Say hello to probably the most watched anime during Summer and Autumn 2014. Now one thing I just hate is being late to the show with an anime. I just got into Sword Art Online. It’s totally awesome and I wish that I had been on the hype train back in 2012.
So why am I reviewing Sword Art online now?
Hype! The hype told me I ordered it of me! And I must obey the hype!
In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players can control their avatars through brain waves using technology called “NerveGear.” When players enter the game, they discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive. To escape, players must beat the game by defeating each boss on all 100 floors; however, if they die in the game, they die in real life too. Their struggle for survival starts now…
Hmmm…sounds familiar. Reminds me of something from my chilhood…Oh .//Hack Sign!
And that’s a common misconception about Sword Art Online, that it’s a rip off of the .Hack series. Not actually. If you look it up on SAO wiki and Reki Kahaharu’s page, you’ll actually see that Sword Art Online started around the time that .Hack did.
See the author originally wanted to submit SAO for a Denki award but it was too long. So he started it up a web novel while he made the Accel World Series. As his name grew as an author he basically got the right to write and publish a really long book.
So while Sword Art Online may be similar to .Hack, it’s just a coincendence. Log Horizon however…
That’s a joke people…
Note: Log Horizon is actually on my list for anime to watch. I want to see what they do with the whole ‘trapped in a video game ‘ trope that SAO and .Hack didn’t do.
My Opinion
What’s not to like about this anime that was pretty much the leader of the Summer and Fall 2012 Seasons. It had a good premise with being trapped in a video game. Each episode had some great action. However the really good stuff wasn’t the action. It was the emotions between Kirito and Asuna. The Seiyuu in Japan and the voice actors in English really conveyed them falling in love really well. It’s definitely the anime you want to watch if you like your action to have those good moments of romance.
The Highlights
- The Cast. Since I know so many people in this anime from both the Japanese and the English, I’ll just tell you about one from each.
- Coming in at around 5 feet tall, it’s Cherami Leigh as the English voice of Asuna. She’s one of Funimation’s ace voice actors and she’s had a insane amount of roles from Funimination. Now she’s trying her talents in LA and this is her first role. I think it’s safe to say she started off strong.
- From the Japanese and even shorter than Cherami, it’s Kanae Ito from Haganai! …I wish I had the internet to give more of a list about all the stuff they’ve been on.
- The Plot. Like I said, the ‘trapped in the video game’ thing has been done before and it’s epically protected by nostalgia. So what do you do to make it interesting? If you die in the game, you die for real! That makes it more interesting!
- The Final Arc of the Aincrad Arc
- The Anime Finale
The Downsides
- Kirito goes on God mode the second he goes into ALO because all the stuff from ALO is just SAO with a skin change. This makes him insanely powerful, easily able to wreck players that have been playing for a lot longer than he had been. Thank goodness that after this arc, he resets his stats back to normal so he can play for fun. He’s still insanely strong because of his experience in SAO but at least he’s at a semi level playing field.
- Asuna going all damsel in distress in ALO. Granted I understand it. Sugou locked in her in a room at the top of the world tree, she didn’t have the ability to use any of the game’s skills, and she couldn’t even see the key panel to get out. I understand all of this but still I want Asuna to be the legendary Flash she was back in SAO.
- Suguha being Kirito’s cousin instead of his sister. Now this is something that legit came out of left field. They look so much alike. But now it goes for the ‘it’s not quite incest’ line which I personally believe only needs to be in wincest anime and harems that go that way.
Despite that I really like this one. The one thing I wish I could say right now is that you can check out the Light Novel if you want to know more but I can’t. The biggest website for Light Novel, Baka-Tsuki, took Sword Art Online of their site and app. Mostly because it was the smart move. Sword Art Online was picked up by Yen Press so they did it so they won’t get hit with a C&D. So the only way to get a look at SAO is to watch the anime or to buy it from Yen Press.
So now that I’ve given you your veggies it’s time to get to the meat. So there’s 9 arcs in this anime in my opinion. They are the Introduction Arc(Episode 1 & 2), The Red Nosed Reindeer Arc(Episode 3), The Black Swordsman Arc(Episode 4), A Murder Case in the Area Arc(Episodes 5 & 6), Warmth of the Heart Arc(Episode 7), the Falling in Love Arc(Episodes 8-10), Morning Dew Girl Arc(Episodes 11-12), The 75th Floor Boss Arc(Episodes 13-14), and the Fairy Dance Arc(Episodes 15-25)
Side Note: I love games like SAO(more sword and sorcery MMO games) so I’ll be using terms. I’ll try to explain some of the terms in the review
The Introduction Arc
So this arc of course introduces Kirito(voiced by Yoshitisugu Matsuoka). Kirito is a former beta player of the beta of Sword Art Online. He logs into the full version of Sword Art Online using the newly made Nerve Gear system where he meets up with Klein, a new player. Kirito teaches him how to play the game. After playing for a while, Klein tries to log only to realize that there is no log out button. All the players are teleported to the Town of Beginning where they are told by Akihiko Kayaba, the game creator, that the log out option was intentionally taken out. And once your HP hits zero, you die for real. As the first episode ends it is said that 2000 players died in the first month.
As the second episode begins, a strategy meeting is held to discuss how to defeat the first floor boss. Kirito ends up meeting a man named Agil as well as a girl named Asuna. A mass party is formed to face the first boss. The boss is defeated but Kirito is accused of being a beater(a beta tester and cheater). Kirito takes on all of the hate for all the other beta testers as he dons the Coat of Midnight and leaves for the second floor.
The Red Nosed Reindeer Arc
So a few weeks later, after saving a guild(organized group of players that regularly play together) called Moonlight Black Cats Kirito is asked to join them which he accepts. He’s really happy. Imagine it. You’re in a game where your life is very much on the line. It’s good to band together with people that you can trust. Plus guilds are very much a major part of any MMO game.
