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Sunday, December 29, 2013

OJN Episode 19 - Video Game Awards




OJN has had an amazing year in 2013 and we have seen so many amazing events as well in the world of gaming. In honor of this great year in gaming, OJN has put together an awards show that our listeners voted on via the blog and our Facebook Page. In this episode you will hear what our listeners picked as the best for each category. Thank you once again to everyone that voted and here's to celebrating a great year!


OJN Podcast Episode #19 - Video Game Awards
Performed by OJN Crew
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Friday, December 13, 2013

~Life is Viewtiful~ Part1

Viewtiful Joe is probably one of my favorite games of all time. Its the first game that I played from the clover company. His adventure should have spanned across at least 3 main games and as such Viewtiful was being set up to be the next big mascot from Capcom. As luck (pun intended) would have it, Viewtiful Joe fell to the wayside along with his "sister" Okami and "Brother" from Godhand.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

R&L Trigger: episode 2 - Not on "Cloud" 9?

Final Fantasy is a great series,It even seemed to do well with jumping into the 3D realm with the release of FF7. Some of us would like to disagree...Join Ranz and Guest host J.F.Crazy as they go over what they like and dislike about Final Fantasy 7-X-2


R&L Trigger podcast #2 - Not on Cloud 9
Performed by Ranz & JF.Crazy
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Gr8GameEntertainment~ J.F.crazy's youtube channel check it out
If you liked what you heard check out Episode 1 of R&L trigger here

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

What is Lokita Playing These Days?


The weather outside is frightful but playing games are so delightful.  Its cold outside so what is better than cozy up on the couch with a comforter, a stack of games and my controller right by my side.  See what games I am playing nowadays.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Kids On The Slope - Series Review

 
Did you have a group of friends that meant the world to you back when you were younger? Sometimes these friends seem to stick around forever, and other times life will call them to different places. It's ok when that happens though. Personally speaking, I've been there with my group of friends from high school and now my friends from college, but good friendships last forever. That is the point that "Kids on the Slope" does so well at getting across. The story of this series speaks the lesson that friendship is a powerful thing.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Fraudulent Charges Made On Hacked PSN Accounts

Certain PSN members received emails from Sony to change their passwords after they noticed irregular activity.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

.:: Peace is a Lie, There is only Passion::.


Recently I've been looking for a game to play during my winter break from college. Everyone has their own personal preference of games they will and they also have a list of games that would never play at all. One of my favorite genre of games is mmorpg (massively multiplayer online role-playing game). However there are over a hundred plus mmoprg out there so picking one out of hundreds is pretty hard. So after searching for a couple of days the mmorpg that I've decided to give a try and that I've been playing for a couple of weeks is Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR).

Saturday, November 30, 2013

OJN Episode 18 - Legend of The Endless Bloopers




What the hell does southern hospitality have to do with The Legend Of Korra? Leave it to the hosts of OJN to somehow make a connection between the two. In this episode, bloopers are all over the place...much like Ranz's "that's what she said" jokes. Spoiler warning though. There is an epic season 2 summary (up to episode 10) in this episode.

If you like this episode or our podcast, please head over to iTunes and leave a review. You just may get a shoutout on air.

Credit To: 
xXJerry TerryXx
For creating the instrumental that was used for our intro. He makes tons of cool music so be sure to check him out.
Original video
Check out the original video that the music came from.


OJN Podcast Episode #18 - Legend of The Endless Bloopers
Performed by Draco and Ranz
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Montenegro Review: Call of Duty Ghosts



Activision is back at it again with a release of another Call of Duty game.  This time its a whole new series focused on a Special Operation's force called Ghosts.

Friday, November 15, 2013

~God's hand smites...few?~

God Hand, A game that largely went under the radar for the Ps2 and later as a digital download for the Ps3. Again a victim of obscurity because of the meddling of Capcom, this game had good potential behind it. My brief play of the game was more delightful than I thought it would be, but then again I seem like Im a Clover fanboy.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

