Shuffle!
Shuffle! it’s a big thing.
It’s a game.
Shuffle! consists of a typical harem romance set-up, where the main character is liked by a number of attractive girls, and he must choose which girl he wishes to be with. The game is fully voiced (except for the main character) and offers approximately six hours worth of gameplay for each path.
It’s a…less perverted game.
The Playstation 2 version greatly varies from the PC version by having all of the H scenes removed. To make up for these deleted scenes, the storylines of the five original characters have been expanded. Additionally, the player may follow Kareha’s or Mayumi Thyme’s paths, two characters whose coupled ending routes were unavailable in the PC version of the game. Tsubomi, Kareha’s younger sister, also has her first appearance in the On the Stage version during Kareha’s path. Tsubomi also appears on occasions in the anime.
It’s a Manga
There have been two official series of Shuffle! manga which originally appeared in Comptiq magazine. The first, titled Shuffle! Days in the Bloom, is illustrated by Shiroi Kusaka, has six tankōbon, and retails for, eh, about 5 bucks (USD of course! =p). Days in the Bloom began running in Comptiq on December 2003, a month before the Shuffle! visual novel was released, to build publicity for the game.
It’s an Anime
Funimation is releasing the Anime in 2008 over here in the U.S. of A. It adds “Idol Clubs” (like worship centers of the main character girls) and removes the H-Scenes as well..heh. It’s pretty darn cute! I love the animation style, and it’s a bit Love Hina-ish looking, but definitely going to be more fun.
It’s an.. Audio .. Drama ?
Shuffle! also has seven audio drama CD adaptations, which each one focusing on one of the main girls (including Kareha and Mayumi from On the Stage) and a radio drama series that translates as Shuffle! Charadio: Verbena Academy Broadcasting Department. I’d kill to hear these but alas, I only speak English.
Anyhow, lots of fun there, and just wanted to lay the basics. It’s a wonderful success story! One company can make a game and turn it into a franchise without losing the integrity during their move to mass market appeal, I’m envious. =)
Filed under Anime, Gaming | Comment (0)Chobits: The Facts!
Persocom: Personal Computer
Why not Robots? In the final chapter of the manga, Chitose Hibiya explains that humanoid computers are not named “robots” because Ichiro Mihara did not include the Three Laws of Robotics in them.
I Hate Recap episodes.
Episodes 9, 18, and an extra 27th OVA episode are used as “recap” episodes, looking back on the events that happened previously.
Plum is not the only adorable “laptop” persocom
There is a 6-minute special episode: “Sumomo and Kotoko on a Quest”, or “Chibits”, concerning Sumomo and Kotoko.
Chobits is one of Clamp’s first attempts at the seinen (Older Male) genre.
It seems more like adolescents with a heart, but whatever you wanna call it.
This show had some crazy undertones.
The series deals with issues and ideals of virginity, and sexual intercourse in that Chi is effectively incapable of sexual intercourse (in the manga) and must therefore only entrust her body to someone who cares for her well-being. The series also hints that Chi’s particular placement of her “on switch” is added after Freya’s death, since her father gave her “special abilities”. Along with his goal to ensure all persocoms found happiness, the placement of Chi’s on switch ensures that her personality will thrive only in a relationship in which she is loved without the pressure of sex. Persocoms, like women before the women’s liberation, are viewed as objects that meet needs rather than to be loved. This is shown in the series, particularly when several males attempt to “interfere” with Chi. The idea of “love”, as a concept is addressed for the denominator of the series, in several installments of “A City with No People”; this deals with issues particularly relating to searching, and subsequently waiting for someone who is what would be referred to as a “soul mate”. This is in parallel to the story of Freya, who fell in love with her father and creator, and ultimately wished death due to heartache, and is used as a means of “aiding” Chi in her quest for “A Person Just For Me”, or “My One and Only”. Both Chi and her sister, Freya; Atashi being linked to Chi, and the companion, linked to Freya.
I want a robot.
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Tsubasa Chronicles OVA
Hmm..Makes you wonder if the mangas will lead into more Seasons or not.
