Naruto Shippuden - Bijuu and Jinchuuriki Counting Song

At first, I thought this was a new opening.  Then Naruto started talking and cute singing ensued.  Kudos to his seiyuu for singing, and singing WELL.  The lyrics might be placed oddly, but I don't know Japanese well enough to determine that.  The traditional feel to the song was a great choice though.

A Brief Review - Final Fantasy IX (PS)

I had not thought it possible, but Final Fantasy IX has become my favorite Final Fantasy game.  X had that spot for as long as I've been playing games in the series, but IX topped it, and it is easy to see why.  

Presentation:  This game is beautiful.  It was one of the last games released for the PlayStation, and it really pushes the hardware to its limits.  From the moment you begin the game, the visuals blow you away.  Speaking of which, this game has one of the best openings I have ever seen.  The movies alternate with gameplay graphics, and the transitions are seamless.  Even after the prologue, when you enter a new area, it is introduced with its name in different scripts.  This adds to the characterization of each part of the world.  

Characters and Story:  I'm going to spend more time on the characters here because while the story is great, the characters really sell it.  Zidane makes a fantastic lead, cocky but willing to take advice.  Dagger goes through major character growth.  Vivi rocks the entire game.  Steiner makes me laugh, but he worms his way into your heart too. I think the only character that doesn't quite measure up to the others is Amarant.

Gameplay:  On the whole, quite excellent.  The battle system hasn't changed a whole lot from previous games, but timing seems to be much harder in this game due to not being able to tell the order of who goes after a particular character (enemy-wise).  It changes your strategy, and can be downright annoying, but adds another dimension of difficulty to the game.  The only complaints I have are that there aren't very many side quests, and your party is split up for at least 3/4ths of the game.  However, unlike FFIV, your party stays pretty balanced throughout.

Music:  This game has one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard.  Nobuo Uematsu really outdid himself here, and this was the last FF game he really composed for.  Sometimes the music reminds me of early organ music, but then you have tracks for places like Treno, which sound suspiciously like ragtime.  Then there are two main themes that keep changing in instrumentation and style throughout the game depending on where you are.  Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the evil themes!  The music when you enter the Iifa Tree is particularly creepy:

This game definitely deserves a 5/5 rating.  Go play it!

A Brief Review - Blue Exorcist

I was excited about watching Blue Exorcist as I had heard good things about it.  Long story short - it's not all it's cracked up to be.  

The story follows Rin Okumura, a boy who discovers he is the son of Satan.  For reasons I will not divulge (spoilers!), he decides to become an exorcist, thereby contradicting his own existence.  His twin brother, Yukio, is also an exorcist, and the two meet friends and work through their inner demons (pun intended) together.  The cast of characters is colorful, ranging from shy gardener Shiemi to the rambunctious Suguro (Bon).  My favorites of course are the demons - quirky Mephisto Pheles (if that isn't a dead giveaway, I don't know what is) and Kuro the cat.  Unfortunately, none of the female characters were very interesting in this show - a disappointment to be sure. 

Since the manga is still ongoing, I would love to compare the two, but alas I have not read the manga.  The first couple of episodes of the anime were well done and captured my interest immediately, but the episodes that followed quickly brought my interest down to almost nothing.  The strongest point was in the middle of the series, centered around Amaimon, one of the demon kings.  I now know the end of the anime was actually filler (!) and I think the content really killed the chance for a second season.  

The strongest music in the series is definitely found in both openings by Uverworld and ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D.  The background music added to the atmosphere of the anime, but not enough that I really took note of its presence.  The first ending theme, sung by 2PM, was also noteworthy.  

Overall, I would rate this anime a 3/5.  It's a shame it did not live up to its potential. 

A Brief Review - Riviera: The Promised Land (PSP)

I first played Riviera when it came out on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.  Although I didn't finish the game in that playthrough, I remember being impressed with the characters, plot, and gameplay (especially this last category - it really pushed the GBA to its limits!).  So when my brother got me the PSP port for Christmas one year, I was understandably excited.

