[SHT] Singing What Rider Who?!

What's up my milleniums? BlackWinged Magician is back with- this is not AR where the hell am I?

That's right, since AR closed down, things have been all over the place and it might have been the end of the BlackWing name! But Akiya, or now better known now as Reader Watcher Girl, has allowed to make her sight available to me so I can continue my favorite, segment-!

(for those who're new, just think of this as an insight into shows with men and women in spandex fighting rubber monsters? Get it? Got it? Good.)

Alright! It's been a while so let's dive into Kamen Rider Hibiki and oh God what is this?!

So I'm gonna skip the usual backstory exposition and all that cause quite frankly, I'm barely watching this... and I have no idea what the hell is going on... I'm serious this show is already giving me feels that are WEIRD and I've only watched up to episode 3. But let's just start at Episode 1.

Ok so we start out with the normal warning-

Oh God what've I gotten myself into...

For one, this one of the only Kamen Rider Series that I've seen that does not have an intro with lyrics (I understand that all Heisei Riders have intros with lyrics save for Hibiki). Personally, I think it makes the intro a little more epic in a way.

We then cut to a kid riding a bike through town while noises are being played rhythmically.

Singing what...

Why's everyone singing?

WHAT IS GOING ON?! Ok so from what I gather, people sing randomly and kanji just pops out throughout the episodes at random.... What is this Japanese High School Musical ft. Kamen Rider?!

Ok so we cut to Asumu(this kid I guess) and his mom on a boat. They're going to some island or something.

And some weird guy who sings about everything he sees, cool.

What.

Whose kid is this?

Hey, does this child belong to ANYONE?!

Ok so stupid baby is stupid and falls off the ledge but weird singy guy saves the day. Oh and you'll never guess this guys name. No really guess. His actual name is Hibiki, which cool/weird and slightly lazy. I don't know I guess there'll be an explanation later.

Who the hell are these two. Why does he sound like a she and why does she sound like a she. I'm not judging or anything I'm just really confused.

Gee, you think Hibiki's gimmick is singing about everything that happens around him? It's kind hard to tell at this point! *SARCASM*

And Hibiki has some pretty cute sidekicks, cool.

We see Hibiki take out a CD that turns into a bird.... just watch it. Ok so Asumu is annoyed by his family, as all prepubescent teens, and his mom's *cough*hot*cough* friend whisks him away to have fun in the mountains. I'm sure NOTHING wrong is gonna happen.

Well what'll you know, Hibiki is on the same trail as these two! What coinky-dink!

What spider webs what. Hot friend kidnapped, I don't- what is going on.

So they find hot lady friend and Hibiki makes Asumu stay with the hot unconscious lasy.... Ok.... And he goes off and transforms (WITHOUT saying Henshin I may add) and jumps around the woods for a bit. Oh and he kills the guy-I mean girl- I mean guy- I mean- what ever the hell that thing is.

Alright, so obviously this is NOT a normal Kamen Rider series. I mean, just imagine how confused I was when I was actually WATCHING this. It's VERY different and deviates HEAVILY from even the most basic Kamen Rider cliches. Hibiki doesn't even say henshin when he transforms, a staple of Kamen Rider's transformations. Also, they're not really Kamen Rider so much as Oni. You know, Japanese Ogres/Monsters? The series form what I understand is heavily based on traditional Japanese lore and music. Also, the series itself had a complete change in writers right in the middle... This is gonna be a fun one to watch. Overall though, it's just weird. Not to say it's bad or anything, it just feels like a Kamen Rider series and not at all at the same time. It deviates completely from the norms that the Kamen Rider series that came before it set, which is refreshing. But in a way, it deviates a little too much. It's still interesting, I'm interested enough to continue watching, it's just.... Watch it and you'll get. I will give it props though, for having one of the most BEAUTIFUL suit designs EVER in Kamen Rider. That counts for ALOT.