It is the groups longest running manga series, but it’s OVA’s seem more like stop-gaps as they try and decide what to do. I know their first production studio didn’t work out as well as they had hoped, but I’m sure another season would sell well.
Here’s what the story is about for anyone who doesn’t know a bit about it:
Sakura is the princess of Clow kingdom, which is ruled by her older brother, King Tōya. Her childhood friend Syaoran is a young archaeologist. Sakura is revealed to have strange powers when she has a vision of a mysterious symbol and places she has never seen. Meanwhile, Syaoran discovers the same symbol at the ruins he is excavating. He sees Sakura standing on the symbol on the ground. Ghostly wings appear on her back and a mysterious force begins to pull her into the walls of the ruins. Syaoran rescues her in time, but her wings are scattered across dimensions. The High Priest of Clow Kingdom, Yukito, immediately realizes that Sakura’s “wings” were the manifestation of her soul and memories; without them, she will die. In order to save Sakura, Syaoran must journey to retrieve her wing’s feathers, the fragments of her memories.
Yukito sends Syaoran and the unconscious Sakura to the Dimensional Witch, Yūko, who is one of the main characters in xxxHolic. There he meets Kurogane, a rough-mannered ninja banished from his world by Princess Tomoyo, and Fai D. Flourite, a magician who fled his world to avoid King Ashura. Each of them must pay with what he values most in order to gain the power to cross dimensions. For Kurogane, it is his sword Ginryū, and for Fay, it is the tattoo on his back which regulates his control of his magic. Syaoran, on the other hand, must pay with his relationship with Sakura: even if he is able to retrieve all of her memories, she will never remember anything about him or their relationship. (This sacrifice also pays Sakura’s “toll” to Yūko, because what Sakura values most are her memories of and with Syaoran.) Only when the three agree to her terms does Yūko present them with the power to cross dimensions; a white creature named Mokona Modoki.
While traversing through worlds to find Sakura’s feathers, the four travellers and Mokona are forced to overcome many dangers and opponents, some of whom are figures from Syaoran’s past who wish to collect Sakura’s feathers for their own reasons as they are seen to be objects that hold great power.
The manga adopts darker and more complex tones in the latter half of the story.
Because of the crossover characters with xxxHolic, the two manga occasionally intertwine with each other.
Anyhow, I’m a CLAMP fan, I like their style (Magic Knight RayEarth, CCS) and just haven’t seen as much of this, it’s one of those series that you don’t even realize how much is out there, then you check it out and see…wow…it’s a pretty well developed universe.
Anyhow, expect more. =D
Filed under Anime | Comment (0)Similar? I think so.
Now, which one gets my buster rifle?
Filed under Anime | Comment (0)Snow Fairy Sugar
Ah, life is so busy sometimes, hard to even find time to watch my shows!
I’ve really only just started this series but I am enjoying it, I have episodes 1-24 and the special DVD (which came with…erm..shampoo bottles? Must be big…elsewhere, but my shampoo already comes in bottles.)
Anyhow, the show for those of you who love descriptions is summed up as such:
Season Fairies create and control the weather using special musical instruments. They make the wind blow, the snow fall, the sun shine; if it’s something weather related, they are the ones who make it happen. Sugar, an apprentice Snow Fairy, and her friends Salt and Pepper, all want to become full-fledged Season Fairies, and the only way to achieve this is to search for and find the “Twinkles” that will make their magical flowers bloom. The only problem is that none of them have any idea what a Twinkle is. They enlist the somewhat unwilling help of Saga, a human girl who can see Season Fairies. Much to her annoyance, Saga’s perfectly planned and ordered life has just become a little too lively for her taste. Together, they search for the mysterious Twinkles while trying to perfect their magic.
For the rest of you: It’s about Crazy little fairies who love WAFFLES. Now if this isn’t just begging for a promotion deal from Waffle House…c’mon.
Anyhow, it’s the equivalent of going to watch a Disney movie like ratatouille. Sure, it’s made for a younger crowd but has charm. Complimenting that charm is a cast of run, lovable characters you can’t help but keep watching, and hoping for.
Filed under Anime | Comment (1)
