to university, where he lives himself in a sad little apartment. He has a part time job in a book store where he is mistreated by the manager, and he doesn't mix well with the other students in his university. To say the least, his life is in the dumps, however, one day, it all turned around. His bookstore received a book "How to Make A Girl" featuring a set of instructions on how to make a doll...a Rozen Maiden. The manager told him to toss it out, but Jun took it home to study up on it. "Maybe my life could change..." he thought. He started receiving mails from his past self, telling him about the fight between the dolls and the 7th doll that's wrecking the competition. He also starts receiving more books on how to make the dolls from his past self, and he eventually completes his first doll....Shinku.


The 2013 adaptation of "Rozen Maiden" is a pretty good one, despite being completely different from what we have all been expecting. I'd like to give it a higher score, but the ending left a lot to be desired. I'm not a fan of cliffhanger ends, but this series' ending just told us to "shut up and wait, there's more". As much as I (or anyone for that matter) would want to see the continuation to the series and dive deep into the lore once more, we'd just have to wait patiently for another season....WHY?!?!


Peace.

Gamespot Score: 8.0 (Great)

My Score: 8.0


(+) Pros: - Newly improved visuals on the 3DS bring the Pokemon experience to a whole new level, - Character clothes customization makes for a more "varied" experience than usual, - Pokemon battles are a lot more visually appealing, - Less grindy due to new EXP share, - Super training introduces a less tedious and more friendly way to start on the competitive side of the game.

(-) Cons: - Only 69 new Pokemon, a number lower than ANY of the previous games before it, - The amount of post game content is pitiful when compared to that of previous games.


Gameplay time: 30 hours for main story, 50 hours + for post game and beyond

First of all, X and Y are stupid names to re-brand the Pokemon franchise with its 6th generation. "Pokemon X and Y" makes it the franchise's first outing on the 3DS, and as you know, the right time to get any Nintendo handheld is when Nintendo themselves release a brand new Pokemon game for it...so "Pokemon X and Y" was kind of my calling for the system. Just looking at the trailers and starters alone made me yearn for the game more than anything ever had...and it doesn't help when the game was only 2 weeks away when I finished playing "Black and White 2" on the NDS. You all should know the press scores by now, this game sold well and was received well, so my review here is kind of just a stick in the mud. Anyways, let's get to it, Pokemon's first game on the 3DS and my very first 3DS game review.


Story has never been Pokemon's strong point...don't bullshit me. The only generation that actually attempted to make a good story and succeeded, was generation 5, the "Black and White" and "Black and White 2" games. "X and Y" isn't too hot in the story department, but it does well enough to be decent. As usual, it talks about you, a hot headed youth that wants to leave home on a journey to become the best Pokemon trainer ever, after receiving his first Pokemon from the professor of the region, Professor Scaymore (technically, your friends gave it to you, but the Pokemon itself was from the Professor). You leave on your journey with your 4 friends as a group of 5, each pursuing your own ways to learn, live and grow with the Pokemon on your way. On the way you meet nationwide villains Team Flare, and beat 8 gyms, the elite four, and the champion to complete your journey.

Pokemon has come a LONG way.

The first thing you'll get blown away when you look at the game...is obviously the graphics. This is the first Pokemon game to introduce FULL FLEDGED 3D graphics. 3D environments, battles, character models, so on and so forth. Its almost revolutionary in this aspect, and this is EASILY the best looking game up to date, as expected as the franchise's debut on the 3DS system, it pulls no stops. Each and every one of the current 718 Pokemon look fantastic in battle, and the 3D character models are an amazing improvement from the 16 bit sprites of old. 3D character models striking poses before the start of every trainer battle was something that I've always wanted to see, and seeing it for myself in "Pokemon X" was pretty good feeling.


