DZi Entertainment Presents: Batman Arkham City Review (SPOILERS!!!)

Greetings, fellow Geekdomers!

So back in October of last year, I started doing a “Let’s Play” of Batman: Arkham City, after finishing up Arkham Asylum again. I got pretty far into it, and did a playthrough outside of the recorded stuff, and I love it. Then it kinda fell away as my console recorder died and other games came out. But because of the Dark Knight Rises, and Lego Batman 2, I decided to play Arkham City again. I was lucky enough to get it on the PC this time, and I’m about to start doing another “Let’s Play” for the New Game Plus. 

But after I played through it, since I’m on Geekdom here, I thought I would review it. So here we go!!!

So as I like to do, first up are my comments on the story. Basically, they have setup a prison inside Gotham City, and all the bad guys you love from the years of Batman are there: Two-Face, the Penguin, Joker of course, etc. And we find out Joker is dying for some reason and it’s our job as the Cape Crusader to bring justice to this lawless land.

I really like the story, even if it’s not as original as Arkham Asylum. I still prefer that one’s story and location. But the story and how it’s executed in AC is really good. The characters are all true to their source material (astleast from what I know of it). The only issue I sort of have is that almost every location that’s iconic from Batman is in this walled off prison, from the Ace Chemicals where joker because his crazy self, to the theatre and alley where Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed. Only the Wayne Tower seems to be outside the wall. Just a little too easy to think all those locations where right next to each other in the massive city that is Gotham.

 

Next up is presentation, such as how good it looks, and how well everyone acts. Hands down this is the best looking Batman ANYTHING!!! I loved the animated series, I loved Batman in the Justice League, but this is how Batman should have always looked. Same goes for pretty much all the characters. The Joker, voiced by the great Mark Hamill is just impeccable. Two-Face, voiced by Troy Baker, sounds exactly like Two-Face should. The Penguin, Catwoman, Ra’s Al Ghul , all of them are phenomenal. The only 2 I have a problem with are Harley Quinn and Clayface. Quinn sounds perfect, I just wish her outfit was different. I don’t know if it’s because I want to see her in her old one piece outfit or what, but the new one didn’t do it for me. And with Clayface, his face seemed too beastly. In the animated series, and most other sources, his face is kinda bloated, exaggerated and somewhat more human, where in this his face is like a snarling monster with lots of gooey teeth. Just a nitpick, I guess.

Well, seems our time is up and we gotta pass judgment. This game is nearly perfect. The controls are smooth, the acting is all solid, the environments are beautiful, and the story is just fine. Again, it ain’t as original as Arkham Asylum was, but damned if it ain’t got more scale…and Moxie. 

Superpowered Zombie Love!

So like most people who visit out site I am a geek. But the last few years I have become more and more involved in the Geek Culture and I love how we have even have out own music from Nerdcore to Chiptune its becoming more and more apparent that we really stepped into our own.  Some of these artist are amazing and others show tremendous amounts of potential. I am hesitant to rag on any artist in particular due to my music ability is that of the armpit fart (and even then I couldn’t beat Wacko Warner).

 

One artist I fell in love with is Superpowerless. His music has been nothing short of amazing and is constantly playing in my iTunes and on my iPhone.  From his covers of Depeche Mode, Postal Service, to even Lady Gaga he has never stopped amazing me. And today when browsing my Facebook wall he I stopped short again. He had posted a brand new music video. One he collaborated with a newer artist name Pixelle.

 

Now we all love zombies, we all love gameboy, we all love video games and music, so lets combined them all into a jumbled bout of awesomeness! Now usually the vocals are male accompanied by the awesome 8-bit sound. This time we got something completely new and Pixelle pulled her weight for my very heigh expectations. I am excited to see such further collaborations between these two amazing artists.  Click to watch the video below you won’t be disappointed. I know I wasn’t .

Aria the Scarlet Ammo [Hidan no Aria]

Aria the Scarlet Ammo (‘hidan no aria” [he-dan no are-ee-ah] in Japanese) is an action, romantic comedy harem. It’s a very funny and awesome 12 episode series, with one OVA.

