Princess Jellyfish - A Review by Shonen Neko Takaya

 I sometimes wonder if the word Anime is Japanese for incomplete story with tacked on ending.

There are few things in anime that bother me as much as an incomplete narrative that has plenty of steam left in it's characters and storyline.

Princess Jellyfish is an anime that I really didn't want to be disappointed in. The characters while a bit stereotyped really let you into this world of geeky otaku women who have their own unique tastes, likes, dislikes. really making them feel like girls you've might have been friends with.

The lead male role Kuranosuke is fairly fleshed out and deep considering the series length. He has a troubled backstory and it really comes through the voice actors work. You can feel the pain Kuranosuke goes through. You can also tell he's a very compassionate person which is why I enjoyed him so much as a character.

His brother Shū is also a really interesting guy despite his family finding him so boring. Shū is a very proper and polite Japanese business man. He sticks very close to traditions of a proper Japanese family. His values while a little dated also show what kind of man he is. Shū was quite possibly my favorite of the series.

The real star of this show is Tsukimi. She reminds me of so many women I've dated.

She's a fragile creature scared of her own beauty. The death of her mother and the promise that she would make her a wedding dress as beautiful as a Jellyfish is one of the key points of the series as it establishes a good deal of the plot from this one tragic event.

Tsukimi is a wonderful character and I found myself in tears a few times as I saw her deal with many of the things thrown at her in the series. She like so many women, just want someone to love them and to feel beautiful. I can relate to that quite a bit even as a guy. I think we all want someone to love us and to feel attractive. Tsukimi battles her insecurities and fear of men in a very realistic way.

Sometimes we win sometimes we lose but the fact that we tried shows what we are made of.

The rest of the ladies of the house are memorable and really added to a lot of the humor that makes up the show as it's not entirely a drama.

Mayyaya reminds me very much of one of my good friends from the now defunct Gyt's Anime and More. I bet you know who you are. :: wink::: A girl that digs Samurai is always alright in my book.

Jiji is a riot because of her love and dedication to older gentlemen. I run into a lot more of these types of girls as I get older, which just makes it even more hilarious. ( I'm 32)

Banba looks a little like Lambo from HItman Reborn but once you get past that, she's just a meat seeking, train loving otaku girl.

Chieko is the traditonal Japanese princess complete with a fabulous Kimono collection and hand crafted Japanese dolls. She's also the landlady of the Amamizukan.

The mysterious Juon Mejiro that writes yaoi manga and hates men with a passion is a great source of humor throughout the series and even lead to a few plot twists that I anticipated but never materialized in the show. I really enjoy characters that you can have fun with and imagine doing things in a series. Pretty good for a character that is more mysterious than Mr. Wilson from Home Improvement.

Shōko Inari is a an evil evil woman. You know you're playing a super evil woman when you can manage to get me to say, " Oh that BITCH!" She's certainly easier on the eyes than the rest of the cast but her personality screws up any chance of her being attractive.

On the technical side, Princess Jellyfish has it's share of problems. It suffers from a lack of continuity in quality of the animation but not nearly as bad as say Welcome to The NHK, Hellsing, or Samurai 7. ( Sensing a connection here?) When it's pretty, it's beautiful. When it's gritty and real. It's gritty and real right down to the unibrow on some of these girls. I think the look of the characters suits who they are as people so in that respect it works. I can't go so far as to say it's an ugly anime because it's not. It's very well done but you can tell there were short cuts to save on budget but none of them are bad enough to detract from the story. I just can't give it a Bones Studio Quality score when it hardly deserves it.

The voice acting in the American version ( which is the one I watched as of this review.) is pretty much standard fare in the modern world of Funimation dubs. It's not bad, in fact it's pretty good.

The problems come when you can tell certain dialog has been Americanized and I have a strong feeling a certain amount of depth was lost in translation. Since it's a short anime I may re watch a couple of the episodes in Japanese just to see if I was right in this assumption.

The music is good but to be blutly honest the only thing that stuck with me was the opening song which is just weird and quirky. I like weird and quirky.

I can only recommend this anime to people that really enjoy fashion, cross dressing, and seeing a girl shine like a diamond in the rough. If you're looking for a couple of laughs and a casual sweet story about a young lady looking for acceptance and love. Then you might be in the right place.

If you don't like guys dressing like girls ,weird over the top personalities and incomplete stories. Avoid it.

For me personally at the end of the day I am glad I saw it but the want for more is great. I love to support these Shojou anime but as is the case with many Shojou anime they end up incomplete and just make me wish there was more. Enter at your own risk.

I give Princess Jellyfish a 6/10 and a 8/10 if they actually make a second season.

