My first merchandise!

I finally decided to fork out a ridiculous amount of cash to import some merchandise from Japan. Seriously, those import costs though… 0_0 All for myself! Y’know, ’cause it’s Christmas.

I took a few photos of the order as it arrived and what was inside, so here it is!

This was the box as it arrived. The weather got to it a bit, but who cares? I didn’t buy it for the box. 🙂

Inside the box was this nice little wallet containing the payment information and such.

I was pretty surprised when I opened the wallet though. Not only was there a nice little illustration on one side, but I also got a free piece of artwork made by Hasya. That was pretty surprising, but obviously really nice!

Gift wrapping was free for a limited time, so I thought, ‘Why not’. It was pretty nicely wrapped, but I didn’t really need it. 😀

And now, of course, onto the merchandise itself!

First up was this lovely little Nendoroid of Mirai Suenaga, the mascot of Culture Japan. I’ve never owned or seen a Nendoroid before, and I was pretty surprised with the amount of customisation you can give it. This particular figure also came with a little floating robot called Retrokyu. I decided to put a nice little model together and I’m pretty happy with it!

Sorry about the lighting. It was dark by the time I decided to take these pictures, and my lighting is awful. .-.

And secondly, completing my package, was the complete book for Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata!

Woah, was I impressed with the detail in this! I can’t read much Japanese kanji, but once I learn a little more, I’ll definitely get into this. It’s packed with information on every character and episode, with tonnes of illustrations showing the characters in various looks and situations.

All in all, I’m very happy with my purchase! 🙂 I’ll be delving into that book quite a lot, and finding as many ways as possible to show off my new Nendoroid! More photos may possibly follow, but that’s all up to chance.

Thanks for reading and have a great Christmas!

– IkuzeAnime

Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to Review

I’m trying as hard as I possibly can to get at least one review out every day, so I’m actually watching anime faster than ever before. Luckily for me, this one had slightly shorter episodes, so here’s my review of Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to: The Animation!

Name: Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to: The Animation

Genres: Comedy, slice-of-life, ecchi

Studio: Zexcs

Episodes: 12

Air date: April 8th 2014 – June 24th 2014

This show is basically summed up in the title: It’s about a manga artist and his assistants. Aito, the manga artist, is a bit of a strange, perverted man, however, getting himself and others into a variety of awkward situations, usually involving panties or some such things.

The main characters in the show are Aito, the main artist, and Ashisu, his assistant, but there are some other characters. The main characters are the only two I really found to be that unique, with the rest of the cast consisting of a tsundere, a smaller tsundere, and a happy-go-lucky whatever you call them (dandere?). Not to say the supporting cast is boring, but I didn’t find them as funny as the main leads the majority of the time.

And that’s pretty much all you need to know about him.

The comedy in this show revolves almost always around one thing only: Aito’s pervertedness. For fans of ecchi-related comedy, this is excellent, and the jokes reminded me often of a more toned down Seitokai Yakuindomo, with the sexual jokes replaced with general perverted ones. The show contains several clichéd joke moments, like the typical accidentally-grabs-breasts gag, but they did put some effort in and create some more original scenes, including a strange and, I’ll be honest, hilarious scene in which Aito and one of his assistants are stuck in an elevator.

You don’t even wanna know.

The artwork is definitely standard. None of the characters stand out art-wise and I can’t imagine that a particularly high budget was given to this area. But, it gets the job done for the type of show that it is – a quick ecchi show packed with awkward gags.

In the music department, things are about the same: average. None of the soundtracks really stood out for me. The opening and ending songs are quite nice to listen to, but it isn’t anything extraordinary.

I do have to say though, they did get two of my favourite voice actors in for the main characters, Matsuoka Yoshitsugu and Hayami Saori, casting as Aito and Ashisu. They did a pretty good job, especially considering this is a rather low-scale show. They helped to bring some of the more dull scenes to life, and the funny scenes a little better, so all was good in the seiyuu department.

In conclusion, I’d recommend this show to anyone who’s into ecchi comedy and is looking for a quick laugh. Don’t expect to get attached to the characters though, and the art and music are nothing to write home about. I had a good time, but I’m not sure whether I’d recommend sticking around for the special episodes.