Kirito joins the guild but he hides the fact that his level is nearly twice as high as theirs. Note:They’re on the second floor so there’s roughly about level 20 so Kirito’s at least 40 or higher. Wow.
Anyway, Kirito truly bonds with his new guild particularly one member named Sachi who confides in him that she’s very afraid to die. So that means she’s going to live right? Wrong! She and the guild die in the most gruesomely horrible way possible…so of course I’ll have pictures detailing their deaths in detail. 🙂
The only one that manages to survive was Kirito who tells their guild leader about his fallen friends. He commits suicide by jumping off the edge of Aincrad…while Kirito watches.
Six months pass and Kirito goes to a certain fir tree on the first Christmas Eve in the game on a rumor that it would drop an item that resurrect a fallen player. Kirito kills the boss by himself and it does drop the resurrection item but it only works up to 10 seconds after death. By this time, Sachi’s been dead for half a year. Kirito goes into a deep depression which isn’t helped out by getting a pre-sent gift from Sachi. She explains how she knows that he was higher leveled than them and not to blame himself for her death. The arc ends with Kirito crying as Sachi hums Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.
It’s been outright confirmed by the author that Sachi was Kirito’s first love and the death of the guild is something that haunts Kirito for years.
The Black Swordsman Arc
We see the young Beast Tamer, Silica, about to get killed by some Drunken Apes after her pet Pina has been killed. However our man Kirito comes through and saves her. After explaining that Pina can be revived by going to the 47th floor, Kirito loans Silica some equipment to help her get up there. As they walk Kirito reveals that the reason he’s helping Silica out is because she reminds him of his sister.
Hahahaha oh god. It hurts.
Kirito’s sister is Suguha. And for being around the youngest character in this anime, she’s got the biggest boobs! And Silica…got the smallest. Hahaha the comedy!
Anyway after getting the flower and a unfortunate panty shot by Silica, they get ambushed by the orange guild Titan’s Hand. They try to kill Kirito but they fail epically. Kirito captures them and promises to meet with Silica in the real world.
A Murder Case in the Area Arc
Another timeskip later, Kirito’s napping on a hillside until Asuna comes to wake him up and scolds him for wasting time while all the other front liners were clearing the Labyrinth. Kirito manages to convince her to relax and soon she falls asleep. After she wakes up she gets angry that Kirito let her fall asleep but thanks him for protecting her from any orange or red players.
While they have dinner, they witness a new unknown PK method that lets someone PK within a safe zone. As Kirito and Asuna investigate how something like this could happen they meet Yolko who leads them to the creator of the weapon that killed her friend. However it is later revealed to be a ruse by Yolko to discover who truly killed their former guildmaster. Turns out it was her husband. He hated the fact that his wife rose to the challenges of SAO and changed from being the soft spoken housewife to someone with a spine. Now that’s just sick.
Warmth of the Heart Arc
There are a lot of timeskips in this anime. So I guess a few weeks later, Kirito goes to Lisbeth’s Smith Shop to get a new sword made. However good old Kirito breaks her best sword so he takes her on a quest to find the raw materials to make a new sword…unfortunately they fall into a pit. As night comes around, they fall asleep holding hands. The next day, Kirito manages to get the Crystallite Ingot so Lisbeth can make the sword Dark Repulser.
The Falling in Love Arc
After two years in the game, Kirito on the front lines finds a Ragout Rabbit and gives it to Asuna to cook. They have a nice little dinner before Asuna asks(read threatens) to join her party. The next day they go out on a mapping mission and end up finding the 74th floor’s boss. They also meet up with Klein and his guild. However soon after they meet up with the Aincrad Libreration Army who like some idiots challenge the boss tired. They end up getting wrecked until Kirito, Asuna, and Klein run in to help.
However the boss, the Gleam Eyes, is too tough so Kirito busts out his Secret Skill, Dual Blades and defeats the Gleam Eyes. After the battle against the boss, Asuna requests leave from the guild but in order to get it Kirito must defeat the guildmaster, Heathcliff, in a duel…he doesn’t. So Kirito’s forced to join the Knights of Blood and is sent on a training mission with a guy named Kuradeel and Godfree. Then Kuradeel kills Godfree and nearly kills Kirito if not for Asuna. After Kirito kills Kuradeel, he says that he’s in love with Asuna and they both get married and take leave on the 22nd floor.
The Morning Dew Girl Arc
Personally one of my favorite arcs. After arriving on the 22nd floor for their honeymoon Kirito and Asuna find a young girl named Yui. She doesn’t have a icon over her head meaning she’s not a player, an NPC, or a monster. Despite this, they take her home. Once they question her and eventually go to the the Town of Beginnings to find her parents. Instead they find some members of the Army harassing some children and their caretaker. Asuna scares them away before they find Yulier, the second command of the Army. She asks them to help her reach their leader and her lover, Thinker. However Yui comes along with them. The party ends up getting attacked by a boss from the 90th floor called the Fatal Scythe. The Fatal Scythe tries to attack Yui but it turns out that she’s an Immortal Object and AI. Despite this realization, Asuna and Kirito still love and accept her as their daughter. However Yui is deleted by the system for interfering in the game. But not before Kirito is able to convert Yui’s data into an item named Yui’s Heart, swearing to find a way to restore her.
The 75th Floor Boss Arc
During the last few days of their honeymoon after the pretty much death of Yui, Kirito and Asuna are called back to the front lines by Heathcliff. The boss for the 75th floor has been found. There’s no information since every scouting party has been unable to return. So a big raid party is formed to face the 75th Floor Boss, the Skull Reaper and nearly half the party is killed off by it. After the battle, Kirito decides to test a theory and stabs Heathcliff. Turns out that Heathcliff is actually Kayaba Akihiko. He offers Kirito a chance to save all the players if he can beat him right then. Kirito manages to win but at the cost of Asuna’s life. All the players are freed from SAO and Kirito and Asuna are released as well. As Kirito wakes up in the hospital after two years in SAO the first thing he does is go search for Asuna. Aww.