~Beanpaste...in my icecream?!~

Bungeoppang...most wouldnt even know what that even is. To be truthful I didnt either when when I had some for the first time. Its a Korean desert food where the outside is like that of a cake-like(?) consistency where as the inside is filled with icecreamy goodness. Also there is red bean paste inside which is equally as good. When I heard about the bean paste I was all like "ewww beans" but Loli-chan made me try it after much debate. After eating one (more like 10) I see now that they have a great taste for an afternoon snack or before bed delight. As far as getting your hands on these I can only recommend heading to a local Korean market or at the least asking around and see if anyone has heard of this treat. You have that "Ranzignus trustworthiness" that you wont go wrong with getting some of these.
If you guys have any other tasty delights you want others to catch wind of, make sure to leave'em in the comments below!
~ranzignus~

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Put Your Hands Up If You Got Your Xbox One Early, Thanks Target




Last Saturday, gamers have been trying to find out as much as they can about the Xbox One. One lucky person who got their console early from Target and posted as much as they could on twitter as well as YouTube.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Take An Adventure With Warriors That Are Brave!

Sorry guys. No Kids on The Slope review this week. This is the perfect chance for you to catch up on my previous articles (Episode 1 review here, and Episodes 2 through 8 review here) and episodes of the show. Next week will most likely be my final review of the series because I'm nearing the end of it.

Instead of anime, I decided to feature an American cartoon today. It is from the creator of Adventure Time. It's time for the Bravest Warriors!!!!!!

Friday, November 8, 2013

~Kami...Oh,Kami~

"Okami"...A game developed by "Clover Studios",child company to "Capcom". It seems like all the games that Clover made were all sent to the outskirts of Capcom history, only to be dug up every so often to be referenced in a crossover game. That being said Okami is of course one of those hidden gems that DESERVE more attention than it received.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

OJN Episode 17 - Gaming and Funny GTA 5 Moments




Are you a gamer? Draco decides to interview Lokita about her views and history with gaming. This even turns into a random discussion about hilarious Grand Theft Auto Five moments.

OJN Podcast Episode #17 - Gaming and Funny GTA 5 Moments
Performed by Draco and Lokita
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

OJN Discussion #4: Our Love For Anime

Welcome to our OJN discussion.  This is a continuation from our last discussion as we go more in depth about Anime and why we enjoy it.

What Anime are you looking forward to in the upcoming months?


Draco - Though it is embarrassing to admit this, I really don’t keep up with the newest and upcoming releases. Don’t get me wrong though; I do have some series that have caught my eye. For example, Shinichiro Watanabe has a new series that is premiering in January called Space Dandy. I don’t know a whole lot about it, but I am looking forward to seeing what it will all be about. I managed to catch a trailer for it and must say that it looks pretty interesting.  Aside from that, I would also have to say Gundam Build Fighters. This one is based on simulated Gunpla battles. I recently bought my first Gunpla so I’m looking forward to how this series plays out.




Yours Truly - Honestly I’m not the type of anime fan that actually looks up upcoming anime. I’m quite lazy in that regard plus the anime I do end up watching I typically come across on Tumblr once it airs. So yeah, the next anime that I’m looking forward to is the one I’ll wash up on by random means lol!



Loli-chan -  One of the few animes I’m looking forward to is Saikin, Imoto no Yosu ga Chotto Okaishiin Da Ga. This will be airing in January 2014 but I’ll probably won’t start watching it till the end of May lol.


Ranzignus - Actually I’m with Draco on that. I don’t have to much of an idea whats coming up in the next couple months. Probably by the time I actually watch anything up and coming it will be like 2 years from now, lol.


What is your favorite Genre of Anime

YT - Oh man is this one of the easiest questions I’ve answered so far! By far my 2 top favorite genres of anime is magical girl and shounen ai HOHOHO! The aspects I love magical girl anime is watching the protagonist grow and realize her power. I’m a type of person that loves the very first episode of a given anime especially a magical girl anime. I get the see how a normal girl turns into something a lot bigger than she ever thought she could be. That and I love all the transformations, which is probably my favorite part of any magical girl anime honestly. I love the bright colors, the sparkles and the whole thing. It just makes me smile and I have no one to blame but Sailor Moon for that. The transformations are pretty top notch even in today’s anime by far. It’s hard to compete with. Besides that I love the somewhat cheesy plot, upbeat tone and vibrant colors that magical girl anime typically have. It’s apart of the experience for me when I do want to escape from regular life. I can go on forever but that is probably the top highlights.

As far as shounen ai… My god… What can’t I say. I honestly just love seeing guys do things that isn’t all that socially acceptable. Like having a lot of emotions, being really sensitive, vulnerable and most of all just falling in love with another man. Just seeing those emotions clash and the energy being played throughout is something I love to see over and over again. That and I just love guys with other guys *coughtokeepitclean*.



