Episode 1 – Pinkie's Paradise

Pretty Princess Pinkie: The Phantom Menace

Hear Ye Hear Ye! Princess Pinkie has returned with a new movie & Shows post

Greetings my loyal guests and subjects! Tis with a great smile that I announce a new sort of column on my blog! Many blogging guides on the internet tell us that when writing a blog we should curb your enthusiasm nor should we be overly negative. In this double series I will do both! In Pissy Princess Pinkie I will take a super negative attitude.. but in a fun way.. and in Pretty Princess Pinkie I will spout unbridled Enthusiasm! Since I started Pissy with a movie that is commonly known to be shit.. I will do the same for Pretty Princess Pinkie.

A long time ago, in a cinema only a small drive away

Jedi Temple Location Gallery | StarWars.com

I did not have a great childhood! I was bullied for my motor skills a lot and spent most of my time alone. My dad and I had a poor bond but when mom had to work during the weekend and my sister would spend the entire day at a friends birthday party, he took me to see a movie that would change my life, in a way. That movie was Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. A movie that is always under fire from the community, yet a movie that I hold in much higher regard than most. For many reasons! Because this was the movie that evolved Star Wars from a Sci Fi Western trilogy towards a big epic world. The original trilogy was amazing..but what Phantom Menace did for the world of Star Wars really changed my life. Not the movie itself persé… but the afterthoughts. For one I am 100% sure that without establishing the politics and groundwork that were created in this movie , we would have never gotten the Old Republic stuff.. after all there would not be an old Republic without the Republic.

All The Force Powers In Star Wars Canon: Light Side, Dark Side & Universal | Editorial | Star Wars

To me, Star Wars Episode 1 back then and up to this day felt like a natural evolution of Star Wars, we first see the aventures of the one, than the adventures of the few and here we see the adventures of the many. Instead of a lonely boy or a rebel group, we see well established forces such as the Jedi Order, the Galactic Senate, and the citizens of a planet fight for what they believed in… as a whole. Very unlike the old Star Wars movies, it was stuff you could form an opinion about. The Emperor and Vader in the original trilogy functioned as an absolute and undisputable evil. Here we CAN actually make choices. Do we indeed believe the Trade Federation blockade is justified?! Most likely not!, after all they tried to kill the diplomatic envoy..however they only do this after protocol has been breached and known mind sorcerers were sent to their ship. Naboo ends up in a similar situation, do we fight, do we flee do we garrison up?! This to me validated the entire concept of the force.

Star Wars Behind The Scenes - Queen Amidala - Star Wars The Digital Collection - YouTube

While I love the original trilogy the concept of the Light and The Dark side was kind of flat! With the Dark Side , being flat out “evil”. It is said anger does lead to the dark side, but except for the very last part never was their a trial.. to test once affinity with a specific side of the force. Here a Jedi constantly has to make choices about what is just. Sometimes what is just isn’t what is right and it creates a much more dynamic world. A world I was enchanted by, a world I shared with my dad… of course he did not really care but that was a time he wanted to do something nice for me.. and he must have seen me lit up because I adored what I saw! Even when I was little(ish) these mind game kinds of things really vibed with me. I love stuff like that and maybe this is where that began.

The Living Force vs The Unified Force

Back then I did not know about all the extra lore there was to find out there! I just wanted to have a big fish. And Jar Jar on a Kaadu as toys ! I mean.. I love ducks and unicorns so why would I not love a duck horse. Regardless, many naysayers tells you that Episode 1 is boring and I could not disagree more. I loved how this laid the foundation of the Living Force Theory and the Unified Force theory., which is a division between two types of Jedi.. one believing that the force is a single entity that is all around. more like .. “god” as it were. These were typically the very wise and classic Jedi, like Yoda and later Obi Wan…before Qui Gon’s passing. Yet others believed in the living force. That the force was inside all of us.. bound to someone and somethings on more personal levels. These Jedi lived more in the present and were less “religious” and the most prominent follower of the Living Force was Qui Gon. This division was notable from episode 1 on.. and it was what made the jedi cool to me! Before this I never really thought the Jedi were cool.. but Qui Gon.. propelled them into the stratosphere.

That opening scene and the fight against the Droideka was insane! The new laser sounds, the shields, the rolling! This is what a sci fi weapon should feel like to me! These made so much more sense than those “walking camel things” To this day I still feel like that. The idea of having a robot roll and zip around like that, allowed a design to be bulky and intimidating yet never just clunky! The whole concept of using droids fits in so well with the theme of this movie as well… do we believe in the ancient doctrines or do we believe in the talent and promise of the individual was a theme for Anakin, the Living Force theory vs the Unified force Theory for the Jedi… and are Droids stronger.. who all follow one mission without fail and without mistakes… or is humanity stronger, who is prone to mistakes.. but can also think out of the box. This theme is even used with Jar Jart to an extent.. in the form of.. he is very different from the standard gungan.. he is not part of the whole.. does that make him weak?! In a way this is a story about diverging from the standard. Should we?! Will we?! What are the consequences?

Star Wars: Liam Neeson is niet benaderd om zijn rol als Qui-Gon Jinn nogmaals te spelen in Live-Action show

This is a clever choice from Lucas because not only does it give the world much more depth, you create a lot of grey areas as well. Lando was a huge dick for betraying Han in Cloud city but in the prequels and mainly episode 1 that could have been given more depth. Does he believe in the power of the empire.. or in these unlikely people that might break the status quo?! That more Black and white approach worked very well in the orginal because we did not know where the story was going. We felt things.. but in the prequels we KNOW Obi Wan survived, we KNEW Qui Gon most likely would not, we know what is going to end up happening to Anakin, so by formatting it like a Space Western like before one could easily become to predictable.. and that is a pitfall I think the part 2 and part 3 fell into a bit more, but this movie surpised me a lot.

The Force is Strong with This One

Laser Brains — polis-massa: Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Phantom Menace”...

Yes Jar Jar can be annoying, but so can C3PO.. we saw those characters grow, to me Jar Jar was a needed disruptor because Qui Gon and Obi Wan as Jedi would not make the same choices Luke made. They already went on missions and were experienced.. and the life of a Jedi is not as exciting as the movies might make it seem . A good Jedi can fight himself off a ship filled with droids. A Great Jedi tries to make sure he doesn’t need to draw his saber at all. This mentality calls for a character like Jar Jar and while his speech is kind of vexing that is kind of the point. He is not meant to be annoying for annoyance sake, he is there to show how strong and composed someone like Qui Gon is. How he differs from Obi Wan.. who doubts Jar Jar more. We all KNOW Anakan is the chosen one so we KNOW Qui Gon is right about him, seeing Obi Wan and Qui Gon argue about that life form is not interesting because we know who is right! With Jar Jar however that is different.

Does Qui-Gon use his hands to eat after he catches Jar-Jar's tongue? - Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange

In my eyes the whole point of Jar Jar is .. .”If I had a lightsaber I would have cut of his head by now” … it shows us the audience the tranquility of a true Jedi not to be phased by the clowning. He doesn’t hurt drawing in a younger audience either and also shows us an important lesson, you don’t need to have amazing super powers or space magic or be a highly skilled person to be a hero! Sometimes what matters is that you are there.. fighting for what you believe in! Star Wars as a whole can be a bit preachy and say that power comes only to a few.. Jar Jar all makes that feel a bit less toxic! Besides that Gungan city looks gorgeous! It’s a great visual that at least to me screamed much more sci fi than.. North pole or Tunesian Desert. This movie sells that a bit stronger to me anyway.