[AOW] Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (11/11-17/2012) [#69]

At the time when I started watching this anime, only 2 episodes were out. I specifically wanted to watch some romance anime that were almost like Kimi no Todoke but without all the bull shit bubbles and sparkle fillers that KnT was (and it's quite stupid to go two full seasons without so much as a confession!!!!!).

Image © Brains Base

I am really enjoying this anime. At first it had that ToraDora feel, but without the angry female lead and the male lead isn't really misunderstood due to angry looking eyes- he really is a trouble maker. There are a lot of feels in this anime, and I can see this as being one of my favorites if not my only favorite this anime season :3 Also, who doesn't love an anime where the title translates to "My Little Monster"?

Type: manga adaptation

Genre(s): comedy, drama, romance

# of Episodes: 12

Synopsis:

Bookworm Shizuku Mizutani has few interests besides her grade and future career. Requested by her teacher, Mizutani brought handouts to Haru Yoshida, a boy who should have been seated next to her but was suspended due to injuring another student in a fight on the first day of school. Because of the favor, Yoshida now considers Mizutani a friend, and she also learns that Yoshida is in fact a very nice, gentle guy.

Shizuku Mizutani only one goal in life, to secure a lucrative career, and to that end she dedicates her life to studying to get good grades. She is bribed by her teacher to deliver homework handouts to Haru Yoshida, a boy who should have been seated next to her but was suspended due to injuring another student in a fight on the first day of school. Because of the favor, Yoshida now considers Mizutani a friend, and she also learns that Yoshida is in fact a very nice, gentle guy has no social skills and who is prone to violence at the drop of a hat. Mizutani has to decide if she will let Yoshida into her life to be friends, or perhaps more than friends.

[AOW] World God Only Knows II (11/4-10/2012) [#68]

For the past week or so I haven't really watched any anime; mainly because I was busy packing up for my move that was made this past Saturday. Today I'm finishing up unpacking/ setting up my new room! You can see plenty of pictures on my Facebook fan page. I particularly love my new Hetalia America flag, and thanks to having this new place I have somewhere to hang it. The place I was living before (in a spare room at a friends house) didn't have much room for anything and I really wanted to hang this flag over a window, which I was able to do. *cough* Anyways, enough about my move (I have plenty of space to talk about that on the fan page).

Since I haven't really watched anything or read anything (other than a few pages of the Oreimo manga) I decided this week to feature an anime that has always stuck out to me (it's one of my favorites as listed on my MAL page). I have featured TWGOK before (but that was season one, since there has been a second season added).

Full Title: The World God Only Knows II (Season 2)

Image © Manglobe

The World God Only Knows is one of my favorite anime for several reasons but mainly because of the main voice actor Hiro Shimono who does some of the funniest voice work I have heard in anime. Well, while looking up who'd be doing the English voice of Keima, I was pleasantly surprised it's Chris Patton who'll be a guest at an anime convention I'm helping put together for it's 3rd year in 2013 (but more about that convention later). Overall TWGOK is a great ride in hilarity about a gaming otaku. And there aren't very many good anime out there about otaku, let alone ones that can make it to a second season and have some spin offs and prequels.

Type: Light novel adaptation

Genre(s): Comedy; Romance; Harem; Shounen; Super natural

# of Episodes: 12

Synopsis:

With some familiar faces and new ones joining this seasons cast of characters Keima and Elsie continue the hunt for lose souls all while Keima deals with the trouble of having to romance real life girls when he'd rather being God of Games like he always has been. Who has time for the real world when virtual ones are so much better?

[AOW] Genshiken (10/28-11/3/2012) [#67]

Image © Palm Studio

The Genshiken manga recently (well about a year ago) started receiving new chapters with a new cast of characters and the return of old ones. Because of this, I have decided to feature the anime (which sadly was never a real accurate adaptation of the manga in the first place but it is still a fun series worth watching for otaku's of all types). I don't remember the anime being nearly as good as the manga, but that could just be due to the anime not adapting the whole series =/ Eh, oh well.