Fairy Dance Arc
Two months after the end of SAO, Asuna has yet to wake. So following some information from Agil, Kirito dives into Alfheim Online. He meets with Leafa who assists him in heading to the World Tree where Asuna assumed to be. After a few battles and managing to save the leaders of Sylph and the Cait Sith, Kirito manages to make it to save Asuna from Sugou. And with that SAO is over.
So a few comments and some stuff I thought about.
So in Sword Art Online(the game) there is an Ethic Code which prevents “unwanted physical advances” like a stolen kiss or …something more forceful and it sends the person doing it flying. And typically they’ll be sealed up in the Black Iron Prison, The Aincrad Libreration’s Army’s Jail.
However there is taking such things by force. For example, all you need to basically advantage of someone is pull out a sword and put it to someone’s neck and “Turn off the Ethic Code or die,” and …you can basically do what you want.
I assume the same Ethics Code exists in ALO and GGO as well but hey the threat isn’t as bad there….
I need something more postive to end the review with! I just talked about assault! Hmmm…
Oh after the ALO arc ended, ALO was shut down but after Kirito releases the World Seed and a new company called Ymir buys all of ALO’s data from their old company. This along with the release of the World Seed revives the VMMORG genre after the horrors of SAO and ALO incidents.
Also when Ymir took over ALO they found a full copy of the Aincrad Castle on the company’s mainframe. So with a little kick up to the difficulty, the Aincrad Castle became the new Grand Quest of Alfheim Online.
They also added in the original Sword Skills from SAO but took out ten skills out of the ability roster. It’s been speculated by fans that these are the 10 Unique Skills like Kirito’s Dual Blades and Heathcliff’s Holy Sword.
So that’s a better end than the other one.
So I give Sword Art Online a 9.5/10 for good plot, great voice acting, and excellent art. However it loses that last half point because Asuna got nerfed in ALO.
So with that it’s the end of this months’s Full Season Review.
So as you know from my Rio: Rainbow Gate Full Season Review, the next one on my list for November will be my favorite Funimation anime, Suzuka!
Now I’m going to do something special for December. Double Full Season Review! Why? Mostly because I felt that December had two types of feelings in it. The more energetic first part and the more lazy and relaxing second part around Christmas.
So during the first 15 days of December you’ll be getting a Full Series Review on one of my Favorite Light Novel Adapdations, Haganai and Haganai Next!
So until the next Full Season Review,
Later Days
You can ask me as many questions as you want on ?Ask.fm? and you can follow me on?Twitter?to know when my new reviews are coming out. You’ll know when stuff comes out right when it does! 🙂
Also check out my main blog on AnimeThief?where you can find a whole lot of Speculations, Anime News, Date A Live and Love Live up the wazoo and whole lot of other stuff. What are you waiting for? Check out the stuff that isn’t on here? But always come back here. My heart’s on both blogs. 🙂
…..
There’s no point to our reality or our lives…
I’m so shocked I can’t even give you a good explanation so I’ll let the guys from AnimeNewsNetworks explain it for you
Pop idols garner the love and affection of countless individuals. Many times, it is the ultimate dream of these fans to one day have the chance to confess their feelings of adoration to their shining stars. Unfortunately, not every follower has the privilege of having his or her love returned. Twitter user @karamone_ze has taken this thought to the next level, using the nine members of Love Live!’s µ’s as an example of the harshest response that any admirer can get. He then illustrated nine different instances of rejection and uploaded them to his pixiv account.
While the members of µ’s might normally be sweet and lovable girls, you may begin to see them in a different light after taking a look at their flat out rejections in karamone’s aptly named “Getting Rejected When Confessing to µ’s” series.
I need to cry!
Like I said I need to cry and to laugh at the same time. So even though it’s a bad time, I’ll use this to count down my favorite girls in Muse. Now the pain of being rejected will be really painful. I must be a masochistic
Note: The words are in Japanese so I will post the translation that ANN gave as a caption since I rarely caption my pictures
First up is my favorite girl, Nozomi Tojou. She must love me right?
No-Nozomi-chan…why?
It’s okay maybe. Eli-chan will accept my feelings…
Eli-chan? Why are you so cruel?
Okay maybe Nozomi and Eli didn’t accept my feelings but maybe Hanayo will! I know she will!
She’s scared…I need a tissue…
Maybe Maki-chan…
So cruel but still so cute. I can’t stop loving you Maki! Then she’d probably call the police on me…
Maybe the sensual and lovely Umi will accept my feelings?
What? I can’t even think about her beauty? Not fair.
I’m getting down the list. Now I’m out of my top five and down to the other four.
Maybe Kotori will love me?
Hate is such a strong word, Kotori-chan…why do you hate me? 😥
Maybe Honoka likes me. After all she likes everyone.
See she likes me! She’s going to make me some mochi….
Wait a second she’s going to make me into mochi.
Note: Mochi is made by pounding jellied rice with a hammer…exactly the one that Honoka’s holding in the picture….
Run she’s got a bat or a hammer…whatever it is run!
Rin-chan will love me. After all she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. Right?
That just hurts. She casually brushes aside my feelings…
Now the only one left is Nico….darn.
Now that’s just extreme! I’m not that bad!
Now here’s the bonus one in the post!
I’m not interested in her just putting in there.
Ha eat that Lolicons! She’ll call the police.
So just to make my favorites clear it’s:
1.Nozomi Tojou
2.Eli Ayase
3.Hanayo Koizumi
4.Maki Nishikino
5.Umi Sonoda
6.Kotori Minami
7.Honoka Kousaka
8.Rin Hoshizora
9.Nico Yazawa
And now that you and I have thoroughly suffered. That’s the end. The ANN article also talks about the newest Love Live video game to hit the market, Love Live School Paradise for the PS Vita. It’s currently only in Japanese and only for Japanese PS Vitas but thanks to no region locking you can have it for yourself just by importing it!
