Indiana Jones – Pinkie's Paradise

Pinkie Watches a Random Anime 2: Nanana’s Buried Treasure

As you may know I have a love for everything that is random! Once a month I use a website that gives you a random list of anime. I then roll a random number and flip to said item on that list. If I am not totally off-put by the title or the sheer episode number (which it usually tells you) I try to find if it streams somewhere. If it does I watch the first five episodes of it without reading the synopsis! Last month I failed.. I watched The Reflection.. a Stan Lee anime.. but I had nothing to say about it.. this month I got Nanana’s Buried treasure and here I am writing a blog! So guess I have more to tell about this one.

_{<Disclaimer>
This Review is mostly spoiler free, characters will be discussed and several settings and situations will be mentioned, however I will not discuss specifics or loyalties etc. The synopsis of this show will be mentioned so if you call that a spoiler you want to avoid… you are kinda a weirdo for clicking on this review in the first place
<End of Disclaimer>}

Technical Treasures

So let’s talk about the technical/paperwork stuff first. This anime is a one season anime which aired in spring 2014. It is produced by A1 studios and aired on Fuji Tv. I watched it on Crunchyroll and I actually managed to watch all of it before I wrote this blog! It has 11 episodes and leaves the story rather unfinished and finding the light novel to finish the story can actually be quite a hassle. So straight up, if you can not stand open ended.. uhm… endings…(great writing Pinkie), then this show is not going to be for you. It very much feels like a promotional anime. “That’s how far our story goes, now go and buy the manga or light novel” which will put a lot of viewers off. For those who stick around though the show can offer you a few fun adventures with a passable ending. There is a conclusion even if nothing is resolved. Depending on how you look at it. The show targets a shonen demographic..which most likely is less equipped with the ability to deal with open endings. It feels a bit like Lupin meets Indiana Jones, meets Mission Impossible, meets detective Conan, with a fair bit of fanservice mixed in between. It blends traditional anime with a lot of that cgi quasi 3d animation and a colour and style that reminded me bit of Persona.

The show like said earlier has 11 episodes which feeling wise takes us about one third through midway in the total story of the series. I’d call it an adventure comedy with some slice of life elements. We deal with a main character struggling to deal with rent.. and visiting an onsen.. and what girl to date but we also see him scale buildings and collapsing floors to find treasures. There even are a few actual anime fights. It’s a little bit of everything. It scores as 7.1 on MAL which I think is a surprisingly accurate grade and nearly identical to I would give it on a scale of one to ten. The main character Yama Juugo is voiced by Yuki Ono, whom I know as Isami Aldini from Food Wars and Moral from Hamatora. He also played Seaman A in Hunter X Hunter (the 2011 version) and Fish Dinosaur in Muromi San. Deuteragonist Nanana is voiced by Rui Tanabe.. whom I have never heard in anything before and whom I can’t tell if she had any important roles! I like the voice though but you can tell she falls a bit flat when having to work a bit with her voice (As in when she has to make it quiver or shout) The series is directed by Kanta Kamei for those people that find such things important.

Tomb Raider the Anime

The anime opens up with Nanana and some female friends exploring an ancient ruin. We get some heavy Indiana Jones vibes as we see poison darts flying around, crashing ceilings flash floods and more. Nanana is smiling widely from happiness while doing this while her friends have mixed reactions. Eventually we see them enter an antechamber and everyone catches their breath before we cut to the opening credits. Which brings me to my biggest problem with this anime… this show isn’t about that! I would have LOVED the show to be about that! Indiana Jones with anime girls! Sign me up! Yet instead we discover Nanana is not even the main character.

We meet a boy named Juugo who get exiled by his father and forced to live in the cheapest room he could find. An alcoholic female landlord makes some advances on him but then shows him to his room. To his surprise it is not empty. A girl is there eating pudding and playing video games every hour of every day . When he informs the landlord she tells him.. it’s not a girl.. that’s a ghost. Nanana got murdered 10 years ago and now is trapped here. She is a legendary treasure hunter and through those treasures she once found and had this island built they might find her killer so she can kill him. Since Yuugo starts feeling some affection for the poor girl he decides to help her and join up with a treasure hunting club. The anime is about the adventures of that club and Yuugo’s personal quests. Trough the many factions within this world.

