Guilty Crown general review for the first 6 episodes

Okay, so today, I sat down to watch some anime. And since I was interested in seeing Guilty Crown, I decided to watch the subbed version that was conveniently available on Funimation's official site. And I've gotten through the first 6 episodes before I had to get off the computer. So, let me review them.

Alright, so let's get started with the plot. It's a rather normal dystopian setup. In 2029, there was an outbreak of a virus that, if I recall correctly, came with a meteorite.(Yeah, really.) Either way, the whole thing was contained, but Japan lost it's independence. Either way, let us fastforward, to I think, a decade after that and a certain infamous event known as Lost Christmas in-universe. Shu was an average high schooler... 'til he met the lead singer of his favorite band... who is with anti-government  organization that wants Japan to get it's independence back. (The best real-world parallel I can think of at the moment for this are the Revolutionaries who were against Loyalists during American Revolution.) Um... Let's get to the point, shall we? Shu has a certain ability that can help the Revolutionaries win the in-universe revolution. (Yeah, I know I ended up unintentionally making too many American history references in this summary. Sorry about that.) That's about it in a nutshell. Any more and I'm afraid I'll end up unintentionally giving away spoilers. So, yeah, if you want to know what happened next, feel free to watch the complete series on Funimation's site. (Sorry, but it's not available on their Youtube channel. Sigh...)

The music was alright, I guess. The opening and ending were written by Supercell, if I recall correctly. They wasn't too particularly annoying to me, but I didn't like them too much either. I did like the background music, that was written by Hiroyuki Sawano, though. It suited the atmosphere of the scene quite well, and that's what's important to me.

The animation was quite nice, as well. I didn't spot any obvious errors and at certain times it added a lot onto the impact of the scenes. But the art style was kinda generic. I've seen something similar to it before... But where? Oh, right. In quite a few series I've seen.

Either way, while the music and the visuals didn't really strike me as anything too special, I did like the plot. In fact, I think it was even better than Code Geass'. (Yikes. I hope no Code Geass fans are reading this, else they'll be the sixth fanbase I've offended. I'm really sorry to any C.G. fans who're reading this! And yeah, I do know what I'm talking about since I've made it to the second season.) Okay, so some people might not like that the plot that starts out like a plot of some dystopian novel. But I can assure you that it's quite interesting. In fact, while watching the first few episodes, I even ended up asking myself, "Are peace and order really worth the means used to achieve them?" and "Is independence really worth the means used to achieve it?" And mind you, those are the questions I never asked myself while reading dystopian novels like "Divergent" and "Legend". So, yep, the show must be thought provoking if I ended up asking myself those questions. And let's not forget the fact that a certain scene in episode 6 actually ended up making me cry. By the way, I rarely cry, much less while watching an anime. Or playing a videogame. (The instances when a moment in an anime or a videogame made me cry can be counted on one hand. Fine, maybe two.)

I got a DeviantArt account!

Hey, everyone! I got a Deviantart account yesterday! My username on there is Sketchie13! Currently, I made 1 drawing with Paint Tool SAI! Also, is anybody willing to show me the ropes there? Thanks!

Sketchie

The Lone Ranger- my review

I'm back from my local cinema. As you can guess from this post's title, I watched the Lone Ranger, and I'm here to review it. (Obviously.) Either way, let's get started. By the way, this is my first movie review, so I've got no clue what I'm doing.

Alright, so this is whole thing starts when a lawyer named John Reid comes to Colby, Texas using the then-WIP (well, on second thought, partially finished.) Transcontinental Railroad. Too bad he didn't exactly have a peaceful journey. A certain Butch Cavendish was being transported on the very same train, and his gang staged a rescue. And derailed the train in progress. Luckily, no one besides John and Tonto got hurt. Either way, let's skip to the important part since the events in town aren't all that important in my opinion. (Plus I'm not retelling you the whole movie. Please go see it yourself.) Either way, John, along with the other Rangers gets ambushed in the canyon and nearly dies. Either way, long story short, John, wearing a mask, decides to bring the perpetrators of his brother's untimely death to justice. That's mostly it in a nutshell. (Yep. This is a rather sloppy description, but I don't want to give anything away.)