If you do play it can you tweet some pics my way?
Until the next Love Live post and until my heart heals from 9 rejections,
Later Days!
You can ask me as many questions as you want on Ask.fm and you can follow me on Twitter to know when my new reviews are coming out. You’ll also be update on what’s happening.
Say hello to the …ecchi anime of Winter 2011…Now I know what you’re about to say. It’s ecchi so it doesn’t matter. You’d be surprised. It’s got an all-star cast and has an actual plot other than just boobs and ass.
In an island casino called the Howard Resort, Rio Rollins is a popular casino dealer with the ability to bring good luck to gamblers just by walking past them, earning her the nickname “The Goddess of Victory”. Mint Clark, a young child, comes to the Howard Resort with her grandfather and encounters Rio, and the two become the best of friends.
Rio’s life soon changes when it is revealed that she is a “Gate Holder”, a dealer who holds one of the 13 legendary cards called “Gates”, and whoever collects them all will be named “Most Valuable Casino Dealer” (MVCD). To collect all 13 Gates, Rio must take part in special matches called “Gate Battles” with other Gate Holders and gain their Gates to become the most valuable casino dealer in the world.
See actual plot!
My Opinion
What’s not to like in this ecchi title from the Winter 2011 Anime Season. It’s got boobs, actual plot(rare from anything that has an ecchi tag), and super high level Seiyuu. It actually has something to offer other than just fanservice. I liken it to the Sekirei anime in that regard. It’s got boobs in one hand(I mean this metaphorically) and plot in the other. And they both make something at least worth watching.
This anime is also special to my heart along with Manyuu Hikenchou.
Yeah I went on that one solely by the ecchi and it has little to no plot but once you start looking at the bouncing boobs and the swords flying you forget what you’re doing anyway
It’s the first anime where I started to watch anime regularly again since the days of Toonami. Not just the Narutos, the Bleachs, and the One Pieces but just regular seasonal stuff. It’s the stuff that influences my writing(anime in general not ecchi although the hot springs scenes in Thief King Chronicles and Fairy Freedom look like they came right out of an ecchi anime). So I’m thankful for that.
The Highlights
- The Cast. It’s easier to tell you who I haven’t heard of in someway. However I’ll try to tell everyone I know and what anime I know them from at the time the anime aired:
1.Marina Inoue from Sekirei(this is two years before the Date A Live anime came out)
2.Ayana Taketatsu(same thing two years before Date A Live)
3.Aya Uchida(Before I knew Love Live)
4.Minori Chihara(The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This is way before I became a huge fan of hers. In fact, I didn’t know she was in this anime until I started rewatching it for the Full Series Review)
5.Sayaka Ohara from Sekirei(this was before Fairy Tail and a lot of stuff I watch with her in it.)
6.Kikuko Inoue from Ah My Goddess(She’s in so much stuff I’ve seen lately but Ah My Goddess was the first time I heard her)
7.Kazuhiko Inoue from Naruto(This is the first time I heard him where he was Kakashi from Naruto) - The Plot. Like I said you’d be surprised that this anime has an actual plot. It’s not a super deep anime but it has its plot and its good points
- The Finale Arc(Every episode after Episode 9)
Side Note: I just noticed this while doing the review. There are a lot of Inoues in the anime, Marina Inoue, Kikuko Inoue, and Kazuhiko Inoue. Maybe they’re all related…hahaha. No they aren’t. Inoue is one of the most common last names in the Japanese language. It’s like the Smith of last names over there.
The Downsides
- The plot, while existing, it’s really all that deep but then again were you really expecting something deep from an ecchi anime?
….
I can’t really think of much other stuff that really sucked on this anime. I’m kinda blocked by nostalgia because this anime is quite precious to me. If you can think of something leave it in the comments below
Now after the greatness and tiring experience that was the Love Live Season 2 Full Season Review, I’m going to review this anime based on the arcs and not episode by episode. Why? I try to have a bit of a life outside being an anime blogger and writing something about each episode would take all month.
So there are four arcs in this anime in my opinion. They are the Introduction Arc(Episodes 1-4), the Sky Resort Arc(Episodes 5-8), The Restoration of Confidence Arc(Episodes 9-10), and the Finale Arc(Episodes 11-13). So I’ll be talking about the arcs in general rather that episodes.
The Introduction Arc
So this arc of course introduces Rio(voiced by Marina Inoue) as well as all her co-workers on the Howard Resort. Mint Clark(voiced by Ayana Taketatsu), the secondary female protagonist, goes on holiday with her grandpa and ends up meeting Rio. Howard, the owner of the resort, asks Rio to take care of Mint during her stay. While walking back to her room, they get attack by Orlin Dunhill’s goons but Rio’s apparently got some Tohka’s fighting skills because she owns them all while wearing a super short maid outfit! The next day Rio beats him in poker with a pair of two, the weakest hand in poker.
Rio also trains a new recruit named Anya Helsing but she’s extremely clumsy. However she points out that Rio owns a Gate Card and explains all the stuff about Gates. Later the Gate Holder Elvis arrives at the casino to challenge Rio but loses.
Howard acquires the old Misery Castle as a part of the Resort but now Rio has to contend with the ghost of Misery(voiced by Eri Kitamura) who has possessed her friends Elle and Ille Adams(both voiced by Aya Uchida). Misery challenges Rio to a game of odds vs. evens. However Misery loses when she accidentally hits a super spicy chicken wing(I’m not making this stuff up) delivered by Rio’s childhood friend, Rina Tachibana.