When Nanana died her treasures had been spread all over the island hidden in so called “ruins” which are basically just puzzle rooms that each hold a magic item. Of course everyone Yuugo meets has their own agenda. Like the president of the Treasure hunting club, the all perceiving great detective Tensai and her male androgynous crossdressing assistant Daruku. Which in series is given a nasty name for that particular type of character.. which is another strike against the series.. but it is actually a very enjoyable character. He is adorable and comfortable with being a male, he just really wants to be a maid as well. Then there is the mysterious thieving organisation Matsuri ..which has deep connections with the very Treasure club and then there is some evil bloke! And a criminal gang and the little writer girl who is kinda into Yuugo. There honestly is a lot happening in this show and it’s surprising how much they are all fleshed out over the course of only 11 episodes. Of course there is still more to tell but by the end I had a pretty good idea of who everyone was and why they did the thing they did ! The show makes that very clear.. which means that despite it not telling the whole tale.. all pieces are pretty much on the table. Good thing!

To help Nanana discover who killed her, Juugo explores these ruins all while manoeuvring across all the treacherous elements. These artefacts can possibly hold great powers . Some are rather harmless, yet others could in the wrong hands be used to rul the world. So Yuugo can not just ask for Nanana’s sake! These ruins are life or death situations that each time are very different but usually contain some very Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones like challenges. Filled with trials of agility, wits and of course strength. These ruins are often riddled with traps or hidden mechanics keeping each episode fun and varied. The way the Treasure club moves through these can be reminiscent of Mission impossible .. with each team member fulfilling a certain roll and allocated to a certain strength. While the weight usually lies with Juugo and Tensai (the detective girl) others get involved as well which results in a fairly competent series with lots of plot twists and fairly fleshed out characters! More good things. The fact that people risk their lives for a CHANCE to get what they want and they might end up with a dud makes it feel more alive and makes you feel there is a world, behind just this group as well.

Oh Valley of Plenty, Oh Valley of Plenty!

Since this is a bit of a mystery story I am not going to explain everything that happens here, it’s all about how these relationships work but overall the stuff that happens and how it happens offers a plenty entertaining show. The way it is presented though rubs me a bit in the wrong way. We get some harem tones with the main character having obviously a connection to Nanana, but also to detective Tensai.. then there is a writer girl whom he has chemistry with and a flame from his past. Four girls.. in an 11 episode anime?! That’s a bit much for me personally. Add to this that there is a lot of fan-service comedy, like him wrestling with a girl and him allowing his arm to be dislocated just so he can cup a feel and there are a few scenes I am not particularly interested in. Oh right the drunk landlady also solicates for some action at times so I guess it’s five girls. It just feels unneeded for me.. then again I am not a young boy and people do like that stuff so happy for them it’s there. For me it’s plentiful enough that I can get a bit annoyed at it. I must commend them though .. I could see him ending up with all four of these girls, non of these romance options feels disingenuous. All ships have a charm to them. If I had been a manga would have tracked the series down to find out how this ended.

Then there is the cross-dressing maid… who looks like a girl sounds like a girl.. but is actually a guy. He gets upset when people mistake him for being a girl but he acts very girly. This show names him as “trap” which I find quite nasty and does bump this show down a peg or two. They mention it a few times.. and the worst one if when Yuugo calls him a trap claiming this person has an Excalibur just like his own” The wordt Trap can easily be harmful to trans-people so it should not be just a joke. Luckily they do portray him well! He identifies as male and can get kinda upset if people call him a girl. He is a man that just happens to look like a girl and likes woman’s clothing. He just wants to be himself and is sad if people do not see the real him. Nice However they also give him this quirk that wants to taste Tensai’s saliva but feeding her with his chopsticks and then licking them.