The mask is latex Watto in Star Wars I : The phantom menace | Spotern

I love the Mos Eisley Cantin in the original episode IV and sure there are a lot of alien races but the bar itself doesn’t feel all that alien. Episode 1 shows that aspect much better. Alien sports, alien locales and alien weaponry. Mos Espa has a “logic” to it, feeling less like a showcase and more like a lived in world. While I love Devornian and Talz (that are shown in episode IV).. one could argue that they are monsters and they can walk on Sesame Street as well..sort of speak of course. In every scene though this movie felt very sci-fi to me. Much more than many scenes in the original did. While many of the aliens in the original looked cool, here there identity mattered. Like how Sebulba as a Dug has a super quick reaction time and Watto is Immune to force tricks and how ihis species greed contributes to the role he plays. You can’t say that for “Do You Wanna Buy Some Death Sticks” guy or .. “My Friend Doesn’t like you” guy!

Naboo Starfighter screenshots, images and pictures - Giant Bomb

The Naboo starfighter is also one of my favourite fighter jets, over the X wing. It just pops so much more in space! It’s so good! That scene also works well because we see Anakin having established these powers before. Let’s compare that with Rey who learned how to force heal out of nowhere. Yes, Force Healing is an actual power.. but we never saw Luke have it, we never seen Leia read ancient texts about it, it came out of nowhere. While the pod racing scene and this scene can also easily explain why Anakin is so adept in combat which also is expanded upon later, AND that calls back to the original as to that family trait is what allowed Luke to hit the Death Star Exhaust. The Pod Racing scene is not just cool for the sake of being cool! It shows us that the character of Anakin has certain abilities within a “recreational” environment. An ability that is later expanded upon and that would have made much less sense without the podracer being there. The Sequel Trilogy hardly ever did that.

Star Wars' Dave Filoni explains why the Duel of the Fates in The Phantom Menace is so important

The Duel of the Fates Scene to this day is my favourite Lightsaber duel and it introduced a weapon that looks cool, but also has been proven to be more beneficial than one initially might think. The deflector shields opening and closing gave that fight such a great timing and sense of dread as well. It made it so different and much more in line with the Jedi, once more establishing how different they are from the Sith and the teasing Maul. Maul would only later develop a personality and people complain about that.. but Maul served the role he had to in this movie. The Lapdog of Sheev, the loyal assassin that just did his job, an inescapable threat. We didn’t need to know anything about him because that is not what he was here for. Sure I thought he was super cool, and I was glad they gave him a persona and made him turn out to be alive for the Clone Wars series and even a cameo in Solo. In fact if Maul had his persona he had later in the series I think it would have made the movie less cool! Now he was an enigma.. who was that man.. What is a Zabraki! It wasn’t answers we needed..it was answers we wanted and that is how you get people hooked! He was the ultimate nobody and that’s what made him scary.

Lucas Arts

bol.com | Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic | Games

To me this was the movie that for the last time we got an uncompromising Lucas. After this he had to tone down Jar Jar because he was so hated, he had to fix this and he had to fix that.. because people were not on board with his vision. While Episode 2 and 3 clearly still had Lucas’ hand to it.. this one to me is the last one that feels like Lucas work… After that I saw more of his signature or that feeling in the Old Republic Stuff. Knights of the Old Republic is one heck of a strong game.. and if I were to point out what Star Wars movie inspired it most.. I would say it is this one.

With Swoop Racing, , the general spaceship design, the political themes and the duality between light and dark in everyone.. this is the movie that lead into that…at least that’s how I see it. Without Knights of the Old Republic I would have never started Roleplaying in the Old Republic game, without having played that I would have still been blogging in dutch for my dutch friends.. I’d probably have given up by now or went for something very different.. so Episode 1 in a way is yet another of those corner stones that got me into blogging.. which shows the movie has a heck of a lot more power than just it’s scenes.

Maybe this Star Wars movie is not as entertaining at face value as some of the others, maybe it lacks a bit more of that lovable cast of rogues the original offered.. I get that yet at the same time it very much knows how iconic these other characters are.. it doesn’t have to try to replace them with the faces of a new generation like the sequels did. It doesn’t try to be better or bigger r than Empire, it tries to be something else and deepens the Star Wars world. It tries to add weight to what has come before and what will come after, much more than blindly supporting the main cast, This movie asks you to think! And that is why I think it is such a great sequel, it doesn’t try to top it.. or repeat that success.. it tries to add something and that to me it more than does. While I would agree that this is not the best Star Wars movie, I think for the world of Star Wars and the expanded universe it just might be the most important one.

What is your favourite Star Wars movie? Do you have a movie you love that the world seems to hate? What is a product that you would just be super positive about? What colour would your lightsaber be in star wars?! (New lore says YOU colour the crystal, though each colour has meaning) let me know some stuff in the comments and let’s get a talk going! I will get back to you as soon as I finished “meditating” and dreaming about having a bleepy bloopy droid for my own! Cause remember my dears! Friendship is Magic, but dreams are even more wonderful! Oyasumi!

Pinkie Plays: Moemon Emerald Extreme Randomiser Nuzlocke (Part 1) The Amazing Starter

Greetings little lights in my life, my first actual content post as a Virtual Blogger and Kaijuman is of course… a Pokémon post….kind off! I started a Nuzlocke when I was still a mortal, but I played so far ahead of my writing that I kind of forgot what happened! So this time I will write along as I play! … This time the cute animals will be replaced by cute girls! As we start our very own Moemon Emerald Extreme Randomizer Nuzlocke.

What is A Nuzlocke!

Here we go again! A nuzlocke is a mode in Pokémon where you can only catch the first Pokémon you encounter each route! A Pokémon that faints in battle is considered dead and you HAVE to give it a nickname so you get more attached to it! In our version we will play a randomised hack of a Pokémon game I own.. but yet it will be played on an Emulator.
All Pokémon have been “randomised” so that means if I would normally find a Pidgey.. I might encounter a Mewtwo now instead. Or vice versa. Items, trainer names , abilities and movesets all have been completely changed..though Pokémon will be biased to learn moves of their respective typing. There will be a few additional rules such as.. if I encounter a Pokémon I already have, I can catch another and my own special rule.. if I HATCH a duplicate.. that specific Moe gets an extra life. Since this Rom does not have sprites for all Moe’s if I encounter a regular Pokémon instead of a Moe.. it doesn’t count as an encounter, they can still kill my girls though!

Minor rules include me having protection from wipes by Dragon Rage, before the second gym and a lot of other circumstantial stuff that I will bring up when we get there. The point is , this offers a bit of extra challenge to a Pokémon game. For challenge reasons I can’t grind to be stronger than the Gym Leaders Ace either.. because on emulators I could just speed up and wash everything after grinding… What enforces me to keep these rules in a written report of this?! Nothing! You will just have to trust me! … The trainer will be named Pinkie like always.. and the Nuzlocke ends after completing the Pokémon League, or after a full team if six wipes! No need to defeat Steven End Game… (as it would probably would involve a lot of grinding) with that It is time to see how our adventure will go! Professor Birch greets me and shows me that this.. is a Pokémon.

The Start of my Journey…

For some strange reason mom in this game has stuffed me in the back of a moving truck and forced me to travel with the boxes like a piece of trash while she got there in another way! A lot of non Moe looking monsters are busy carrying some boxes but at least she got the tv running! … Great priorities mom! The Mom in Gold at least helped me with my journey… you give me a room.. then kick me out of the house to go play with that creepy neighbour kid Brendan who puts his balls beside his bed! … I touch his balls .. and then he decides to show up! He must have been in the bathroom or something he asks me who I am and then realises I must be Pinkie… I really wonder how long Mom has already been here that she would talk about me already! But sure I say hi to the guy! He did not know I was a girl… Darn those stupid Animaniacs! They made my name Gender-Ambiguous! Brendan says he is going to help his father catch some pokémon before he starts playing on his computer. This is a 10 year old who already has a double bed.. so that can’t be good so I book it out of there!

