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Comic Party Revolution

Comic Party Revolution

After To Heart, bishoujo game company Leaf/Aquaplus made Comic Party. It was a moderate success, and for good reason. It is about a generally positive outlook on the realities of Japanese otaku culture, through a bishoujo game, and the main focus of course is doujinshi.

As some of you know, doujinshi is basically "fan comics" made by fans for fans. They are usually of the ero nature, and is visibly seen whenever there are anime and comic conventions. They also usually parody or purposely base their material on existing popular anime, manga, or game series. The Comic Party game and anime series highlights a group of individuals who are into these kinds of stuff, as well as give a viewpoint on how outsiders think about them.

The first Comic Party anime was a simple story about this guy named Kazuki and his entry into the world of doujinshi. Part of it is because he likes drawing, the other part is because of his friend Taishi's plans for world domination. The bishoujos of the game are featured somehow, but the anime is mostly Kazuki's viewpoint and story. Dunno if this had gone well with Comic Party fans, although I liked it quite a bit.

Now, can you believe that Comic Party Revolution was originally a 2-episode OVA? For some reason (maybe sales went well, or maybe fans crave for more), Comic Party Revolution had gone extended to 3 episodes… and then 4… and then now an entire 13-episode TV series run! Isn't that amazing? Whether fan approval or sales made Aquaplus deliver a half-season worth of Comic Party, it's all good for me! Why?

First, the animation is great! All the girls look beautiful and are consistently animated. Very, very unlike the horrible variety of To Heart ~Forget my Memories~. Also, because of its doujinshi nature, there are bound to be parodies and spoofs right? Comic Party Revolution has LOTS of them! Everything from basic doujinshi and cosplaying to even entire episodes devoted to parodying numerous anime, manga, games, and other Japanese culture stuff! Wanna see a Cardcaptor Sakura parody? Wanna see To Heart 2's Konomi Yuzuhara before the anime comes? How about an entire episode dedicated to baseball and tennis TV parodies? Want a direct reference to Gundam SEED again? Or maybe delve into action and horror? Everything gets mixed up! What's more, each character gets her own time to shine! There are entire sequences or episodes dedicated to an specific character, so fans of each girl would definitely be delighted. Comic Party Revolution may not be too story based as opposed to the first series, but it's definitely a "very entertaining show". That's what matters most.

This anime has one of the most stylish opening sequences I have seen from this genre. Also, the OP/ED songs are so great I have been anticipating them since over two years ago! (it only did get released during the 2005 TV series). The music may be forgettable but it complements each scene just right.

If you crave for a funnier, more colorful and slightly more positive version of Genshiken, Comic Party Revolution is the anime for you. Don't forget to get the original Comic Party anime too, and try to play the game if you can. I can say that this is my personal favorite out of all the current series ending this season. Everything in this series has gone just right, I'm really, really satisfied with what Aquaplus has done this time (a better To Heart and more Comic Party please!!!). Oh, did I see a "To Be Continued?" sign at the end? I HOPE SO! I hope you watch and enjoy it, too.

This is a Summer of Bishoujo feature

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Cardmaster Peach vs. Princess of Tennis

Taken from Comic Party Revolution 13:

Who would have predicted this at all? This is Mizuki vs. Mizuki! Only in Comic Party Revolution!

Posted in Anime | 1 Comment »

Metal Gear Aya

Taken from Comic Party Revolution 9:

Aya-chan, you rock! The quiet and usually unnoticed doujinshi author becomes a tactical espionage specialist in this episode. Go figure.

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Playing a Bishoujo Game is Futility Project: To Heart 2 edition

bluemist's Ultimate "Playing a Bishoujo Game is Futility" Project

To Heart 2

Let's just end this once and for all!

What are you trying to do here?
I will attempt the impossible by playing through a bishoujo game… in Japanese.

Are you suicidal?
This is just because of the extreme urge to somehow play a popular bishoujo game.

You won't understand it at all!
Yes I know. For one, To Heart 2 is a Visual Novel. It has TONS of text which I won't understand whe way I am now.

But because this is an attempt at futility, I have some tricks up my sleeve:
- I have a walkthrough.
- I have 5% knowledge of conversational Japanese.

Using the walkthrough, I'll be able to get a proper ending with a specific girl… if I follow directions right.

And using my 5% Japanese words, vocabulary and sentence understanding, I may be able to understand the story.

This is ridiculous. You won't understand the story without the text. Besides, the player is YOU. You are supposed to be talking, but the talk is only through the text. The girls and other people may be talking to you through voice-overs, but that means you are getting half the conversation only.
Yes I will get half the story that way.

Enough self-talk. Let's see where this goes.

You will find my introduction and updates through the URL:
http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/toheart2/

Posted in Bishoujo | No Comments »

Princess of Tennis

Taken from preview for Comic Party Revolution 8:

O MY GAWD…

Posted in Anime | 1 Comment »

To Heart ~Remember my Memories~

To Heart ~Remember my Memories~

I love the To Heart anime. I love that anime so much, that I really wished nothing will get wrong about the new series which is called To Heart ~Remember my Memories~.

Alas, I was wrong.

Being an anime-only fan of To Heart, I can already expect that I may not deserve to say bad things about To Heart ~Remember my Memories~ (hereby named as To Heart R for clarity), clearly because I haven't even played the entire game nor understood it fully. For the bishoujo game players, To Heart R is a big treat. They get to see the new stories that happen after the original game. To Heart R is not a direct sequel of To Heart, and because of this, I am trying hard to separate them.

Technically, it's an absolute shame. The art and animation levels are more of a stock market from the first 2/3 of this series. Sometimes good, sometimes horrible. I know that the producers of this anime are trying to make an accurate art rendition of To Heart using the original game's character designs, and that's fine with me. However, the massive and radical differences of the designs between each episode really make me sick. The same character in ep. 1 may not ever look the same in other episodes. Thankfully, the latter part of the series have gotten it right, which makes you wonder why they didn't do it that way from the first time through. Yup, even before Mahou Sensei Negima, anime like To Heart R is already suffering from varying sakuga levels.

The story is, for me, something up for debate. On one hand, it was nice that they had a full forward story approach, as opposed to the filler-ish nature of the first series. On the other hand, one can argue that the series has been too focused on Multi. Multi's plotlines run deep through every single episode of To Heart R, in that you may think they are really leaving Akari behind, despite her being the main girl. For fans of the iconic HMX-12 robot, To Heart R is a dream come true. For non-fans of Multi, To Heart R became too unfair to the other characters.

The biggest complaint I had with To Heart R is of one character itself, and that's Hiroyuki. This is really the biggest disappointment that made me want to ask if his attitude is really that way in the original game. To Heart R's Hiroyuki is the most insensitive, indecisive, and inconsistent bishoujo male lead I've ever seen. It's an extreme reverse to To Heart's Hiroyuki, the bored but kind male lead. There is a reason for the girls to love Hiroyuki of the original To Heart, because he is really kind and helpful to all of them. To Heart R's Hiroyuki, yea sure he's kind too, but I really can't see it that way. For one, his "cruelty level" to a person is proportional to how close the person is to him. It means that he is somewhat mean to Masashi and Shiho, and to the worst extent, he is really mean to Akari. He is also hot-headed, and shouts a lot, especially when things don't go his way. He is impolite to the elders he talks to throughout this series.

I really wonder how the To Heart R Hiroyuki made 3 girls in love with him. Yes folks, 3 people confessed to him in this series, as opposed to 0 in the first. And I really hate how he handled their broken hearts. We all know Akari is the main girl, and Hiroyuki is destined to be with Akari. But those 2 other poor girls got the no answer while Hiroyuki is still confused about his priorities, and Akari is being jealous. Therefore, the 2 busted girls didn't have the chance to to make themselves worthy of Hiroyuki's affection at all.

I want to say something good this time about To Heart R. Well, the OP and ED are really good. The OP reminds me of classic bishoujo game music, while the ED is a new rendition of a popular To Heart song. There are also multiple cameos of characters from the new bishoujo game To Heart 2, which I liked very much. The voice cast is almost the same as the first series, which is one of the best ingredient of this anime. Back in 1999, many of those seiyuu are already relatively popular. In 2004, the same seiyuu cast made To Heart R one of the most spectacular lineup of voice talents in recent history. I never thought I could see Yui Horie and Ayako Kawasumi together in an anime again.

I really want to say many more things about To Heart R, but you may be bored about this absolutely biased rant. Sorry that I am biased towards the original To Heart anime, but that's my true and honest opinion. To Heart R is actually an ok anime, but because of so many reasons, I can't find myself to liking it.

This is a Summer of Bishoujo feature

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Konomi cameo!!!

Taken from Comic Party Revolution 7:

Another one!

Taken from Comic Party Revolution 5:

It's Konomi Yuzuhara! It's Konomi-chan! It's a major treat for the To Heart 2 fans. They even snuck the opening song of the game in as background music!

Just don't ask who the heck cosplayed it…

Posted in Anime, Bishoujo | 3 Comments »