This is a returning gag and actually quite a good example how the humor in this show is taken. Everyone acts so awkward about their feelings here. Then there is a character whose name I honestly have forgotten as his character trait is to be Juugo, but a bit stealthier and just missing out on being on par with him. .. He keeps telling the girlish guy everything he does is so erotic and how he could initiate him. Why is everyone so horny when their lives are in danger or heck when there is food. As longs as you might die.. or can score some food there is no reason to feel the tinglies just above your legs! At least nog as much as these guys do! I don’t get it and feel this disconnect to that kind of joke. There are also a lot of boob jokes if that is your thing.. they aren’t even cringingly bad.. I just feel nothing for them.

The show also has a lot of jokes that actually did make me chuckle. Like the club president’s assistant constantly trying to let her beloved help her as well as Yuugo helps his girl to no avail or even the silly Nanana pudding humor. Nanana the ghost can only eat pudding.. and for the rest she just plays video games as she is bound to the room she died in. This means those puddings are what little she can experience of the world outside.. and she prefers puddings made at locations.. like the special pudding from the mall or from the town that made the onsen. It is cute. It might seem shallow first and it can feel kinda gimmicky but there is something humble enough about it. Like when Juugo asks her about a hint on one of the ruins..she tells him she has one condition.. as he says “yes of course I will get you pudding from said location ” she thinks and says “I have two conditions” showing she forgot about that but now can not let it go. Nanana has three things in her afterlife.. pudding, games and her rules and that’s so little she can’t give any up.. so I liked those kinds of jokes.

GIga Pudding

In the end this show is much like a pudding. It’s sweet, easily digestible and something you watch after coming out of a very serious series or after watching something long. It’s a bit of a palette cleanser. Unfortunately for Nanana this isn’t one of those custom made puddings she made.. this is a bit of a store brand ones.. she still loves them just they do not make her list of favourites. The vanilla flavour is fine and the treasure hunting is like that chocolate/cherry sauce that shift it towards a more unique experience. Tet if we look a bit better at the composition we can see it is made out of some lower grade materials. Which are fine.. but also not that special. It’s a tasty mix of all elements being good enough but there is also not that much to make it stand out.

The way all these puddings are structured does leave you wanting for more though. After I finished each episode , I wanted to watch the next due to a cliffhanger .. that almost always got resolved off screen weirdly enough, to find out what actually happened I had to watch through almost nearly an entire other episode for it being mentioned. Which is a great way to make you hooked on a show that otherwise might not be strong enough! So it is at least clever! I wanted to watch 5 episodes for this review and see if I wanted to continue it..but episode 5,6 and 7 ended on a cliffhanger and then i was like.. I only need 4 more episodes and before I knew it I was out of pudding! I consumed it almost all as one as a sort of Giga Pudding. …I think I heard a song about it once… it was really long. I liked this anime it was a nice way to spend three hours or so. However I am pretty sure it will not take that long for this anime to be buried deep within my mind!

I really wish this concept would have been used for a slightly better show, it’s not that this show is bad.. I just think the concept is amazing but the show never aimed for that standard. Instead of ending up with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow we end up with a pudding cup at one of the shelves in your fridge..it will still make you happy for a little while but that happiness will not linger. Hmmm now I feel like getting a pineapple pudding! Why Pineapple?!
Because this anime is

Now that is done it’s time for me to go on a treasure hunt myself! By that I mean raid my fridge for some lunch, have you seen this anime?! Do you know of any more Indiana Jones like, treasure hunting anime? I don’t mean One Piece.. I mean .. traps, puzzles and stuff!
Let me know and have a nice weekend! All the love! Stay Happy!

XO

Pinkie

P.S. I remember that song now!

If you want to make the song stop but are powerless to click away I suggest you get redirected by supporting my Kofi! Now this is the best Kofi add I ever did!