Either way, while I do agree with some other movie critics that the company should've decided on the genre before writing the script and all that jazz, I think the movie wasn't as much of a trainwreck as many critics say. For one thing, I actually had quite a bit of fun with this. I like how they threw in a joke or two to lighten the mood during a serious scene. Some might not agree with me, though. Either way, I also thought the stunts were great. (You go watch the train scene in the beginning and then tell me it wasn't epic!) I also liked the music. It matched the mood of the scenes perfectly. And added to the epicness of the action sequences. (Choose any action scene in this movie. Any.) Also, the special effects were amazing. (Kinda a given since they were provided by Industrial Light and Magic.) 

Now for the bad parts. The sheer length. I mean, the movie lasted for like, 2 hours. I went to an eleven in the morning showing, and I left at like, I think, 2 PM! Talk about long. Aside from that, I don't really have too many complaints. Oh, wait! A fair word of warning to any parent who's reading this for some reason unknown to me: despite being distributed by Disney, I can assure you, this is a full blown action western. There will be blood and death on screen. There won't be too much gore, though. But seriously. Don't bring little kids to this movie. I can assure you, this movie deserves it's PG-13 rating. In fact, I think it may be rather close to the R territory. So, yep. Just 'cuz this movie is a Disney movie, don't assume it's gonna be a kiddy western. Don't make the same mistake parents of the three little kids I heard throughout the showing made.

Sketchie

PS: in the last paragraph, the story about those three little kids is is indeed true. I've heard them for a little while, but I think they left like, a quarter through the movie. The parents must've finally realized why the movie was rated PG-13. 

Sorry, no more special pictures + important announcement

Okay, I'm here to bring sad news. No more special pictures each time I hit another hundred views. I just can't keep up with the traffic. To apologize for that, you may request a (minor viewing appropriate) picture by commenting on here. I'll try to do it as soon as I can. On a different note, I'll be getting a DeviantArt account, Wednesday, July 24th, since it'll be my thirteenth birthday then!

Sketchie

Brothers Conflict episode 3 and 2 snarky(?) review

Remind me why I wasted my time on that? Either way, remember how I mentioned in my summer watching list I might watch Brothers Conflict? Well, yeah. I watched it today. And it wouldn't be much of a stretch it could be added to the otome VN disaster list of 2013. (Yeah, I'm real creative with titles, lol.) Like, seriously. I think that might have been worse than Amnesia. Why? Well, lemme explain. Oh, and due to a mistake on Funimation's site, I honestly thought I was episode 1, while in reality, I was watching episode 3. Nice going, Funimation. So, yep, no episode 1 review, sorry.

1) You might not agree with me here, but having like, 16 characters showing up in one episode is just too many characters. I still hadn't remember anyone's names partly because of that. And the other reason was because the characters were sorta generic. So, yep. Nothing too unique in the character section here, at least I think. (True story. I'm really bad with names, so IRL, it usually takes me thirty seconds to remember the name of the person I'm talking to. Needless to say, while watching anime or reading books or manga, I typically keep a cheatsheet on the characters I refer to while reading. Again, true story.) Either way, there were so many characters introduced I had to refer to Wikipedia, since I wasn't able to make a cheatsheet due to the sheer number of characters who I kept mixing up.

2) Well, this is again, just my opinion here, but what's with the lack of humor? (I don't like reading overly serious books or watching anime that only focuses on romance or action. I usually quit those quite quickly.) Like, seriously. The only instance of humor is (arguably) Futo trolling Ema (for some reason she's called Chii in the anime. I'll call her Ema, since I'm more used to that name.) in episode 2. Like, seriously. I snickered all the way through that part since I suspected he was trolling.