Overall rating: 6/10

Thanks for reading!

– IkuzeAnime

My Anime Christmas Wishlist

So, it’s that time of year. I’ve always loved Christmas! When I was younger it was all about getting the best toys, and now I’m a little older it’s all about stuffing my face. 🙂

I decided a nice thing to do would be to make an anime Christmas wishlist. I’ll basically be listing any anime I would love to see happen. Yeah, I know, I’m not getting the shows for Christmas, but it’s basically just ‘Anime adaptations I’d like to see’ in an Xmas disguise.

So, in no particular order, let’s go through them all!

1: Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata: Season 2

Saekano was one of my favourite harems, so I’d no doubt like to see a season 2. There were rumours of a sequel being worked on, but I’ve seen no recent news, and the official website of the show says nothing of the sort. Still, I can hope.

2: Mirai Millenium

Mirai Suenaga is the mascot of the company Culture Japan, founded by Danny Choo, a guy I really admire. His aim is to spread Japanese culture through both his blog and his company, and he’s written some pretty amazing things. He actually inspired me to create this blog!

I’d love to see an anime featuring his characters. He’s actually hinted at one being created, and I believe Mirai has made a cameo appearance in an anime before, although I can’t remember which one.

I mean, come on, the OP’s already made! Some studio, please create this show!

3: Yandere Simulator Anime

In case you’ve never heard of it, Yandere Simulator is an indie game currently in early development stages. It’s focused around killing a series of ‘rivals’, who are after your senpai, before they can confess. I’ve had a lot of fun with the test builds and could genuinely see an anime working with this kind of structure. Of course, several nods to famous Yandere characters would be nice! 🙂

4: Katawa Shoujo Movie

Katawa Shoujo is one of the most popular and well-known English visual novels. It’s very high quality, unlike a lot of the joke VNs you see around, which is surprising, considering the team who created it is made up of a bunch of 4chan users.

The story is very, for lack of a better word, ‘feelsy’, and it does open your eyes to a lot of very common disabilities that we often ignore or brush off. There are 5 girls that you as the main character can end up with, but an anime movie would, of course, only be able to end up with one, unless the MC’s a scumbag. 😀 Although, the other characters would obviously still make an appearance.

This’d be the kind of movie I could really see happen, although I doubt it would be made. It’s a shame, I’d really love to see it.

 

Damn, that’s really annoying. I can only think of 4 ideas, although 5 is a much nicer number… Oh well! 🙂

I hope you enjoyed reading about what I’d like to see, and of course, if you have any other thoughts, I’d love to hear about them.

Thanks for reading!

– IkuzeAnime

One Punch Man Review

So, I literally just finished all 12 episodes of One Punch Man and decided I had to get my review out there. Waiting would be an injustice, and then Saitama would punch me. -_- Anyway, let’s just get straight into the review!

Name: One Punch Man

Genres: Seinen, superpower, comedy, action

Studio: Madhouse

Episodes: 12

Air date: October 5th 2015 – 21st December 2015

What do you get when you combine a simple yet effective concept, amazing comedy, excellent characters and the dream team of anime creators? You get One Punch Man. Madhouse is one of the biggest studios in the anime world, and they pooled their resources to make sure they had the industry’s best and brightest working on this one.

The story of One Punch Man follows Saitama, a ‘superhero for fun’ with one problem: every enemy he fights is down and out in one punch! Throughout the series we join him on his search for stronger opponents, meeting a variety of comedic characters along the way, including his eventual disciple Genos, a cyborg with hands down the best character design I’ve seen in anime so far.

The design on this guy is just incredible.

The story follows several ‘little’ plots, with a large threat that Saitama and co work towards defeating with a few random opponents thrown in here and there. This makes for a story that’s paced nicely in the short time it has whilst also making sure things aren’t too fast. You’d think the premise of a one-punch take down would get tiring, but fortunately Saitama isn’t the only one who fights, so we do see some longer battles.