I walk outside when I hear a middle aged man scream! He is being chased by a Zigzagoon Girl.. he tells me the only way to fight her is grab his balls and pull another girl out of them..So I can pick one.. one girl Onix.. is a solid pick.. but since Onix has lower attack than an Oddish it isn’t amazing. Unown is the second Moe girl and we can clearly skip her.. the Third one… Holy Heck It is Jigglypuff! Yes She’s my girl! I choose her and see that instead of Sing and Defence Curl.. I think she actually has a Crush Claw great move that does damage based on HP stat. So It is time to attack the Zigzagoon girl and kill it! It turns out I got super duper LUCKY… not only does my Jigglypuff have one of the strongest normal type moves in the game! She has the strongest ability in the game! Wonder Guard. Which means she can not be hit by ANYTHING except super effective moves.. and since she is a normal type.. that means she can ONLY be hit by Fighting type moves! Now this is still a randomiser so several Pokémon can pack fighting type moves.. but for now it is a great start. Since she is basically untouchable and she sings! I decided to call my Moe.. Miku!

Gathering More Moe

Now that i have an absolutely broken Starter .. I have confidence that this run will be truely amazing! With Wonder Guard up I zoom across the map to fight Brendan.. who has a Blissey… it can’t touch me and I level up three times! We go back to our town that is filled with puddles for no real reason other than to show a neat graphics thing and I get Pokéballs. I move back to the route and prepare for my first encounter! It is a Porygon 2! Another Pink Moe AND another normal type! This one carries the move Earthquake and Vicegrip so it is another Power house.. since Miku can’t be touched.. it isn’t that hard to bring this one down to catching range.. It got a bit scary for a bit since it has poison points .. which CAN hurt my little darling.. but I lived and added Porygon 2 to my team. I name it MurMur because she has the number two written on her forehead.. I grind her up to level 5 switch training her with the immortal ghost of Miku and it is time for our second AND third encounters in rapid succession!

I should have played the lottery today because my Route 103 encounter is…. A Slowpoke! Another Pink Moe! I named it Umaru for obvious reasons! And Decide to level it up to level 5 as well to get ready for my route 102 encounter! I am running low on Pokéballs, and there aren’t that many pink Pokémon left for me to add to my team! On Route 102 I however encounter.. a Slowbro! Another Pink Moe! But this one counts as a dupes clause. I already have this Pokémon.. at least it’s an evolution line so it means I can skip it!

Since I would prefer to evolve it myself, I decide to let it go and go hunt for another monster. Well or another girl.. so my Harem.. is passing on Slowbro..as I will get her later! My new first encounter is a Raichu.. which I capture fairly easily. I decided to name it Usagi as it was the only blonde twin tailed girl I could think of that fitted in an 8 letter limit! I discover Umaru has Luster Purge.. which is a legendary move reserved for Latios and Usagi Carries Thunderpunch and Shockwave! Which both are great moves as well! It is time to go visit my dad! While restocking Pokéballs I discover they sell a Moonstone in this Pokémon Center as I randomised items and the first one has ALL the evolutionary items..but I decide that Jigglypuff will never evolve! Because it will lose its ability! I just hope it will learn some set up moves to power up it’s punches!

Hi Dad! Thanks for letting this weird Astma Kid have a Pokémon instead of me!

Now it is time for some trainers, the first one has a Torchic which Murmur makes mince meat off.. I am not sure if she would like chicken ..or of humans.. but she is dead anyway because remember this is a Nuzlocke.. what faints is dead! The second trainer has an adorable Shellder which I quickly turn into Shell Dead and things seem to be going smooth! I am also enjoying journalling like this as I play the game so yay for the Virtual Blogger Lifestyle choices working out so far! The bug catcher dude got renamed to manager Scott.. and after the Clam Moe has been defeated … he sounds out a Meganium..which can most definitely one shot Umura and even Usagi the Cryshu.. because Meganium turns out to have Solarbeam! Luckily we can safely swap to Miku the Jigglypuff who is immune thanks to Wonder Guard.. she finishes off the Meganium and I stroll on with my little girls.

In the next battle we get a bit of a magical girl showdown when Usagi faces a Staryu! Usagi has a good cry first but then uses Spark to attack the Staryu turning this magical girl story more in a Madoka scenario! Victory is obtained once again and we begin to rake in money! Since I fight rarely with high XP giving Pokémon as well, leveling is also going smooth! It is really nice to start a nuzlocke like this normally it is stress and terror and this feels like a leisurely stroll! I encounter a pretty slutty Umbreon and after I scold it for a bit for dress kind of like a hussy .. I decided it is better to put this girl out of her misery! She belonged to a trainer after all! The last one before I move to Petalburg where I encounter my father, who tells me I am not strong enough to face his gym yet… which is true..but I could do it if Jigglypuff had Toxic as a move.. but regardless he chores me with going with Wally to find him a Pokémon .. one forced tutorial later I am back at my dads and I can move onto the next town and towards the first gym.. trough Petalburg woods.. Wally caught a Barboach by the way!

The Stress begins!

Route 104 lets me pick up a Rhyhorn which I name Sakura. You know the buff chick from Danganronpa they do look a bit alike! I do think I got the short end of the stick on this route a bit.. I do really like Rhydon but there was also an Altaria or Chicorita.. I would have really liked to pick up one of those two! Still Rhyhorn is pretty neat! It’s static ability that allows to paralyse opponents is a bit lackluster on her.. but it’s not bad! I defeat Technician Jo.. who is walking a dress and sunhat.. quite easily but I realise that Sakura will have trouble hitting bird Pokémon it also is super weak to both grass and water and since I can’t tell which Pokémon has these types of moves.. I don’t think she will last all that long before falling victim to a misplay of mine.. I do need to level her so she is at risk! During the first fight in the Petalburg Woods we encounter a trainer that has an Electrode.. which is ADORABLE! I want one!

Hoping I might encounter it in the Forest I ready myself to capture another adorable girl! The Pokémon I found is Muk however.. which is a Pokémon I do enjoy but I also know it has a bit of a trickier catch rate. This one is not easily caught in A pokéball! Indeed the Muk refuses to go along and thus we fail our Petalburg Woods encounter and now I have to traverse these dangerous woods with one team member less than I could have had.. which makes catching the next encounter harder as well.. at the rate my Pokémon grow.. they might be a bit overleveled when we come out the forest. Distributing levels seems key here so everyone.. except for Jigglypuff is at risk! I decided to lead Umaru the Slowpoke because it feels lucky! I guess my amazing trainer instincts were right as the first team Aqua encounter has a Diglett! It is level 9 though! I am already underleveled here! I expected it to happen before the first gym but this is really fast! The grunt gets defeated without any casualties though but now I have to lead Sakura! I forgot to do this and Umaru immediately gets poisoned! I forgot poison kills are still in this Generation… Oh oh.. now I have to rush back.. wasting two of my five extremely scarce potions I get Umaru to the hospital safely! I need to buy some antidotes here! Back in the woods I immediately encounter a poisonous Pidgeot.. which poisons Sakura.. to early in the woods to use my item I need to head back again! Wasting two more Potions! Only one left.. and no more money!

Luckily my next forest trip goes without much trouble! A Rich boy challenges me with a Psyduck.. So confidently I swap in Usagi the Raichu.. who gets hyper-beamed in the face.. she survives but she looks pretty battle damaged! She cries of course! I still have a few trainer fights to go and only one potion that now I have to use on Usagi! Things turned around fast for me here! It only gets worse when my first double battle.. which are the scariest things in such a Randomiser sends in a Mewtwo… these are two four year old girls.. how did they get that! Luckily.. he just meditated! I swapped in Miku to be safe and she levels to 11.. with the rest of the party being at around level 9 or 10 ! We are almost there.. almost to the first gym city Rustboro! Just one more trainer to go! It is a fisherman sprite he claims to be a Water Pokémon trainer but leads with Torkoal.. out of sheer instinct I put Usagi first and she does manage to oneshot the turtle girl.. his other two Pokémon Starmie and Slowking are indeed Water Pokémon so Usagi punished them in the name of me! Without casualties we have reached the first city.. where a lot of crime and the first gym awaits! But that is a story for next time!

With that I conclude my first let’s play blog! It was great fun to actually write as I play so I will do this with a few other games as well in the near future! I got plenty of things I want to try and expect this series to show up fairly regularly so it will be easy to follow! If you like my content or want to support my Moth Life Style consider dropping a donation on our Kofi page, or following me on Patreon! Tell me what was your favourite Moe or predict who will die first!

Animini: Zombie Land Saga – Episode 1 – Good Morning SAGA

Greetings my sweet Island Guests, today’s cocktail is something new yet unexpected. One may find the taste a bit odd.. but it is pretty much in line with “me” as a brand! So I planned to start watching The Promised Neverland here! Unfortunately Crunchyroll turns out to block this for my reason due to licensing issues. So I found myself without a show to watch! I kind of wanted something weird or something Idol like.. so when I discovered this weird Idol show ( I did not know about it before) I was sure! Zombie Girls trying to be Pop Idols! Yes! Yes! YES!

The Summary

Sakura is a pretty girl who is about to start her second year in high school! She happily is watching an Idol-show planning to be an idol herself one day! Dreaming off the future she hops into her shoes and happily starts running towards school! Truck-Kun shows up however and we see the girl get ragdolled through the air. Heavy Metal music starts playing as we see her neck twist in an awkward position and the credits are presented in blood! Clearly this girl will not shrug it off. Yet the next thing we see is her waking up in a creaky old mansion. She has no memories of how she got here! While exploring this strange place she is attacked by a woman who looks to be a zombie! She flees into another room which is filled with other girl zombies! Scared for her life she flees the mansion. She first spots a sign showing she is in the fairly rural Saga Prefecture and then she sees a cop! When she tries to tell him of her distress, he is scared of her and even fires his gun at her! When she sees her own reflection in one of those traffic mirrors she is revealed to be a zombie as well. Confused, she collapses.. When the cop is about to finish her off he is whacked in the head with a shovel and Sakura passes out. Neat! I did not know zombies could pass out!

When she wakes up the guy, a man dressed in a vest and sunglasses tells her of the plot. He is a necromancer it seems that resurrected her and a lot of other girls who had an idol like function throughout the course of history. Calling her his number 1. Apparently she was the first one to awaken to a conscious, although she has no memories of her old life.. the other girls.. are still just regular zombies. When she asks what this “stimulated” thing is.. the man who introduces himself as Kotaro Tatsumi tells her it doesn’t matter and everything is like all that other zombie media. His plan for resurrecting these girls is that he wishes to return glory to the Saga District.. who once produced some great idols! This Idol Project he started is given a title that is quite similar to the title of the show! Would you look at that! Not quite but close enough! As Sakura is being nibbled on by one of the braindead girls Sakura asks how he plans to make them idols.. and he says he entered them in an open stage event Today!

Now in full mortal make-up Sakura discovers she has been signed up for a heavy metal open stage! This won’t go well, her new friends will surely eat the crowd. Tatsumi tells her she is responsible however .. and the performance begins. A nervous Sakura almost immediately gets booed off the stage and she narrowly avoids one of her fellow zombies to eat the audience. However when their new manager begins to play some metal music a few of the girls find themselves headbanging ..flailing their broken bodies around, as if their necks were broken.. impressing the metalheads. The blond zombie whose name I don’t know yet.. even though it was shown once.. finds a megaphone and begins screaming in it.. randomly.. it amps up the metalheads even more. Sakura sees this and just wails in the microphone as well and flails her broken body around to do some impressive headbanging.

The crowd goes wild and while staring into the stage light it seems as if Sakura remembers something.. an idol group of some kind! She is having a fun time and decides to stage dive…. which leads to the other girls following her example and munching on the audience. As Sakura remembers her first failed performance she also thinks back on those idols she met. Then a scream is heard from the house! She runs inside and finds out nearly all the zombie girls have suddenly awakened. She has an awkward talk to make.. she starts addressing them by shouting GOOD MORNING.

The Positives

Okay long Summary! But hey that is quite usual with first episodes! I had a great time with this show and it is a great show to watch in times like these. It’s super breezy and lighthearted but I also found the episode to be quite creative! The show is super self aware which gives it a nice and lovely tone. It doesn’t create false expectations, it will just give you a big stupid grin for being something so silly yet charming. I also like the visuals, it is bright despite also being washed out and zombie-like at the same time. It shows the contradiction between the world of zombies and Idols well. I also really like the voice actress so far! She just feels so right for the part and the stress and confusion in her voice can be heard when she experiences these emotions. There is a lot of colour in that voice and that is important for an Idol show I’d say! The design of the girls is all pretty amazing as well. I don’t know them much yet but I really love the bitey zombie! The Blonde and the Blue haired girl really appeal to me as well. I really like how the Blue one was depicted with a big heart on the outside. There is a lot you can do with this.

I also love how much contrast there is in this show. We see a super cute girl running out in the street.. then I see one of the most brutal truck-kun kills yet! Quite visceral! Mostly because we just see her head crack against the window and then ragdolled in slow motion as slowly parts of her body seize to function, letting go of her homework, her head falling back with eyes that grow more empty! Eek! The metal music playing with that.. while not a type of music I appreciate too much unless sung by Johathan Young, really helped this scene. The idea of cute girls singing metal on stage reminds me of the charm of BabyMetal. I like them as well… kinda! There is a constant balance between dark and somewhat edgy with ultra cute and I really dig that. I also like that the show knows you can’t really write this stuff well so they spoof it themselves, making a joke about not providing satisfying answers. I know I will not get those now.. and at least I can chuckle with it.

The Negatives

While I will not be terribly harsh on it, I do think the first episode misses a good song to bob to! Love Live had the amazing Start Dash, and while I might not expect Death Musume (Name Pending) to do the song.. perhaps a sweet idol song from future rivals or something would have been a good way to insert a bit more idol feelings. Have Sakura sing an idol song at the beginning of the show.. a song she was working on.. forgot and through the course of the show might be able to remember. In short I wanted a bit more of that “Pitch Perfect” Vibe. While I still got a very funny and colourful comedy, I don’t think it is that unfair to ask for at least a bit of music in an Idol show right?! A bit more background in Sakura’s idol dream could have done wonders! It’s good as it is but it is just something that could have been done better, in my humble opinion! Who knows maybe she will remember more later.

While I do love the idea of having a super vague story that is filled with plot holes that the characters just ignore, I do want to know more about how these zombies work, will they infect people they bite? Probably not.. given that they are dead people from across time I am 95% sure they were made by necromancy! I don’t think those zombies infect. It might be something we will see next episode! I also would not mind if the show leaned a bit more into that darkness. When we see the zombies attack the audience, show a bit of blood, confirm a fatality or something! I do like the mix between light and dark, but I feel the show could use a little more commitment to the dark aspects.. that being said I do think they will fade away a bit more as the girls become more aware so it is quite excusable! Though if that darkness DOES indeed fade away I think that would kind of be all the more reason to do it! So yeah.. again not so much a negative as it would be a point of improvement.

The Score

This episode is a clear Berry Good to me! It is a very personal Berry Good though because this show is weird and self aware . It isn’t very clean written, some things don’t make sense and there isn’t much depth. In fact if you would be able to talk to this episode and ask “Where is your Depth?” It would probably answer “Depth? Isn’t that that guy who got fired from those wizardy movies?… Oh hey look… a butterfly” So this is one of those shows that is very much not for everyone, yet I felt it is very much for me! It is also perfect for when you are feeling a tad blue, it is just cute but kind of twisted fun! I was in the mood for that so yay! It pretty much delivered what I expected from it! I really never heard of this before so I was happy to have discovered it!

I do not think this anime will enter in my top 5 anime anytime soon, though they are almost all exclusively weird shows so who knows! It might just get there.. I already rate it higher than Code Geass and Attack on Titan, so this is probably really a show for me! I hope it doesn’t go deep into lewding the Zombie girls, that would completely ruin this for me but I have no idea on what to expect! For now I kind of think it is anime junkfood. Sometimes you can appreciate that more than a gourmet meal, and while I am in lockdown, I am just a few cute songs shy of falling in love!

Animini: Revolutionary Girl Utena – Episode 1- The Rose Bride

Many Geared Greetings to all visiting these islands! With Flip Flappers being finished we were given two suggestions for shows to watch one was Magical Girl Raising Project… suggested by Senpai Irina the other was Revolutionary Battle Girl Utena suggested by Mari I opted to watch the classic first.. I miss a lot of the fundamental shows here.. yet after one episode I am not sure yet if I made the right decision. I did enjoy myself, in a slightly, clinical, way.

The Summary

Utena is introduced to us in a fairytale style animation that immediately reminded me of the stained glass scene from beauty and the beast it tells us the story about a princess that was once save by a prince that smelled like roses.. her parents died but she was save.. as a memento he have her a ring that would allow her to find him again. She was so impressed .. that she did not fall in love with him.. no she wanted to be a prince herself to save her own princess. This heads on approach is kept on throughout the episode as after we see our backstory we jump to present day. Where Utena is a girl at a pretty snooty looking school. She prides herself in wearing a boys uniform instead of a girl one..to the chagrin of one of the teachers. In the gardens of her school Utena discovers a dark skinned beauty by the name of Anthy. She is being slapped around by some Bishounen boy Saionji , shocking Utena who feels drawn to Anthy. Utena’s peppy friend distracts her and provides the exposition on who is who and what their roles are. All very straightforward and clear.

We cut to Sionji being part of some super elite School Council who seem to live in a castle up in the sky or close to one.. I could not really work that out yet.. and he is the owner of Anthy because he won the last duel.. whoever wins the duel owns Anthy who is better known as the Rose Bride. When the green haired pretty boy hands a love letter he got from Utena’s bestie to his friends so she can be mocked.. Utena in a fit of rage challenges the man to a Kendo match.. he notices she has a ring and instead duels her for the sake of Anthy’s ownership.. for this cold water has to be splashed on her ring in some secret place and more secret locations are revealed.I will be honest that went a bit fast for me.. I am sure I will familiarise myself with that location sooner rather than later.. but I still had questions when this episode was done. Bringing her Kendo sword Utena did not expect her new rival to draw a magical sword out of Anty .. the sword known as Dios gives up the sword to whoever owns the Rose Bride.. while her sword gets broken Utena still manages to win the match by knocking a rose out off her rivals chest pocket, while he had to do the same to her. Anthy then is reunited with Utena saying she is now her property.

The Positives

I like how modern this show is , even though it stems from 1997 it is pretty relevant with it’s themes to this day. We get a dark skinned romantic interest to a woman claiming herself to desire to be a prince and rescue her own princess. Utena clearly is into women and very much into Anthy. I want to watch a bit more Yuri shows so this does play into that agenda pretty well. While the visuals look a bit off by today’s comparison I do really like the colour use in this school. Lots of weight and regal colours give the show a sort of luxury and vibrancy that make a nice balance with the somewhat more somber, Hikaru no Go and More grey tinted Cowboy Bebop. It even offers a nice change of pace from the very natural tones of Natsume. It does bring me back to that sailour moon vibe but it feels more “unique” and since I do dream of a rich girl finding me.. I can dream away a bit of finding my own Utena. (I can’t tell if I am into Anthy as I have not seen enough)

I really do like seeing the more classical style of battle as well, there is an impact to it, you don’t get as much in modern anime. Even though it is just slaps and punches for the most part here the hits really make a connection. Which helps immediately feel bad for Anthy who has the potential to be a super interesting character as well. Utena herself having pink hair is always a plus and even her basketball action is pretty entertaining in that same connecting way. I ADORE how petty she can be.. not wanting to play Basketball for a certain team afraid she might get boysweat on her. I can kind of relate.. and it seems that we get a person that is very confident with the person who she is rather than the shy, reflective one or the bubbly happy go lucky girl that usually make up the dynamic in Yuri couples..There are the dramatic ones as well but so far I feel that Utena might become one of the most relatable for me.

The Negatives

I am not sure if this show is for me.. based on this episode. While there is much I admire about this show , so far there is much less I enjoyed. I find everything to be a bit too “on the nose” The second Utena sees Anthy she immediately gets trusted into a situation where she might wonder Anthy’s relationship status, all the girls in school take turns into letting Utena take turns in using their towel and Utena says “sure it’s your turn”. Coming off a bit strong there..I knew she would be Yuri ..but to literally take turns into “what girls towel you use” kind of feels gross to me. Doesn’t she have a towel of her own?! Why would the other girls take their towel to spectate a basketball match.. which is against guys by the way. We see Utena kick the boys asses, we see her stand up to the teacher about wanting to wear a boys uniform so she can feel like a prince….yet she wears short pants underneath…which kind of makes it NOT a uniform anymore and thus WOULD put her in violation of the rules unlike she claims.

I also feel uncomfortable with Anthy being the property of Utena and that doesn’t have anything to do with the pigment she has, I am generally a bit uncomfortable around characters that lack free will.. not persé the hypnotised once but characters who just accept their fate even if they are miserable. Utena owning a bride now again feels a bit too “in your face” Just like the rose theme is a bit overplayed, the school logo is a rose, her ring has a rose, Anthy likes roses, Utena remembers the smell of roses and Dios has a rose on the hilt. I do not mind roses being the source of power.. but let the rose be iconic to the school council.. not also the school, not also the ring.. AND the sword. It all feels a bit to obvious This I will acknowledge is probably a first episode problem though as puzzle pieces fall in place I most of the time will stop minding them..but I would have thought it was stronger if Utena remembered a eye colour or a look.. over the sense of a very specific rose. It all feels just a bit stiff..like a tutorial in a point and click game!

The Score

Some anime really need to get fired up and you will need to give it a few episodes before it gets going..maybe it will pick up.. but for some reason I feel a disconnect with this anime so far. I love that the hero really reflects me in a way.. though I probably would not walk the same path. She walks to the sound of her own drum and her own ideals and I very much respect that.. if that theme is highlighted I will surely grow to like this show. Yet I am also a bit weary that she might beat up every boy with too much ease and become a bit of a Mary sue. I can relate to how her mind works so far..but it feels to me as if the show in the first scene tells you “yes she is gay” and the next scene.. “did you know our main character is gay?” I kind of would like to grow into a character rather than one point of relatability becoming an hyperbole of itself. I can’t judge based on a single episode but this will be a show I will either hate or love and so far I am not convinced of either side.

Simply for existing, going this route and writing characters like this is already pretty amazing. Giving her pink hair makes it better and since I see no signs of a revolution yet I suspect a lot more will come into play. At least I assume she will take a stance against the system at one point.. rather then being revolutionary in the “you have never seen someone like this way” I suspect her to be revolutionary in the sense of LeLouche or V rather than the newest Dyson Vacuum cleaner or latest Iphone. I am content with what I saw.. but this might very well be one of those ball gowns you see that looks amazing on other women..but you know on you it will just not work! To be continued.. for now.. it was fine.

