Gundams assembled

Gundams assembled

The entirety of our Gundam Extreme VS Entry for Test Drive is now live. Enjoy!

Epic weekend ahead

Epic weekend ahead

Just one last reminder that we will be returning once more to ConBravo this weekend in Hamilton, Ontario, as official videographers. We'll be bringing you over 30 videos of awesomeness from the weekend, including such favorites as the epic night of D20 Live! (Our video from last year is still getting comments!) We'll also be talking with some of the celebrities there! Ichida za Zeal himself will be interviewing Brent "Brentalfloss" Black, Pete Williams (creator of UnderGRADS), Mark Meer (voice of male Commander Shepard), Mike "Birdman" Dodd (from This Week in Geek), and whoever else we can get our hands on! Sadly, Vladimit Stalintrotsky from Vlad's Troubles will be unable to join us this year, but we'll make sure to bring you a great show anyways! Stay tuned!

[IXI Digest] First Impressions of Summer 2013 Anime Season

[IXI Digest]
First Impressions of Summer 2013 Anime Season

Hello, and welcome again to my usual segment as I talk about the new Summer 2013 anime season.  Now, to start, I’m already not terribly impressed with this season at the moment.  Nothing has really grabbed me so far, and the only shows I really look forward to every week are new seasons of things I already like, like Symphogear G, High School DxD New, Genshiken Nidaime, and The World God Only Knows – Goddesses (None of which I’m going to talk about here because of my usual rule of not talking about second seasons, but god there are a lot of second seasons this summer).  After a couple of really strong seasons, this one just feels a bit lacklustre.  So, without further ado, let’s get into the shows.

Servant x Service

From the same creator as Working, comes a new series about a group of Civil Servants working at a government office.  The series takes a slice of life/comedy look at the people who work there and the people who come in.  That’s really about all there is to say to describe the series.  It’s a simple concept, and the jokes and sketches remind me a lot of Working in how they’re executed.  Now, I enjoyed Working, so that’s a good thing in my opinion.  Characters are pretty simple though, with such memorable stereotypes as the hard-working one, the pushover manager, and the overly talented yet incredibly lazy one.  Anyways, it seems like it may be an enjoyable way to kill half an hour, so give it a look if you’re just looking for a laugh, and especially if you enjoyed Working.

Danganronpa the Animation

A collection of promising youth are gathered together at a prestigious high school, only to find that they have been trapped inside and made to play a sick survival game by the psychotic principal.  The only way to get out is to murder one of their classmates and get away with it.  If they succeed, they will be let free, and the rest of the class will be disposed of, if they fail to cover their tracks, they will be the one to die.  This show comes off like a weird cross between Battle Royale and a Shin Megami Tensei game.  It gets dark, really fast, despite the plethora of cartoony imagery that usually fills the screen.  Classmates start dropping like flies, and the mystery begins almost immediately.  The only thing, I find, that throws me off a bit while watching is the fact that the principal of the school is some sort of teddy bear, stuffed with explosives.  He may very well be the most messed up thing in this show.  If you like mystery, and psychological thriller, this anime is right up your alley.

Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou

This is a series about a man who liked books so much that after being shot during an armed robbery, he refused to die until having read the final book of his favourite series.  Reincarnated as a dog, he finds himself adopted by his favourite author, also the person he had been protecting, unknowingly, when he was shot.  She is capable of hearing his thoughts, and so his new life begins.  This show is… interesting, to say the least.  The author’s personality seems to flop back and forth between caring and psychotic on a dime, and the dog is just plain uninterested in anything going on around him.  There does not really seem to be much of a plot either aside from him trying to convince her to get writing the final book in that series he likes as she comes up with every single excuse to do, literally, anything else.  It’s a weird show, but it does have its legitimately entertaining moments.  So, give it a try if you’re at all inclined, but otherwise this probably shouldn’t be very high on the list of things to watch.

Love Lab

A series about the two most popular girls in an all girls school, working together on the Student Council.  However, they aren’t just doing Council work in that office, they are also studying love, and ways to get a boyfriend.  Yeah, the premise is just that strange.  The bulk of the show is them messing around in the Student Council office, talking about all sorts of methods to attract a boy’s attention, and what to do once you have it.  This is mostly innocent stuff, but occasionally verging on the delusional and cliché.  However, despite that as the premise, the series is a legitimately endearing story about friendship and having people you can talk to about anything.  An oddly good series to sit and watch despite the idea behind it.  If you enjoy sappy drama and friendship stuff, this is the series for you this season, so give it a shot.

