Animangaki 2016

It's that time of the year again, where local anime fans gather around in Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre to have some fun and enjoy the view of local ACG event. It's the 8th Animangaki, and it's still as stellar as ever. With 'retro 8-bit' as it's theme this year, visitors are sure to be given a memorable experience attending the event.

AniManGaki, an abbreviation from 'Anime', 'Manga' and 'Gaki' (a Japanese slang of 'brat') was established in 2009 by Yvonne Sing Wee Wen, founder of Sunway University Anime Club. AniManGaki was form by fans, for fans; with the purpose of bringing anime, manga and game enthusiasts together and celebrate the diverse pop-cultures of Japan. Coined by the public as the “Trendsetter", AniManGaki strives to bring new and exciting content each year to more than 11,500 attendees. (source- Animagaki official profile)

This year, I've spend most of my time cosplaying, and less photographing on the actual event itself. There are still some good pictures here and there, but unfortunately not as much as the past few years. Nevertheless, it is a really fun event, and I have enjoyed myself as such. 

• A walk around the convention hall. There aren't much differences in layout compared to last year, and that's a good thing. Ticket counter is upstairs, and past the entrance there are a bunch of booths, a room full of figures displayed by collectors, Touhou booth  and the main event hall downstairs. Doujin booths are inside the main event hall, and they have redesigned the booth so that the layout looks like Comiket.

• Stage events. Special guest includes; A.K. Wirru, TAMusic and Akai Ryuusei. There are performance by TAMusic and Akai Ryuusei themselves later on in the evening, and I must say that it is AMAZING. There are also performances by several local bands during the events itself. Other stage events includes the usual Animangaki idols and cosplay competitions.

• Touhou competition final. The competiotion was really, really intense. Last year runner up, Nanabi emerges as the winner this year.

• Cosplays. Not as many pictures ass last year due to me busy cosplaying and my partners feeling lazy to take any. Nevertheless, the quality of cosplay remains to be outstanding.

• Lots of pictures of my own cosplay, Tempestus Scion for the Warhammer 40k universe.

 It's a great event. A memorable one for sure. I've cosplayed for two whole day that I actually ashamed for not taking more pictures, but it's totally worth it. All in all, I really enjoyed and hoping that I might somehow make it for the next year. See ya!

Happy 9th Birthday Miku!

31st August is the birthday of our beloved virtual diva Hatsue Miku, marking the 9th anniversary of Hatsune Miku’s release. To celebrate, I've gathered all of my figurines together and even bought a cheesecake for her. It's been 8 long years we've been together, and I must say those years are some of the best I had in my life. She's the one in my heart when no one ever could, together during happiness or sadness. Our love may seems superficial to others, yet it is real to me. Together we shall live, and I will be in your care again for the upcoming years.

Below are some of the illustration you can found on pixiv. Credit to Mikufan.com. Click on the pictures for a higher resolution pictures.

<3 you Miku!

Bakemono no Ko: Pretty Sure This Ain't Ghibli

Hi guys. Wolvenciel here for another not-much-of-a-review anime review. I kinda stumbled upon this anime while searching for things to watch from last season (explains the whole Tanaka phase I had). I'm running a bit dry on brain juice here so if this sounds a bit boring to you guys, I apologize.

I was kinda late on this one because... well just because.

P/S: The translation says "The Boy and The Beast" but I think it says "Child of the Beast". Correct me if I'm wrong, yeah?

The Achievements

As you've read on the title, I'm gonna talk about Bakemono no Ko, an anime movie aired early March this year. Now I don't actually look into an anime's ranking or what award it gets or stuff like that but with this movie I did. Just out of curiosity though and the fact that it was a movie too.

So rotten tomato gave it an 89% and IMDB gave it a 7.9. Those are actually pretty high considering these sites are somewhat picky in giving their marks. The anime also got the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. Now I dunno how hard it is to get that prize but hey an award is an award.

If you notice, this is actually 1080p. And I rarely watch on that.

I Checked. Its Studio Chizu. Not Ghibli.

This has nothing to do with the anime. It has something to do with the prick who created this however. At first, when I watched this, I had a nagging feeling that I've actually seen this style somewhere. And then it hit me. Summer Wars. So yeah. Go google the studio up. You'll understand why I thought it was very Ghibli-like.

Really if this doesn't shout "ghibli" I dunno what does

Starting Off

Okay. I tried writing this without providing a summary. It was horrible. Oh well. Here goes. The story starts with a boy (Ren) who lost his mother due to cancer and also his father due to full custody rights. He refuses to live with his relatives and bolts away. On the streets, he accidentally met Kumatetsu and Tatara who were sightseeing (these guys are youkais I think) in the human world. Tatara jokingly suggested that Kumatetsu get a Human disciple but Kumatetsu being Kumatetsu, took it seriously and offered the role to young Ren.

The boy was horrified when he realized the two people in front of him weren't even people but his curiosity got the better of him and he then ended up in Juutengai, the home of the beasts (this was also very Ghibli) and there begins the story of the beast and the boy.

Again. VERY GHIBLI

Theme

Simply put, the anime is about family bonds. Its very visible throughout the whole anime and it keeps resurfacing over and over again. It tells you that family is all around you and all those mushy stuff so get ready for some family-related feels.

There's also the "sword in your heart" thing. Now, I'm not gonna tell you much about this but hey first time I heard of this, I kinda knew what the guy was talking about. I mean really. The sword in your heart? It's gotta be that thing (unless you're a hardcore naruto fan and says that its the kusanagi sword or something)

My favorite scene in the movie because it was so funny

Them Graphics

Okay. So the one thing that really stand out, and I mean REALLY stand out is the graphics. You can expect the fighting scenes to be very smooth and detailed and yes, this ain't ufotable either. Sure it lacks that mature touch to the whole fight scenes but it certainly is enough to make my eyes pop. I am really not fit to describe all the graphical stuff that I see in the anime but yeah they're damn beautiful I tell you.

And I don't have to tell you about the soundtrack now, do I? Spot on.

But...

The anime as a whole is perfectly fine in my opinion. Though there is one thing that I kind of don't get. The girl. She just doesn't fit into the whole story. Sure she has her role in the anime but it just doesn't seem vital to me. Like its fine if she doesn't exist anyway. But hey that's just me talking.

If you really wanna find out, watch it yourself. Highly recommended. Drop everything and enjoy a two hour ride into the unknown world (like you always do when you watch them ghibli shows).

P/S: Sorry about the whole Ghibli this Ghibli that. Its just... so damn familiar.

Final Fantasy XV: Kingsglaive Early Edition Review

Phew. I just got back from watching the new Final Fantasy movie and damn I have some stuff to get out of my mind. Like literally just got back. And again, bear in mind this is just how I see it. Don't take it as a rule.

BIG REMINDER IF YOU DID NOT FOLLOW UP ON THE GAME'S DEVELOPMENT AND HAVEN'T WATCHED THE GAME'S TRAILER OR DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE BACKGROUNDS OF THIS UNIVERSE, I ADVISE YOU TO LOOK AWAY AND WAIT FOR MY OTHER REVIEWS.

*YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED*

Just a bit of a note, though. This post will not have any pictures of the movie as I watched it in the cinemas. I'm grateful really. Some of us are only going to be able to watch it later on 19th.

Moving on. Kingsglaive is like a prologue to the upcoming game and tells you the story of Noctis's kingdom, Lucis and how it got pried away from his father's dead, cold hands (No. No you can never tell me this is a spoiler because in the game's trailer it already said that his father DIED).

It also tells us on how everything started. How Niflheim got cranky and decided to blow everything up and how the Lucis kingdom managed to stay in  control of their territories despite having their asses handed down to them in the form of huge demonic zerg bombers.

