I finished Shiina Mayuri's route the other day and I totally forgot how depressing the game got when you started to aim for her or Kurisu's end. To be honest, Mayuri is probably in my top favorite girls of all time. Even though she's not the brightest her perception for other peoples feelings and wanting everyone to be happy is rather endearing.
Mayuri being given the Metal Upa that Okabe got from a Gashapon
As you gradually get along in the story, you start feeling horrible for her and Okabe for reliving all those horrible things over and over in the loop. What really hit hard the most was when she mentioned the dreams of her death to her grandmother, and then when Okabe sits her down and tells her everything. To which she just kept beating herself up.
Mayuri's accurate description about her position change
The things Okabe did for Mayuri really clenched in the end when it had to deal with her route end with Okabe. After all, he did all those things for her to keep her alive, so it would make sense that he loved her in that way. But the way that it was all brought together was what made me cry at the end of this route.
Final scene with Mayuri and Okabe walking down Akiba holding hands
You can feel that Okabe still has mass feelings of regret for not being able to save Kurisu, and also potential feelings that may have been love (at least in this route end) because he does always go to Kurisu for help when he tried to figure out how to save Mayuri.
Though I actually really love the Steins;Gate route the Stardust Sky (Mayuri route) is my favorite side route.
So I've been having a bit of a problem lately and that's with people taking my travel coffee tumbler instead of just using another one. See the tumbler I have is a limited edition tumbler from Kyoto Starbucks. And even though everyone complains about it, they always take it from the house to use; which is just beyond backwards to me.
So I'm pretty much out of a coffee mug. So I thought I should get one that no one would end up using. So I ended up browsing AmiAmi and found one that I like, also it was one of the few ones that didn't seem so lewd, since at times I would go to Starbucks/Tullys/Seattle's Best to refill it with coffee.
Steins;Gate Fuka Ryoiki no Deja Vu Tumbler
Pretty much a nice and simple tumbler that should keep a drink warm for good long time, while also not being too crazy with the reference. Steins;Gate doesn't have that much official merchandise so I thought I would get something from it as well. The only bad thing is that I wish Okabe was a bit bigger, but Kurisu and Mayuri look so cute standing back to back together.
The tumbler doesn't actually carry an excess amount; about 360ml so roughly 12oz which for some coffee drinkers that's not enough, but for me that's actually plenty.
Well folks since the first episode of Kill la Kill dubbed is being shown at Anime Expo 2014, the English trailer is out today and here it is for you to watch.
It may just be me, but I don't like it for a lot of reasons. Though they may be shallow for some. The four who I don't like in the dub are Gamagoori, Senketsu, Satsuki, and Ryuko.
Now for Gamagoori and Senketsu it is more of a fact that they're a tough act to follow. I mean we're talking about the same guys who do vocals in Tokusatsu shows. Especially Tetsu Inada (Gamagoori's voice actor). But with that said they mainly do voices for the suit actors and are never really on screen. So I feel as I'm used to these overtly raspy vastly expressive male voices which the English dub kinda fell flat on.
Toshihiko Seki voiced Momotaros in "Kamen Rider Den-O" Plays the voice of Senketsu
As for the girls; Satsuki and Ryuko, I feel the problem is they're not as deep as I thought. What was interesting about Kill la Kill for me was the tone of voice these girls spoke in. They spoke more like men than women in the show, and their tone of voice and rather deep voices expressed quite well they were more masculine representations of women then feminine.
I feel as if the acting for the dub with these four just lay flat because of it. But a dub will do what it does; more exposure and more money for Studio Trigger.
Even though I have the entire Japanese version preorded on Blu-ray I'll still buy the English version to show my support for Studio Trigger and Kill la Kill.
It's been a long time since I had actually played Steins;Gate. I first learned about the game back when it was released on the Xbox 360 in 2009 but didn't actually play it until 2011.