From what I understand, not much has changed in the PSP version - the sprites and graphics are basically the same, just a bit clearer on the PSP due to the backlit screen.  There is added art in a number of scenes, but the biggest change comes in the form of voice acting for the characters.  In the American localization, you can even choose whether you want the characters to speak in English or Japanese!  Rose, the talking cat, was especially hilarious in Japanese.  

The music also gets a bit of an overhaul, updating the instrumentation to be more suitable for the PSP.  Each track creates its own ambience, and the final battle music is one of the best I've heard.  The normal battle music can get annoying after a while (especially during training...), but the soundtrack suits the game very well.  

Overall, even though the port doesn't do much to enhance the original game, I would still give this a 4/5 rating.  The GBA version is harder to find nowadays, so one might as well go for the PSP port. 

Pokemon Johto

So I've been going on a big Pokemon music binge lately (probably because I preordered Pokemon X).  While I never really kept up with the Pokemon anime, this was my favorite opening from the series when I was a kid.  Johto Journeys was Season 3, and corresponded with the Generation 2 Pokemon games - Gold and Silver.  These games introduced about 100 new Pokemon, so the lyrics in the English opening for the season match nicely. "But you still gotta catch 'em all!"

A Brief Review - Final Fantasy IV (DS)

Final Fantasy IV is one of the most beloved games in the Final Fantasy (FF) series, and it is easy to understand why.  The remake for the Nintendo DS is the only incarnation I have played, but it was quite an enjoyable experience.  

The premise seems simple - save the world from the forces of evil - but there are enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes.  There are eleven playable characters that, admittedly, keep switching out for various reasons, but the core characters remain the same.  Sometimes this can be annoying, like when you have one physical attacker and three mages (or vice versa), but the game makes it work.  

The gameplay mechanics are very similar to other FF games, utilizing the Active Time Battle System, which you can see in the screenshot above.  Due to the dual screens on the DS, the menu and stats are on the bottom screen, which means you can take advantage of the touch options to choose your battle actions.  The touch screen can also be used to dictate your movements outside of battle, but I found that the control pad was easier.  

The music in FFIV is really quite good.  My favorite themes were definitely the Lunar Moon theme (very alien) and the Theme of Love.  The latter is one of the most well known FF themes and lives up to its name: 

I personally found that the game didn't get really good until the latter half, but I was also annoyed with the parts where I had a lopsided team so that could have had something to do with it.  The final showdown is definitely in my top 10 in terms of epicness.  The music, while not the best in the series in terms of overall soundtrack, still had some nice themes and added to the experience in a positive way.  I give this game a 4/5, and highly recommend checking it out.

A Brief Review - Chobits

Chobits is about a young man named Hideki who finds an abandoned Persocom in the trash and takes her home with him.  This Persocom, who he names Chii, seems to be one of the legendary Chobits - a series of Persocoms that are capable of actual thought instead of just programming.  The series follows their adventures as Hideki tries to find out the truth behind Chii, while also falling in love with her.  

When I read the original manga by CLAMP back in high school, I was intrigued by the art and the different ideas of love presented in the series.  The manga was also just the right length - 8 volumes, not too long and not too short.

The anime, however, is a different story.  8 volumes definitely take up less than 26 episodes, so the anime was stock full of filler episodes that seemed to merely showcase fanservice for the male audience.  This was probably my biggest gripe, along with the changed ending. The music is nothing special, and only begins to be interesting in the opening and closing themes, which tend to grow on you after 26 episodes. 

While the storyline does bring up interesting ideas about the many forms love takes, it doesn't seem to make up for the sheer amount of fanservice provided in the anime due to its length.  The ending also was a big let down compared to the manga, and seemed a bit too rushed for my tastes.  So overall, I would give this a 2.5/5 rating.  The music can be catchy sometimes, the art is beautiful in certain episodes when they're actually trying, and the animated storybooks are adorable.

Also, Sumomo is the best: