Writer, Gamer, Otaku

It's a new year and with that brings an all-new season of anime. Coming off the heels of a fantastic Fall season, I was nervous and skeptical that this upcoming roster of new anime would leave me disappointed. Boy, was I wrong! From over-the-top shounen anime, to small-form comedy anime, and even some incredibly weird and disturbing shows too, this season is looking to be one of the greats! Here's my rundown of the premier episodes for just 10 of the anime I'm watching this season. D-Frag! What starts out as a high school slice of life quickly gets much crazier. While normally I can't stand to watch any slice of life anime, D-Frag!'s comedy wins me over so much so that I can't stop watching. Having so many plot twists and spit take moments in just the first episode, the writing will keep laughing moment to moment. The show is fast-paced, sometimes illogical, and definitely crazy, but it's a roller-coaster ride of Japanese-life satire, nerdy cul...

Just finished up this season's round of anime. Overall I was pretty pleased with the how many unique shows there were this season. "Kill la Kill" made a strong first impression, but could've used more depth. On the other hand "Valvrave the Liberator" was drenched in heavy themes and an amazing story, but the ending left me slightly dissatisfied. "Arpeggio of Blue Steel" showed what I believe to be  the future of digital animation in anime, but also did a poor job of resolving all of its story's issues. Finally, my biggest surprise and probably one of the most underappreciated anime this season, "Kyousougiga" turned out not only to be my favorite show this season, with fantastic music, gorgeous visuals, and an amazing storyline it has elevated itself to be included amongst my top 5 favorite anime of all time! With a story taking inspiration from Japanese mythology, telling a heart-warming and sometimes heart-wrenching tale of a family...

Today Crunchyroll released the simulcast of the "Sword Art Online" Special. Much longer than I thought, it's essentially an OVA or short movie, much more than a bonus episode. Other than an awesome nostalgic intro and intermittent scenes, most of the special was a clever recap of the entire SAO season. Really well-paced, and hitting all the major chords of the series, fans, like myself, are sure to enjoy the return to the world of Aincrad, and, surprisingly, even Alfheim! It  isn't until the final 20 minutes or so, however, that things get truly awesome. Delivering what most fans truly wanted for the first time, we get to see the entire cast of characters set out on an underwater quest in ALO after first teaching Sugu how to swim. There could have been more of this included, as we only get to see a montage of fights and barely see some of the characters' abilities, but overall, it's what fans have wanted. All-in-all I loved the Special episode and all the feel...

Allow me to preface this by saying, I'm an employee of GameStop, as well as a customer of GameStop. My intention of writing this article is to not only express my  opinion  on the matter, but to hopefully generate a positive discussion as well. The way I feel on the matter of GameStop opening and removing codes which contained free downloads of the OnLive version of "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" from retail PC copies of the game is that it's a quick, fumbled fix to handle the situation. Not a permanent solution, and not a very good one at that. This turns out to be true since GameStop almost immediately sent word to remove any copies of the PC version until new shipments arrive, ones without the code. So the question now must be, is it okay for them to do this? Whom does it hurt and whom does it benefit? It certainly does not benefit customers at first glance. There's nothing tangible, or immediate they recieve from this. But does it outright hurt customers? To t...