FAL: Hunter of Shadows

Just like my last review, this one is a while coming. I know the author, Abraham Martinez, from way back in the early 2000s when we were both graphic design majors. Back in the day we would hang out, and we even developed a concept for a comic book, which never went through. Time went by and we didn't meet up again until around the first Frank N' Con, where he had this comic for sale. I fielded an interview with him which we also ended up not using. (Sorry Abe) And I told him I'd post a review of this comic for a column that I didn't end up starting until a few months ago. So, after much procratination and with several apologies to the author, here is my review of Fal: Hunter of Shadows.



FAL fallows the adventure of Jonah Lovecraft, a rather mood-stricken individual who, after witnessing the death of both his parents at the hands of demons, travels around slaying demonkind wherever they might appear on Earth. Aiding him is an enigmatic, and black-shadowed female figure that Jonah refers to as "the dark" who gives him supernatural abilities he can use to easily, and often rather bloodily, dispatch evil.



Now, after reading a paragraph like that you can pretty much see what one of the major weaknesses of this comic is: there's an awful lot of cliches. I had yet to also mention that the first demon attack involves a couple with their baby in the park, the Demons already know Fal by name and the powers Fal possesses involve him wielding a scythe and putting a Jack O' Lantern on his head. Yeah. Nothing brain-bending about that. The fact that the protagonist's last name is "Lovecraft" it's pretty transparent where the author was going when he developed this character. Unfortunately, he didn't make it there, as he was too busy rescuing a baby.

It's a shame since the high points of this book are so well done you really wish that the story hit a higher crescendo. Martinez's charm shines through in a place I know it would, in the artwork. While most of the details come from a vigorous Photoshopping it's very expertly done, and the book as a whole is unexpectedly very bright and colorful. What is most striking is how Fal's magic, and any accents that are used in and around him all involve autumnal tones. Martinez had discussed with me that more than a halloween theme, he had intended to make things fall more along the lines of autumn, and at last as far as the coloring he's succeeded. Also, even though the story is somewhat predictable the author manages to pace it in a way that shows a lot of understanding of the comic book format. Specifically, he shows us what's happening and keeps everything at a pace which makes every page engaging



Fal: Hunter of Shadows is a comic that has a lot of potential. Once more issues come out I'm sure that the story will only improve off the simplicity that is this first issue and show us the Lovecraftian thematic that its author is hoping to achieve. Keep an eye on this one, it could get big.

If you’d like your locally published or self-published book or comic reviewed on this segment, e-mail us at augmentedrealitymag@gmail.com. We will ask for a review copy, or if you cannot send us one, we will purchase a copy online at any nearby shop that has a copy available. We are all about supporting El Paso’s writing and art scene, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Kamen Rider OOO Ep 48 Review

Meet John M. Perez. fan-film director and YouTube reviewer. He'll be joining the Augmented Reality crew of contributors with reviews of new anime, and retrospectives of popular anime and Japanese television shows. In the meantime, though, here's a classic review of his where he discusses the popular Japanese live-action series Kamen Rider.

A Damn Dirty Grey Review

They took his daughter and now the wolves took down his plane! Liam Neeson is back to kick some more ass in "The Grey" In theaters now so go see it! Plus we liked it a lot, check out this sexy review

Journey into Mystery #629-#630

Oh hey there feeble Midgardians , tis’ another time for one of Alex’s dumb ass reviews. Today we will have a gander at the most recent issues of the ongoing series Journey into Mystery 629 and 630. The first of the two this is all I have to say…..The art gave it no justice, it was very uneventful art wise (which is my opinion don’t dispute it)

Kieron Gillen wrote this issue and the art was done by Whilce Portacio….Remember my last review? Well Loki did it! His rag tag team was successful in helping to bring down the serpent, in the most bad ass way possible too. Also remember when I said he stole the shadow of Surtur’s sword? Well they made a deal at that time, If Loki can use the sword, Surtur would be freed (keep that in mind). Loki and his team (Loki’s Magic Secret Action Squad as he called it) Snuck into Dark Asgard aka the giant floating island of evil. Loki then proceeds to release Surtur into the bowels of Dark Asgard where he would consume the energy of the isle (damn Loki will you ever stop being so magnificent?).

As they get out of the island, Loki watches to his dismay that the prophecy has come true, Thor has lost his life protecting Midgard (not without making the Serpent his bitch first) .

The whole plan was just wishful thinking, Loki just wanted to try out the WTF plan just in case it worked.