So with all that time passing I preordered the game when JAST USA announced that they were going to release the visual novel. Like many people I was waiting for the long haul of it going to take the metaphorical years that it usually takes them to release anything. No seriously, still waiting for that Hanachirasu VN that was supposed to be bundled with Saya no Uta.
Anyway I got the limited edition of the game and have been slowly playing through it and have just reached the end of the first route completed.
Amane Suzuha's route.
Final CG from Amane Suzuha's Route:Heading to the Past with Okabe Rintaro
I forgot that this route was a relatively easy one to get first of all and it was one of the ending routes that made me feel so horrible for the girl. She finds everything just to lose it. And not only that, but she feels such guilt and self loathing for herself that she eventually commits suicide for not remembering her mission.
Through this route as well, you not only get to see Okabe's softer side (as you do with all the routes) but you see the consequences that start to inflict his psyche when he loops time over and over. To the point where Amane makes a reference to the movie "Groundhog's Day".
Overall though, the ending of the route though doesn't do much for the story as it's the only one that ends in huge ambiguity. Which is actually fine, after all Steins;Gate is about possibility.
Publisher Vertical set out their new for 2014 list of manga that they were bringing out and two of them really surprised me; Tonari no Seki-kun and Witchcraft Works.
Witchcraft Works vol. 1 cover
Now I watched the anime adaptation for this manga series when it aired and I must say I really like the idea behind it. The characters overall are very endearing and the main male isn't what I was actually expecting in a show with a 90% female cast.
It's already got a release date of October 21,2014 but here is my gripe. You can preorder it on Amazon, but for some reason it's not up on Kinokuniya's web page. Now I would use Amazon to preorder the manga, but I have a Kinokuniya member card. The card is already worth it to me since you get 10% off pretty much every full price item in the store (sans magazines I believe) but it also includes a good deal of the figures as well.
I am just hoping within the next few months they update so that I can preorder the manga, because I am really excited for it to come out.
If you weren't able to check out the stream via Nico Nico Douga, there was a livestreaming of Snow Miku 2015 and her rabbit companion Yukine. The theme for the contest was "Plant life in Hokkaido".
Here is a compilation of the finalists:
Snow Miku 2015 finalists
The Mikus in question are super cute but honestly my personal favorite was 1, mainly because of the combination of the adorable European-styled dress and braids. While all the designs were cute there could only be one winner and that is...
Snow Miku 2015 winner-Illustration by Taran
It seemed that a lot of the contestants drew from the Lilly of the Valley plant for inspiration, heck there's even two of them in the finalists. I do have to admit she's quite a cutie, and I love the flowers in her hair and the more gentle colors in style that she picked for her illustration.
Now all we have to see is how Good Smile Company will take this design and make a nendoriod out of it. And the other limited edition goods that will come from it.
The Snow Miku contest is one of the things I look forward to since now people can generate their own content and vote on which one they like. Even if you don't like Miku, the yearly Snow Miku series is something to collect.
When you ask people about anime you always have a few titles brought up; Dragon Ball, Miyazaki movies (commonly Spirited Away or Ponyo from my experience), or the classical magical girl anime, Sailor Moon.
Well it seems that Viz Media has announced today that they've acquired the licensing rights to the entire Sailor Moon series, including all the movies and more importantly, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. Also what is great is we're for sure getting it subbed and uncut, but also there is going to be an all new English dub as well. So let's hope that Viz picks out a good one for the dubbing.
Now along the Blu-ray/DVD portion of it I have a little blub from Anime News Network for that:
"Viz aims to release the franchise digitally with English subtitles starting this summer, followed by the English dub starting in late 2014. It also plans DVD and Blu-ray/DVD combo releases in half-season sets starting this fall."
Currently pricing for it hasn't been released but I would expect that it would be around the price of the Ranma 1/2 season box sets at their manufacture suggested retail price:$54.97 for BD/$44.82 for DVD.
As for the actual show itself, it starts Monday May 19th; streaming on Neon Alley(Viz's own streaming) and Hulu.com so hopefully you live in a country where either of those are an option or just waiting till the eventual rips come onto more popular places.