Rina reveals that she’ll be working at the Howard Resort from now on. Rio takes the day off to show her around the island but their day is cut short by Bull Hard(not making this up) challenges Rio to a game vending machine lotto. Still not making this up! After he gets owned, Howard forces Rio and Rina to play a game of clay pigeon shooting where you lose clothes if you miss. However the match ends in a draw.
The Sky Resort Arc
Howard sends Rio, Rina, and Anya to work at Sky Resort casino at the top of the mountain on the island. Once they get there, they meet the Resort’s head dealer Linda who’s revealed to be a robot. Turns out that the actual resort flies in the air but before they really get serious a young boy reprograms Linda to challenge Rio to a Gate Battle on the Sky Resort’s water slide. Linda is defeated and Rio wins but not before Cartia Goltschimidt approached Howard with an offer for another Gate Battle.
During this arc, Rio battles against Jack, Queen, and King in quick succession because Cartia has hacked the Sky Resort’s mainframe and will not allow it to land until Rio is defeated. However Rio managed to defeat them all but is unable to defeat the final opponent, Rina, who is revealed to be a traitor. She hates Rio because Rio’s mother cheated with Rina’s father, forcing Rina’s mother to fall into a coma. This also shows that both girls are half sisters.
Restoration of Confidence Arc
Now Rio has been defeated Cartia takes control over Howard Resort and turns it into Goltschmidt Kingdom. Upon her defeat by Rina, Rio feels as if she’s let everyone down. However both Elvis and Orlin come around to try and cheer up her with a game. However Misery possesses Rosa and explains that Jack manipulated the game so that Rio would win.
Rio gets a call from Cartia for a job as a general manager but refuses, telling Rina she’ll return to defeat her. While walking out Rio’s trapped in a Roll Ruler. She battles against this person known as Joker and managed to win their Gate. Once she escapes it’s revealed that Dana the fortune teller is also Gate Holder of the 8 card. Rio battles against her as well winning her gate and restoring her confidence in herself.
Rio gathers together all her friends and mounts an assault on the Goltschmidt Kingdom, aiming to win enough slots to buy back the Resort.
The Finale Arc
Rio and her friends enter Goltschmidt Kingdom and starts winning big at all the games. However the next day both their winnings and Mint’s bear Choco are missing. Then they get challenged by Yang-Yang and An-An, the keepers of the 10 Gate, to a game of explosive Concentration. Rio and company manage to win only for Rina to arrive and challenge Rio to a Gate Battle for all the gates
After the terms are announced Rio and friends leave the resort to rest up before the battle. After they return the battle is announced to be a 15 game poker match. After taking the first two matches with her Roll Ruler, Rina starts aggressively dominating the match with 14 wins to Rio’s 0. However Rio immediately makes up the difference. And with the final match on the line, Rio wins and becomes one with the gates.
However Cartia and her goons try to use the gates for their power but not before Risa and Rina’s father come around and arrest them for crimes against basically casinos. Go figure. Rio uses her Ulimate Roll Ruler to spread good luck all over the world and life returns to normal until two mysterious figure appear on the roof of the Howard Resort.
So at least back in 2011, with the end showing those two new characters everyone was wondering if they’re was going to be a new season of Rio: Rainbow Gate. However it’s now 2014 and Rio: Rainbow Gate doesn’t have the restrictions that adapdation has since it’s based solely an a character. So if it hasn’t come out by now, it probably isn’t.
Also something I didn’t think of until this point. As we all know Casinos get a lot of money so much they don’t really need to worry about if a few people hit a jackpot in one day simply because they have so much money. However they jump on the back of cheaters but that’s a different problem right there.
However Rio, who’s Roll Ruler gives good luck and perks up the customer, is inherently bad to a casino. So let me get this straight. The woman that gives good luck to the customer is the most popular dealer around? The woman should be blacklisted and kicked out of the casino world.
Just a little logical fallacy that the anime didn’t even think about that I wanted to point out.
Now I give Rio: Rainbow Gate a 9/10 for good plot, great voice actor, and well done art.
So with that it’s the end of this month’s Full Season Review.
So as you know from the Love Live School Idol Project II Full Season Review, the next one on my list for October is the first season of Sword Art Online!
Now for November, I’m going even further to my roots and reviewing the first Funimation title I ever saw. I’ll be reviewing Suzuka! It’s one of my favorite anime and what got me into Fuuka and all of Seo Kouji’s works.
So until the next Full Season Review,
Later Days
Love Live School Idol Project Speculation #1
(Honoka Kosaka is a girl who loves her school, Otonokizaka Academy. When the school is planned to be closed down due to a lack of applicants, Honoka becomes determined to save it. Learning that school idols are popular, Honoka and her friends start up a school idol group called µ’s (pronounced Muse) in order to attract new students. Once they successfully prevent Otonokizaka Academy from closing, the girls from µ’s aim for higher grounds and participate in “Love Live”, the ultimate school idol competition featuring the best groups in the country.
Hey everyone. It’s Deven coming to you with my first Love Live Speculation. Now being hopeful this post will be up before Love Live’s second season ends. So since I didn’t review it during the Spring season, I feel the need to say something about it in some way. So that’s why I’m having this speculation:
Muse vs. A-RISE
Now before I get started. No bashing. I love Muse a lot and love A-RISE too. However I’ve got to talk about both groups good parts and bad parts and when you talk about something’s bad parts on the internet someone gets flamed.
Now that’s over let’s go!
First thing we’ll talk about is their schools.
The girls from Muse are from Otonokizaka Academy.
Now Otonokizaka Academy is a school in near the Akibara district of Tokyo. It’s mostly an open grounds school with the area taken up mostly up by the actual school building, the gym, and their famous alpaca stables.
UTX High School is a school near Akibara district of Tokyo. Unlike Otonokizaka it has a lot less open grounds. Then again that’s not really a bad thing because their school is a freaking skyscraper with a cafe and open garden on the roof.
Now not saying anything bad about either school but when you compare Otonokizaka to UTX, they look poor.