Type: Manga adaptation

Genre(s): comedy, otaku, slice of life

# of Episodes: 24

Synopsis: 

This is the story of college freshman Kanji Sasahara and his fellow members of the college club he joins, The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture (aka Genshiken), as he goes shopping for doujinshi, attends conventions and slowly but surely makes his way down the road to fandom. [ANN]

Limit vol.1

LIMIT vol.1

Creator: Keiko Suenobu

Publisher: Vertical

Release Date: Oct. 2012

Price: US $10.95 / $11.95 CAN

Length: 192pgs

The premise behind Limit isn't all that exciting or unique- a group of second year high school students are on their way for a trip known as "Exchange Camp" when the bus driver happens to lose consciousness, thus causing the bus to crash into the middle of some forest looking area. Most of the students (which oddly this manga seems to be missing any interaction with male students, despite them being there) end up dead. The few that do remain (at least that were found in the first volume of this manga) meet up and end up forming some weird patriarchal system because of one student in particular who was seemingly indirectly bullied throughout that year of school.

You would think a manga about a bus crashing could end up being more exciting. Maybe it's the shoujo format and the theme of bullying that is suppose to be explored here... but this manga seems to be falling flat on it's face. I wasn't thrilled by any of the characters- especially the main "villian" Arisa who was seemingly forced into the villain position by the manga artist just because this manga is suppose to explore the topic of "high school bullying". Most painful of all in this manga was the inclusion of a scyth... since when did high school students ever use scyths when on a school trip!?

I can't in good consciousness recommend this manga. It's plain, borring and painful to read. There isn't anything new here and the characters are just so bland. I do feel like I wasted $11 purchasing this... maybe volume two will be better.

[AOW] Negima!? (10/21-27/2012) [#66]

Image © Shaft

Don't worry my nettaversers, I know you must be in awe of that chupacabra; especially since Asuna has created the perfect rendition of one for her "Chupa Club" series of shirts- but the Chupa Club is here for a reason!! To hunt down a chupacabra of Asuna's very own... or is it really a cover for Sensei Negima being a magician?

Studio Shaft really got me with this one. Their, as I like to call it, "sensual" style of animating really suits many scenes of this series. I particularly LOVE the way Asuna's twintails create their own emoticoms such as being the shape of a heart in order to enhance her emotions.

 Negima!? isn't an exact adaptation of the manga of the same name; it's actually an alternate retelling of the series and while not perfect, it is well worth watching (as long as you know not to expect an amazing story that ties up all holes by the end of the two seasons).

Type: Alternate Retelling of Manga

Genre(s): School life, magic, fantasy, drama, comedy
# of Episodes: 26
Synopsis:
Wizard Negi Springfield may be a boy, but he has a man-sized job to do! Fresh from the Academy of Magic, Negi continues his training as an instructor at Mahora Academy in Japan. But before he can get his Masters in magic, the 31 schoolgirls of Class 3-A are gonna keep him up all night cramming for a final exam in will power. Temptation aside, Negi has more on his syllabus than flirting and spells. Darkness is closing in, and Negi is gonna need help from his lovely student bodies to drive the ghouls from their school. These girls want to prove that they're the best in class, and extra credit is available to the cuties that aren't afraid of after-hours phantom fighting! [MAL]

[AOW] Claymore (10/14-20/2012) [#65]

image copyright goes out to Madhouse

I'm only featuring Claymore because I plan to try and make an Alicia cosplay for a convention in 2013. Instead of having to read the manga which is still going I thought why not just try and watch the anime which is much shorter and a good way to introduce myself more into the series. And my friend is a huge fan of this series so I'd like to know why.

Type: manga adaptation

Genre(s): Dark fantasy, action, drama

# of Episodes: 26

Synopsis:
The series is set on a fictional medieveil island where humans are plagued by Yoma; humanoid shape-shifters that feed on humans. A Mysterious group, known as The Organization, creates human-Yoma hybrids to kill Yoma for a fee. These female warriors wear Roman army-like uniforms. The public refer to them as "Claymores" alluding to their Claymore swords, or "silver-eyes witchers" due to their silver eyes.