With the new graphics, everything feels better as an overall. The colorful, vibrant style of the game comes to life more than ever before. Battles feel refreshing as you anticipate how an old Pokemon would look like in the current 3D graphics, routes, towns and cities give out a whole new different feeling, especially Luminose City, which seems like the most impressive city in a Pokemon game up to date. It almost feels like you're playing a different game when you look at the visuals alone, but when you're in the driver's seat, you know that deep down, its the same Pokemon franchise that we all know and love.

Correction! A horde of Tauros AND a f**king Milktank.

With improved character models comes the option to customize your trainer with the many different available outfits in the game, a feature that I'm sure MANY players wanted for a LONG time, myself included. In the Kalos region, clothing stores are scattered in different towns, and you can now buy clothes to change how your character looks from time to time. New shoes? A new hat? New clothes? The top? Bottom? Or do you just want to change your bag? You have quite a few options to turn your trainer into the most swag filled jackass out there, the coolest, most stylish prodigy ever, or the most elegant, well endowed female trainer to ever walk the streets. Customization is cool, but next time, try not to lock the awesome outfits away until post game.


As with all Pokemon games, the battles are the main meat of the gameplay. Not much has changed here, in fact, everything is exactly the same except from a few tweaked moves here and there. Fairies types have been thrown into the mix, bringing the total type count to 18. Double battles, triple battles and rotation battles have been brought over from previous games, and the new horde encounter system features you having the chance to encounter 5 Pokemon at once in the wild. Unfortunately, these horde encounter Pokemon are usually weak, making them nothing but fancy normal Pokemon encounters.

Sylveon so kawai~

Improved graphics mean that battles feel more explosive than ever. Pokemon actually flinch when hit, and they perform actions when using a certain move. Speaking of attacks, many of them look a lot more powerful in "X and Y". Gushing waves of fire, an explosive beam shot at your opponents, or massive punch thrown at them...its surprising how any of these Pokemon wouldn't explode into little goblets when hit by such powerful looking attacks, especially if a small Pokemon eats a Hyper Beam or Outrage from its massive opponent.


With the new EXP share, battles feel a lot less grindy than before. In the past only the Pokemon holding EXP share would receive EXP from a battle, now, EXP share is a key item that makes sure your entire team gets EXP, rather than just 1 of your bench Pokemon. This completely eradicates the need to grind up any Pokemon that you never managed to split the EXP with...its a whole lot less tedious to raise up a full team from the ground, instead of training them individually (who likes to do that? Seriously). Less padding...that's good. Of course, if you ever want to put yourself through the misery of training 6 Pokemon 1 by 1, you can always turn it off, though I don't understand why anyone would want to. It makes the game easier, that's what a lot of people say, but tell yourself honestly...haven't all Pokemon games been easy thus far (NOT counting post game content)?

How is this not impressive?

My personal favorite improvement to "Pokemon X and Y" however, is the fact that they made competitive Pokemon battling a lot less tedious. I for one, did not bother to give a flying f**k about competitive online battling in any Pokemon game before this one, because EV training was such a PAIN. Yes, I beat the entire Pokemon world tournament in "Black and White 2" WITHOUT EV trained Pokemon. And yes, I lost a lot there, but it didn't matter, I would rather stop playing if someone told me that I needed a full EV team to beat the damn thing. EV training is pointless, long and tedious..."X and Y" lightens that load by a WHOLE LOT.


Meet super training, a method to EV train your Pokemon so that they become viable and valid for competitive online battling (because everyone there has Pokemon that are fully EV trained). Instead of looking to kill 10000 Zigzagoons, all you have to do is super train! Super training is a set of dumb mini games that require you to fire at big balloons with targets to damage them, and defeating these balloons will increase the EV of your Pokemon depending on which course they took. Want to increase SP Atk on your Meowstic? Just hit up a few Magnemite balloons and you'll be set in less than 30 minutes. It now takes less than an hour to fully EV train your Pokemon for competitive battling...which is a f**king godsend, if you ask me. For the first time ever, I feel that competitive battling is actually achievable in Pokemon.

Put your gunz on motherf**ker!