So with that Fear Itself (the main issues anyway) has winded down, but it is not exactly finished because there will be more tie ins than people go through toilet paper at a Mexican Restaurant. In Journey into Mystery 630 you will hear how Fear Itself has transpired…..Volstagg the voluminous’ version anyway (AWWWWWW SHIIIIT) And the art from Richard Elson just accompanies this so well, like an actual storybook!

Just in case you don’t know Volstagg, he is the portly (fat) one from the awesome trio that is The Warriors Three, essentially the coolest motherfucker around.

FUCK YEAH VOLSTAGG

Issue starts with Heimdall waking up to see the Destroyer armor outside as if no one took it (TOTALLY LEGIT GUYS). Then it cuts away to Loki and Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, Thor’s mystical goats (that could totally kick your ass). Loki has a magic chain attached to them and he is luring the goats away from the roots of Yggdrasil as if pulling something from inside the tre- OH FUCK THERE IS SOME SORT OF HEAVY ASS ARMOR COMING OUT. When the goats finish the job Loki checks in the armor, who is in it you ask? MOTHERFUCKING VOLSTAGG . He and Loki were in cahoots to help Thor…..He was controlling THE FUCKING DESTROYER ARMOR! (It’s magic, I don’t gotta explain shit).Volstagg tells Loki he don’t want to see him anymore because he feels he helped Loki kill Thor (No, man NOOOO! It was for the greater good!). So with that he leaves Loki be.

This is when the story makes you DAWWWWW, Volstagg barges into his own house surprising his kids (who all pile on to him at once). He tells them to gather ‘round for he has a story for them (at this time you get your ass all sorts of comfortable). The way Volstagg sums up everything is like one of the best children’s stories ever and it’s filled with….You know when your dad/caretaker would do a self insert story and they would be all strong/brave/perfect? This story has just that

Notice how he is all buff and shit.

I mean you know how The Worthy all had hammers in Fear Itself? LOL Oh Volstagg you so crazy

Then the kids find out about Thor’s demise, but they take it so well;_; i mean they are sad that he is well, dead. But they know he fought to save everyone. This whole issue was really touching (again, my opinion) and while Volstagg’s story isn‘t completely canon it is a really fun read…..This issue has become one of my personal favorites artistically and story wise. I REALLY recommend Journey into Mystery #630, so get your ass into a comfortable fuckin’ couch and put dat Snuggie on and read this.

Svartsot - Maledictus Eris

Being the season of all that is morbid, gory, and just plain awful I bring a treat! This is Alex and here I present to you a new installment of “Bands that Alex Likes on Ice in 3-D, the Halloween Version” today’s review will be on one of my most favorite bands Svartsot and their most recent CD “Maledictus Eris” that (in Europe) was released on July 29th, 2011. The third CD from Danish folk/death metal band Svartsot is a concept album about the Bubonic Plague arriving in Denmark in the 14th century and the death it left in its path. While the lyrical content sounds a little depressing/gory, musically it has surpassed the already high expectations I had hoped for it. This album was different from the first two albums “Mulmets Viser “(Darkness Shows) and “Ravenes Saga” which just made you want to go out and pillage some villages and drink while you were at it. “Maledictus Eris” has evolved Svartsot’s sound into something less pillage-y but still being true to the spirit of wanting to headbang along to the songs.

“Maledictus Eris” begins with a gloomy short intro: “Staden…”(City…) and goes in to the next track “Gud giv det varer ved!” (God give the goods in!) with full force…..and the force won’t stop, which is a good thing because you won‘t want it to. Blast beats, amazing guitar work, traditional folk, and a singer who has an unmistakable voice acoustics that just work so well together throughout this album. One of the tracks that blends this so well together would be track number four “Farsoten kom” (Plagues Came). Granted all of them sound great and each song has a different folk instrument that sticks out more than the rest. The only song in this whole album that isn’t brutal/heavy would be track number ten “Spigrene” (Spikes) is a sorrowful ballad of sorts telling the story of watching everything from the sidelines and feeling fear: The weight on a mans soul after locking people in their homes leaving them to die for fear of the spread of the disease.

The final track though “..Og Landet ligger sa ode hen” (..And the land is so desolate) is one of the greatest ending songs lyrically and musically. Seeing how a big part of the population is dead and seeing that only strength can keep who is left alive. The people look forward to the future that looms ahead.

While typing up synopsis on each of the songs would make this review easier to understand not to mention longer than it should be you will just have to hear for yourself. Only problem is I highly doubt you can get this CD at any record stores and might have to order it online from Europe which makes me a sad pillager. Below are some youtube links for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqOhnIXKv1E -“Spigrene”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U06zqOfEbPU - “Gud giv det varer ved!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhLsjFaF5ko -“Farsoten kom”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tS0yeluQf8 - “..Og Landet ligger sa ode hen”