Now this shows that A-RISE has a lot of money to work with from their school and it shows.
Now that’s money!
It’s well done but yeah…
So that’s a point to A-RISE.
Let’s move on to clothes.
Now like I said it looks like A-RISE has the backing of their school with their lives and even their clothes.
They all look very well made and very professional and they kinda look like their school uniforms. Very formal and suit-like.
On other hand, Muse does not have the school backing them but that doesn’t mean that their costumes are bad. In fact is it’s the opposite.
Kotori really has a talent for design and it shows! Each song has a unique themed costume and it fits each girl’s personality and unique style.
The clear variety of costumes that Muse has as opposed to A-RISE is good because there’s nothing more boring than wearing the same thing again and again just with different colors like A-RISE.
So looks like Muse gets a point on the board.
Score’s tied.
Let’s go on to Music. Granted Muse has had over the course of both seasons of the anime about 12 songs, six times as many as A-RISE has. But we can still get a good grip on the groups.
Muse’s music is awesome and great J-Pop. It’s very upbeat and happy. It’s the stuff that energizes you. I’ve listened to No Brand Girls and it’s really brought me up.
As for their dance moves, it pays to have a 1/4 Russian ballerina as your Choreographer. All the moves flow together perfectly and keep in pace with the song. I also love the fact that the girls’ moves are so upbeat and quick.
I just really love the ‘Fly High’ jump in Snow Halation. In short Muse makes you be happy and energetic.
A-Rise’s music is still as interesting but it’s more club music. Private Wars is catchy and easy to dance to and the same for Shocking Party.
Let’s go on to Presence. I guess presence can be how they present themselves and how the act as a group.
When it comes down to it for A-RISE it’s very formal in all their appearances and shows. For example we don’t see at all during the first season and the only time we see them in the second season is during their lives and when Muse and A-RISE talk in UTX’s cafe. It’s a very professional form of working. Don’t let the public see you too much, that way your appearances mean more to them.
As for them as a group it’s definitely very formal. They don’t seem to be friends. I’m not saying that they don’t like each other but they don’t seem to show the same warmth and sisterly bond that Muse has.
On other side of the city, there’s Muse. They are definitely very relaxed in how they go. They aren’t afraid to get out there with the crowds and interact with the people. For example, during the Halloween episode when Muse and A-RISE were doing a live together Muse sent Honoka, Rin, and Nico. A-RISE…they sent a TV with a promo. It’s kinda ironic since Tsubasa said they wanted to change up their image but they didn’t do anything but send a TV! 😛
Now I don’t know whether it’s because we see them more but Muse definitely is closer to each other. They hang out before, during, and after practice. They spend their days off as a group and as they disbanded the group after the third years graduated. Something I personally think that A-RISE wouldn’t do.
So that’s to Muse.
Now to go to my final one, Crowd Control. Now unfortunatly this is something that A-Rise has in spades. Tsubasa, the leader and center of A-RISE, is a well trained speaker and knows how to keep A-RISE in the minds of people. Think about it. That screen on the side of the school must play Private Wars and later in the 2nd season Shocking Party every so often. That’s free publicity and reaching an audience of people that would have never noticed them because probably thousands of people walk pass that screen everyday. Tsubasa also has a good command over words when she acts as the spokeswoman for A-RISE.
Now for Muse…yeah if you saw the first episode of the 2nd season as well as the last one you can see that Honoka can’t really speak all that well in front of people. She’s flubbed a good few speeches like her introduction speech as the Student Council President as well as the Meet and Greet for the Final Preliminary. But she’s not an idiot. She did the Open House speech well. However public speaking is not something she can beat Tsubasa in.
So it goes to A-RISE.
So in conclusion the two groups after all that have 3 for A-RISE and 3 for Muse! It’s a tie!
Now to get more real life on you. In my opinion A-RISE represents the people that are trained for years on years to become idols. They do it for the money and the fame and the excitement but also for the fun of it. By no means they’re bad people. However Muse represents the people that love it for the sport, love it for the singing and the dancing. And that’s important too.
So in the real end there is no winner. You need to figure out which one you like the best. Personally I like both. Shocking Party is one of the reasons I’ll be getting the next album as well as Snow Halation and a lot of other Muse songs.
So that’s our end. Until the next Love Live speculation, which I’m hoping to do a colloboration with one of my fellow anime bloggers for,
Later Days.
You can ask me as many questions as you want on Ask.fm and you can follow me on Twitter to know when my new reviews are coming out. You’ll also be update on what’s happening.
Welcome back to Otonokizaka Academy! Now it’s time for full season review for Love Live School Idol Project Season 2!
Honoka Kosaka is a girl who loves her school, Otonokizaka Academy. When the school is planned to be closed down due to a lack of applicants, Honoka becomes determined to save it. Learning that school idols are popular, Honoka and her friends start up a school idol group called U’s (pronounced muse) in order to attract new students. Once they successfully prevent Otonokizaka Academy from closing, the girls from U’s aim for higher grounds and participate in “Love Live”, the ultimate school idol competition featuring the best groups in the country.
So welcome back to Full Season Reviews. Of course I have to start strong and there’s no stronger than Love Live.
My Opinion
What’s not to love? Nothing! Love Live Season 2 is the very epitome of what a second season/sequel should do. Continue the series and build on what happened last time. All the songs are well written with really good animation. Even better the characters are very well fleshed out. They truly are well done characters. You’ll definitely love this season as well as the last one if you’re a fan of J-Pop and idol anime like Idolmaster.
Speaking of Idolmaster, I’ll be doing a Love Live School Idol Project vs Idolmaster post some time within the next few months. Just to keep your mind on Love Live even though it’s over.
The Highlights
- the filler. It really expands on a lot of the characters that didn’t get a full characterization last season.
- the songs have deeper meaning than ever like Snow Halation.