Generation 6 only introduced a grand total of 69 new Pokemon...which is pretty bad. That was my biggest gripe with the game before I got it...it felt like Gamefreak and Nintendo were getting lazy. I know that they recreated this entire game on a highly improved system and it took a lot of effort...but they could have delayed the game and put in more Pokemon then, 69 new Pokemon is lazy. Even if you count Mega Evolutions, the new Pokemon count is lesser than all of the previous generations (Gen one: 151, Gen two: 100, Gen three: 134, Gen four: 106, Gen five: 155). Post game content in "X and Y" is also rather pitiful when compared to the likes of "Black and White 2". You get the looker side quest, Zygarde and Mewtwo...that's it. I know there's the Battle Chetau and Battle Maison...but those are in EVERY game up to date (just named differently). No cameo battles? No GEN 6 EXCLUSIVE legendary trios? And really, only 3 Gen 6 legendaries?


"Pokemon X and Y" is a huge step forward in the technical department, it actually looks freaking fantastic, and playing the game as it looks currently is just an improved experience overall. The small pool of new Pokemon is very disappointing, and the lack of extensive post game content is rather saddening, but everything else that the game does do right, will put a smile on your face. Technically, Pokemon has come a long way with "X and Y", but is it the ultimate Pokemon game in terms of content? Far from it, but that doesn't change the fact that with "X and Y", Pokemon still has the potential to grow even bigger than it already is.




Happy gaming!

Opening Songs
OP 1 - Sympathy (Larval Stage Planning)
OP 2 - Gekijouron (ZAQ)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Houteishiki wa Kotaenai (Occult club girls)
ED 2 - Lovely ♥ Devil (Occult club girls)

Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance, Supernatural

Episodes: 12



Not much needs to be said about "High School DxD". Its a harem for the most part, it has nudity, big tits and probably everything that defines fan service, panty shots and the like included. Even so, it's one of those heavy fan service anime with an actual serviceable story about many supernatural themes. The concept about chess pieces is really cool, there are some sick abilities among the characters, and the show provides some really nice fights. For the most part, that is how season 1 was, and surprisingly, they managed to keep up the pace with season 2 pretty f**king well (I just got disappointed with IS season 2). Season 2 continues the story and expands on the background on many of the occult club members, as well as introducing new members completely. By going more in depth with the lore of this world, a lot more is uncovered, and its not a stretch to say that season 2 made me love the series even more, both from a serious perspective and from one based off fan service.

Chill out guys, its a dude.

I kind of liked the opening song in the first season, but I loved both opening songs in season 2. "Sympathy" by Larval Stage Planning is just an epic song overall...just from the starting line alone. It's like one of those songs you'll pop in during an epic fight. The second opening "Gekijouron" by ZAQ is a more synth based track, and while its slightly lower on the score board when compared to "Sympathy", its still a good song overall, just a little out of place with the "High School DxD" franchise. Both ending songs are kind of cute-sy esque generic catchy animu ending themes that are sung by the seiyuus of the main girls in the anime...both don't really catch my eye...so I'll just leave it as that. If you're wondering about what I think, " Lovely ♥ Devil" is the better out of the two.



Rating: 8.0/10



"High School DxD New" still stands strong. It is as good as, or maybe even better than the first season, just with the plot alone. The show even introduced new characters and enlightened us more about the great three factions, the angels, fallen angels and devils. With new characters in Rias's liege, the regular non-serious moments just feel more fun as a viewer, and the fan service element gets a boost too (because, of course, there'll be new girls). The anime also manages to be funny without trying too hard, though for the most part, the comedy only comes because of lewd thoughts or lack of sexual knowledge from some of the characters (Xenovia is the champion here). The story arcs manage to dig deep into the personal back story of some characters, shedding more light on them and developing them as an overall. However, the best thing about it all is probably the fact that we'll get to see more soon, and that in the next installment, things get even more lively. We can only wait.

