Azure Flame Reloaded

Club Prinny

Since most readers on here are above the age of ten, you may or may not be aware of Club Penguin, a children’s website which I admittedly visit once or twice a fortnight to mess around on. Nonetheless, Club Penguin feels lacking in something, and so it seems to me that we must update it for the anime and gaming generation, with an all-new spin on it entitled Club Prinny. On Club Prinny, one must input a number of sins in order to generate a damned soul, which is then sewn into a prinny. After customising your prinny, you can wander around the Netherworld performing tasks to atone for your sins, and generally serving Laharl and Etna. Special events include payday (once a year) and the night of the red moon, where prinnies who have atoned for their sins can finally leave the site. Continue Reading »

On Monday, I looked at the state of classic fantasy in anime, and although it would have been enough to end it there and conclude that it was generally in a sorry state, I knew there was something more I had to write about- namely, fantasy with a sci-fi twist (like you couldn’t guess that from the title). To that end, I have decided to delve deeper into series- Scrapped Princess, which I enjoyed and Utawarerumono, which I could have enjoyed if not for its many flaws. Continue Reading »

Thanks to some discussion on ikimashou.net, I now feel relieved of any need to buy the expensive 1/6 Feena figure and thus can now stop going on about it and get on with my life.

I still haven’t picked anything to watch from the new season, but maybe something will present itself soon.

Reviewed this week: Asatte no Houkou 10, Iroha 10, Busou Renkin 12-14, Chevalier 12, Kanon 14, Red Garden 12, Uta DVD Specials 1-2

…and in manga: Higurashi Onikakushi 2

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I can now exclusively reveal that the reason my blog is so HARD GAY is because I have Lui chained up in my basement.

As the days became depressingly short and winter tightened its grip upon the land, I had the great idea of summarising all the 2006 series I watched in one great ‘Annual Round-Up’; hardly an original idea since everyone likes to do it, but nonetheless a course I became determined to take. Little did I realise that such an innocent decision would lead to a massive fifteen page document that took over a month to compile; in fact, if I had any sense, I would take the lazy route of posting this over several days in order to avoid having to write anything else for a week or so. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, depending on your perspective), I’d rather just include it all in one guide so that I can get on with writing newer and more interesting things to spice up the inevitably dull and grey January.

I shall also take this opportunity to thank necromancer, whose screencaps made many parody posts and Tuesday Rumble sections possible, as well as my blogging ‘sempai’, who can identify himself if he wishes.

For once, red is not for generally poor series, just for the ones I dropped before the end of their run (mostly because they were generally poor). Series in blue are my top picks for the year. Links lead to earlier reviews, rants and parodies of the series in question.

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In the quiet village of Yamayura, Hakuoro, a masked man without any memory of his past, awakens to an unfamiliar world of humans with animal ears and tails. This is the world Hakuoro must live in now, and in time, he will not only gain a name, but also followers, allies, and an empire of his own. But will his newfound nation survive the machinations of opposing countries and the truth about his mysterious past? Continue Reading »

Under the new, harsher regime, I’ve decided to drop a few more series that I haven’t watched lately, but have no desire to get back to. This means that Chocotto Sister and FLAG are gone from the anime line-up (I hadn’t even realised that FLAG 3 was released last month, which shows how closely I’ve been following the series), and Melty Blood is dropped from the reading list.

With the influx of new anime, I’ve largely given up on the OP/ED impressions section for now, simply because they all seem to be so similar and dull. I’ll probably phase it back in when I hear something I like, or alternatively, something so awful that is has to be pointed out.

Reviewed this week: Busou Renkin, Chevalier, D.Gray-man, Death Note, Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas, Kanon, Keroro, Negima!?, Red Garden, ROTK, SaiMono, Shounen Onmyouji, Tokimeki Memorial, Tsubasa, xxxHOLiC

…and in manga: Chokotto Sister, Nanoha A’s to StrikerS, Tsubasa, Utawarerumono Continue Reading »

The new season is almost upon us, and yet here I am, having failed to put together any kind of autumn (or, if you prefer, fall) preview whatsoever- and nor am I intending to. Aside from the fact that many people have already done a better job of it than myself, and that I’m simply too lazy to be bothered, past experience has shown that the series I look forward to the most often turn out to be utterly disappointing. After all, in previous seasons, I was foolish enough to expect something of worth from Black Cat, Jigoku Shoujo, Mai-Otome, Fate, xxxHOLiC, Tsubasa, .hack//Roots, Kamisama Kazoku, Binbou…well, the list goes on. Clearly the only way forward is to ignore the most anticipated shows, and only watch the more obscure or unappealing sounding series (does this mean that Bartender will end up being a good choice?).

Reviewed this week: Black Blood Brothers, Chevalier, Higurashi, Keroro, Ouran, ROTK, School Rumble, Tenchi Special, Utawarerumono, NHK, xxxHOLiC

…and in manga: Furuba, Mai-Otome, Melty Blood, Mushishi, Natsu no Arashi, Tsubasa, Uta, xxxHOLiC, Yotsuba, Zero no Tsukaima novel

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Hakuoro here. I am sorry to report that HARD GAY has taken over my body completely, and even now I grapple with my destined partner, Dii. The only hope of regaining the harem lies in defeating him and destroying the last of the HARD GAY temptations, but am I already too far gone to manage that?

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Another week, another round-up, another persistent feeling that I really am following more series than the handful I seem to be covering. This week seems to be an oddly unbalanced one, featuring a select handful of gems amongst a desert of tiresome, forgettable dross- some of it from series I highly praised mere months or even weeks ago. Apologies if the words ‘tedious’ and ‘dull’ have been overused.

Reviewed this week: Black Blood Brothers, Chevalier, Hanoka, Higurashi, Keroro, Mai-Otome DVD Special, Ouran, ROTK, SaiMono, School Rumble, Utawarerumono, NHK, xxxHOLiC

…and in manga: Chokotto Sister, Mai-Otome, Mushishi, REC

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Hakuoro here. Although I have finally managed to add Kuuya to my harem, it is a bittersweet victory. No matter how successful I am with my harem, the demands of my monstrous HARD GAY side refuse to disappear, and I worry that it will soon jeopardise everything that I have worked for…

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