3) The music and animation weren't anything too particularly unusual either, in my opinion. At least, I heard so many J-Pop openings and endings, I simply got tired of those. And the art style sorta reminds me of something I might see in recent shojo manga. (Like, say, I think, "Sleepy Residents of Birdcage Manor", "Psychic Detective Yakumo" and such. If you can recognize those titles, congrats, by the way! You're probably as knowledgeable about obscure anime and manga as I am!) Either way, the best I can describe the animation and music is that they're sorta like vanilla ice cream. It's kinda bland and safe, but still liked by many people. Or like the painterly manga/anime style that's so frequent on Disney Create. Again, many people like it, so if drawn well, you get tons of stars, nice comments and faves. 

Overall, I guess I can call this the vanilla ice cream of this season. It's rather generic, but it's based on the tried and tested formula that seems to be many an otome VN right now. (Next time you watch an otome VN anime adaptation, take a swig of whatever drink you've got every time a cliche pops up. I can guarantee you'll get up for another glass before the episode's over.) And if you like that sort of thing, I guess you'll like this. But I'm likely quitting this. I guess I can watch this to pass time between Sunday Without God, Hakkenden, Gatchaman Crowds and Rozen Maiden episodes if I'm bored, though. But that's it. Seriously, Brains Base, get your act together. You screwed up with Amnesia already this year. Needless to say, if this keeps up, I'm officially losing faith in Brains Base.

Sketchie

Grade: 5/10 (and I'm being nice here.)

I got trolled by Yuumei, lol

Yesterday, Yuumei posted in her dA journal that she finally finished the official Fisheye Placebo website. I won't give away how I got trolled, but let's just say I first thought it was my i-got-ripped-off-phone (my nickname for my iPhone. Yeah, I hate it.) was being a piece of crap again. Then, I decided to actually finish reading her journal post and I first facepalmed then laughed at my naivety. It was YUUMEI, for goodness' sake! How could I have forgotten?! There's a reason why I nicknamed her The Trolling Genius, lol. (Not very creative, I know.)

Sketchie
Either way, please go read the linked journal entry! After reading it, you'll either laugh along with Yuumei or rage at her!

Rozen Maiden season 3 episode 1 review

Sigh... Looks like I was all excited for nothing. And here I waited for Rozen Maiden's new season, but it was a major letdown, at least in my opinion. Why? Well, read on to find out.

My main problem with this episode was that Studio DEEN tried to like, squeeze in six volumes worth of plot (and then some of the reboot/sequel as well.) into one twenty three minute long episode! You do the math. Obviously, the plot wasn't too well developed and was overall really choppy and sometimes incoherent. It felt like they were trying to just get out the first manga out of the way and focus on the sequel or something. Oh wait, they probably were, since this season was supposed to be based on the second manga, though. Either way, I felt that this episode was kinda unnecessary. I mean, instead of sloppily trying to cram in six volumes of manga into one episode, why not just adapt the first chapters of the second manga instead?

I didn't really have any other problems with this first episode, so why not get to the stuff I actually liked? First off, I liked the opening quite a bit. The ending was... kinda meh, in my opinion. But it was bearable, at least. Either way, I also thought the art style and the animation were kinda the redeeming point of this episode. I really liked the soft coloring and shading style. (Heck, I think it kinda inspired me to try soft coloring and shading myself!)

So, overall, this episode... sucked even more than Amnesia's anime adaptation. I mean, when the episode's only redeeming points are animation and music, you know the episode sucks. In fact, I might not even watch the second episode when I can after this letdown. (I hate having to get episodes a week late because I'm a free Crunchyroll user...) Fine, since I'm a big ol' softie and since I am a major Peach Pit fangirl, I might review the next one.
Sketchie,who's still fuming over how much of a letdown this episode was

Thank you for the 600+ views!

I won't post tomorrow or Friday since I'll be back at the camp! I'm so happy! I'm sorry for being so inactive and mostly posting on SketchClub! I only concentrate solely on 1 thing, so it's kinda hard to find time in between drawing new stuff and other stuff! And I really apologize for the mistake in my note! It's supposed to be 600, not 400 views, lol!

WTF?!

Can someone tell me how "animaljam in a nutshell" led somebody to my blog? This is so weird!

I'm back for now.

Okay, I'm back from what may have been the worst camping experience I ever had. The camp is closed for today due to certain problems that arose. Let's just say a lot of people weren't feeling well and leave it at that. To be honest, the main problem was actually people freaking out about the problem. Either way, the camp's closed for today.

Sketchie
Now, I'll go watch some anime and maybe blog about it later. Let's just say I have a surprise that may make you question whether I'm actually okay right now.

Devil Survivor 2: The Animation episode 13 CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS!

Okay, so today, since I got hit with a really nasty art block, I decided to watch some anime on Crunchyroll. And since Devil Survivor's last episode was finally available to me, I decided to watch it.

Okay, so Hibiki and Yamato are starting their battle to decide who gets their wish. I'm sure you remember what each of them wants. (At least, the people who've seen the previous Devil Survivor episodes.)  Hibiki wants the world to stay just as it was before all the hell broke loose, while Yamato wants to recreate his world in his image. To be honest, there was more to this episode than this climatic battle and the ending. In my opinion, it was a quite thought provoking episode too. But then again, isn't the rest of the series like that? Also, I guess it was kinda emotional as well, but that's coming from a kid who cried at the beginning of episode 4. (Even though the character that died then was an annoying minor character who I actually hated before that.) I mean, let's face it. If you got to the last few minutes of the episode, weren't you happy to see that everything was back to normal? And weren't you nervous when the protagonists went into the subway? I was kinda worried that everything'd repeat there for a minute, for some reason. I guess I was watching too many time traveling flicks or something.

Either way, I guess it wouldn't be a stretch to say this was probably my favorite Devil Survivor 2: The Animation episode. Even if I did end up bawling my eyes out several times while watching this episode.

Sketchie

IMPORTANT NOTICE! PLEASE READ!

I'll be somewhere else this Sunday all through the next week! Can't tell you where I'm going, but it's gonna be really fun! Except for the fact that there'll be no net connection, I'm really excited for my trip!
Sketchie

Funimation'll be simulcasting...

Dangenronpa and Brothers Conflict will be simulcasted by Funimation. Dunno when the episodes'll be availalable, though. As of today, they aren't in their free streaming directory. But given that Brothers Conflict only started airing four days ago, I guess we should give them some time. I'll be keeping an eye on their site and I'll let you know if I see either of those shows in their Free Streaming lists, okay?

Sketchie
PS: I'm sorry for my current inactivity! Currently, I'm on SketchClub most of my time!

...Did the person behind SketchClub fan me two hours ago?

...Did the Blackpawn fan me two hours ago on Sketchclub?! Holy. Macaroni. Am I dreaming or something?! This. Is. Awesome!

Watching Gintama and loving it

Okay, so I decided to take a short break from drawing on SketchClub, so I decided to watch some anime. But I can't watch the stuff that came out recently due to being a free member of Crunchyroll. (No reference to a certain anime with a lot of fangirls anime they are simulcasting intended.) I guess I'll have to wait a little while until I can watch the new  Rozen Maiden season. And Brothers Conflict hasn't come out yet. (But since I'm a sucker for weird premises, I'll likely end up watching the first episode.) Neither has Silver Spoon. So. At the moment, I'm dead bored. Good thing there's Gintama till then.

Okay, so Gintama is a really funny comedy series. Really, I can't describe the weird premise too well, so you gotta watch for yourself. Basically it's about a bunch of um... Independent contractors (?) who take on odd jobs. (Like getting a noisy inventor to keep it down. Using... some odd methods. Let's just say it involved large amplifiers, karaoke and one of the protagonists singing... Badly.) In feudal Japan that was taken over by aliens. Yeah... As I said, it's kinda hard to describe this awesome show's sheer weirdness and hilarity.

Either way, it's quite long. 279 episodes. Enough to entertain you while waiting for whatever show you want to see this anime season. I know I'll watch this until more Rozen Maiden episodes, Brothers Conflict and The Sunday Without God come out!

Sketchie
Either way, you can watch Gintama on Crunchyroll! (To be honest, most of the anime I recommend'll be available there to free members. Well, not all of it. Free members get to see the new episode a week after it's aired.)

Okay... The season finale of the second Uta no Prince sama season was an all time low point for the series.

Okay. I have a nasty feeling I'll probably end up offending quite a few people within the UtaPri fandom, but let's share my (as always brutally) honest opinion here. Just a quick warning, though. If you're the person who gets quickly annoyed by people saying bad stuff about their favorite series, you can skip this post. Because I don't want to offend people within 5 fandoms. (actually four, but I'm sure some people won't listen.)

Okay, let's get started. In general, I think of the whole series as a great timewaster for when I've got nothing to do. I mostly like the occasional moments of humor. (Otoya learning songwriting. That was utterly hilarious. It's also the reason why episode 3 of the first season is my favorite episode within the series.) But when it's time for some drama, well... It's just not my kind of drama, I guess. In general, I'm on the edge of my seat for say, 10% of the whole thing. The other 90%, I facepalm at the utter ridiculousness of whatever was the reason for the drama in first place. In fact, after watching the season finale of the first season, there was a red area on my forehead that looked suspiciously like the palm of my right hand for 3 days. (Yes. It's true. Just ask anybody who lives with me or sees me everyday.) Needless to say, I thought this season finale was utterly anticlimatic as well. There was this scene that was so cheesy and surreal I actually laughed at it.  (Even though I think it was supposed to be dramatic.) And well... Let's just the ending was kinda stupid in my opinion. I mean, what's the point of a competition if everybody wins?! (The loser sorta wins, but whatever.)

Sketchie
Who is currently thinking of an explanation for the right palm-shaped red area on her forehead.

...Did the person behind SketchClub comment on my Gravity Rush fanart an hour ago?

Yep. Blackpawn commented on my portrait of Kat an hour ago, according to the feed. Wut. (Comes to her senses, gets out a Coke and celebrates) Not too bad for my first day.

Sketchie

SketchClub app first impressions

Okay, so yesterday, I got a new drawing app for the iPad I use for posting on here and doing other stuff. It's called SketchClub and to be honest, I guess if I were to describe it... I guess it's sorta an all- ages-allowed version of DeviantArt. (Well...mostly because they profit from each joining user. You have to pay $3 to join and after that, you can draw nearly anything. But nothing featuring nudity or foul language. So, yep, nothing kid unfriendly.) So far, it's been worth paying $3.

This is what the editable user page looks like. (The one in the screenshot is mine, obviously.)  You can keep track of the stuff like who fanned you, who you fanned, the pictures you rated, (there's a rating system there. "Rules" means you think the picture is great, "Okay" means you think the picture is meh and "Sucks" means... Well, it's fairly self-explanatory.) your recent drawings and the top rated drawings of yours. There's also a comment section and people can message you. (Messages will only be visible to you... I think.) Also, you probably noticed the "Glops" at the top right corner. Basically, how many of them you have indicates how active are you and how are you doing. (You get glops for uploading, rating and getting good ratings. You can get them by participating in contests and if you get one of the top places, you can get a lot of glops, too!)

 This is the homepage. It shows all recently uploaded drawings, the featured drawings and the very popular ones. It also shows notifications and the current chat. Actually, there're also forums, but I only took the screenshots of the bits I actually tried out.

This is the screenshot of the drawing area. There're 10 layers in the version I'm reviewing here and there's a nice variety of brushes and you can manipulate layers too. I can't really tell you too much about drawing interface yet, in truth, since I'm still not completely used to it. Fill tool takes some getting used to, though. But I loved the calligraphy pen brush. I'll definitely use it a lot!

I also like that so far, the users I've met are really nice and polite! To be honest, I was kinda worried about the userbase the most. But so far, I didn't see any obvious copycats or anybody mean! I guess I was worried for nothing!

My verdict: If you're a Disney Create user tired of it or just an artist looking for a nice place for drawing posting, this is totally worth the $3 you have to pay for the download!

Sketchie
Feel free to say hi if you are on! I use Sketchie as my username on there, and currently I have a moggle created for the icon contest as my icon!

Fanart for Nano's "Magenta"! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

"I reach out through the glass to the light as it shatters"
This part of the song inspired this little fanart. It's probably my favorite part of the song. Like, I'm not joking. It really is.