Five Movie Characters I’d Invite to New Years Eve

So I had some time and creativity left so it’s time for a very late night post for me. The fourth installment in the series of my New Years Eve Party, but the final one I will be actually writing. So spoiler, in the next post I won’t refer to this one .. save for an edited line here or there. This list gave me the most trouble, five movie characters I’d invite to New Years Eve… why is this more difficult? Because most of the time movie characters a re other people as well.. which makes it weird. Luckily I mostly worked my way around that. Check out our movie guests and enjoy.

Movie Guest Number 1 : D-O (Star Wars) : The PA System

I have seen Rise of the Skywalker ……. and it was not good. Disney managed to turn Star Wars in a Disney afternoon cartoon that is stupid and has little good elements. It had some good scenes, the characters are still pretty awesome…except for Rey and the atmosphere is there.. but that’s about it. The story I am.. let’s say not a big fan off but there is a thing that I kinda liked about this movie. A funny new little character, that is basically your new Porg, Ewok, Gungan or insert other cutesie comic relief thing. A very old basic droid named D-O (pronounced Dio) A tiny megaphone on a wheel, which has some mastery of galactic basic making it one of the few droids we can actually understand. It’s straight to the point and brief speaking in terms as “Wheel Squeaky” “Wheel Unqueaked… thank you” which gives it a charm. It will be perfect to let roll around the area and do some announcements , Buffet opened, restrooms clogged, band now playing, stuff like that. You see I am oftenly ignored when I say things like these.. people do not pay attention to me… but a megaphone on a wheel that’s waaaaaay more interesting………*sigh*

Of course he would also be invited for the memes. I could tell it to give Kamina a kiss and when some other guests fall for his charm the little wheel with a megaphone would say…”Ha you thought you kissed him first but it was I D-O” You gotta love memes! Just having it run around shouting Za Warudo would also be adorable, and I am already getting incontinent with laughter when I am thinking of making it sprint on the road while it shouts Roado Roller..Daaaaaaa… see since it’s a wheel it rolls on the road.. and it is called D-O. Everyone will love this thing so much! Does D-O have other practical uses? No, it’s design and size make it absolutely unfit for anything else than just announce some stuff. It’s tinier than BB8 so it would probably even have trouble knocking down a beer bottle. It can tell you things about the sith and all that stuff, but disney made that stuff so edgy and evil looking that every person with some semblance of sanity and common sense would say… nah! D-O can help up us gather and can facinate you if you see it moving about, but hey if we use it as a PA system it will still be more functional as it was in that Disney flick.

Movie Guest Number 2: The Four Horsemen : The Magicians

The band will not be able to preform constantly they will have to have some time of between sets. Of course I need a spectacular act for that and what act is greater than a show of the four horsemen. These magician thieves were introduced in the Now You See me Movies. Two flicks I just absolutely adored. It’s campy ..but such good camp and the shows of the four magicians. I would very much like to be there. Why? Because they steal millions and give it to the crowd. Of course there is a catch to it which means I might not be bestowed with any free cash but since I am writing the rule.. it definitely would happen. We could see them rob a bank and we would get the cash as a crowd. Now that is something else than pulling a bunny from a hat. Though in the second movie one of the horseman talks about pulling a hat from a bunny. Now that I would like to see. Apparently the trick did not go over to well with the crowd though, I bet PETA is involved. Ugh… I just wanna see good magic tricks and in their movies the protagonists sure treat us to a few damn good tricks. For those who haven’t seen Now You See me yet.. you’d be in for a treat. With the second movie focussing more on street tricks, they can even perform elsewhere when the band is on stage. Great versatility.