This is highly misleading, no?

After the events of season 1, Rias has developed a new found form of affection for Issei. She moved in to Issei's home with Asia, and for some reason, Issei's parents welcome her with open arms. They continue their life in school as usual, but one day, Kiba notices the picture of a Holy Sword, and he starts to lose his cool. He becomes a lot more emotional and less attentive of his surroundings, and he starts to shun the likes of Rias and the members of the occult research club. It was not before long that Issei forced an explanation out of Rias about Kiba's past. Issei, being the protagonist and know it all hero, decides to help Kiba, but doesn't know what he is getting himself into when he realizes that the church are involved. It soon becomes an all out brawl fest between the church and Rias's group, with unexpected guests that start to appear  here and there...


"High School DxD New" is a pretty good second season. Maybe its because the story arcs were well developed in this one, but I felt that this second season opened up a whole new world of possibilities for a future installment. I really liked this one, and I can't wait to see what's next for Issei and crew. Please though, more Koneko and Akeno screen time, they needed some...more significant moments.


Peace.

Hyperdimension Neptunia:The Animation

Na-no~

Plutia is pretty freaking awesome in many ways, especially in a fanservice based anime like "Neptunia". With everyone in the series basically being goddesses that transform into skimpy outfits, everyone can be sexy, but only two goddesses that transform into their PC forms actually have a major change in their appearance, Neptune and Plutia (must be a planetune thing). Both Neptune and Plutia are somewhat flat board, all around cute lolies that like to fool around, and when they transform, they suddenly become big busty, model standard ladies.


While Neptune takes a more serious tune when she transforms, nothing beats Plutia's sadistic, BM personality in her goddess form. Normally she's just a ditzy, happy go lucky cute girl that has no idea what's going on and just wants to do her thing. I like her in her normal form too, because she is just so freaking adorable (she has to add Na-no in the end of all her sentences, kind of like Suiseiseki's desu). She likes to sew, she's easy-going as hell, she's almost happy all the time, and she's always on the neutral ground on everything (she takes neither side when Neptune argues with Pische).


When she gets angry though she turns into one of the sexiest, most sadistic things ever. You'd think that Rie Tanaka would be sadistic because she fits the voice so well, but Kana Hanazawa's sadistic Iris Heart is pretty seductive too. Her goddess form just wants to punish the bad girls...if you know what I mean. She takes pleasure in hurting her enemies and whips them over and over and over and over....until they finally break, then its too late. She does all this while laughing like a maniac...dual personalities are a wonderful thing...Its no wonder Neptune and the others don't want her transformed, easy as that.



Love, Election And Chocolate

Everything is normal to her, which is kawai.

"Love, Election And Chocolate" was kind of touch and go for me. It was nice, but its something that I wouldn't be looking back on too soon, and quite a few characters stood out for me. I'm usually not one to take the side of loli characters, but I love Morishita, for many reasons actually. One, she's the only loli character in the show (respect, gotta love some variety). Two, she's adorable in the way that she's oblivious to almost everything (always shows pantsu). Three, she is voiced by Asami Imai and her speech patterns are adorable. Four, she is easily the most protective and thoughtful character among the entire cast, fact. Finally, she is totally a cat girl, totally.


Morishita knows that she's not the most sociable person out there, and she doesn't hide that fact, she takes it as a part of her personality. The club makes sure not to leave her out in meetings and huge conversations, even though she won't say anything most of the time. Despite knowing this, she tries her best to help her friends, which is admirable. Whether its giving out flyers or trying to promote Oushima's campaign for student council president...she makes sure to help out.


Later on it was revealed that she was part of the "special ops investigation team" or something like that, one of two students that were handpicked by the current president Mori to lay dirt on the Osawas and gather information. When Oushima got information on Kana, Morishita went by herself to rescue her and brought her back to normal. Badass cat girl, eh?



Mirai Nikki

Please Yuno, calm the f**k down.