Gin no Saji

Otherwise known as Silver Spoon, this series is about a high school for people who want to work on or run a farm.  It follows the main character, who entered this school for… well, I’m not entirely sure why he entered that school.  He’s not from a farming family, and he came from an upper class middle school in the city.  Even he doesn’t seem to know why he’s there aside from the fact that he wanted to get away from home.  Anyways, the series follows his daily routine at this farm school, as he learns all about where his food comes from.  At first I was kind of weirded out by this series, but it grew on me after the first episode.  A strong story about the rewards of hard work, and not being bound by your first impressions of things, it is actually quite enjoyable to watch.  It helps that all the characters are very likable.  If you like stories about developing character and learning as you go, this is the show for you, and I suggest you pick it up.

Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu

An anime about a group of airsoft enthusiasts who attend a prestigious all girls high school.  It follows Yura, the newest member of the club, as she learns all about the sport, and grows to love it while surrounded by the odd characters in the club.  The members of the club get played off as a bunch of weirdos in the show, obsessed with combat, and their guns.  However, the series is fairly endearing, presenting itself as a story about changing oneself and striving to become a better person.  The action scenes are also very well animated, and give off a sort of Hollywood action movie vibe.  All in all, it seems like a pretty solid show, so give it a look if you like action, and girls with guns.

Blood Lad

The story of an otaku vampire that lives in the demon world, who also happens to be the boss of his own territory.  He and his gang are embroiled in a huge turf war spanning the entire demon world, when one day a human girl stumbles into their territory.  The vampire is all excited to meet someone from the country that makes all his favourite things, but after an unfortunate accident, she dies and becomes a ghost.  The vampire, upset by this, promises that he will find a way to resurrect her in between shopping trips to the human world and fights over his territory.  All in all, this show is not at all what I was expecting when I read about it.  There was a bit of cool action at the beginning, but the whole thing is more or less just played up for comedy.  It’s not necessarily bad, but it hasn’t especially managed to wow me yet either.  Another decent time-waster anime this season, so give it a look if you’re at all inclined.

Makai Ouji – Devils and Realist

The story of a rich, brilliant boy named William, attending a prestigious boarding school for the high class.  When his uncle accidentally ruins the family’s fortune, William discovers that he is the descendant of Solomon, and the human chosen to choose the interim ruler of hell, because apparently Lucifer is going to take a century long nap.  Demons surround him and attempt to bribe him into choosing them, and so his life is turned upside down.  There’s nothing really wrong with the show itself, or its premise for that matter, I just have one problem with it.  William is such an unlikable character that it kind of ruins the whole thing for me.  Despite being in a position of power at the school, he does nothing but whine about everything going on around him.  Demons are fighting each other right in front of his face, but he whines about how it is scientifically impossible for demons to exist.  I want to reach through the screen and smack the guy, repeatedly.  Also, for some reason, his theme music seems to be “London Bridge is Falling Down”.  Anyways, aside from him, the show seems decent, so don’t avoid it just because of my opinion.  Give it a watch if you like science vs. magic type anime, because this definitely delivers on that.

Gifuu Doudou!!  Kanetsugu to Keiji

A series following the exploits of Sengoku era samurai Naoe Kanetsugu and Maeda Keiji.  That’s about it for the premise, two famous historical figures and their terribly, terribly exaggerated adventures.  These two are being shown as incredibly badass guys capable of just about anything.  Then again, I am totally okay with this, because the entire show is the two of them drinking and talking about past exploits.  Of course it’s going to be exaggerated as hell, that’s the point.  It’s like, “And then I swung my guitar pick at the guy and a tiger made of energy came out and mauled him to death”.  It’s awesome, but obviously just a drunk guy talking himself up.  Anyways, the series has good action scenes, and it’s always fun to see what the two of them get up to.  If you like historical fiction, and especially anime about samurai, this is the one for you this season.

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi

With one final message to humanity, God left the world for good, calling the entire thing a failure.  Without him, heaven and hell are both full up, no more children are born, and the dead walk the earth.  At first, there’s no noticeable difference between the living and the dead, but eventually they devolve into creatures of instinct.  The only way to put someone to rest, is for them to be buried by a special type of person called a Gravekeeper, who have a God-given ability to do so.  Basically, this is a zombie apocalypse series, without ever once actually using the word ‘zombie’.  It follows a little girl who also happens to be a Gravekeeper, who ends up tagging along on a journey with the man who killed everyone she had ever known and loved.  The plotline seems fairly interesting, and I’m interested to see where this goes from here.  If you like mystery and zombie stories, this is the series for you, and quite possibly one of the better written of the season.

Free!