 

Students at Tokyo Butei High, a universal educational facility, undertake special training in order to learn the path of a Butei. A Butei is a national qualification permitting its holders to arm themselves and capture criminals. They were established to counter the worsening crime conditions. The Butei Division consists of Assault, Snipe, Dragula, Inquesta, Repier, Amdo, Logistics, Connect, Informa, Medica, Ambulance, SSR, CVR, and Masters.

The Assault Division, also known as the “Department With No Tomorrow,” is the most dangerous department in Butei High School, with 3 out of 100 students, enrolled in the program, not surviving to graduation. Members of Assault perform mid- to close-range combat in various operations. They specialize in the usage of handguns, swords, and other various weapons.

The Snipe Division is for long range combat by using sniping weapons.

The Intelligence Division is in charge of making intelligence reports on criminal organizations. They are also involved in the construction and analysis of strategies.

The Dragula Division is in charge of interrogating captured criminals.

Inquesta is in charge of investigation in applying detective and reasoning skill to analyze information.

Repier is in charge of scientifically testing proofs and use scientific devices to search for clue in crime scenes.

Amdo is in charge of supplying, customizing, and maintenance of Butei equipment.

Logistics in is charge of piloting any kind of transportation means. This includes land, sea, or aerial transportation.

Connect is in charge of providing information as a backup using communication devices.

Inform is in charge of compiling and sorting information, using information processing equipments.

Medica is in charge of medical care.

Ambulance serve in Butei hospitals. They are in charge of educating future doctors.

SSR (Supernatural Searching Research), the Psychic Ability Investigation Research Team, is in charge of supernatural or psychological crime investigation.

CVR (Civetta Research), the Special Investigation Research Team, is a division only girls with exceptional beauty can enter. Under special condition, they use their physical charm to apprehend criminals.

The Masters division consists of the faculty members of Butei School.

The ranks for the school that go from the lowest level are Level E, Level D, Level C, Level B, Level A, Level S. The rank Level S is for Butei members who have near-superhuman strength and skill.

 

Kinji Toyama [Keen-jee Toh-yah-mah] is the protagonist of the series and a student at Butei High School. He is ranked level E, the lowest combat rank, due to missing the third term’s final exam. When Kinji is sexually aroused, his cognitive and physical abilities increase to around thirty times his normal, which allows him to perform feats of near-superhuman strength and skill. This state is what he calls “Hysteria Mode.” Hysteria Mode is a genetic trait that all members of the Toyama family possess and is stated to be an extremely highly evolved version of the natural male instinct to protect women. When in Hysteria Mode, Kinji’s major weakness is that he cannot directly harm women, although he is still able to fight and restrain them. Also, Hysteria Mode causes Kinji to develop a suave and seductive attitude towards women, which makes him very attractive to him. He is currently enrolled in the Inquesta department. He was once a prodigy, being ranked Level S, of the Assault department. Kinji uses a Beretta 92F, which was illegally modified to fire a three-round burst. He refers to it as the Beretta Kinji Model. He also wields a butterfly knife.

Aria H. Kanzaki [Kahn-zah-kee] is a female transfer student of Butei High. She is ranked Level S and is in the Assault division. She can wield two guns and two swords at the same time, earning her the title of “Quadra.” Her weapons of choice are two M1911 pistols and Kodachi. Her mother is Japanese and her father is English. Her grandmother is a member of the British Royal Family, in which Aria has the title of a “dame.”

Shirayuki Hotogi is a female student of Butei High and childhood friend of Kinji. She is enrolled in Butei’s SSR division as a rank Level A. She is the student council chairman and the president of various clubs. According to Kinji, she is the perfect Japanese beauty, except for when her jealousy comes out. She then, turns into a berserker who assaults any female that approaches Kinji. She uses a Japanese sword, named Irokane Ayame.

Riko Mine is a female student of Butei High. She’s enrolled in the Inquesta division with Kinji. Riko is often considered the biggest idiot in class. She has a talent for intelligence assessment and gossip, at Butei High. She enjoys customizing her uniform into the Lolita style. She wields two Walther P99s and two daggers.

Reki is a female student at Butei High. Her real name is unknown. She is in the Snipe division as a rank Level S. She is the Snipe division’s ace. Reki is always seen wearing headphones, listening to the sound of the wind. She can shoot anything without missing her target within a 2km radius. Her weapon is a Dragunov sniper rifle with an attachable bayonet.

There are many more characters to meet from this anime.

 

This anime is one of my favorites. It’s just plain awesome to watch. Neither of the main characters are weak. Definitely badass. It has great comedy and action, also a little ecchi moments, and has a wonderful storyline.

DZ Cinema Presents: Ghost Rider (SPOILERS!!!)

In case you didn’t read my previous review about this movies sequel, I have not read a comic, thus I don’t know how the comic version of Ghost Rider is. Just sayin’.

This has got to be one of the best comic book movies I’ve ever seen. I know, crazy, right?! Before I had rewatched this movie, I just thought it was a good movie, now I’m seeing it as so much more.

First, let’s get the story out of the way. I personal didn’t understand the story about how this “deal” from long ago gave someone power. Why didn’t the Devil just collect it sooner? Why didn’t someone else try to collect it sooner? Don’t know, don’t care. It’s there as a means to an end, so the story is forgettable. Now, Johnny Blaze’s story, that’s a much more interesting, and thankfully, easy to understand, part of this movie. I won’t go into it too much, but he gives up his soul for his dad who is dying but dies anyway. Bummer. Ok, so it doesn’t sound so great, but hey, this came out in the 70’s, give it a break. So, why does this movie get such high praise if the story is full of “meh”? Because the story isn’t whats important in this movie, it’s about the dialogue between characters, the emotions, the humor (which I’m happy to report there is tons of!!!), and the power of those lines. Even if you got some unknown actors, this would have turned out just as good because the script is that good.

Ok, so we got the good script, but who are we gunna get to play this who isn’t going to fall and burn? (hehe, you see what I did there?) Nick Cage gives this character life and I personally enjoyed his performance. He is sad, a little emo, full of piss and vinegar, so basically normal Nick Cage. Eva Mendez is exquisite as the love interest, and she places it well. I haven’t seen her in much else, but I could see Eva easily being like her character all the time. Peter Fonda, who plays the Devil (or in the official canon: Mephistopheles) is the perfect person for this role. He’s old, has a great voice, and is just mysterious enough to keep you guessing! Also, Sam Elliot, who plays the old Caretaker and does the narration for parts, is also perfect and I’m so glad they didn’t go any other way.

So we finally come to my favorite part, the effects! This movie makes beautiful use of both visual and special effects. Something I think is wrong with a lot of newer movies is they try to be so over the top and make it look beyond epic. But you need to have control. You can be epic without going too far, and Ghost Rider has done just that. The Rider looks real enough without losing his semi-comic look. I especially love the flaming rain and fireballs, it was awesome! And there was also a scene with a good ol’ zoom-in-really-close-to-the-eyes shot that had me giggling with joy. All in all, they made good use of CGI and other special effects without making them too grandiose.

Well, it’s time we sum it up, partner. I’m gunna give this movie a 9/10 because it had did nearly everything right and will be with me long after I watch it several move times. 

DZ Cinema Presents: Ghost Rider : Spirit of Vengeance (Spoilers!!!)

So as some of you may know, I’ve read 0 comics. I recently bought the new Justice League comic, but have yet to crack it up. But I do know of Marvel and DC characters from games, TV shows and reading the wikis. With that in mind, I’m still making assumptions about these characters. You’ve been warned.

 

So this movie is the sequel to 2007’s Ghost Rider with Nic Cage and Eva Mendez. Personally, I liked that movie (I’ll be reviewing it this coming week). That movie was all about him learning to live with that new power. This movie, is something completely different. Here, Nic Cage is trying to control the crazy beast inside him and going pretty insane in the process. He doesn’t like it, wants to get rid of it and is pretty miserable. As far as the story goes, I don’t really care for it. I liked the first one and how he was dealing with it. Now he’s basically an emo kid, but on steroids. So the story gets a “meh” in my book.

When you get past the crappy story and look at the effects, it’s very nice and detailed. The weathering of the Rider’s skull, how his leather jacket looks so worn, how much more realist everything looks, its all very well done. Other than the Ghost Rider himself, I didn’t notice too many other special effects. There are plenty of visual effects, and they don’t feel really out of place, it all kinda makes sense. The effects, both special and visual get a “Smurf yea!!!” in my book.

Now on to acting. Like I said, Nic Cage is a big emo baby. He does show he’s still human in this after awhile of getting to know the kid, but early on it kinda feels forced. Plus, he’s as crazy as ever in this, which is where he seems to shine. You feel like he’s trying to control his inner demon. The mother of the child, Violante Placido, does a good job of being a concerned mother, but thats about all. Idris Elba, who plays a drunk, black, Frenchman named Moreau, who some of you may remember from Thor as Heimdall, plays his character well and doesn’t seem to deviate from that description. The others didn’t feel as outstanding to me. Acting, in general, gets a “w00t” in my book.

So to sum up, “meh”, “Smurf yea!”, “w00t”. I enjoyed it, but I won’t be watching it all the time and thinking about it before I go to bed.

Black Butler [Kuroshitsuji]

Black Butler [also known as Kuroshitsuji (koo-roh-shee-soo-jee) in Japanese] is an awesome 43 episode series. Season 1 consists of 24 episodes, with an OVA[original video animation]. Season 2, also known as Black Butler 2 [Kuroshitsuji 2] consists of 12 episodes with 6 OVAs.

Lord Earl Ciel Phantomhive, an orphaned twelve-year-old head of a noble family and a toy and candy empire, serves directly under the Queen of England as her “Guard dog.” Ciel’s parents were murdered on his tenth birthday and as a result, he made a pact with the demon, Sebastian Michaelis. The pact is Sebastian will help Ciel get revenge on those that have disgraced him and in return, Sebastian gets his soul. However, before the pact was made, but after his parents were murdered, he was a slave and a sacrifice for a cult ritual. While he was being tortured, his hatred for his torturers is what summoned Sebastian. Ciel’s eye bears a pentacle, which is the sign of the contract made with Sebastian. He covers the eye with an eye-patch so others don’t find out about Sebastian being a demon. The mark on Ciel is proof of the contract. Sebastian says that demons mark their prey so that they can locate them.

Ciel is emotionless, merciless [except to the few he cares for], and doesn’t act like a child. He has asthma, which he inherited from his mother. He is often put down and hated for the fact that he buts in to others’ business, like the Scotland Yard, because he is the Queen’s guard dog, he is to oversee certain things. Many people are unhappy with this.

Sebastian Michaelis, a demon who first came to Ciel as a black bird [either a crow or a raven], serves as Ciel’s loyal butler and performs every one of his commands perfectly. He is highly skilled at everything he does. The only time he doesn’t perform a command is when he is distracted by cats, kittens, wildcats, etc. He is obsessed and when one distracts him, he is too preoccupied by it to perform a task. Most of the time, Sebastian shows no care for Ciel’s well-being, as he insults and irritates Ciel just to see his reaction. However, there are times when Sebastian shows concern for the boy, like when he has an asthma attack.

Sebastian has a catchphrase of which he says when someone is flabbergasted by him or when someone deems the task impossible and Sebastian performs it. This phrase is, “I’m just one hell of a butler.” He is conniving and cunning, clever and inconspicuous, devious and manipulating. His weapon of choice is silver knives and forks. He is a very skillful knife and fork thrower.

Tanaka, Bardroy, Finnian, and Mey-Rin are those that serve the Phantomhive household. The four of them help make this series very comical. They believe that if they continue to smile and fill the house with laughter, then Ciel will be happy and smile again. They are clumsy and Sebastian often calls them idiots, due to the fact that they always mess up what they are doing. However, he has great respect for Tanaka.

Tanaka originally served under the former head, Ciel’s father, and witnessed the murder of both Mr. and Mrs. Phantomhive. He was stabbed in the back trying to protect Ciel. Most of the time, you see Tanaka in SD form [super deformed, aka chibi]. He is seen drinking out of a tea cup and rarely talks, unless he is in his normal adult form. He is almost as capable a butler as Sebastian and can kill intruders effortlessly.

Bardroy, Bard, is the household cook. He was once an American soldier, whose entire platoon was completely wiped out, leaving him to be the only survivor. Sebastian recruited him because he is capable of taking advantage of his surroundings and the unworthy premonition that allows him to escape a trap no matter how dangerous it is. He tends to use explosives to try and cook, which result in a burnt down kitchen and no food. He became the cook to learn how to slow down. With being a soldier, everything was always rushed, so he states that cooking takes patience to master. His weapon of choice is a firearm and explosives.

Finnian, Finny, is the gardener. He is feminine and looks frail, however, he has immense amount of strength. Before he worked for the Phantomhive household, he was experimented on. They injected him, locked him in a cage, and even forced him in a death match against the other experiments. This is why he has superhuman strength. He really just wants to be free and outside, hence why he’s the gardener. Finny’s weapon of choice is really heavy objects, which he throws effortlessly.

Mey-Rin[Meirin] is the clumsy maid. Before working for Phantomhive, she was a sniper. She never used a scoped because she has extremely sharp far-sighted vision. She is also physically fit, seeing as she can hold a sniper rifle as if it was a handgun. She keeps hundreds of loaded sniper rifles to decrease reload time. Her glasses were given to her by Ciel and do nothing for her clumsiness. She wears them to impair her vision, so she doesn’t get distracted from her work. Her weapon of choice is obviously the sniper rifle.

Lady Elizabeth Midford, Lizzie, is Ciel’s cousin, by marriage, and Fiancée. It was an arranged marriage, but she has strong feelings for him. Ciel only sees her as an annoying cute family member. She cannot defend herself.

Lau is a Chinese noble, President of the British Branch of a Chinese trading company, and friend of the Phantomhives. He is also the head of the Shanghai Mafia ] and runs an opium den. His eyes are always closed and he is almost always smiling. Ran-Mao is his assistant and sister, though not by blood.

Prince Soma Asman Kadar is an Indian prince who went to England searching for one of his servants. He is arrogant and spoiled, often blaming others for problems and uses his parents fortune to take care of things. Agni is Prince Soma’s loyal servant, whom he worships and sees as a god. He is known as, “Right Hand of God,” because of his godlike skill for making curry.

Grell Sutcliff is a flamboyant transwoman grim reaper, who uses a modified death scythe in the form of a chainsaw as his weapon. Even though Grell is a male, he refers to himself as a woman. Grell also bring comic relief to the series, with having a major crush on Sebastian.

Earl Alois Trancy is a physiologically scarred and abusive boy. Like Ciel, he created a pact with a demon, whose mark bears on the boy’s tongue. He is scheming, manipulating, and cruel to people, for he has no mercy. He and his butler, Claude are the main villains in season 2.

Claude Faustus is the demon who made a pact with Alois. He is cunning and sly and, much like Sebastian, he is very skilled at everything he does. He also uses forks and knives as a weapon choice, however they are gold.

Hannah Annafellows is Alois’ quiet servant and maid. Alois gouges her left eye out for staring at him directly. She is scared of him, for he often humiliates and harms her. There are three triplet servants who serve under her.

This show is can be quiet confusing, however it is phenomenal. Sebastian is a badass in every episode, which makes me happy. I’m not a big fan of the main characters being weak. Although Ciel might be weak, he is not useless. I’ve watched this series twice and would love to see it again.

Spotlight: Star Trek Bridge Commander 2!!!

So, long ago in a place not too far from where I live now, I got addicted to Star Trek, and I was fortunate enough to be at the time when Activision was releasing several ST games, one of which was Bridge Commander. This was my favorite out of them all because for the first time, you commanded a starship from the Bridge! You could talk to your officers on the bridge, they could give you updates on your ship and mission, and you could even tell them who to attack or defend. I played that game for years, and still would, if my computer wasn’t dumb.

But about a year ago, one of my friends showed me a concept video for a Bridge Commander 2. It was just a simple Defiant-class moving around and shooting. Nothing special, but the idea to make a modern take on BC was incredible to me. That same friend is actually the lead designer on the game and is getting ready to release the pre-pre-alpha of the game, with just basic flight controls. But he has done this pretty much by himself, and it’s him alone that is keeping it going. I don’t have much in the way of money right now, so I thought it would be a good idea to atleast spread the word about this awesome game. So here’s a link to his funding page with the demo video. Hope you all can atleast take a look!

http://8bitfunding.com/project_details.php?p_id=315

Reviewin’ Time: Thor!!!

So, I just got done watching Thor for the second time. I gotta say, I enjoyed this both times. Since I’m a little tired from today, this will probably be a shortish review, but here goes.

If you don’t know who Thor is, your probably the farthest thing from a geek out there, probably a hairdresser or something. But if your a normal/ nerdy person, you know who he is. The God of Thunder from Norse mythology, the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet, etc… He’s pretty cool wherever he goes. Now this version of Thor is character created by Marvel back in the day. I personally didn’t read comic books, but I loved the characters of them. Thor was pretty far down on my list, cause he seemed so boring. But I digress.

This was a nice story for the God O’ Thunder. He pulled off the “I’m young and invincible” mentality just right, and slowly got to a more mature tone as the movie progressed. Very nice. Good acting all around, I especially think they got the perfect Loki and Odin (Tom Hiddleston and Anthony Hopkins, respectively.) Couldn’t ask for better people to portray them. The other characters are ok, but don’t feel as important. Even Thor, who does by the end of the movie, seems small in the grand scheme.

Anyway. As a part of the marvel movie-verse, this fits in well, especially with the small cameos and Agent Coulson. The effects were great without being too over the top, and the costumes and makeup of everyone was spot on.

So overall, if your just a person with a passing fancy, this movie is a great romp through the character and story of Thor from the comic books. However, as an illiterate comic book reader, I don’t know if it sticks true to the Thor so many grew up with. But for me, it was a movie I will enjoy for a long time.

Demon King Daimao

Demon King Daimao [Ichiban Ushiro no Daimao in the Japanese version] [Daimao is pronounced die-ma-ow] is an amazing 12 episode series!

 

First off, this is a romantic comedy with good action. This is a harem anime. A harem anime has one male protagonist and many cute or sexy female supporting characters, which all have a crush on the male.

I must warn you, there is ecchi involved. This means that there are panty shots and breast shots throughout the series.

The main protagonist is an atheist, Akuto Sai [Ah-koo-toe Sai]. Akuto is aiming to be a high priest at Constan Magical Academy, but like all new students, he must undergo an evaluation, which predicts his future occupation: “Demon King.” Demon King: a dreaded figure; the last demon king brought a terror so strong, the modern world still hasn’t recovered. So as if it’s not hard enough being the new kid at school, but now he has the entire school terrified of him or wanting to destroy him. Worst part is, he doesn’t want to destroy the world, he just wants to change society.

Having the awesome power of a demon king, Akuto can manipulate and control mana. As an example, in one episode he absorbed the mana of a giant demon dog and turned it back into a puppy. Though, his early attempts to control his mana have led to catastrophic explosions.

He meets a blue-haired justice freak girl, Junko Hattori [June-koh Hat-toe-ree], which he befriends instantly. They create a powerful pact together, however, after she finds out he’s going to be the demon king, she instantly relinquishes the pact and friendship and tries to stop him from “destroying the world” even though he doesn’t actually want to. She claims him to be a liar and uses her samurai skills against him. However, she develops feelings for him in the beginning of the series and they grow stronger as the series progresses.