Opening Songs
OP 1 - It's Your Fault That I'm Not Popular (Konomi Suzki, Kiba Of Akiba)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - No Matter How I look At It, It's Not My Fault (Izumi Kitta)

Genre: Comedy, Slice Of Life

Episodes: 12



It's not common for someone to watch an anime because of a protagonist. Many times before I watch an anime, I'll go look up a few images online to see if I like the cast, sometimes it's because of how badass, cool , sexy or cute a protagonist looks. "Watamote" is another one of those animes, I got into watching the show because of how the protagonist looked. This time tough, it wasn't any of the four factors I stated. Tomoko doesn't look cool, she doesn't look badass, sure as hell doesn't look sexy, and I'm sure she's not quite there as well when we take the definition of "cute" into play. But take just a moment to look at Tomoko, and you'll see what I mean, there's no way we can leave an anime alone with a main character as f**ked up as that! And with an extended title that ends up meaning "No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular!", you know it's going to be something ridiculous. I was immediately drawn into this, but if this isn't enough to get you interested about this messed up girl, then I don't know what is.

How Tomoko would look like if she were sexy.

Strangely enough (or in some cases, it may not be so strange), the anime itself has a pretty badass, sexy, rock, metal based opening song. If anything at all, it has screaming and LOTS of hard rock, so I don't really know what else to use to describe it. It sounds f**king badass, and its called "It's Your Fault That I'm Not Popular", its by Konomi Suzki and Kiba Of Akiba. It sounds badass, but the lyrics are pretty much something else...The ending theme is "No Matter How I look At It, It's Not My Fault" by Izumi Kitta, and it sounds really synthy. It's different from the opening theme, but has its own charms.



Rating: 8.0/10



The experience I had from "Watamote" was VASTLY different from almost everything I had ever watched. You know how animes usually circle around a main character and shows how he or she handles her way of life...stuff like that usually cuts into stereotypes and you know what to expect from time to time. "Watamote" is completely different, it talks about the personal life story of a certain girl. An otaku, an avid gamer, a loser of society, a loner...our protagonist is all of this things. Instead of having fan service cutscenes of girls inside a hot spring or a swimsuit episode, "Watamote" makes you sit through the life of such a miserable girl. You see her struggle through many of life's simplest ordeals. It may be downright masochistic, it may be miserable to watch, but when it boils down to it, the anime makes all these look funny at the end. Yet! It does it in such a way that even though its funny, you still sympathize with Tomoko. There's not much of a plot going on, but when it comes down to entertaining viewers with down to earth situations that otakus and hikkimoris find themselves in, "Watamote" does it best with a main character that you can relate to.

That's the case almost every season, no?

Tomoko is a sad girl straight out of middle school. When I mean sad, she IS sad. Throughout her entire middle school life she has talked to a guy 6 times, and she blatantly thinks that when she moves to highschool, her life will change dramatically. She has ONE friend, and she moved to another school, so when she went to highschool, she was pretty much a loner. A loner that is an avid gamer and an otaku...you know that doesn't spell well. She constantly wonders why she's not popular or why no guys talk to her when she herself can barely muster the courage to talk to another girl. Then she goes running thoughts in her head about how f**ked up the world is around her...and nothing gets solved. Her mission by the end of high school is to get herself a boyfriend, and when she can't even talk to guys on a normal basis...that definitely doesn't spell well for her.


"Watamote" is pretty screwed up in a way that its funny. It shows us what some people actually go through when they're this far gone, and if we can actually relate to Tomoko, everything just multiplies 10 fold. Its funny, its interesting and its rather thought provoking at times. And many times when you're having a bad day, you can just say "Hey, at least I'm not Tomoko!". I sympathize with her though, she is supposed to be anti-moe, but she's kind of moe at times.


Peace.