The comedy in this show is spot on. It’s the kind of humour anyone can enjoy, even those who aren’t fans of anime or Japanese culture. The show does partially make fun of superheroes, so fans of Western characters would also enjoy this. Sometimes I’ve had to pause the episode whilst I’m watching because I’m too busy laughing my ass off to read the subtitles. 🙂

The art in this show is one of it’s best points. The scenery looks beautiful, especially in the wide shots, usually showing off a trail of destruction left by someone. ^_^ Another thing that surprised me was that every character in the show is packed with detail. I didn’t see a single character who I felt looked lame compared to the rest. Although, of course, Saitama’s plain face is something you get used to. I prefer it to the serious version to be honest. 😀

The soundtrack is also spot on for the type of show that One Punch Man is. Rarely is there a calm moment, and the soundtrack reflects this, with plenty of intense tracks playing in all of the fights. This was one of the shows I had to watch with headphones, simply so I could pick up on the full audio. The opening song is also one of my favourites. I can’t stop jamming every time it plays!

In terms of flaws, they’re as vacant as Saitama’s hair. There wasn’t a single episode I found boring, a character I didn’t like, or a fight I yawned at. You can really sense the effort put into this show, and it’s the perfect example that when you have a passionate team, the end result is far better. Even the most fast-paced movement has detail to it, and that’s something I can really appreciate.

In conclusion, you have to watch this show. It’s one of my favourite anime and hands down the best action anime/comedy show I’ve seen. I highly look forward to the OVAs, which should be coming in the (hopefully) near future.

It’s a masterpiece!

Overall rating: 10/10

Oh, and introducing… the Ikuze Award! I’m going to give the Ikuze Award to anything I find to be outstanding, surpassing the average, or even great, shows. It won’t just apply to anime however, but anything else I review, be that manga, games or even figures/merchandise, but I don’t get much of that. There’s going to be a special section of the blog for anything with this prestigious award.

And I’m very happy to announce that One Punch Man is the first anime to gain the award! Congratulations, Madhouse! 😀

Thanks for reading!

– IkuzeAnime

Kuroko no Basket Review

If you’re a fan of sports anime, you must have seen, or at least heard of Kuroko no Basket. Arguably one of the most famous sports anime, or even one of the most popular in general, this show certainly deserves its praise. It even got a lazy nerd like me into basketball! 🙂

So, without further ado, let’s get into the details!

Name: Kuroko no Basket

Genres: Sports, shounen, comedy

Studio: Production I.G.

Episodes: 25

Air date: April 8th 2012 – September 22nd 2012

Kuroko no Basket doesn’t have a particularly complex plot, and it has ‘shounen’ written all over it. The story follows, as you may have guessed, Kuroko, a first-year high school student with a passion for basketball. The only problem is, he’s pretty awful! Well, not entirely. It turns out he has a skill that led to him being named the ‘Phantom Sixth Man’ back in his middle school days. I’ll let you find out what that is. 😉

Another main character is Kagami Taiga, a powerful and aggressive player who studied in the US – the home of basketball. It’s Kagami’s dream to find tough opponents to defeat, and it’s Kuroko’s dream to assist Kagami in doing so. From the moment they join up, they, along with the hilarious cast that is the Seirin basketball team, go about challenging the Generation of Miracles; a group of young yet legendary athletes.

The show’s episodes usually go one of two ways. They’re either focused on a basketball match, or they’re a kind of relaxation period between them. The games are obviously where the action is, and it is superb! Every minute of the matches is heart pumping, and each game is unique, filled with new challenges and of course, new characters.

Luckily, the comedic breaks in between the games are full of hilarious scenes and jokes, with my favourite being when the team encounter the infamous ‘Japanese lunch time rush’. There are no major spoilers in the scene, so if you want to check it out, here it is now. 😀

I’ve already mentioned the characters Kuroko and Kagami, the leads, and they’re great. But, just like basketball itself, you need a good team to surround the main players, and this show certainly has them. All of the side characters have personality, and they don’t just feel like they have to be there to make up the numbers. My favourite side character has to be Koganei Shinji. He’s just a nutcase. ^_^

The artwork is quite nice. It does look a little old now, but it’s important to note it did come out in 2012. The animation is particularly smooth, however, which makes the action scenes all the better.

The soundtrack is one of the show’s main highlights. The OST is amazing, adding a sense of tension to the games and creating a nice chilled atmosphere in the joke sections. The opening songs are performed by the excellent GRANRODEO, a J-Rock name I’m surely not going to forget. Seriously, I love these guys. You should definitely check them out!