(*Those gloves on the girl are a bit to edgy for my taste)*

Now why would I choose magic as a surprise act? Well since I am selecting on a movie base.. if I’d pick Clowns I’d be doing us all a disservice. It, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Joker, Clownnado (clowns in a tornado)! This is a list of movies featuring clowns and I would not want any of them at my party. I do not like any other circus act either besides magic, and this is magic that can make us wealthy. There is an appeal to having everyone be fooled on a massive scale, an excitement that your mind is interpreting something wrong. You know you are being fooled but you do not know how. The Horseman do that on steroids. Merrit McKinney is the hypnotist of the group who could perhaps unpanda me or hypothise me a date, Daniel Atlas played by Jesse Eisgenberg and me could have very interesting coversations while Jack Wilder picks a few pockets for me, sorry for all of you but a girl has gotta eat. Lula , the second female horseman seems like an interesting character as well, just someone who is fun to hang out with and learn some scams from and to play mindgames on my friends so I beat them more easily in board games. Wealth, Power and the ability to mindfuck your friends. This is what Gold D Roger promised to those who would find his treasure at the end of the Grand Line but since I get seasick in a bathtub. I will take this route and follow the horsemen.

*(There will be no rain in Paradise but the horsemen could stop it)*

Movie Guest Number 3 : Elsa : The Daycare lady

So an animated character and another character belonging to the disney cartel made her way on this list. Yet this one is for good , good reasons. You see I hate children. Like honestly they make me super uneasy. Since I don’t fully control my motor functions and can twitch and sometimes even full spasm an arm or a leg I am SUPER afraid of hurting them while they run around me. Because I can never explain them something is wrong with me and they competely demonise me, which triggers an anxiety in me .. makes me more tense and enlarges the problem. Childeren make me so uneasy I go through actual lengths to avoid them. Babies is probably my most irrational fear, while I love baby yoda I’d cut off and sell my own legs not to have to go to a baby shower. In fact I think I have never been to one since the darkest day. In my past when I was like the age of 12 and my “dissease/disability” wasnt as apparant yet a friend of my mothers once gave me a baby to hold. It threw up on me and the tense thing started. I could not hold on to it properly anymore and I really hurt it. By accident of course and it was fine just in pain.. people started to yell at me and I freaked out turned into a brick of tension. I tried to run but I could not and hurt myself as well.It wasn’t the only snafu I had, the twitch started to happen more and more and my unhapiness around kids increased. Since everyone is welcome at my party.. and some of you may have kids that means I need someone to look after them. Who better than Elsa of Arendelle?

(*Peta will have something to say about feeding a Lizard just snow Elsa!)*

Children flock to her, and she can create ear muffs for herself so she doesn’t hear those accused banshee wails those little people produce. If Elsa is anything like the people who cosplay her she will do well with kids as well and be able to tame the wild minions of satan. Should she truely be unable to appease them she can always encapsulate them in ice and leave them to defrost for a while. Sure their heart might freeze but with a kiss from their mother and it’s all better. She even has access to a world beyond ours, in a sense where we can safely deposit children without any physical evidence to be found by law enforcement. Convenient!!! I really don’t wish harm upon the little imps but if it would be the only way to keep them away from me…. I’d have a difficult choice to make. Anyway.. Elsa is beloved by both kids and grown ups, can drive people wild if she sings Let it Go on the Karaoke machine and she can even do some effects for when our band preforms Snow Halation. So much options to go with for Elsa.. though I heard she really doesn’t want to build a snowman with the kids. Of course we can investigate the rumors that Elsa might be into women.. but if the kids are around her, I shall not be the one who does the research, but at our party anything can happen.

(*When I move trough my hair like that it’s always a mess! Gimme that power)*

Movie Guest Number 4: Ron Burgundy:The Social Media Hyper

As a blogger I would of course not just throw this New Years Party without any reason. I’d want to create some new fans, grow and create that haven where people talk and interact with each other. A real blogging friendship of sorts. Of course that means playing the social media game and I am not good at that. Now a backwards thinking white cisgender male privileged news reporter that clearly does not know the meaning of the word PC that is a much better choice. Think about it, everyone who knows Ron Burgundy loves it when he is acting like an insensitive asshole.. so he can not say anything wrong. That kind of power is incredible in this day and age. He could hate or love my party and either way he would perfectly amusable to people. Some people would not be allowed to bash my party because I am not privileged, not straight and not a man so only Ron Burgundy can tell what he truly feels. He might hate women and thinks we have less of a brain, but should he like the party it would be quite amazing. More than likely he won’t but think about it, getting roast by Ron Burgundy could still be pretty hype. He roasted Justin Bieber so I would be honoured if the thinks the party is bad as well. Plus the whole social media circus would make me super famous so I better make sure I stay Classy.