- most of the Muse girls become more rounded as people as we learn their backstories
- The Finale Arc(Every episode after Episode 10)
The Downsides
- The constant switching between CGI and normal animation is still weird
- There was no Maki, Umi, Hanayo, or Kotori backstory episode. While they are full characters they can always go further. For example, Hanayo’s mother used to be an idol when she was young. That’s one of the reasons she’s so into idols. There could have been a filler about that.
- Snow Halation was shortened. The version we got was awesome but since the song was at the end of the episode i was expecting them to use the extra time to put the entire song in there. Especially the Fly High jump. I love the Fly High jump!
Now when I looked over the first Full Season Review I noticed I just talked about the characters and not the episodes. So I’ll be doing that here. Don’t worry it’s not going to be something super long.
Episode 1: Love Live Once Again!
So this episode it’s explained that Love Live will happen again this year near the end of March. All the others want to participate but Honoks doesn’t. After a talk with Yuhiko, Honoks realizes this is the last chance for the third years(and Muse as a group of 9)
to win it. After a quick race with Nico to determine if they’ll go it’s decided that Muse will participate in the Love Live again.
Episode 2: Aim for Victory
Due to a new rule with the Love Live Muse cannot use any songs they have already used before. So what are nine cute girls to do? Training Camp! Specifically Maki’s mountain villa. However our three creatives of Kotori, Umi, and Maki get a major dose of creativity block. They lost their muse…get it? Anyway the entire group splits into threes and managed to get together the brand new song, Door of Dreams.
Few things that gets me in this episode is why didn’t Maki work with Umi? Lyrics work with the composition. By working together they can give each other ideas. Also if Kotori’s drawings are so simple then why are her clothes so detailed and beautiful?
Episode 3: Door of Dreams
After their return from training the cute girls of Muse need to pick where they’ll perform for the preliminaries. They can choose anywhere in the area they live, one of the preliminary arenas, or they can stream it on the Internet. After looking all around the city for a spot to hold the Live, they meet up with A-Rise and they offer their school’s roof so they can both perform. After A-Rise takes the stage, all the girls feel like they’re outclassed but Honoka pumps them up and they sing Door of Dreams.
Some times I wish A-Rise had their own show. They only have two songs, Private Wars and Shocking Party. It would totally be good. It’d be the same as now just with A-Rise as the main characters.
Episode 4: No. 1 Idol in the Universe
So this is the technical end of more official material. Some would call it filler but filler isn’t really liked. This isn’t filler! It is awesomeness! So during this episode we get a lot of Nico’s backstory and shows how she was as a first year trying to start her own idol group. So she lied to her younger siblings saying that she was a super successful school idol. She eventually manages to tell them that’s she not a solo idol but still keep their view of her intact. I love this episode because it makes Nico more human.
Episode 5: A New Me
Honoka, Umi, and Kotori head out on the second year class trip to Okinawa. Since the new leaders of the student council are gone, Eri and Nozomi take up the slack leaving Muse without a leader. So through a few texts Honoka appoints Rin the leader. She doesn’t do so well on the first day, trying to imitate Eri and Umi but eventually she settles into it. However they’ve got a live at a fashion show they need to do and someone’s got to wear the wedding dress! Rin-chan! Turns out she doesn’t want to wear it because of her issues with dresses and her belief that she isn’t cute. Those boys teased her so bad that she can’t believe that she’d look good in a skirt. But after some good talking with friends Rin takes the center in the song and wears the dress. Note that Rin starts wearing dresses and skirts all the time.
Episode 6: Happy Halloween
It’s time for Halloween! In Love Live that is. By the time this gets up it might be though. So A-Rise and Muse have been invited to be a part of Akihabara’s Halloween Festival. They guess this is going to be an awesome opportunity to show off before the final preliminary. However A-Rise decides to change up their look for the Halloween Live and that makes the girls wonder if they should do the same. We go from imitating each other, school club dress up, and even go hardcore and dress up like KISS. Also those pictures of Muse dressed up like KISS made it on Twitter and even got retweeted by Gene(Add last name). Anyway Honoka realizes that they’re good already and don’t need to change their image because they’ve got a variety of members. So they perform in the Halloween parade, debuting Dancing Stars on Me. This was a hilarious episode mostly with the cosplay and the acting like each other part.
Episode 7: We Have To Do Something
So turns out Honoka and Hanayo have gained weight and need to work it off before the final preliminaries. Now I get Honoka to a certain extent because she does pack on the sweets and junk food and she lives right over a Japanese candy shop! Hanayo I don’t get. She’s very cute but she’s a baby face with a young girl voice. Plus her body type is more similar to Eli and Nozomi rather than the others like Umi and Maki. So are Nozomi and Eli fat? No! They are very well curved. That’s what Hanayo is! Anyway Umi puts them both on a exercise and diet regenment and it works…until they find this awesome rice buffet on their run and pig out there. Umi catches them and puts them on a harder diet and they manage to lose the extra weight.
Episode 8: My Wish
So we come up on the Preliminary Finals for the Love Live and Nozomi suggests that they write and perform a love song. However the group struggles with it because none of them have any experience with dating or love. Come on! Look at all these girls! They are all a combination of hot and cute and not one of them has had a boyfriend? Granted you can give them a little break since they go to an all girl’s school. Anyway they try to get into the mood of a love song by making confession videos and watching romance movies. After that Maki(Ah Maki and Pile-sama!) follows Nozomi and Eli home. She learns the reason why Nozomi wants to make a song together. Because she never had friends before Eli and she had a big hand in the creation of Muse that allowed the girls to be connected and share the same feelings. Once Eli and Maki hear that they call the others over and they get inspired while the snow’s falling, leading to the writing of Snow Halation.