LC - I have several favorite genre lol they are action, adventure, horror, comedy, mystery, school life, slice of life, and magical girl. As you can see I like mostly all types of anime lol c:


D - Wow this is a tough one for me. I watch so many different genres and I’m sure that by now you are seeing a bit of a repeating theme. I have been known to watch a lot of action as seen in my sometimes over enthusiastic mentions of Dragonball Z in some of my previous anime posts. There is also my love for anything with suspense/mystery. When done right, an anime falling under this genre will really grab my attention. You can see this in my love for series like Death Note. There’s also magical girl (which I rarely watch though do enjoy when I do *coughMADOKAcough*), slice of life, and romance…..yes...I fucking said romance lol.




R - If there is one thing I like its a good school-life anime. They usually come with the most feels. Besides it usually hilarious to see what mischief that “regular” school kids get into every episode. A close second place belongs to Parody of course because that ish is always full of laughs to the tenth degree.




What is your favorite Theme Song to an Anime show?

LC - My favorite anime theme hands down is “Katayoku no Tori” by Akiko Shikata from Umineko no Naku Koro ni.  


R - Well if I had to choose one song I guess it would have to be “Core Pride” which is the opening to Blue Exorcist and performed by Uverworld.


D - Ranz likes an Uverworld song?! Oh man! I must agree with him though. It seems like anything that they touch turns to gold. They did one of my all time favorites, “D-technolife” which is one of the theme songs from Bleach. This song really gets me hyped up when I hear it. Picking one favorite is so unfair, but this comes pretty close to being number one.


YT - Good god this is a tough one since I like a lot of anime opening themes. But there is an anime I’m currently watching which I LOVE the opening theme to which is Rinbu - Revolution from Revolutionary Girl Utena. I not only like the music but the actual video of it as well, so whenever it comes on I can really enjoy myself watching it. In fact the soundtrack to that anime is great on it’s own and I would recommend it!


What Anime are you currently watching?


D - Well, if you’re keeping up with my current blog posts, I’m watching “Kids On The Slope”. It is pretty good so far actually. I think that it has potential to be really good, and I am saying this based on me not checking out any reviews online about it. Follow my anime Monday posts to keep up with my “What I’m Watching” series. Shameless self promotion there.



LC - Currently I’m not watching any anime. I will probably change this once I go on thanksgiving break. College is very stressful at the moment and has taken over my life. DX


R - I am in the process of watching several different things, First one up is something that Loli-Chan recommended to me which was “Hitman reborn”, next up I’m watching “Ikkitosen” and I am currently on the second season of that. I am on the last couple episodes of “Ben-to” Which was recommended to me by Draco’s younger brother JF Crazy. Usually I’m not into watching a bunch of different anime at one time but it seems that the time has come where I need to do so to keep up with everything I want to watch. Come to think of it I need to join Draco in watching “Attack on Titan” lol.



YT -  There is actually an anime that I’m keeping up with which so happens to be the same anime that my former answer came from! Revolutionary Girl Utena a total gem and classic of an anime. It’s one of my top favorites by far, I LOVE the show. It’s so different from a lot of the anime out there with it’s own unique added charms, it really captured my heart from the very beginning. I won’t go into the whole plot but the deeper aspects into the human psyche that it takes it’s inspiration from into each episode is something I truly appreciate. The characters are all fleshed out and have deep and meaningful backstories to them that make them who they are in the show. The relationships, allies and enemies that is made throughout the plot is something of a masterpiece and keeps me interested in what’s going to happen next. I highly recommend it, though it does have some light yuri undertones to it, but it’s subtle to the point I was able to overlook them for the show’s sake.



What Manga are you currently reading?


LC - The manga I am currently reading is something I’ve been reading for years and that is Naruto. I’m not even sure why I’m reading it anymore since its going down hill but I guess I just want to see how it ends at this point lol


D - I don’t read manga. The last one that I read was probably Naruto or Parallel back in 2006.