Gamespot Score: 9.0 (Editor's Choice)

My Score: 8.0


(+) Pros: - Columbia is almost about as fun as Rapture, - Solid shooting mechanics with a good variety of weapons, - Interesting Vigor powers, - Upgrades are actually a big deal, - Elizabeth is actually a useful partner AI, - Filled with a great variety of enemies and many intense shooting segments.

(-) Cons: - The ending was bad, end of story (opinions people, don't try to justify this), - Doesn't really introduce much EXTENSIVE gameplay mechanics when transitioning to Columbia from Rapture, other than limiting the amount of weapons you can hold.

Gameplay time: 10-20 hours

I don't know about you guys, but I sure was expecting a hell lot out of "Bioshock Infinite". The original 'Bishock" and its successor "Bioshock 2" were some of my favorite shooter games of all time (I don't even like shooters all that much because they all feel the same). Surely, the long ass development time they had for "infinite" with their countless delays made the game the best that it could be, right?! It would have to be the best game in the series, right?! Well, the game is pretty damn fun as a standalone title, but in all honestly, when you compare it to the previous "Bioshock" games, there's a lot left to be desired. The gameplay mechanics feel like a complete overhaul of the old ones in "Bioshock", but that doesn't mean its better. In fact, you can find bits and pieces of the gameplay that resemble the old "Bioshock" games, but they sugarcoat it in such a way that they make you think otherwise. It's a great game, but it could have easily been much better.


The story puts players in the shoes of Booker Dewitt, a gun for hire who is on a job. It starts with him going into a lighthouse on a boat, and his client telling him to look for a certain girl by the name of Elizabeth. He is given a code for bells on the top of the lighthouse, and when he is finally up there, he is in for a surprise of his life when he gets whisked away on a flying chair into the middle of nowhere. It is before long that he realizes that he was taken to Columbia, the great flying city that is ruled by Comstock, the self proclaimed prophet of Columbia. He spends some time walking around the city and knows that the entire city is in search for a man with a brand on his hand...that man is known as the false Shepard. And guess what, Booker looks down on his hand, and notices that he has that brand. A few moments later, he was found out by the city guard. But of course, being the badass that he is, he decides not to go down without a fight...

It's time to burn!

A good deal of atmosphere and intensity in "Bioshock" was due to how awesome of a place Rapture was. In "Infinite"...we get another amazing place to discover, and that is Columbia. While Columbia is a MASSIVE change of pace from Rapture (Rapture was dark as hell, Columbia is high up in the sky with sunlight everywhere), it still does a great job of making the player stay on their guard. You will be experiencing the joy of riding the skyline, exploring your share of enemy filled museums, traversing  streets with the city guard at every turn...Columbia is still a pretty intense place, albeit being a little more flashy and less creepy. Its a different joy on its own. Exploring the city's little secrets make it all the more interesting as well...as there are a lot of "different" themes being implemented here.


Being a shooting game, you have to make sure that the shooting feels right, this has been something that the "Bioshock" series has always been good with. Fortunately, "Infinite" does a good job as well. Guns feel powerful, and different weapons serve different purposes in a fight, just like they all should, the weapons all feel important in their own different ways (except the pistol, it seems pretty bad this time around). There are also a nice variety of weapons that you can pick up from the dead Columbian soldiers. Machine guns, shotguns, RPGs, grenade launchers, sniper rifles...you name it, you got it. Though the lack of more "imaginative weapons" like the chemical thrower or the harpoon launcher aren't present here. It doesn't hurt the experience too much though, landing head shots on enemies with a sniper rifle still feels great.

Gotta shoot them hoes from afar.

"Bioshock" won't be "Bioshock" without the powers (one of the main reasons why I even wanted to play the game), and "Infinite" has its fair share of interesting ones. Plasmids are gone, but instead, the game introduces Vigors, powers developed on Columbia itself. Whatever they're called...its the same thing as always. Booker uses one hand as a gun arm and the other arm to use his vigor powers. As expected of a "Bioshock" game, the vigor powers are pretty insane and powerful looking. Fire and lightning seem to be the norm nowadays, but the really cool abilities are the ones that allow you to summon crows to attack your enemies, summon a water tentacle to throw your enemies far away, to summon a shield to block all incoming bullets and then firing it all back at once, OR the one power that lets you fling all enemies into the air for free shots.