Keena Soga [Kay-na So-ga] is a red-headed ditzy girl with only the powers of invisibility [also cloaking her mana, but not her clothing] and the power of flight. Though she is a capable student, she is absent from class most of the time, which irritates Akuto to no end. She loves rice; so much that she believes everyone would be happy if they all ate rice together. She ends up realizing she has feelings for Akuto. She calls him “Aa-chan.” Keena wears a certain bird-shaped hairpin, believed to be given to her by Akuto when they were children at the orphanage he left.

Then there is Korone [Ko-ro-nay], a green-haired surveillance agent, who was sent by the government to observe Akuto 24/7. She is a Liradan, which is a race of androids. She is emotionless, but tends to show curiosity about certain human aspects. She loves teasing Akuto, often doing perverted things to get a reaction from him. Korone has many firearms and other items stored in her handbag, which is a sort of hammerspace. She has the ability to read people’s emotions and can detect an individual’s presence based on mana emitted by that person’s body. Like all Liradans, she can be deactivated by pulling her rabbit tail. She can be reactivated again when her tail is pulled again, but loses her short-term memory of the events right before the deactivation. Korone seems to have feelings for Akuto with hints throughout the series.

Fujiko Eto [Foo-jee-ko eh-toe], the head of the girl’s dorms, is one of the few people that sympathizes with Akuto in the beginning. She became the head of the Eto family after her older brother was murdered, although, she still keeps contact with his spirit through his reanimated head, which she keeps in a liquid-filled jar. Her plan is to use Akuto’s demon powers for her own purpose. She becomes very attracted to Akuto, be it love or lust, and tends to become his demon queen.

Hiroshi Miwa [He-ro-shee Mee-wa] is Akuto’s self-described minion much to Akuto’s dismay. He is of small stature and is frequently bullied by other students. Therefore, he sees Akuto as his protector. The more he looks up to Akuto, the more he feels like a brother to him. However, he eventually learns his true strength, which causes him to become Akuto’s arch nemesis. He refers to Akuto as “Big Brother.” [“Aniki” in the Japanese version].

Akuto continues to meet many different people at the school and finds himself in situations he’d never think of. He eventually gets a dragon, falls for one of the girls, and even saves the world with the help of his dragon and the girl he falls for.

Boichiro Yamato [Boh-ee-chee-ro Ya-ma-toe] is the main antagonist. He is a leader in the Cabinet Intelligence Magic Office. It seems that he is connected with the past demon king and the dean of the school. He is very interested in Keena, so much that he claims he gave her the hairpin that she wears. His power includes an awesome sword, which can cut any opponent, even the demon king, and he can teleport. He wants to control the gods and plans on using Keena to help him.

There are many other characters and many funny parts of the show. Even though there is action, there’s so much comedy packed into it, it creates a nice blend. I’ve watched this series twice and would watch it again. I recommend this to anyone that wants a little bit of comical fan service mixed with action/adventure.

Slucko’s App O Rama: My Xbox Live

Earlier this week Microsoft updated their iOS app to turn your iOS device into a remote for your Xbox 360, and a precursor for Xbox Glass. To get an understanding of what this app is about, lets start at what it’s core features are.

This app in my opinion took on some of the features that the Xbox Live Companion app on Windows Phone 7 have, namely monitoring Achievements, Friends,  Messaging, and changing the look of your Live avatar. One feature missing from the Android and iOS from the windows version is which integrates Xbox Live into the platforms games, though this would cut into Microsofts sales if iOS or Android included this feature (iOS does have a few gaming services, namely GameCenter from Apple).  With this new update you can control your location on the Dashboard (UI of Xbox 360), as well as launch apps, games and even control playback of Video and Audio content from most apps ( I tried Netflix, Amazon, and iHeart Radio).

In conclusion, if you have an Xbox 360 and an iOS device or Android, I can recommend this app especially if you grow tired of using your controller for media playback.

Slucko’s Rating

**** 4 Stars

 

App Store – My Xbox LIVE