R - Shame on both of you...although just like Loli-Chan, I am also reading “Naruto” just to see how it ends as well...at least its not “Bleach”. I guess if it counts I need to finish “Battle Royale”. OH and finally start “Future Diary”



YT - I haven’t had a true manga series to keep up with for years sadly. I hate to be “that guy” but after 2006 manga went downhill for me, however I did see some titles that look promising the last time I was in the manga section of a bookstore a few weeks ago. I just remembered, I do have a short series (4 volumes)  that I’ve been reading. It’s called Momogumi Plus Senki, it’s pretty typical the whole one guy with guardians has to defeat demons to achieve ABC type of storyline but the actual characters makes plot. That and it has my yaoi undertones that I love … Yeah ... *Cough*


If you could make your own anime/manga what would it be called and what would it be about?

D - This is classified lol. I’m joking…..yet serious. I’ve written some stuff before but it has never seen the light of day. I like to play around with themes of teens with powers or the ability to manipulate ki. The whole idea of that has always been something that I wanted to write from start to finish. Don’t ask me to name it though. I’m horrible with names.


R - Well I’m not going to say I don’t have an idea or 7 written down somewhere but...one said idea is named “Rise of the Mainds” (don't ask me how to pronounce the last word I haven't figured it out the be cannon yet). I think that the whole premise of it was a kinda “X-men”/Avatar kinda thing. Its been awhile since I even took a look at it really. I did believe at one point it would be a great concept for a manga at least...not that I discredit myself now. Maybe I’ll pull it out, finish, and make it into an OJN production.


YT -  Wow this is a loaded question for me. As an anime artist and creative person in general I can probably spit out 10 basic ideas at you. I day dream so much that I would see the whole story play out in my head in an amazing way. It’s hard to answer this question for that reason alone, I have too many ideas lol! Even trying to find an old story is hard because I have so many mental paper balls with ideas on them in the back of my mind.


One idea that I would one day love to make into a comic is that artists from a popular art site gets sucked into another world where they have to fight each other. The kicker is that each artists fight with their own unique power based on that artist’s personality and skill. I made the concept into a contest on TheOtaku a few years back that was super successful, it had ton of entries so it might be worth considering making. I would base it off my own online experiences as an artist and even base a lot of the characters around real like people I’ve met.


LC - This is a tough question for me since I’m not that creative lol but if I did make an anime it would probably have to do with death, angels, and the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It would be very dark, scary, bloody, and a mystery.


Is there an anime that made you cry?

R - Well if there is one anime that I ALWAYS talk about that makes me cry its Clannad. Its probably the only anime that I can admit had me in manly tears of awesome XD. I can never recommend this anime enough, It pulls at the heart strings just enough to make you shed those tears.



LC - The only anime that I recall that gave me some slight “feels” is the part when my favorite character in Fullmetal Alchemist dies.



D - The award for saddest anime that I’ve ever seen in my life goes to *drum roll* ……”Grave of the Fireflies”. This anime movie was really sad. I’ve only seen it once after swearing off ever watching it again. Yes, I found it to be that sad. I think that is why I have been so reluctant to watch Clannad at Ranz’s recommendation.



YT - The only anime made me cry that I can remember was Wolf’s Rain. It was near the end if not the actual ending. Honestly the whole thing is kind of  fuzzy but I do remember the ending of the anime being incredibly sad especially since the plot itself was basically finding paradise in some form.    




Do you dislike any anime, if so which one and why?


D - Yes. I hated “Fighting Foodons”. Something about that series rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was just the dub. I mean it was on Fox Kids. It felt like a fake Pokemon. Actually, Ash needs to go eat Fried Ricer.



LC - Oh mai god yes! The one anime I can’t stand is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya because its just so stupid and I cannot understand why people like it. From the characters to the story something about it made me want to flip a table.



R - Now I think Draco would have you believe that everything that I hate would have to do with some sort of mech...well thats not completely correct. Going off of that terrible time in the “Fox Box” my second most hated anime comes from there, “Ultimate Muscle”. I detest that show so much. BUT the biggest loser in my opinion is “HAMTARO”. I’m met with much opposition when I say this but its just one of those anime that I can’t stand for the life of me. Maybe its just that its cute and I can’t stand it? Maybe it was the fact that it was randomly on Toonami? Maybe I wasn't man enough for it...All I know is that he is on my shitlist  



YT - Okay Draco or Raz has no idea what they’re talking about, fighting foodons and Hamtaro was that hot shit in my opinion, but anyway… I have to agree, Ultimate Muscle was ultimate trash, as well as bobobo-bo bo-boboo. Also Escaflowne, Blood and Rin are fucking awful for so many reasons that I won’t go into. I can honestly say there are a lot more animes that I don’t like then I take credit for. But those are the main ones I could think of on the top of my head lol.


