Agent Zako

The fight is on, people! U.S. versus Japan for the glory of honorable mecha combat.
The Challenge:
 

 
The Response:
 

 
These are good times to live in...

Did a speech about the blues for my college speech class. Muddy Waters is as good as they say.
 

Did a speech about the blues for my college speech class. Muddy Waters is as good as they say.
 

Samurai Flamenco is truly an experience. It's definitely not perfect, but everything about it is so charming, it just becomes great.
 
Also, yeah, the super sentai parts in the middly area were really mediocre and I also considered dropping it at that point (but not really, since I don't really drop things), but pretty much every other arc was hilarious and stupid and amazing.
 
Like you, it's not my favorite anime, but it's got a special place in my heart for managing to do everything it did while still being an enjoyable experience. It's like what something would be if the directors of a show read crazy theories about their show on the internet while it's airing and actually making those theories come true and I love it for that.

So, I finished Samurai Flamenco a couple days ago.
 
Well, that certainly lived up to being the twisty crazy-ride I was promised. While the middle third-ish of the show sagged in quality, I thoroughly enjoyed the initial slow-build and the serious, introspective turn the show took near the end. I never would have expected that the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai inspired parts of Samumenco would be my least favorite parts, but the way they bounced back and forth between being deadly serious and outright parody rubbed me the wrong way half the time. Especially since, from what I've seen and heard, Akibarangers does a way better job parodying sentai than Samumenco ever does.On the plus side, the initial Kick-Ass-esque storyline and the way things eventually came back around to it made me a lot happier, especially since the core cast of the show is pretty strong. Even the characters who were introduced to round out the Flamenger team got better when that arc was done. I was definitely not expecting a lot of things in this show, not the least of which being

Everything seemed too arbitrary for a while there, but once the revelations dropped after the vaguely Metal Gear storyline, it all felt a lot more cohesive.
 
I wasn't sure Flamenco would be worth it when I was around the halfway point, but it pulled itself back together. If I could change one thing about the show, I would have LOVED to have seen this story done as a live-action tokusatsu series. The variety of effects and number of suits needed for that might be impractical, but this story just screams to be in the same medium as its inspirations. Not one of my favorite anime, but it was definitely good.Thanks for the recommend, Muffin and Dub

I've been listening to so much Lady Gaga these past couple weeks, largely while doing fun things like drawing or procrastination. Bad Romance is my favorite song of hers, but Born This Way is pretty great as a whole album. I can't get enough of the chorus in Judas. I'm a sucker for that kind of poppy synth and vocal combination.
 

The smell of a new, freshly printed book is one of my favorites, and I can't decide if I like the smell of the air as it's raining or after the rain has just stopped more.

Brotherhood has always been one of those anime that I feel is objectively amazing. In 64 episodes, it develops and characterizes dozens of lovable characters well, establishes an intriguing world and mysterious plot, and has really good action throughout, all with an underlying element of alchemy that is always done in a way that makes sense and has risk and reward that feels right. Oh, and there's also the added bonus of a good artstyle, good character designs, amazing animation, and all the detail put into that animation.
 
It's just done so well. Even the original that goes off the rails, since the manga wasn't finished, still has a good air to it. Even though Brotherhood is top tier, I feel like the old quality of the original anime has a certain charm to it. Brotherhood comes out on top for me though. Both endings were banana though.
 
 
Samurai Flamenco is a roller coaster ride without any breaks, Zako. There's no time to stop and enjoy the scenery.

The new Gundam has finally been revealed after that small countdown. There's a trailer for the new Gundam half-way through the video if you want to skip to it. It reveals that the new Gundam will be airing this fall on October 4th.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y--SbNecHQI
 
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-07-15/gundam-iron-blooded-orphans-anime-announcement-video-english-subtitled/.90475
 
Seems it'll be about orphans doing the ol' Gundam tradition of trying to stop the bad characters, who probably aren't objectively bad, from controlling the universe. The character designs look good, as does the Gundam itself. The trailer also looks pretty nice.
 
