World End Econimica EP1 Impressions pt. 1

I first heard about World End Economica in January when I was looking into the details of  that Kishida Kyoudan album. I was immediately interested. A story about economy on the moon? By Isuna Hasekura? Sign me up! When I saw it was available in English I pounced right away.

While I’m not entirely disappointed with what I’ve read so far, I can’t say it left a pleasant taste in my mouth.

This is part one of a multi-post series about my impressions as I play, since I don’t intend to play this all in one sitting. I’ll make a separate post next time I plan on playing for an extended period of time. These are just my initial thoughts and  contains no spoilers for later content.

The game is available in English for $13 on DLSite.

Read more »

Suisei no Gargantia Episode 10

I took a break from Animal Crossing to eat dinner and decided to watch Gargantia 10 since I had been putting that off. Don’t get me wrong, I was looking forward to watching it. Things hit the fan after last week and I expected the follow up to be tame but was still looking forward to seeing what would happen as a result.

It’s kind of funny that five episodes ago I had accepted the show as a sci-fi-y slice of life and that Urobuchi really wasn’t going to do his thing. But he did the thing. In that regard and the shock value of what’s been going on? Better than Psycho-Pass which only had one spectacular episode of despair and then kind of tapered out.

Though from the moment he found the Hideauze in the water it seemed obvious that it was the home planet they were looking for and that they were directly tied to the humans. So, I can’t say I was super surprised when the reveal happened last episode. However, I was surprised when I went back and watched the beginning of the first episode again. Did the Hideauze gain the power of the weapon from the first part of the first episode?

I can’t see Kugel being here working out very well. Especially since, you know, he seems to be accompanied by a cult. Though by the looks of it they might just be worshipping his machine? Or, where Ledo ended up with people who doubted him and who he himself doubted, Kugel ended up with easily manipulated people who saw him as a god.

I might have to go back and rewatch the scene where Chamber explains the nature of Hideauze vs. Humans to Ledo since I understood that but I didn’t understand where Chamber was coming from. Did he say he was explaining as a neutral source away from the military? Before that, he sounded almost a little antagonistic but in a Kyubey-I-Am-Neutral-I-Don’t-Understand kind of way. So if it comes down to fighting Kugel, who is Ledo’s superior, will Chamber still obey Ledo? Or will he have to obey Kugel?

So I guess I have a lot of questions, is what I’m trying to say.

My feeling of unease was justified and now I’m not happy with the results. I still don’t want Ledo to return to space but I feel like we wouldn’t have any closure to the space-hideauze war if that happens. At the same time, I feel like Kugel is going to lead to mass Earth human casualties (well, massive from the people we know). Gargantia itself isn’t that relevant right now but I have to imagine Ledo heads back there soon.

Similarly, Pinion is really digging himself a hole. I can’t see anything but death awaiting him now. First of all, he’s stupid. Boy oh boy is he stupid. Sure he came off as dimwitted before but kudos writers for going the whole mile and making him important but still stupid. Announcing he had the treasure was dumb, attempting to use a weapon they knew nothing of was stupid, trying to get the weapon like Chamber has to work (and that the hideauze will likely absorb) is stupid and accepting the pirates was stupid. If he doesn’t get stabbed in the back (literally) I will be 100% shocked.

Maybe it’s trying to set him up for a heroic redemption death but I’m not buying it yet.

Well, with three more episodes I have a lot of high expectations. Hopefully Urobuchi will be able to wrap this up in a more satisfying way than his last endeavour and if so, I think I could say I was really satisfied with Gargantia.

Milky Holmes (S2) Final Impressions

I didn’t wait long to start season two after finishing the first season because I just like the first one so danged much! The second season? Not so much.

Read more »

Kagerou Project Groove Coaster Promotion

There’s been a lot of stuff going on in the KagePro world lately. The second album, Mekaku City Records, just came out as well as the third novel. It’s been an emotional ride as the story becomes more clear and characters are revealed to be completely different than originally though (looking at you, Hibiya). I could go on and on about how I feel about the recent developments but since all I’ve heard is hearsay and can’t read the novel so I wouldn’t want to say something and be wrong.

But there is something else I’d like to bring up. Groove Coaster is one of my favourite games to play on my iPad. Admittedly I haven’t really played or used my iPad in a long time but someone mentioned there were some KagePro songs so my curiosity was rekindled.