Favorite anime ending?


D - My all time favorite ending to a story in an anime would have to be the ending of Cowboy Bebop. It really wrapped a lot of different things up and kind of presented an unexpected ending. It was so cinematic with how the ending of the series lead to the series outro song. Genius!


LC - I’m going to have to agree with Draco. My favorite anime ending is from Cowboy Bebop.  From the animation to the way the story went into the ending song was simply amazing.



R - My favorite actually a pretty zany one. The end of “Excel Saga”. It ended as stupidly as it started, in a good way of course. Completely random and off the wall as expected of the series itself, funny part is even though its a short anime (about 24 eps) I missed just about half of it when I watched through the first time.



YT - I did recently see the ending to Digimon season 1 (you can watch both season 1 and 2 on Netflix) and it was incredibly heartfelt and real. There are so many anime endings that lack true substance that made you feel satisfied. In this, I felt so good about everything and how it came together. Even if it didn’t have a second season I would of felt good on the way it ended. It made me emotional too, I had to hold back the tears because how real the relationship between the digimon and the main characters have gotten. It was a good feeling.  

OJN Crew

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Like Daft Punk? Check Out This Cover!

I think that it is safe to say that Daft Punk are some of the most talented artists around. After hearing "One More Time" as a teen, I was hooked on some of their music. This video really does Daft Punk justice! Check out Pentatonix performing an amazing acapella medley of Daft Punk songs.



If you think that this cover was awesome, check out this other one of Diamonds from Cowboy Bebop that I wrote about a while back.

Sony Playstation 4 Ultimate FAQ: What Stood Out

On October 30th, the Playstation Blog (North America) had released the Ultimate FAQ for the Playstation 4.  Informing people who pre-ordered as well a future potential buyers what the PS4 is all about.  The FAQ focuses on from the PS4 system details, game lineup, accessories including the Dualshock 4, PS Store, PS Plus, Digital Entertainment and Game Sharing.  There are certain things that stand out in the FAQ that Sony finally brought to our attention as well as things that are important as you transition from Current Gen to Next Gen like whats going on with PS Plus.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Kids On The Slope: Episodes 2 - 8 - A Quick Review

I originally intended to write a short review on each episode of the anime "Kid On The Slope", but that quickly changed after finding myself addicted to this series. "I'll just sit down and watch episode 2 and 3 for my review this week" turned into an all out marathon that was stopped at episode 9 when I realized that this thing called the real world wouldn't stop knocking on the door. Needless to say, this series is really good. If you haven't seen it before, I suggest that you take some time to watch it. Here's why...

Saturday, November 2, 2013

OJN: In Case You Missed it (Week of 10/28/13 Recap)

This week saw quite a few interesting articles on OJN. Each day (excluding Thursday) one of our team members made it a mission to post something great on the blog for you all to enjoy. This is a weekly recap that I will be writing each week that will give a quick recap on what was posted to the blog this week and why it was awesome. With that said, let the first weekly recap begin!

.::Listen to My Heart, Be My Last::.

Music is everywhere. It helps relax the mind and speaks to the soul. There are many different genre of music but one of my favorites is K-pop (Korean Pop). I was first introduced to k-pop after I watched an anime called Inuyasha. The opening and ending to the show were simply amazing. From "Change the World” by V6 to “My Will” by Dream, my interest into learning more about K-pop grew.

Friday, November 1, 2013

~Unlucky times for clover studos~

                 Clover studios was a very short lived division of Capcom...or CRAPcom as some of us would call them now. They were the team behind one of my favorite games "Viewtiful joe" and one game that i highly respect named "Okami". Clover also made another game that seems to go under the radar way too often, that title being "God Hand". What happened to Clover? Why after at least two successful titles did they fade into the shadows? The answer is simple...Capcom happened.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

R&L Trigger: Episode 1 - Nintendo's golden sun




Nintendo really likes hitting us ever so often with a really good RPG. How does This gem from the Gameboy Advance days stack up? Hear what Ranz has to say about it.


R&L Trigger podcast #1 - Nintendo's Golden sun
Performed by Ranz
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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Pirates, Bodyslams and Deathmatches, Oh My!