There is something about the 70’s honesty that really appeals to me. It is something we forgot. We have to be so correct about everything that our opinions don’t matter anymore as long as they are not pc. Our own voice has drowned in a sea of things we have to take into account. We need a Ron Burgundy who isn’t afraid to step onto things .. without doing it to troll or provoke. Just speak your mind in an honest matter, no matter how petty your opinion might be, because petty opinions still matter. We can only say things to each other if they are nice, so sometimes we are nice just to be able to say something even if we don’t really agree. Not Ron Burgundy! He says what he thinks, nothing more nothing less. He can create some buzz for me as some memes. Plus I think it could make for a great Ron Burgundy movie, where he ends up in a pink bubbly tropical drink filled resort filled with anime character and social justice warriors. I could sell the movie rights.. while getting hyped on twitter… oh wow finally my days of poverty are over! Thank you Ron Burgundy.

(Perhaps we can find out the mystery of the three shells together as well)

Movie Guest Number 5: Indiana Jones: The lost and Found Guy

Now I plan for you all to have a fun and memorable evening but I also plan to get you nice and liquored up so our memories of the night might end up a bit blurry. People will lose their stuff, like keys, coats, self respect and wallets. Since we are on a beach things tend to get lost even easier taken by the sand or of course the local tribes might take your wallet or your girlfriend to sacrifice it to their fire god… of course the island is perfectly safe.. it’s just the Eldritch Pokémon, the local tribes, pirates and our own drunkenness that can pose a bit of a risk. Dr Henry Jones is the ideal man to help us the day after. The man found the arc of the covenant. He found the crystal skull and of course the holy grail. Surely he can help us find our keys as well. Digging up our relics by the beach is what he used to do as an official archaeologist. Should the tribal folk get our stuff he can venture into their temple of doom to get our missing party goers back. An ideal guy to keep our stuff together and deal with our hangovers. and get our shit back together again. If he can find relics he can find keys right? Let’s find out.

Besides think of it how amazing it would be if the Indiana Jones theme begins playing when an old man with a whip and cowboy head is just searching the beach for your left slipper when the Indiana Jones themes begins playing… or is it the Turkish Star Wars theme.. those are eerily similar. So yeah, he’s looking for your slipper and the theme starts playing pretty amazing. I bet if we can get the one from the earlier movies that some people will like his whip as well. Just watch out for rolling boulders. Luckily for doctor Jones my island is completely snake free. Which means he will not get distracted while looking for your stuff either. He isn’t an ideal choice though, for example he oftenly travels with an asian kid… that drives. I do not like children so I really hope he doesn’t take that one along. Perhaps I should make sure I have a driver with the final post so Short Round can stay at home. The good doctor is kind of a womaniser and gets into situations with kinda gross food, so he might make the evening a bit less classy than it could be. He doesn’t appreciate good swordsmanship for example. Now I do not mind if you have some fun with good old Indiana or if you use him to find ancient relics hidden on my beach to keep them for yourself. Have fun! But whatever you do ! DO NOT let that man near my fridge.

And that concludes our movie characters. My next post will be in but a few hours after I had some sleep. With five game characters I’d invite to New Year’s Eve we shall conclude this guest list of epic proportions and ready ourselves for the party of the decade. .. which is funny because it will also be the last party of the decade. For those incapable of reading the final post before we move into 2020. Happy New Year!

More Blogs in the New Years Party Arc
-A Pokémon Team For New Years Eve
-Five Bloggers I’d Invite to New Years Eve
-Five Anime guests I’d invite to New Years Eve