Animini: Cowboy Bebop -Episode 1- Asteroid Blues

It’s the end of the week again my dear island guests. Concluding my weeks worth of anime daily reviews should be something special! So I decided to fill the 7th slot with classic anime I haven’t watched yet. The first one Cowboy Bebop! I didn’t even know it was set in space before I watched this episode! So I was very surprised. I was also surprised that the gritty thing isn’t normally for me.. I must say I quite enjoyed this first episode.

The Summary

We are introduced to Spike and his Co-Worker/ Bounty Hunting Fellow Jet. They live on a spaceship called Cowboy Bebop. Down on their luck they take a lower end bounty to hunt a man named Asimov. A drug runner type who killed all his friends and took off to some asteroid thing… I think! Jet tells Spike he made Bellpeppers and Beef but unfortunately they are too poor to afford beef, so they just eat noodles and bell peppers. This prompts a reluctant Spike to take on the bounty that he did not deem worth his time before and he travels to a world/place with heavy Western themes. Here we find out that Asimov is trying to sell drugs.. called Bloody Eyes or something.. An Eyedrop drug that makes you hyper aware.. it’s not said to be drugs… but it’s drugs! He clearly is addicted and tripping out on them.. killing people in a bar brutally! He is accompanied by a woman who looks to be pregnant. Of course it doesn’t take too long for Spike to track them down! Mostly because he had a Indian Vision Quest.. of sorts right before with him having his fortune told by and old Indian lady! She warns him about the Red Eyed Coyote and a Woman coming in his life that would also bring death.

Spike meets this woman and the Red Eyed Coyote at a seedy gas station. Helping the woman take care of groceries but eating her sandwich. He charms her up quite nicely as he offers her cigarettes in return. Claiming to her to be some cowboy! However once she sees his fighter jet she quickly realises he is a bounty hunter. He tells her has lost interest in the bounty again as Asimov is sick and he has no interest in weaklings. Insulted Asimov chokes him.. to unconsciousness. His life was spared by the plees of the woman. When the druggy man that has more bulging eyes then Nicolas cage goes to sell the drugs. Spike has replaced the buyer. A fight breaks out and we see Mister Spiegel ‘s ‘excellent footwork and combat ability, overwhelming Asimov. However when other criminals come in to shoot up the place the Cyberpunk Bonnie and Clyde manage to flee. Leading into a final space chase. Here we see Asimov is so consumed by his drug that he loses control entirely and rushes himself and his woman into death. To prevent Asimov from being taken down by his enemies his woman finishes him off.. after which she lets herself be killed by space cops! As her body is jettisoned into space we see the pregnant belly was nothing more than a way to hide the drugs. Having not collected a bounty.. Spike and Jet eat “special” beef and Bellpepper again.

The Positives

On paper this should not be my type of show! It combines genres that usually are less my cup of tea. I am not the biggest science fiction fan in the world.. though I do enjoy Star Wars and Star Trek.. but in anime terms .. it’s usually too bleak and political. It has some heavy western elements.. which makes sense given Cowboy is in the name of the title and it’s about a Bounty Hunter.. which aside from the Mandalorian I find a horrible profession to make a show out of. Yet somehow the spunk of Spike, the low tech level..with bullets instead of lasers, and a very varying world makes it a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. It is very much helped by the mentality of the two bounty hunters. To me falling more in the “Firefly” like types of characters. It gives the show a level of “airiness” while keeping lines such as Adios Cowboy, impactful. We see a cowboy tavern, a spaceship interior, a french Bistrolike restaurant and a seedy gas station , and have gunfights, fistfights and a slaughter in space, so I think this first episode does a tremendous job showing what this show will be and what we can expect.

It also sets up some interesting mysteries, Spike claims he already died once because of a woman.. what does he mean with that? What is he so desperately training for. How is he able to take down a drug induced hulk life figure that can dodge bullets and crush people. Was Asimov that weakened from overdoing it on the drugs, or is there more. What is with that weird footwork Spike does when he is fighting. The show offers us a lot to unpack, but also nails showing us what characters like Jet and Spike are. After one single episode I feel like I have a pretty good idea I know what type of people they are.. and I don’t mean that in a way that they are shallow. The written story here just really hits some key points and uses the right dialogue that still feels natural but also tells us so much. The Bonnie and Clyde ending really worked wonders for me as well giving the show a sense of realism and real stakes straight of the bat. The good guy clearly doesn’t always win in this show, not everything is going to be alright at the end of an episode. Every choice this show makes so far is done with a reason and it feels legit.

The Negatives

That being said, this also lies in this episode’s greatest weakness. I always saw the pair as a Bonnie and Clyde , it makes the link very clear for me.. so the outcome here felt a bit “set in stone”. There is nothing wrong with that for a single episode but I was never surprised by this first episode… and I did not even know it was a cyberpunk like setting, so that is saying something. It is set up to be surprising later on but for now I can not escape the feeling that it felt a bit predictable. I like how human the characters are generally being depicted and how their skills all seem very human. However when the eventual gruns show up those have StormTrooper accuracy. The grunts also clearly have a more generic design, so when they show up .. it slightly undermines tension. It’s not a big flaw.. but we know Han Solo isn’t going to be taken down by two StormTroopers.. and we know Spike isn’t going to be taken down by the orange coat and green coat mafia. It’s not bad.. just not that exciting.

Another small pet peeve I had was a logical flaw. The woman is revealed to carry the drugs in her fake pregnant Belly.. but there is nothing protecting the little bottles. Which are made out of glass. When she would walk she would make a lot of jangly noises and no way she would get it to look that smooth. This is a nitpick.. but if you make Spike someone who has a big attention to detail.. I feel conflicted about this. At least show us she is wearing a satchel underneath the dress or something.. but no. .as soon as her dress rips the stuff just pours out! That would make noise you know. It’s just a weird little thing that does not add up. Note though that I did not really mind while watching.. just in hindsight it seems silly and conflicting with what is established about the vials elsewhere.

The Score

I had a much better time with this episode than I figured I would. I thought this show would be very much in my face “Not for me” but I actually got quite a lot of enjoyment out of the very good writing. It’s thus weird that it’s great writing also is for me it’s biggest hindrance right now.. what I want to happen happens so I am very satisfied.. but I am not “enchanted” It might be weird to say a show is written too well… but yeah.. that kinda is my beef with it. The weird little jangly bottle plot hole I do not really mind.. I just structured this post thatI have to nag about something! Being a sucker for details this irked me enough to mention it. Again had the bottles been plastic or the containers be soft.. I’d been fine but they make a point of how fragile and glassy these things are!

In the end I’d compare this episode with a REALLY REALLY REALLY good colour by numbers painting.. or one of those diamond paintings and those are more modern these days. It looks stunning, pleasing and you can clearly see that every element is carefully placed in the right way. Even with some sparkles added to it that get you excited for the next canvas to come. Yet it is also exactly what you expect when you start the project. You won’t suddenly find a surprise unicorn in your painting when you’re done..so when you’re done you just end up with what you knew you would end up with all along. Thus it reaches the top of great for me.. but it fails to push into amazing.

Animini: Natsume Book of Friend – Episode 1- The Cat and The Book

With Pinkie’s Saturday Anime Adventure I was doing 5 anime reviews in a single day.. so now that I split them across the days I had two days left.. should I take it easy on those days?! Of course not! More Anime for me to watch! So I already had a “nostalgia” show, a show that got recommended by community friends, a magical girl show, an Isekai and a tournament/ analogue gaming show… so else could I watch. Why not something Senpai loves?! You gotta respect your blogging elders according to Japanese culture! So here we go.. starting from today each week I am watching an episode of Natsume Book of Friends… and I never even knew what it was.. I did not expect it to be this!