There are quite a few games that are being released today.  Some are big name titles that might just be flying off the shelves.  Are you picking up a newly released game today?  Lets see what they are:


Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Ubisoft is at it again with another yearly release of Assassin's Creed.  Here you play as the Pirate and later Assassin Edward Kenway who happens to be the father of Haytham Kenway and the grandfather of Ratonhnhake:ton better known as Conner from Assassin's Creed 3.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Kids On The Slope: Moanin - A Quick Review

I think that it has been a while since I've taken some time to really relax and watch a good anime series. I'm serious. As the main anime writer on this blog, I feel like I've fallen short of living up to that "title". Rest assured though, I'm back in action once again. Yes...I'm pretty sure that has been said before and is extremely cliche, but bear with me. With that being said, I've figured that I'd just do a weekly blog about what i'm watching, thinking about, or other random stuff about anime.

I know that it's be a while since my Beck post. Great series by the way. I recommend checking it out. You may not know this, but I'm a huge fan of an anime with an amazing soundtrack. You can see this in my liking of Beck and a personal favorite, Cowboy Bebop.

Friday, October 25, 2013

OJN Episode 16 - Anime Clubs and MMOs




Anime clubs are really fun. In this episode we talk about our experience at an anime club. Do you play MMOs? We seem to get into our MMO experiences too.

OJN Podcast Episode #16 - Anime Clubs and MMOs
Performed by Draco and Ranz
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Thursday, October 24, 2013

A True Diamond: One of the best anime music covers that I have ever heard


Every so often, you will come by an anime with a soundtrack that becomes instantly as timeless and genius as the anime itself. Music is a big part of what makes a series appealing to me, so I sometimes find myself being wowed by a series with a soundtrack that can make me relieve the greatest moments of that anime over and over. One such series that did this with its music was Cowboy Bebop. If living in a world set in the future where space is like the wild west isn't enough, the jazz/blues/country inspired music that was featured in the series really brought it to life.

The music to this series was composed by Yoko Kanno. After having a hand in most of the music that touched me since I dove into anime, I have come to the conclusion that she is a musical genius. After forming the group "The Seatbelts" for Cowboy Bebop, I believe that the result was some of her best work. With multiple CDs containing the songs played in the series, Bebop clearly wins my vote for anime with the best soundtrack hands down. No lie...the Real Folk Blues changed my life!

After a bit of surfing the internet last night while looking for one particular song, "Diamonds" from the "Tank! The! Best!" album, I found this cover on youtube and was simply blown away. This is a cover of Diamonds, and in my opinion stands very tall next to the original. The singer performing it is Alissa Simmons and can be found here on her Youtube channel and Official site. The song is beautiful and her voice is the perfect complement to the lyrics and melody. It makes me stop and think back to that one day where I stumbled onto Bebop on Adult Swim. Life was never the same.

P.S. - Yes...I know this song was not in the series. That doesn't take away from its beauty.

Monday, October 21, 2013

OJN Discussion #3: Anime

Welcome to our third OJN Discussion
Draco, Yours Truly and Ranzignus will tell you a little about their anime backgrounds. Hope you enjoy.

What is your Favorite Anime?

Draco - It is a bit hard to pick an absolute favorite. There are many different anime series that are near and dear to me. Examples being Dragonball Z and most of the Gundam series. I think that I would have to say that Cowboy Bebop is the closest that I have to an absolute favorite. It carries so many different messages in it that became an important part of my life while growing up. Not to mention that the music from the show is unparalleled. This even inspired me to get into the technology field after seeing the hacking genius as displayed by Ed.


Yours Truly - I can't really name a personal favorite because it seems like there are a lot that I can pull from for various reasons, but there is one that does stick out to me as one of my top favorites, Samurai Champloo. From the very beginning that anime had me hooked. It had all of my favorite things in a story, compelling characters, an awesome plot, really good writing and an awesome atmosphere. It was also by far one of the best dubs that I've seen which tends to be rare. I can really watch that show over and over again and never get tired of it! It always feels like I'm with them on the adventure!



Ranzignus- With so many to chose from I can never tell what my favorite is one minute to the next, but if i had to pick at least one it would be “Magical shopping arcade abenobashi”. When I first saw this anime it was around the time comcast released the whole “on demand” menu, and it was kinda random that I even decided to watch it in the first place but well worth it. The whole premise of the show was something that my 13/14 year old mind would have thought of at the time. probably the main reason I like parody anime so freakin’ much to this day, its like the whole show (as zany and all over the place as it was) spoke to me. Its something that I could still go back and watch over and over.