Episode 9: Melody of the Heart
I love this episode! So the day of the Final Preliminary is here. but Unfortunately Honoka, Kotori, and Umi have their duties as members of the Student Council to deal with for the school’s open house so they’ll be a bit late. The others get moving to the stage. After the address we find out that the second years get snowed into the school. Despite the massive snowdrift that just appear Honoka, Umi, and Kotori are determined to reach to get to the stage. They get about two feet before the snow stops and they find out their schoolmates cleared the snow all the way to the stage and gave them some snowboots. They manage to get to the stage just in time and they perform one of the best songs that Muse has, Snow Halation!
Episode 10: µ’s
They won! On their way to the shrine that Nozomi volunteers at, the girls meet A-Rise who congratulate them. It’s okay A-Rise. Better luck next year…wait a second they won this year! Anyway the girls arrive at the shrine where Eli and Nico are helping out Nozomi. After the girls wonder about needing a catchphrase for the official Love Live website, Honoka gets approached by A-Rise’s leader Tsubasa who questions how A-Rise lost to Muse. I’ve got an idea. You did the same song twice! They did Shocking Party twice! Now the first preliminary was some time during September and the finals took place in December before Christmas so they had the time to write a new song but they didn’t! The next day the girls get together at Honoka’s house to make Mochi for all their supporters. Note: Umi’s favorite food is the Kousaka family’s mochi. After going to the shrine once again and seeing people’s emas(equalavent to New Year’s wishes) and they come up with their catchphrase, ‘The story we all realize’
Episode 11: That Which We Decided
After Yukiho and Alisa pass the Otonokizaka entrance exams, Yuhiko asks Honoka what will happen to Muse after the third years graduate. With the girls divided on the issue, Eli says that the decision should rest with the juniors. Later Muse uses their day off to go all around the city to see things that each member wants to do. At the end of the day they go to the beach where the younger members decide that they’ll disband Muse after the Love Live.
Episode 12: Last Live
After getting their drawing for the Love Live it’s decided that Muse will be the final performers for the event. After finishing their final practice together, the girls find it hard to seperate so they have a sleepover at the school. The next day at the Love Live, Muse debuts Kira-Kira Sensation and it’s so good that they give an encore with Bokura wa Ima no Naka de!
Episode 13: Come True! Everyone’s Dreams
Aww. It’s the last episode. After Muse wins the Love Live, Graduation Days comes around for Otonokizaka. We get to see Nico’s really hot mom and we find Hononak seeing Eli rembembering her time as the student council president. As the opening ceremony begins for the new students all the students sing a special song for the leaving third years. Awww… After the ceremony, Nico appoints Hanayo as the new president of the Idol Research Club who in turn appoints Maki as the vice-president. Once that happens all the girls go on a reminiscing tour around the school. Once they arrive on the roof where everything started Honoka paints the Muse symbol on the floor in water before they leave. However before get a chance to part ways, Hanayo gets some big news on her phone, prompting everyone to rush back to the club room. Instead of some boring old credits(granted the song is catchy) we have Muse performing Oh Love and Peace to end out the season.
What’s the big news?
Someone catch me! I’m about to faint! A Love Live movie! I have to see this even if I have to go to Japan to get it!
As for my top five favorite songs this season they are:
1.Snow Halation by Muse(It’s generally considered to be one of Muse’s best songs for a reason)
2.Shocking Party by A-Rise(If there was an anime about A-Rise and how they got to the top. I’d watch it.)
3.Bokura no Ima no Naka de(The song that started it all last season. Enough said)
4.Kira Kira Sensation(It’s so super happy and good I can’t help myself)
5. Oh Love and Peace(This is one of my favorite songs from Muse)
Now for the scores!
I’m giving Love Live School Idol Project a 10/10 because that’s the only logical score it could have!
So with that it’s end of this month’s Full Season Review. Sorry it’s so late. That being said never again! Never again will I do Full Season Reviews like this. It took me a month to finish this entire post! That’s right I started on the first and it took me this long to finish! I’ll look at things in a more general and arc based style from now in Full Season Reviews.
Now for what’s up on the next Full Season Review, I still don’t have much on internet. So I have to work with what I got on my computer.
For September, I’ll Full Season Review Rio: Rainbow Gate, an anime from the Winter Season 2011.
As for October since I just got into it I’ll be reviewing the first season of Sword Art Online! Yay! So you on here got that to look forward to.
So until the next Full Season Review,
Later Days
You can ask me as many questions as you want on Ask.fm and you can follow me on Twitter to know when my new reviews are coming out. You’ll also be update on what’s happening.
Today’s August 3rd. That means today is a good. Why? Because it’s the birthday of the first member of Muse, Honoka Kousaka!
Honoka is definitely one of my favorite girls in Muse mostly because of her awesome energy and personality. It’s the type of thing that makes you want to get out of your seat and dance!
Honoka doesn’t go through much growth during season 1. Unless you count the last few episodes where she realizes the consequences of her actions for overtraining herself and getting angry at Kotori for leaving and not telling anyone.
However she get a big boost in my eyes when she succeeds Eri as the Student Council President. That forces her to grow up and be a better leader not just to Muse but to the school as a whole.
So I’ll follow what I’ve done the last few times and celebrate Honoka’s birthday with a lot of super awesome pics! Why? Because Honoka’s cuteness and happiness can’t be kept by one person!
And that’s it. Happy Birthday Honoka-chan! Make sure to check out my full season review of Love Live School Idol Project.
And shout out to all the Honoka Kousaka fans out there! I think you’ll be seeing one of these again next month and it’s going to be for those that love girls with high voices and a love for fashion!
Also since today is Honoka’s birthday, if you have it, please log in to Love Live School Idol Festival and claim your 5 Love Gems. Trust me, they go a long way especially in the beginning when you don’t know how to play and still learning the game.
Also another shout-out to my man, Nick Corps who got me into Love Live!
You can ask me as many questions as you want on Ask.fm and you can follow me on Twitter to know when my new reviews are coming out. You’ll also be update on what’s happening.
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