Unlike in previous games, you don't buy the powers in "Bioshock Infinite", instead, they are found during story segments. The only things you buy are the upgrades for them. In previous games there were improved versions of plasmids, like "Frigid Blast 1,2 and 3", in "Bioshock Infinite" you simply buy upgrades from the shop to boost the power of said Vigor. That applies to weapons as well. This functions like the upgrade stations in games of old, just that you can upgrade your weapons at any time now at the cost of money. Upgrades for both vigors and weapons make them feel significantly stronger, which is great, since it doesn't make the upgrade shops look like pointless window shopping. This is especially true for the vigor side, since the upgrades drastically change how you use your powers to deal with enemies.

Into battle, soldier.

Somewhere through the game you'll run into Elizabeth, Booker's contract, and she'll tag along with you for the most of the game. Elizabeth, frankly, is pretty impressive. Thank GOD the game isn't a stretched out escort mission, because believe it or not, she actually pulls her own weight in fights. She DOES NOT attack enemies at all, but instead, she'll be running around the area, trying to scavenge items for Booker. She also does not receive damage from enemy attacks, nor will the enemies even bother to attack her. In the heat of battle, she'll throw you ammo, money, salts to replenish your vigors, first aid kits to restore your health, and she can open tears that have different effects based on the tear you chose to open. Some provide tons of health kits, some provide weapons, some even summon turrets and robots to attack enemies. She did glitch out on me a couple of times, but she'll always reappear near me magically when I enter an elevator or advance to a new area.


The enemies in this game also come in quite a variety. Gone are the days of big daddies, but the game introduces this sort of "mini-boss" enemy types that come at you during many points in the game. There are armored bruiser types that rush at you and shoot fire all around, causing major damage. There are these crow type enemies that wield a blade, they'll charge at you mercilessly and disappear into crows when you shoot them, then reappear elsewhere to try and attack you again. There are the BRUTAL handymen enemies, whom are huge, robotic abominations that show NO mercy whatsoever if you don't know how to deal with them. All enemies have different counter strategies, and fighting them in midst of all the other normal enemies which have different powers on their own can be quite the intense and daunting task.

Skylines...WHEEEEE

Now we get to the flaws in the game, which are frankly, quite subjective. This game was received as the best in the series by critics worldwide....I actually think its the worst. ITS STILL A FUN GAME, I'M GIVING IT AN 8 GOD DAMMIT. First off, the story, it doesn't add up. It starts off pretty good and remains that way throughout a good portion of the game, then it starts to throw itself out the window during the ending segments, where it starts explaining about...very stupid things (I won't go too in depth because I don't want to spoil the POS ending). There are also not many extensive gameplay improvements to the previous games. They took out the passive plasmid abilities, there are no passive vigors to boost your stats, instead, there are drinks you find throughout the game that either boost your salts, health or shield. There are also "clothes" that you pick up that act as "passive abilities". All in all, there's really nothing new that is game breaking....and no, skyline zipping doesn't really count, it doesn't do much. Also, limiting our weapon counts to 2 just makes everything feel lazy.


"Bioshock Infinite" is a great game that focuses on what it does best, great gun fights with great special abilities, having a nice and interesting world to dive into and having a great variety of diverse enemies. I felt like while the game had plenty of amazing moments, it was to hide the fact that they sort of dumbed down combat into a pretty generic cover shooting like in many other games, rather than the old "Bioshock" where there were a ton of enemies that just charged and flanked you, instead of enemies standing and shooting you from afar, taking cover. Its a different experience overall, I can't really say that it feels too much like a "Bioshock" game, but sometimes being different isn't exactly bad. Its still a pretty damn fun game on its own.



Happy gaming!