The show that made you into an Anime lover:

D - Another hard one. Technically, I’ve been watching anime all my life with shows like Voltron, Thundercats, Sailor Moon and etc coming on TV. I just didn't know these series were from Japan. If I were to overlook those, the show that really got me into anime (once I knew it was anime) was probably Neon Genesis: Evangelion. This series had so much going on. It had depth that I was not used to watching on American TV. Unfortunately, I was watching it back in the days of VHS rentals from my local video store, so I was never able to finish.

YT - Again, another question that is hard to answer. Since I was watching anime before I knew what anime was it's hard to say which anime really got me into it lol. To be fair though, around the time I started to know what anime was, at least the kid stuff, there was a more mature anime that got me into the "good stuff" of anime, that anime was Inuyasha. It seems so strange that now I'm not really into Inuyasha, at least the later seasons *sigh* but when adult swim started to show it for the first time it totally blew my mind.

It was the first anime I watched that showed blood and a lot of it, it was something I never seen at that point in my life and I was in my early teens. I was so hooked by the first episode and the story to follow that it's good to say I wanted more of that in my life and adult swim dished it up for a few good years. By far Inuyasha was the "gateway drug" into what I called the real world of anime, the stuff you didn't see on Saturday morning cartoons!


R - I think we have all been watching anime one way or another even though we didnt even know it. I guess though the two anime that made me a believer were “Dragon ball z” and “Sailor moon”. Of course i mention two at once because they come on back-to-back on weekday mornings before school waaaaaay back when. The later title,like most people my age,are not afraid to admit to liking that show in the first place.Never did I think that those early mornings watchings were a gateway to bigger and better anime out there and would turn out to be a genre of some of the best programming from another country.

Favorite Anime Character/Character you most identify yourself with:


D - Narrowing this down, I would say that there is a tie between Spike and Ed from Cowboy Bebop, and Goku from Dragonball Z. I tend to like characters that either demonstrate some amazing qualities that I admire, or continuously overcome extreme adversity. This can be seen in how calm, cool, and collected Spike always was in Cowboy Bebop. He believe in flowing like water. This is something that I’ve always tried to adapt to my life….many times I fail to do so though lol. Goku was always looking to get better in martial arts. His life was dedicated to training and always getting stronger. Through him, I learned perseverance. Life in DBZ looked tough. There was always some kind of galactic being coming to Earth or threatening the universe in some way. They were always super strong and Goku and crew always stood between them and the Earth/universe being annihilated. When the chips were down and everything looked like there would be no chance of success, Goku always pushed through and somehow would come out on top…..or died in the process lol.


YT - This one is pretty easy because surprisingly I don't really identify with a lot of anime characters, so this answer goes to Amu from Shugo Chara! I LOVE this show, it definitely fought a spot in the personal favorites but it was a bit too recent compared to some older favorites.

Amu is someone I can really relate to and was one of the reasons why I loved the anime so much. Amu is basically what you call a "cool kid" in her school, kind of standoffish, aloof and detached from everyone around her, not to mention her punk fashion sense to help her standout. However, on the inside she wants to be a more honest, girly and a friendly person but has no clue how to do that when people expects her to be a certain way. That is when she get guardian characters to help her become her true self and yadda yadda.

I can relate to this because I too felt that I projected myself in a certain way and felt totally different inside. Trying to keep up with a certain expectation while trying to figure out how to be more honest with yourself and oters is a lot of baggage. Actually seeing her become her "true self" throughout the plot was one of the most inspiring aspects of the show and one of the reasons why I'm a die hard fan. It's hard to find an anime character I feel that I can resonate with so I really treasure the show being forth a character I can see myself in.


R - Kinda  a hard question for me really,but I guess if i had to chose anyone it would be unsurprisingly Viewtiful joe. Now when i think of his character its like if I was put in his shoes i think i would react in some of the same fashion that he does. Hes just as nonchalant and go with the flow about everything which i see myself doing all the time. Even with the trouble that he always seems to be in Joe is always in a “it will work itself out” mindset, but if push came to shove he got his ass in gear and came out on top. Honestly hes a really relatable lead character...makes me wish others enjoyed the show as much as i did.lol



OJN Crew