Made using entirely Sketchbook Xpress for iPad
Sketchie
Who is back to spamming posts.

This day just got a whole lot more fun... (Sarcasm font)

Okay, so I think I'll get to the point here. Fangirls of Free, rejoice. Your favorite series came out today, July 3rd. For me, obviously, that day is not a happy one. It's not that I have a problem with sports series (okay, so I did end up quitting Kuroko's Basketball like, halfway through. But that was because I had some other stuff to watch.) or swimming, (I actually like swimming but I don't really like watching it.)  but a sports series about swimming... Well, let's just say I didn't think this was a good idea when they first announced it (I actually facepalmed and said my infamous "Can somebody please tell me this is a joke" line I use whenever I find something really ridiculous.) and I still don't like the idea. I mean, does Kyoto Animation really need fangirls that badly? I guess they do, if they resort to such measures, huh? (And I think I just ticked off the fangirls of this series even more. Anybody willing to offer me protection? No worries, I think I'm kidding here... Hopefully.)

Sketchie
I really hope no reader of mine got offended by this post...

Uh-oh... It's a tie in the poll about whether I should do game reviews!

When my poll about whether I should do game reviews on here ended, there was 1 "yes" and 1 "no" vote. So, I guess I'll only review if I find something I thought was original, just fun or crazy terrible. Now, all I have to do is finish Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and wait till my birthday...

Sketchie

Music spotlight: nano

Alright, so I'm starting a small column of sorts here. Basically, each time I find a singer or a band I love and feel I should recommend to you, I will post in this column! And my first recommendation shall be... a great (former) utatite known as nano! She originally started as a utaite (a singer who covers Vocaloid songs) but is now becoming a singer. She has great original songs like Magenta, Nevereverland and Blackboard! She also sang songs for anime, like, say, Btoom and the second opening of Phi Brain. (Those are just the ones I know of. I heard them both a little while back and loved them!) I really like her voice and the fact that she can sing really well in both Japanese and English! (According to Utaite Wiki, she was born in New York but later returned to Japan.) You can hear her songs on her YouTube channel and on Nico Nico. (Sorry, I don't have a link for her page on there. You'll have to look for it.)


So, what're you waiting for? If you like bilingual singers who covered Vocaloid music but are now branching out, I'm sure you'll love her music!
Sketchie

Belated 500+ view thank-you picture!

Whew... Finished! Here's the long belated 500 view picture! Keep reading for my usual clumsy thank yous and a little on what might be in store for you in the next thank you post!

Okay, so I'm so thankful for your continuous visiting of my little blog! I'm so undeserving! Thank you for bearing with my continuous inactivity, I just have so much going on right now! For new readers who just jumped on board recently and managed to actually get to this post without quitting, you're amazing! And for those who supported my blog since it's early days, you're the most patient people I have the honor of knowing online! You all light up my life, and for that I thank you! You guys are the best! I really think you are amazing people, and if somebody tells you you aren't, tell them I think you are!

Either way, Disney Create visitors, you probably noticed this kinda looks like a letter. Well, I'll use that format for the next 3 thank you posts. Basically, every blog mascot of mine'll thank you for your support in those. After that, I'll wing it!:)

Sketchie
Keep doing what you love, living and generally being an awesome person! 
Remember, you are amazing, and don't let anybody tell you you aren't!

I'm (partially) back! PLEASE READ!

Good day, y'all! This is your MIA blogger friend, (?) Sketchie speaking! (or writing. Whichever you prefer) I finally have internet access, but no good drawing tools. So, I'm sorry to say, but I can't do a special 500 view picture. I'm so, so sorry! Also, I don't have the iPad I typically use for posting and doodles, so no manga or anime reviews for now. Maybe if the desktop versions of Tapastic and Crunchyroll work on the laptop I'm stuck with, I can post webcomic and anime reviews later.

Sketchie
PS: Can somebody please tell me how am I supposed to beat Wonderland in Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded for DS? The Aimless Path is so hard! I ragequit twice already!