Guns x Sword review

Story/Plot:Armed with a metal sash that straightens into a sword, lanky swordsman Van is traveling through the desert, searching for the mysterious clawed man who killed his bride. Along the way he picks up a fellow traveler: Wendy, a young girl whose town he saves from bandits by summoning a mecha with his sword. Wendy is searching for her missing older brother, whose engraved gun she carries on her back. In their mutual quest they run afoul of more bandits and villains, a mysterious woman named Carmen99, and more mecha battles a la Wild West.

My Turn: When I first watched this anime, I said,”Oh look! It’s like Trigun or Gungrave.” But a couple of minutes later I was pretty confused. Watching this anime gave me a mixed reaction. It’s like a mech genre in a western style. To sum it up, it’s like Trigun with Cowboy Bebop(considering it has the same director as Code Geass). Though, I was pretty entertained and captivated with the story and to how Van (The main Character) will get his revenge on The Claw (The boss guy)and how will Wendy(the supporting character) will find and save his brother from his kidnapper. Yes! It is a mech anime. It’s not like Gundam where there is a big war between this faction and that faction or like Evangelion where this group defends the world from “Angels”(and if you have not seen any of those, then you don’t know what your missing) but this anime has a genre of its own. The series was aired in 2005 so its pretty old but having 26 episodes.

Guns x Sword doesn’t fall short on action though, and it has drama that will touch your heart. Animation is great!but considering it to be an anime in 2005 and watching it today, it quite outdated. There are a lot of characters in the story that will have a a couple of episodes about them just like any anime but they are very loveable specially those old guys who drinks a lot.

Score:Like I said, this anime gave me mixed reactions but having some awesome characters and a genre that is different from the others, it was very entertaining for me. I’ll give this anime a 7/10. Having great animation in its time and characters, I think it is a good score. I will recommend Guns x Sword to those who misses western type anime or even those who likes mechs.

Here is a U.S version of the trailer:

A Japanese hero

You’ve heard of medical missions,Red cross disaster volunteers,and fund raisers for disaster prone areas.But, this guy is a real hero for the Filipinos affected by the Sendong typhoon. Issey Tanaka (20), went to the typhoon effected area in Cagayan de Oro from Japan to see what he can do to help the people there. His story is really something to be proud about if you’re Japanese and I really wish there are more people out there just like him. Here are parts of the article I found. “Mabuhay” ka Issey Tanaka and I hope you will keep doing what you are doing, and if you ever read this blog, I wish to join your cause.

For Issey Tanaka, showing sympathy doesn’t end in offering prayers or in a heartfelt expression of support.

Because for him, it means going where the tragedy is, despite the distance.

So he went all the way to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City from his homeland Japan to spend the holidays and spread cheer in Sendong-hit areas.

Tanaka, 20, embarked on this seemingly impossible mission to personally see the devastation Sendong brought so he could identify what he can do for the victims.

“I want to help people. I wanted to contribute and I want to promote to the Japanese people, let them know of what’s going on in the Philippines,” Tanaka told Yahoo! Southeast Asia in an interview.

With sheer will and some money from his supportive parents, Tanaka flew to PH. He tapped Xavier University which agreed to temporarily adopt him while doing his volunteer duties.

To read more of the article, Click here.

Japanese-Filipino sumo wrestlers.

I don’t know much about sumo wrestling but I’ve seen many European sumos out there but never that that I thought I’d see a Filipino (Well half Filipino). I was just surfing the web to find a new post under this category since I haven’t been posting a topic like this in awhile. Well, here is Takayasu Akira. Having a Japanese father and a Filipino mother, he is the first sumo wrestler born in the Hesiei  era. Only in the age of 21 he is already in the top makuuchi division in 2011.

More about Takayasu Akira from wikipedia:

Early Life:Born to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother, Takayasu was raised in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki and was a center fielder on his junior high school baseball team. On his father’s recommendation he joined Naruto stable upon graduating from junior high school.

Career:On his entry to Naruto stable, Takayasu was already 180 centimeters tall and weighed 120 kilograms, and consequently had much expectation pinned on him from the start. His first tournament was in March, 2005. He made steady progress through the lower divisions, with only a few losing record or make-koshi tournaments. He won the yusho or championship in the third makushita division in September, 2010 with a perfect 7-0 record. This propelled him into jūryō division, where along with Masunoyama became one of the first two sekitori to be born in the Heisei era. He decided against adopting a traditional shikona despite reaching the elite and will continue to use his birth name. In his first jūryō tournament in November he almost pulled off a second consecutive championship, losing to Toyohibiki in a playoff after both finished with 11-4 records.

After two more strong performances at jūryō Takayasu was promoted to the top makuuchi division in July, 2011. His debut record of 9-6 at maegashira 11 earned him a maegashira rank of no. 6 in the following tournament, then his highest to date, but he only managed a 6-9 record there. After a 9-6 score in the November 2011 tournament he was promoted to a new high of maegashira 3.

Now, I finnaly have someone to root for on the sumo wrestling industry ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

A short video on Akira:

EDIT

Another half Filipino sumo wrestler named Masunoyama Tomoharu. His wiki page is in Japanese and working I’m working into translating it but being the same age as Akira and ranking in the Maegashira 9. Unfortunately, there is no videos of him on youtube yet but here is a picture. Make that two wrestlers I’m going to root for.