The Summary

We meet our main protagonist Natsume in this episode. He was born with a special gift! The ability to see Yokai! While this might seem like a blessing to some, most Yokai don’t seem to take kindly to him. Either they chase him, he reacts to them or something of the sorts happen that alienates him from all the other humans. Seemingly having no more friends nor any living blood relatives, the boy seems lonely as a cyclops witch and a ghost with a yukata chase him… pardon me for not knowing the proper Yokai names of these.. but I feel like if I had to look all those up this post would take so much longer… if you recognise what Yokai they are tell me in the comments and teach me something! Natusme flees towards a shrine but in doing so trips over a rope containing seals and this breaks it. Now that the seals have become undone a Mani Neko is released! He is called Nyanko-Sensei and he recognises Natsume.. saying his grandma used to be like him and she has something called “The Book of Friends”

This is a book containing the names of Yokai she bonked on the head with a bat and forced them to give up their name.. under the guise of a duel. Nyanko-Sensei wants the book.. but Natsume refuses and gives him watermelon instead and a friendship of sorts begins to bloom. When the one eyed witch and ghostly man invade Natsume’s house the two have to work together to stop the spirits. Natsume decides to return the names to the Yokai his grandmother bonked and Nyanko teaches him how to do that.. on the terms of that if Natsume dies while doing this.. Nyanko gets the book of a friend and can do “weird stuff” with it. We see Natsume’s grandmother bonk the Cyclops Witch.. as soon as Natsume starts the name return ritual. Talking with the spirit about yeast buns.. after she is sent away.. Natsume and Nyanko stop at the place his grandma claimed had the best Yeast buns.

The Positives

For as many times Irina has told me on her blog that Natsume Book of Friends is great, she never really told me what it was about! I assumed it was this slice of life like show with a boy making friends in high school with a comical relief cat that can drink booze. I was pleasantly surprised that there was a lot more to it. Had I known this was what the show was about I might have taken on the last tour of the OWLS in the Folklore topic and watched it earlier! Now however I can enjoy it at a snail’s pace with an episode a week! I do like this concept of “reverse”capturing a lot.. I mean in a way this is kind of like a reverse pokémon so far where a boy gets a pet..that actually can EVOLVE ..sort of.. he seems quite capable himself.. and his goal is to release ALL the creatures in his book. It still hits close enough to home for me to be my jam while being different enough for me to see it as its own thing.

I do like the creature design a lot so far. Nyanko-Sensei in particular is adorable in his cat for and his dragonoid form or whatever that seems quit impressive. It reminds me a bit of that dog dragon from the NEver Ending Story..Falcor I think his name was.. just more Japanese. But I also like the witch and the smiling dude. I also like the sound design a lot, the cicada’s give the atmosphere a sense of serenity which helps sell the whole idea of Natsume living in a different world than us .. sort of speak as we see a tranquil world and his one is quite a bit more hectic. The voices are fun and I find them very fitting and I do look how things are framed. The way Nyanko-Sensei tumbles around.. but also the way how a punch to Nyanko from Natsume cuts away to a sound effect. From the position he was in.. there was no way to sell the effect visually I think.. yet this way I can suspend my disbelief easier. So it is nice to see that. The episode has a pretty good story to set things up but for now I can’t delve to deep in it.. I felt it had the perfect length and a satisfying conclusion showing us the fact that spirits can be appeased with their name.. or properly manhandled to be sent away. I like that.

The Negatives

Now I am treading on quicksand here! What can I say about Natsume that will not get my head severed from my torso in terms of negatives. In terms of this first episode I will admit the opening wasn’t my thing. I really like a bit more peppy intro’s and I did not think the song was too catchy. A bit unfair to call the first episode out on that.. but it will be the only time it bothers me so I still have to mention it. Other than that I do find the human characters a bit generic. Natsume is okay design wise.. but unlike for example Soul Eater, Watamote or No Game No Life I think it will take a bit for me to recognise the main character. I’d recognise Nyanko but Natsume.. I am not too sure yet! It isn’t a bad design..but I would have given him an odd eye colour or a spot in his eye or something that makes him see this Yokai.. or something.. maybe he wears a special necklace over his uniform… it’s nothing I will not get used to but he’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression again.

I have no strong negatives other than that, and even those are very excusable, I watched the show on Crunchyroll yet for some reason the quality was a bit low for me, it felt as if it was too “bright”. I am not sure yet if that is the anime’s age, it’s style.. or just a bad version uploaded on Crunchyroll.. but it felt a bit too “pastel” colour to me at times. Another nitpick I have is that we see a scene where two friends are strolling. They encounter Natsume and then continue to talk about how weird he is.. however the story is told from Natsume’s perspective.. while he is being chased.. yet for a brief moment we cut to their dialogue about him. That to me doesn’t fit…if we are being told things from Natusme’s perspective I would have preferred to let him thing “They must think I am super strange”.. and for the most part.. that’s how it is handled. That felt a bit too “in you face exposition” for my tastes. Not horrible.. but a bit inconsistent nonetheless.

The Score

I did have a great time watching this first episode, and I do think it will be a show that I could grow to like a lot. It has a lot of hype to live up too.. but that is also exactly why I read nothing about it except for Senpai doing the wobbly lag fan girl thing for it on a regular basis. That really helped me enjoy it a lot more as it can still surprise me! Unlike the anime I am going to watch tomorrow I know nothing about it and I intend to keep it that way. I do not have a clear idea where this show is headed yet but it does intrigue me! I want to see more! So that is a great thing for a first episode to achieve.

I wasn’t as mesmerised by it as something like Flip Flappers or Samurai Flamenco which both had REALLY good starts. I do feel Natsume is a bit more of a slow burning type of a show though, there is more to set up, it requires a bit more insight so I expect to fall in love with it a few more episodes in. Which is fine.. Hikaru no Go was a similar type of show for me where I wasn’t head over heels from episode 1 but by episode 20 I am hooked. A lot of my favourite shows of all time were slower starters. Also that seems like I hated this episode which is completely not true because I think it is REALLY Good.. it just is not the most captivating first episode I’ve ever seen. The show can still grow for me and grow on me.. and I feel like it will.. so for some reason I am happier that I can give this a Berry Good.. as I would be giving this my higest score.. we have a long journey ahead of us with this one but I feel it will be an amazing journey..Where Flip Flapper takes me on a journey on an item that should not even be a vehicle leaving the driveway is slightly more interesting as in the packed car Natsume provides.. but I do feel that with this one I am going to be more comfy and I will see plenty of amazing things!

What Bad Luck! I got reborn into another life, and Now I am a Side Character! (Part 1)

Hello guys gals and everyone else that visits my island! Today I decided to start writing a Isekai like story! What would happen if I got Isekaid?! Well here is my story! Including a super long title!

Intro

I never thought it would happen to me, but then I died! Everything went black when I saw that cute little cat, it’s skin was so black and it made the cutest meow! I remember .. falling. From a stairway perhaps? Man I am never lucky! Yet then I heard it’s voice.. Kami of the new world.. the voice said I would be reborn… there was no real shape but I imagined him like a moose..or maybe a powerful stag… something forestry and wild.. and pride was in his voice.

He told me I would be reborn in a new world. I told him , I like me I wanna be myself. He told me a girl named Elle accidently magicked her soul away and I would get her body, but I could take a boon into my next life. So since I wanted to be myself.. I asked to be myself.. but amplified! Isekai characters usually get a huge stat upgrade.. so I just asked for that. Just upgrades so I would be be.. I have a pretty good brain on me.. so if this Elle is magic.. I bet it will turn out fine! I just forgot.. how unlucky I can be!

_{Day 1}
Morning

Dear diary.. I woke up in a strange bed today! Lot’s of clutter on the floor, drawings and some runic things , which I think are spells. I woke up with a strange headache.. but I guess having your soul mushed into a new body that sort of thing is expected. Anyway I decided to get up filled with energy, I am going to be an overpowered and beloved heroine and make lots of money from quests and live in a mansion! At least that was what I thought at the time.

