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What OtakuAnthony bought this week July 9
Ouran High School Host Club GN 7 and 9
Plot Synopsis (from GN 7): “Hunny’s little brother, Chika, pays a visit to the Host Club – and immediately starts attacking Hunny, using all his martial-arts prowess against his older brother! Chika seems to be the absolute opposite of his sweets-loving, Bun-Bun-toting sibling, but why is he so angry with Hunny? The Host Club is determined to find out the cause…”
Previous order and now the rest of the order shipped out.
Ouran High School Host Club GN 7 is available from RightStuf
Ouran High School Host Club GN 9 is available from RightStuf
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Bamboo Blade GN 9
Plot Synopsis: “After their disciplined training, the Muroe High kendo team is ready for action on the day of the practice meet. Their opponents from Kamasaki High, however, hardly seem pumped for competition. As the matches proceed and the scores are tallied, will even Ishibaki’s pupils find the passion for victory burning quietly within their neglected armor?
After all of the students have had their say, it’s time for high school rivals Ishibaki and Kojiro to take the floor once again in their first battle since Kojiro’s trophy-winning victory all those years ago!”
I am a fan of both the Bamboo Blade anime and manga. I felt like I should keep adding the manga to my growing collection, now I just need the anime in there.
Bamboo Blade GN 9 is available from RightStuf
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Sunshine Sketch GN 5:
Plot Synopsis: “With the innocent first years Nazuna-chan and Nori-chan rounding out the quirky cast of residents at the Hidamari Apartments, every day is shaping up to be quite… erm, interesting! When Yuno manages to lose a battle with a toilet for her house key, her clumsiness leads to a sleepover, which in turn becomes something of a habit. But with homesickness making the rounds through Hidamari, school trips for some residents resulting in others being left to their own wacky devices, and the pressures of college entrance exams looming, a girl like Yuno can use all the dedicated friends and fun sleepovers she can get!”
I’m a fan of the manga series though I have yet to watch the anime series.
Sunshine Sketch GN 5 is available from RightStuf
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Lucky Star GN 8:
Plot Synopsis: “When eating a chocolate cornet which end do you begin with, the top or the bottom? Which side is the top and which is the bottom? For that matter, what is a chocolate cornet? The proper way to eat pastries is only one of the many every day occurrences explored by the girls of Ms. Kuroi’s class. Witness this study in the human condition as our heroines explore the unexplored in questioning the ordinary!”
I am a fan of both the anime and manga version of Lucky Star. So I decided to stay current with the manga as it being released in English so this is an order from a few months ago when I pre-ordered it.
Lucky Star GN 8 is available from RightStuf
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Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on Heaven’s Door Blu Ray:
Plot Synopsis: “Mars. Days before Halloween 2071. Villains blow up a tanker truck on Highway One, releasing a deadly virus that kills hundreds. Fearing a bigger, even more devastating biochemical attack, an astronomical reward is offered for the arrest and capture of the person behind the destruction. On the spaceship “Bebop,” Spike Spiegel and his crew of bounty hunters (Jet Black, Faye Valentine, Ed, and Ein) are bored and short of cash. But with the news of the reward everything changes.
I’m a fan of Cowboy Bebop both the TV series and the movie. I heard the BD looks good so I decided to add it to my collection.
Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on Heaven’s Door BD is available from RightStuf
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Paranoia Agent DVD 2
Plot Synopsis: “When the detectives interrogate the boy arrested for the Lil’Slugger attacks, he claims to be a “Holy Warrior” who has only begun to help those waiting to be saved. However, he also only claims two of the five attacks! Just as the detectives begin to find witnesses and think they are uncovering the truth, a rash of attacks fuel the hysteria – especially the two inside the police station! As the police begin to doubt their own beliefs, even suicidal citizens begin to believe a golden bat can solve their problems.”
So here is a bit of a wacky confession. I thought that I had the first three volumes of Paranoia Agent in my collection and not the rare volume 4. Well after doing through some boxes that I have some of my collection in, I found that I had volume 4 and not volume 2.
Paranoia Agent DVD 2 is out of print but copies can still be found on Amazon.com
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3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)
Plot Synopsis: “Control a hero on a quest to rid the Dotnia Kingdom of a dark plague caused by the forces of evil in order to restore peace to the land. Legend tells of an evil king known as the Dark King Onyx who brought tragedy and darkness to the kingdom by stealing six magical orbs. However a hero rose up against the Dark King and with his legendary sword and the power of the orbs, he sealed the Dark King Onyx away within another orb. Though the forces of evil rose again as the Dark Bishop Fuelle stole the orb and threw the Kingdom of Dotnia into a state of chaos once more.
I’m a taking a leap of faith on this one as I’ve never played this one before. Based on Janai’s review of the game I decided that I should get it.