In conclusion, Kuroko no Basket is excellent. It’s a show that really knows how to put you in the action. The characters are all likeable (Or hateable, when they need to be!) and the animation is great, really helping to immerse you. However, I did personally feel that some of the games went on for too long, and sometimes I wondered if a slightly shorter series length would suit it better.

But overall, I certainly recommend checking this show out, whether you’re a fan of basketball or not. I wasn’t when I started, and now I play it weekly! 😀

Overall rating: 8/10

Thanks for reading!

– IkuzeAnime

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata Review

Okay, here we go, my first real post! 😀 I’m gonna be reviewing Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata, or Saekano for short. First, I’ll go through the key details.

Sorry, that just felt right there. Okay, onto the review!

Name: Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata

Genres: Slice-of-life, romance, comedy, ecchi, harem

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Episodes: 13

Air date: January 8th 2015 – March 26th 2015

Saekano seems to be like Marmite; you love it or you hate it. I’ve read all kinds of reviews for this show, with some saying it’s the greatest harem around, with others saying it’s an awful mess of bad characters. I, personally, agree more with the former option. While the show does have it’s flaws, it was a great show with likeable characters.

The story centres around the life of Aki Tomoya (Voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka), a high school otaku devoted to anime and manga. However, an encounter with a mysterious girl one morning inspires him to create a visual novel, with the heroine being the girl he met. He later figures this out to be his rather bland classmate, Megumi Kato (Voiced by Kiyono Yasuno), and, along with a colourful cast of characters, goes about creating ‘Blessing Software’, the team to create his game.

The characters are a highlight of the show for me, despite the criticism they tend to get. It is true that each character portrays elements of a cliché, but the way the show handles this decision shows us that they are embracing these traits, and showing us how to do them well. Tomoya is actually one of my favourite slice-of-life MCs, being a mix of quirky and awkward, but also determined.

The most obvious cliché trait at work here is tsundere, shown in the character Eriri (Voiced by Saori Ounishi), who is called out on this behaviour multiple times, usually with hilarious results. An example is the infamous twin-tail slap, which the show was particularly associated with while it was airing! 🙂

Other characters, including Kasumigaoka Utaha, my personal favourite, are also great, and most characters get about 2 or 3 episodes focusing particularly on them, so you don’t really feel like characters are underdeveloped. One exception to this is Hyodo Michiru, who I found was introduced too late into the show to be properly enjoyed.

The art style in the show is colourful and modern, and it’s animated beautifully. It was the first 2015 show I’d seen, and I really enjoyed it. I’m also fairly certain the art style is supposed to be reminiscent of visual novels, as that’s what the show is technically focused on. I’ve played a fair few over the 3 years I’ve been into otaku culture (Non-erotic, of course ^^), and I was really getting that vibe.

The music is fairly standard for a slice-of-life. The opening and ending tracks, by Luna Haruka and Sawai Miku respectively, are nice to listen to, but once again, there’s nothing extraordinary.

Overall, Saekano is a show I really recommend. It’s a great romcom about a bunch of otakus making a game, really. It also taught me something a little deeper than most slice-of-lifes tend to do. I learnt that it’s perfectly fine to be an otaku or a nerd. After all, you can still get the girls. 😉

Overall rating: 9/10

So, how was that review? Was it too long or just right? What are your thoughts on Saekano? Let me know by leaving a comment and I’ll do my best to respond. ^_^

Thanks for reading!

– IkuzeAnime

Welcome to Ikuze Anime!

Welcome, one and all! This is Ikuze Anime, a blog I started up to share my love of anime and other otaku culture.

I’m gonna be talking about anime in particular, but also other things, like manga and gaming. I aim to spread the fun of anime to people who aren’t so sure on it, as well as provide a place for existing fans to check out my thoughts and share their own.

I’m going to be posting in a pretty strange way, because I tend to have a lot of random ideas in my head at a time. ^_^’ I’ll try to make a lot of anime reviews, but I also might do top 5s/10s and discussions on otaku-related subjects.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you’ll enjoy my future content!

– IkuzeAnime