Tiger & Bunny Review

Greetings! Sorry for the late posts, was just out of state for awhile and now I’m back and here to post more Anime reviews!!~~I’m going to be posting quite a few since all I have been doing most of my time off is to watch anime. So lets start with this one “Tiger & Bunny”. Hope you like my review.ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ

Plot/Story: Sternbild City is home to people called “Next,” who use their special abilities to protect the people as superheroes. These heroes solve cases and save lives so they can wear sponsor logos or acquire “hero points.” Their activities are documented on the popular program “Hero TV,” which picks the “King of Heroes” in a yearly ranking. The veteran hero Wild Tiger has always preferred to work alone, but now he’s been assigned the rookie Barnaby Brooks Jr., who has a different perspective on being a superhero.

The story mainly focuses on veteran hero Kotetsu T. Kaburagi aka Wild Tiger who is assigned with a new partner, a young man named Barnaby Brooks Jr. However, Barnaby and Kotetsu usually have trouble working together as they have conflicting opinions on how a superhero should act while at the same time trying to crack the mystery of the murder of Barnaby’s parents. In addition, the appearance of a homicidal vigilante NEXT named “Lunatic” stirs up the public and makes them question the meaning of heroes.

My Turn: [As always , I’m trying to keep my reviews as simple as possible so bare with me] There has been quite a few superhero themed anime in the industry. To name some, there is: Gatchaman or … (I ran out 〆(・∀・＠).. [By the way, anime like Dragon Ball Z or Ghost Fighter are not hero type genre. Well sure they’re out saving the world from evil ghosts or aliens but the hero I speak of are the ones little kids look up to like Superman or Batman..You get what I mean right?? ๏[-ิ_•ิ]๏ ANYWAYS!!!] You don’t see a lot of these superhero themed anime around but this anime “Tiger & Bunny” delivers. Tiger & Bunny has your typical superhero shenanigans like your superhero powers, superhero crimes, and even your famous superhero capes. Running only 25 episodes and being the animation is very retro-like,it will leave you itching and scratching for more. The story revolves around Kotetsu T. Kaburagi aka ‘Wild Tiger”and being overlooked because of the young and new heroes coming out, he is forced to partner up with a new hero named Barnaby Brooks Jr. because his producers said so,literally.These two heroes will get you so into the story that you will think that you were there.The story will leave you laughing most of the time and in some cases it will make you teary eyed just like any anime but this show will not leave you hanging without any action,and there is A LOT of it. The action scenes are very well animated and very colorful from wild chases and invading teddy bear looking things and seems like it is to be on par with the western superheroes..And to note that our superheroes is very well commercialized, you’ll know when you watch it. It is said that there will be a 2nd season coming up this year but we will just have to wait and see.

SCORE:This anime gave me what I was searching for a long time.I must admit when I saw the first episode, I was a a bit confused and no clue what was happening.I will give this anime a 10/10.
Have a great plot it is to be recommended for those shonen fans and on top of that, great animation as well. I recommend this anime to everyone male or female and I promise you that you would not be disappointed.

Here is a trailer video of Tiger & Bunny so you don’t have to search for it.(●ゝω)ノヽ(∀＜●)

Happy New Year!!!

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I just wanted to leave a post and greeting my readers a VERY MERRY NEW YEAR!!  I hope this year will be great for you and I hope that you will enjoy it.. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The free flights to Japan is trashed.

If you can remember my post during October about the free round-trip tickets to Japan (If not, here it is), well that is now trashed according to the Japanese Tourism Agency (JTA).

…was not approved as a governmental draft budget of FY 2012.

More here.

I was very disappointed when I heard this news in Japanprobe. As disappointing as it may sound lets just pass this misfortune and continue the support to the Japanese agency and most definitely the support for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Yet, another year is ending. I just want to greet everyone a Happy Merry Christmas! And I hope you will continue to read my blog (｀・ω・´)” . MAY YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!!!

 

Japan’s Lolita Fashion

I stumbled upon a pretty lengthy but interesting article in Yahoo! Philippines. It talks about the very popular Lolita fashion in Japan. Here are parts of the article and of course if you want to read more about it, just click here.

Outlandish pannier skirts with layers of frilly lace; teenage girls with larger-than-life make-up; a dash of sexuality and lashings of Victoriana are the order of the day for Japan’s Lolita girls.

What began as a street fashion two decades ago as youngsters aped the doll-like European styles of baroque and rococo has morphed into a near mainstream movement, with dozens of offshoots.

I’m no fashion guru heck I’m not even entirely sure of what I’m wearing now matches but coming from a guy, I think the Lolita type clothes are attractive (^・ω・^ )

“This is definitely one of the latest trends in Japan’s fashion world,” said Akiko Shinoda, a director for the Japan Fashion Week Organisation, adding Lolitas appeared for the first time last year at the twice-a-year show.

“I think it will survive as one distinct category in Japan.”

The article had some pretty criticizing comments from readers but this part of the article is what I like the best.

But Imari Sato, 18, was more forgiving. “I think it’s fine to wear it as long as it makes you happy,” she said.

Kim Jong il is dead!

So the N.Korean leader died of a stroke Sunday on his way to visiting areas in his beloved state. The next heir is to be his son Kim Jong-un which is only in his late 20’s. Now, Japan is preparing or lets say the other Asian nation are preparing for the worst and hopeful that the death of Kim Jong-il’s death will not affect the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula. If you ask me, I don’t think his son (Kim Jong-un) will be capable of running a country and if that is true then the people who will be running are the Generals or the Commanders of their large military which can result into a coup. We will just have to wait and see. There was a game not so long ago that foretold that Kim Jong-il’s death will lead into a state of pretty much chaos everywhere. I’ll post this ‘Homefront’ trailer here. Though it seems farfetched, anything is possible.

If you want to read more articles click here and here. Both are Yahoo! news articles.

(picture is from Jprobe)

Rurouni Kenshin Live Action Update!

An news update for the Rurouni Kenshin fans out there. A trailer was just released and here it is. Releasing in August 25, 2012. I can’t wait

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