There are two packs of KagePro songs available for $4.99 each on Groove Coaster Zero. The first contains Kagerou Days, Kisaragi Attention, Children Record and Yobanashi Decieve. The second pack features Imagination Forest, Otsukimi Recital, Konoha’s State of the World and Lost Time Memory.

However if you buy a pack (either or), play and post your score to twitter or facebook before June 9th you’ll receive a Ene avatar to play with! The packs will be available past June 9th but the avatar is limited edition  and will only be available now. Not to mention she’s very cute and her hair flaps around like wings when you play!

So if you play GCZ (it’s free, anyways) or enjoy Kagerou Project I’d reccomend dropping $5 now to get a cute little Ene!

Mawaru Penguindrum Remix Roundup

This one is a bit different than the other RR because back when Penguindrum was relevant I had been gathering remixes in a same fashion. I stopped long ago but I still get excited when I see them show up on an album or on Soundcloud so I’ll share them here as well.

In the future, RR posts (I spend a lot of time on Soundcloud so they’ll be here for awhile I figure) will continue as the ones in the past and be focused on one song instead of a whole series.

Read more »

Loli Salad’s Bi-Monthly Music Feature: Volume #04

Broke my Hina combo despite having a Hina x Yume Nikki and Hina x Katanagatari image that would have worked perfectly for this post. Still undecided about making this a monthly thing (since there are so many albums I’d like to talk about) but I might be busy during June so who knows!

Read more »

Kieli: The Dead Sleep Eternally in the Wilderness pt. 1

Like a train chugging into sight of it’s destination, the penultimate volume of Kieli is here. I must say that I really did enjoy this volume a lot more than the past few. It focused on Kieli herself and started to move towards wrapping everything up. Though this volume does end on a somber note, it also ends on a cliffhanger. Making the wait until September is even more difficult.

(obviously, spoilers ahead)

Read more »

Reunion Remix Roundup

Read more »

Suisei no Gargantia Episode 5

Before the show aired, I would have never expected a beach episode. What with the lack of beach and all. I especially would have never expected one as wonderfully charming and enjoyable as this episode was.

However, this is the episode where Ledo really changes. Not entirely but enough to make a difference in the events to come and in a way that will make the eventual desicion to leave especially difficult. Ledo is a really good character and you could constantly see the change in him as he discovers and feels new things. It could be that he was blank and without much to him (which I did complain about initially) but it’s still good to watch. Had he been a gruff jerk who rejected and struggled against Gargantia and it’s people instead of accepting and compromising, it would have been a much worse experience for everybody and I was sure I wouldn’t have watched this long.

Not to mention Ledo is just plain adorable. He went from someone battle hardened and stoic to a fish out of water forced to rely on people he can barely understand. It sounds common enough but the execution is just too much. Hearing him struggle with their language or seeing Amy try and teach him how to swim, things like that are just… moe.

This episode also benefited the rest of the cast too. Little things liked seeing Ridgett look bashful about her bathing suit or Bevel and the doctor’s group with the fan up until they built a machine to fan themselves or that everything was a result of Pinion trying to be nice. Hell, even Chamber and his repeated queries too. All of this endeared the characters to me.

And so, the bad feeling that’s been nagging at me for awhile feels even worse. I’m worried how this will end. We’re not too far gone that a big plot development could happen and shake things up. It’s pretty obvious Ledo will have to choose between his new home and his old life. Considering that fighting for the Galactic Alliance was all he knew for the entirety of his life, I doubt it’ll be an easy choice. It’s not just that. Considering the threat of the Hideauze and the fight at the beginning of the series, I can’t help but feel they’ll show up at Earth. Even though this is Urobuchi, I really don’t think they’ll do something as drastic as wiping out Gargantia (with Ledo and Amy as the only survivors or something).

Still would Ledo staying on Gargantia and forgetting about the war be satisfying to anybody? No, I don’t think for us or for Ledo.

Milky Holmes (S1) Final Impressions

One weekend from before when my free time was a lot scarcer, I wanted to watch Kill Me Baby. Unfortunately, that wasn’t on Crunchyroll. Nyaruko is something I’d like to try out but for some reason I went for Milky Holmes. Something I never imagined I’d watch, let alone enjoy.

Read more »