I got up out of bed and tried to search for a bathroom… now let me tell you Isekai shows do never really explain this well.. but baths are hard to find in medieval times. A bar of soup is even harder to find! The girl I am now does seem to have a lot of rose water though.. I guess it is used to mask the scents.. when I tried sniffing to see how bad the damage is I noticed something though my skin was blue?! Nani!

So upon further investigation I also discovered there was also a pillow stuck to my head. While stepping away all flustered I accidently stepped on my tail.. which I did not know I have and I fell into a mirror and broke it.. I wasn’t very hurt though.. because I hit it with a horn.. which did break off.. the pillow stuck to my head was skewered on the other..I somehow know the other will go back. Which is good because soon after I after I fell of the stairs, trying to find another mirror.. apparently I have hoof-like feet. It’s not exactly a hoof.. but it’s not like the human flat foot either. So with two broken horns.. and these features.. I think I might be something close to a Tiefling.. or maybe like a Draenei from World of Warcraft… they are about the same thing anyway. Well at least my skin colour combines nicely with pink!

_{Day 1}
After Noon

I was surprised.. and slightly injured, as I managed to get dressed from my sleeping gown. Which wasn’t easy! I can hardly see anything! I had pretty bad eyesight when I was human..but this was ridiculous…that’s when I realised that bastard Moose guy must have amplified that trait of me! I hoped opticians were thing in the city! I also found a coin purse apparently Elle had some money! So I decided to go out and see if I can get my eye problem fixed.

Now while Elle doesn’t smell that bad, I guess it’s a Tiefling thing, the same can not be said for the human males at least I assume that’s what they were.. obviously with my eyesight this impaired it is impossible to verify. As I was stumbling around someone asked me if everything was alright. The blob looked blond and sounded female. Could this be my fated encounter.. where I meet my side character?! I explained her that I had bad eyesight and lost my aid. She offered to take me to a man who made glasses. I guess that is a relief.Now those glasses cost me nearly all my coins..I am not sure if I have enough for food now.. but at least I will be overpowered so finding a job should not be too troubling.

My estimations proved to be correct. The blond blob person was a human lady. She wears this regal blue coat and a fancy scabbard. She waited for me , in case these glasses would not help, also she was curious about my species as she never saw a Tiefling before. She said she was new to this place, having only been in town for a couple of days.

Her home town is far away and apparently does not have the diversity. I guess it means Elle is not from this town originally either.. or she would have seen more right? I had not seen any blue blobs on the way here. So I told her. I just rented the place.. I lived in and arrived yesterday.. but in the move my glasses had gone missing. She said she could show me around town… she definitely is my fated encounter. I bet we are going to be a popular ship! Though I never experienced that pausing moment with the hearts and the glow. Maybe that is anime only?

She told me her name was Maine. She seems to be a high level hero because as soon as we stepped out the store I got robbed of my last few coins! She raced after the thief, which was a Half Elf Rogue..they seem to have been acquainted “You Again?” She asked? Which was followed by him apparently making playful remarks at her “We got to stop meeting like this” “Seriously you might starve me if you keep stopping me.. wouldn’t you be sad if I died”. She and him bantered for a while.. before he gave her my nearly empty coin purse back.

She told him, designating him as Rho, to join the guild that he could make some honest coin. “He asked where the fun was in that”. I got a bit excited and said I might join the guild. Maine snickered a bit and told me that I might need to get better at staying out of harm’s way first. Then we hurt a scream…. This was it.. the moment where I could say a cool one-liner “Maybe Danger is just drawn to me” or maybe something sugoi like “It is harm that should stay out of my way”… but Maine totally stole my spotlight. “Maybe it’s me, who is drawn to danger.. if that’s the case.. let’s get dangerous!’ She totally stole that from Dark Wing Duck! Anyway as we ran towards the sound I tripped on my tail and I think I hit my head on a trashcan!

_{Day 1}
Evening

When I woke up it was already sunset was upon us. I looked around but neither Rho or Maine were around. The screaming had stopped as well instead I could hear.. singing? Not like the beautiful kind.. but you know the songs that those sunburnt brits in shiny t-shirts sing when people have chased a round leather object for 90 minutes. Why is my mind describing like that? I know the name.. but see it in my head all analytical like?! Is it a result of my good stats?! I could not linger on it .. we had a villain to defeat.. by now it has certainly captured my new friend and I must save her! This is the moment where the heroine will save her dashing young companion and they start traveling together! Let’s go!

Perhaps I have a very high wisdom modifier.. or perhaps my perception check is quite high despite my eyesight.. but it did not take me long to locate Maine. Apparently she was the reason people were singing. They lift her up and sing the song of a hero or something. Saying she vanquished a servant of the Dark Order. Apparently this Rho guy helped.. but then escaped before he could be arrested.

I finally met up with Maine in the bar and she forgot my name! I guess it might be the Tsundere.. like trope.. or well what is it called.. the one where the Heroine is invisible to her crush until she can prove her worth!?! Of course that would not happen in the first episode! She gave me on of the drinks people bought her and we talked a bit. She seems to be hiding something. At one point Rho showed up.. kind of disguised he apologized for stealing for me… but not before the two had this weird epic stare down for a moment they did not even seem to move at all. I kinda felt ignored.

I should report to the hero guild .. because apparently my money will only buy me like a weeks worth of food. So at least I have plans for tomorrow. Of course this is the perfect place to get a mysterious encounter.. someone who hands me a note.. “I know what you are, meet me at the docks tomorrow after sunset’ It will be amazing and I will finally shine. I also discovered that as a Tiefling I have an impressive blatter.. it was late at evening when I first had to make a sanitary stop… knowing this a medieval fantasy world though..

I knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant. Even expecting the worst it did not disappoint. If you think what Shou Tucker did to his daughter was disgusting, you have never seen a medieval toilet. Well it’s just a box.. with a hole.. but at least they had booths with locks in the tavern. When trying to open it I accidently dropped the key into the hole though… On the plus side I got some practice with my tail ………After a good wash up I got back to my company though.

Maine looked a bit shocked as Rho was trying to comfort her when I got back. He is acting super awkward for some reason it doesn’t seem to help her a lot and she calls him Baka for not understanding. Shouldn’t see call me stupid for being trapped in the bathroom?! Maybe she is not my encounter but like a senpai?! I did not know what to think so inquired to her state of mind. She said it was nothing.. but I pushed on! “I might not see a lot but this I can tell” .. reluctantly she shown a note a mysterious stranger just gave her.

It read “I know about you, meet me in Blackshroom Forest tomorrow when the clock strikes twelve times at night. I blurted out “Well technically he means the day after tomorrow then” after which I pushed my glasses back on my face… “Wait that is not a very main character thing to do, they do not nag about the details they rush in”.. Maine kind of ignored me and just got up and dashed out. …. Wait … “she helped a helpless character, had a flirty encounter, defeated a monster and got a plot hook onto the next episode?” Could it be?! I AM A SIDE CHARACTER?

_{Day 1}
Night

More investigation is needed, however a continues streak of misfortune has made this quest for knowledge rather impossible this day. I never was a lucky girl on earth either but it seems a lot worse now. Maine seems to have her secrets to.. but if she is the lead character of this story..perhaps my key to getting a life.. lies with her.. or a way to get home! Tomorrow I shall set out to the guild she is part of .. if I can join I am sure I can force myself in a role inside her life. I never heard of persons being reincarnated as a side character before.. so I am sailing blind here.. I need some money first..so tomorrow morning I will go to the guild, tomorrow afternoon I shall do a quest and then I will go to the forest to discover more about Maine. Now it’s time for bed.. but it will be a uncomfy night because I just spilled ink all the over my matra….