The only gripe I have with it is a petty subjective one, which is with the setting being on Mars or at least somewhat set on Mars with there being a conflict between it and Earth. Aldnoah Zero is set on Mars. Aldnoah Zero S2, Mars. Classroom Crisis? Also on Mars. And Terra Formers started a few years back, but it's also on Mars. There are probably more I'm forgetting, but let's just assume that every anime airing right now is also set on Mars. So, if I see one more anime set on Mars...
 
Besides that, this seems solid. Like a robot. Hopefully I don't stop watching anime halfway through the season like during Reconguista's airing.

[sCREAMING]

Here's a nice video to lighten the emotional load. It's an episode of Game Center CX where they had Iwata come in and sort of co-host where he talks about how he got into the game industry and why old games are hard. The content is hilarious, but also sad knowing that he's gone.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63mG4k-VIyY
 
Rest in peace, Iwata.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-07-08/berserk-manga-confirmed-to-resume-as-monthly-series-this-month/.90187
 
New Berserk chapter coming on July 24th

The fight is on, people! U.S. versus Japan for the glory of honorable mecha combat.
The Challenge:
 

 
The Response:
 

 
These are good times to live in...

speaking of: look at google.com today

Just watched the first episode of Chaos Dragon, and it was hilariously bad at points. The animation quality reached near-One Piece levels of cheapness during the action scenes, only minus all of that show's charm. That plus the awkward plot dumps, way too many characters introduced, super distracting clothing (what were those things on evil lady's legs?), awful CGI dragons, and nose-hair mustaches made this a special kind of opening episode that was oddly entertaining.

 
 
 
 
Gay marriage can't melt steel beams.

Marvel's new, post secret wars comic line-up.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/massive-marvel-preview-leaks-all-new-all-different-lineup
 
I'm excited for so many of these!!

Except Uncanny Avengers. Was really on board when this series first started after AvX, fell off of it for a bit but have been loving it a lot recently. But this team line-up... eh. Quicksilver's new outfit is cool but this new, NEW outfit is lame. Also Deadpool tends to just ruin everything when he shows up, imo. Also not a new fan of this art, especially since I love the current main artist on the current Uncanny Avengers run....


Loving the New Avenger's Line up though, I mean Wiccan and Hulkling are enough tbh. I love the Young Avengers team(s) but it's great to see them on an adult team!

 
And Extraordinary X-Men looks fantastic! Great artist, great team line up, and Colossus with a beard-- YASSSSSS <3

20 Design Fails Which Will Leave You Speechless

https://vt.tumblr.com/tumblr_nqk94tr8Hg1qki1rd_480.mp4
 
LOOK AT THIS THING

Luther Strode continued to be fantastic.
 
Saga vol 1-- jux finished it. wish it wasn't 10pm so i could go buy the next two volumes now haha. Even my mom is interested in reading it, so i lent it to her!

My semi-recent game purchases include the original Shantae and Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons, both on the 3DS eshop. Not sure when I'll get around to them, or finishing any other 3DS games. I'm still playing Persona 4, and sporadically despite how much I like it so far.

That's lame :< Keep trying
 
Also, I have had a violin for a while. I gave it to my dad because he wanted to learn how to play. He calls it the fiddle, though. I think the only difference is how far apart the strings are from the neck? If there is even any difference? Also, my dad has two of them. I will probably let him keep mine and see if I can use the less good one that he also owns. 
 
But anyway, I dicked around with it for a while. I could only go so far with no actual instructor. So I kind of just stopped. But my friend played viola at Carnegie Hall and knows a lot about music. Actually three different people at my job are into music a lot. One of them plays brass, but his major is teaching music. My friend who plays viola is gonna give me lessons for FREEEEEEE. I'll try to pay her, though. I'm excited. 

So uh, now that part 3 is done, I'd like to give a plot synopsis.