However, most importantly it tells us of the Kingsglaive (duh), what its purposes are and the origin of magic in this whole world. That's very important you know. Like in FF13 the source were the Fal'cie and in FF7 it was the mako stones. So yeah. They elaborated on this topic in the movie as well.

What's Kingsglaive mean?

It was pretty awesome actually. In the beginning they give you an overview of the whole situation and how things originally were and suddenly right after 5 minutes of watching you get to see people jump around and fight monsters. Well... I guess it was just to capture the audience because afterwards there were mostly plotting, raging, discussing and then BAM more action.

Kingsglaive is a band of soldiers recruited by the king for the sole reason of utilizing his magic and protecting the kingdom (sort of like an elite task force) but the peculiar thing about the unit is that none of them were from the capital city (namely Insomnia) and they were mostly people from outside (mostly captured territory) so they were ousted for the immigrants that they are (brexit *cough cough* brexit *coughs harder*).

You know. When you did all you can to protect the country and the people still won't accept you because you're not from there, it kind of hurts. At least that's what I felt.

Again, do note that Kingsglaive is not a full-blown action movie. So don't expect it to have flames and sparks and lightning bolts 24-7 (BUT THEY DO HAVE THOSE SO NO WORRIES GUYS). And really, the fights are worth the wait. They were pretty cool themselves but lets get to that in a bit.

What's Happening?

Yes. You read that correct. That was what's on my mind when the fight scenes occur. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Some of the scenes were really dark (like I can't see shit) but that I blame on the cinema. Maybe later on I'll see if I can watch it in HD or something and see if its the movie or my eyesight.

And then there's the speed. Goddamnit do you know how they fight? I thought I was seeing dragon ball z live action or something. A lot of stuff were happening on the screen and they were happening so fast my eyes were literally squinting the whole time trying to see clearly what it was all about. Sure the graphics were awesome but only, and only if YOU COULD FRIGGIN FOLLOW IT WITH YOUR EYES.

Seriously I am not Goku. I am not a trained martial arts and I cannot see what is happening when people use blink daggers with no cool downs while casting spells and fight at the same time. Honestly. I am very grateful for the killer visual effects but I would give anything to watch all the fighting scenes in detail.

There are some parts where you could see the action going. And believe you me, even if it was some old men fighting an armored knight, it was awesome. All because I could actually follow it with my eyes.

Last Bit of Nitpicking

I can't really comment on the soundtrack much because I didn't even pay attention to it that much. Most of my focus was on the screen but let me tell you something else instead. There's this one guy in the whole movie. He friggin ruins it. Like the whole cast of voice actors were sublime. They delivered their lines perfectly and it suits their cg appearance and all that crap. But this one big fat idiot. Oh God help me. From the start of the movie to the end, his voice annoys me. TO NO END.

You know the feeling when you hear people making their voice sound deeper and rougher than it actually is and it sounds weird and funny? Try listening to it for the whole movie. Try listening to it while the guy was actually trying to say something serious. Try listening to it AGAIN when he's actually fighting monsters.

Forgive me if the guy really did sound like that but my ears are telling me that the voice actor made it sound like that.

That's It I Guess?

I didn't really comment on much except for the objective stuff. Well yeah let me add one more thing. It may be just my opinion but I think the movie is a little inconsistent with some things. There were a few parts of the movie that didn't actually add up. There's also this issue with the ending. I really think they should conclude the movie more carefully. Sure, it'll continue on in the game but still, I felt that the end was too abrupt.

But hey that's just me. I can't even write a proper review, let alone give much comment on a Final Fantasy movie. Kingsglaive is really recommended for those who are going to buy the game as it really will give you an insight of what Lucis and Niflheim is and how magic is perceived in this universe. If you are not one to play the game, I'd suggest skipping it and wait for a HD version to come out on the net. Love your eyes. You only have a pair of em.

Wolvenciel, signing out.