Now, this one got a lot of attention.  From Kyoto Animation, creators of Haruhi, Lucky Star, and K-On, as well as the guys who more or less defined the Moe art style, comes a show about a bunch of male swimmers.  A number of boys who used to swim competitively in elementary school form a swimming club in high school, and start to get back into things.  There really isn’t much plot here aside from swimming competitions between rivals.  What really gets me about this show, is it really feels no different from any other series this studio has ever done.  It’s like K-On, except instead of a band, they swim.  It’s the same thing, the same character types, the same directing, and the same animation, except they’re all guys.  They took the very concept of a moe series and flipped it over on its head and targeted it for a female audience.  Personally, I find this absolutely hilarious.  I may not be part of the intended demographic, but I am definitely enjoying to series myself.  Then again, I enjoyed Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.  If you’re into such things, give it a shot, but if you’re not comfortable with heavily eroticized male swimmers, you should probably stay clear.

Gatchaman Crowds

Once again on the ‘not at all what I was expecting’ bandwagon, comes Gatchaman Crowds.  The story of a girl who one day, suddenly becomes a Gatchaman and is told she is now part of a team that fights aliens without being seen by the general public.  I’m not actually sure whether or not this is supposed to be a sequel to the original Gatchaman series, but if it is, then it definitely took an unexpected turn.  A high school setting, a main character who’s a little… not quite all there, and enemies that may or may not actually be a threat.  Not sure where this show is going with this, but with the staff from Tiger & Bunny, and Karas on board, the combat animations sure do look nice if a little over-CG’d for my tastes.  All I can say is I hope that member of their team named Jo, who hasn’t fought at all yet, turns out to be Joe the Condor from the original series.  Anyways, if you like Men in Black and K-On (Watch the series if you’re confused about what those two have to do with each other), then this may be up your alley.

Watamote

A slice of life series about an incredibly unpopular, somewhat delusional high school girl who desperately needs to get more sleep.  That’s really all that can be said about this show’s premise.  She’s unpopular, but wants to be a bit more social and popular with people, but goes about it in all the wrong ways, and all the while refusing to admit that there’s anything wrong with her.  It’s a bit hard to watch, but oddly enough it seems to have gained some level of popularity this season.  We may be seeing a lot of memes come out of this series.  Anyways, if you like slice of life shows, this one may be for you, so give it a look.

Choujigen Game Neptune: The Animation

Based on the series of video games, this anime is an anthropomorphized version of the console wars (Feel like I’ve said that a few times lately).  This time though, instead of Nintendo vs. Sega, there are four countries representing PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and what I can only assume is supposed to be PC.  Also, instead of depicting an actual war, the show starts with a peace treaty and it turns into a magical girl sort of series from there.  The series seems pretty light on plot at first, but there does seem to be something going on in the background, so I can’t say anything solid just yet.  Characters are very stereotypical, nothing terribly original, and the only real action seems kind of bland with some less than interesting costume designs.  This one seems to be kind of a write-off this season, so I wouldn’t pay it much mind.  If you like video game and RPG jokes all over the place and not much beyond that, give it a try, but otherwise I wouldn’t really recommend it.

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya

And speaking of magical girl anime I’m not quite sure what to make of, yet another series based on the Fate/Stay Night franchise, this time featuring Illya as a magical girl.  Basically, Tohsaka Rin is given magical girl powers and sent to Japan to deal with some sort of monsters, but while there her wand decides it’s tired of her and flies off to find someone else.  Finally choosing Illya and forcing her into a contract with it, Illya finds herself forced into a fight she wants nothing to do with.  This comes off as more of a parody of the magical girl genre, and less of a serious plot line.  The characters are exaggerated versions of the familiar Fate characters, so that’s a draw for some people.  If you like the Fate series, and enjoy those characters, this may be something to look into, but if you’ve never seen Fate/Stay Night, you will not get any of the jokes.

Anyways, that’s it for me.  I may pick up a few more shows over the course of the season, but that’s still up in the air.  Anyways, see you guys again in October when I post my first impressions of the Fall season.

Oooooooooh. Ya.

Oooooooooh. Ya.

Behold! A week's worth of videos uploaded in horribly inconsistent times! My hectic work week disbled me from uploading a video a day this week like I planned! (also terrible floods and power outages early this week but whatever) Anyways, the OUYA-stravaganza is up. Go enjoy. :D

Ooooooh ya.

Ooooooh ya.

As you can tell by now, our OUYA finally came! Check out part 1 of our OUYA game sampler episode of Test Drive!

The pool of death?

The pool of death?

The most awesome release of the summer, the Deadpool video game, just got the IXI! Studios Test Drive treatment! Come witness all the chaos an apartment can offer! :P