3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3) is available from Amazon.com
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Resident Evil Code Veronica X (PS2)
Plot Synopsis: “A port of the Dreamcast hit, the PlayStation2 version of Resident Evil: Code Veronica X offers the same fantastic survival-horror adventure with some improvements in the graphics department. Taking place after Resident Evil 2, the game puts players in control of Claire Redfield as she continues to search for her brother and investigates the ominous Umbrella Corporation. Players also occasionally play as a partner character during the hours of puzzle solving and zombie killing.
I’m a fan of the Resident Evil franchise. I have never played RE:CVX before so I decided to add it my collection.
Resident Evil Code Veronica X (PS2) is out of print but copies can still be found on Amazon.com
Game Review: Shin Megami Tensei – Persona 4
After being positively blown away by Persona 3, I didn’t waste any time in starting up the next game in the series, Persona 4. 105 hours later, my expectations were exceeded, and I was more than satisfied.
STORY
Just like most RPG series, the Persona games aren’t directly tied to each other. Persona 4 is a story independent of that of Persona 3, although there are some references and vague connections.
You play as an unnamed character who has just moved to the small town of Inaba. Shortly after moving there, you hear rumors of a strange TV program that comes on at midnight when it rains. In addition, a series of mysterious murders have been occurring in town. It’s up to you to unravel the mystery behind these murders, and to determine what connection these may have to the TV program.
While the story doesn’t really pick up until near the end of the game, it is still very well paced, and constantly introduces new characters and subplots to keep your attention focused. Unfortunately, the story is not without its faults, as some parts could eventually start to feel very repetitive.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is almost identical to that of its predecessor, and that’s not a bad thing at all. There are many enhancements, however. Persona 4 corrects many balance issues that Persona 3 had, both in developing Social Links and in the battle system. Instead of having to raise three characteristic stats (Academics, Charm, and Courage), you now have five (Intelligence, Diligence, Courage, Understanding, and Expression). Although this may seem like more work, the game presents more opportunities in which you can raise these stats, so they go up faster. Talking to people, reading books, answering questions in class, paticipating in activities, and many other things will all affect how these stats grow. These stats are necessary in order to develop your Social Links, which are the relationships you form with the people you meet. Saying different things to different people will affect your Social Link with them, which in turn indirectly affects your performance in battle.
When it comes time to do battle, the gameplay becomes much more linear. There is no enormous tower to climb this time. Instead, you are now presented with a series of different dungeons that you must progress through in order. Each dungeon has its own unique style and its own story behind it.
Persona 4 continues the tradition of a turn-based battle system, but with major improvements. All of the balance issues I mentioned in my Persona 3 review are nearly non-existent, making the game much less frustrating. Unfortunately, not all of the annoyances are gone. If your character falls in battle, you’re done. Even if your allies are still standing and have full health, it’s game over. Because of this, perhaps the most useful item in the game is the Goho-M, which allows you to immediately return to the entrance of a dungeon, where you can heal up and save your game. Upon reentering the dungeon, the game is kind enough to let you resume at the floor you left off at, shaving off a load of time and effort you would have to put into retracing your footsteps.
Enemies have different weaknesses that you can exploit to gain a large advantage in battle. But only through trial and error (or through the use of a handy strategy guide) can you discover these weaknesses. There is no free scanning; you simply have to try different spells on different enemies and pray for the best. Fortunately, once you discover an enemy’s weakness, the game will remember it for you. Exploiting these weaknesses is the key to victory, but it’s not always so easy. Some enemies have no weakness at all. Many times you will encounter a combination of different types of enemies, all with different weaknesses. When this happens, those handy “attack all” spells aren’t so handy anymore.
The gameplay of Persona 4 is a very well thought out and executed formula that works. There’s no need to worry about which path is the “correct path,” as the game offers plenty of leeway to prevent you from reaching a standstill. As long as you spend your time doing something, you’ll be fine.
VISUALS & SOUND
Persona games like to do everything their own way. The stories & gameplay are both very unique, and the music is no exception. Instead of employing the use of the traditional fantasy RPG style classical tunes, Persona 4 has J-Pop. That’s right, J-Pop. And it’s awesome. Initially, one may think this kind of music is very unfitting for an RPG, but it actually works quite well. The entire soundtrack is a masterpiece of both vocal tunes and the instrumentals.
The graphics & visuals are very impressive. Some of my friends have, at first sight, even thought it was a PS3 game. That’s how impressive the graphics are. The character art is more anime-styled this time around, which I personally like much more.
OVERALL
A spectacular game from a spectacular series. Fresh presentation, gameplay, and story make this game an absolute winner. If you’ve never played it before, you’re missing out on a lot. So, do yourself a favor and pick it up. You won’t regret it one bit.
Also, this.
Janai
Antz
OtakuAnthony
jaysteevee
vtine
matty
machineslife
Nyanman
