Rating:

Story:	Gameplay:

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, is a game that i was excited to play and yet why did it take me months to finish the game? I suppose its because i played KH1 and KH2 before this one, so my expectations were too high. The entire game is basically fighting heartless (its all that you do in each world) to collect cards to fight and cards to open doors, in each world you open three doors so that you can see cut scenes and fight the final boss. You repeat this in each world that you already visited in KH1, there really wasn’t any new worlds, since the point of this game is to delve into Sora’s Memory, as the name of the game basically says.

Sora is looking for Riku and King Mickey, he wants to find them so he can go back home. He ends up in Castle Oblivion a place that has something to do with memories. The castle is ruled by cards. Yep i said cards. Thats the one thing i didn’t like about the game, i know the games are geared for kids, but the whole idea of fighting with cards and opening doors with them just pushed the games into being really childish. It reminds me of those kids shows where kids duel other people, they stand there and creatures come out of cards and everyone is gasping in panic to see what the next card will be next. The villain always has a super undefeatable card that the hero manages to beat magically. Anyways, i Digress.

The cards thing wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t annoying fighting with cards. When you battle you have a deck of cards to use, some are attack cards, item cards, skill cards, and magic cards. The bad thing is if you waste your cards doing sleights (a special attack) all your cards will disappear and you’ll be standing there without any cards and unable to do anything,  but you do have the choice of waiting for Pluto to appear and find you more cards, but you better hope his card number is high, because if his number is low he can be broken by an enemy attack and you’ll get nothing. And yet despite all of that i was still able to finish this game because i really liked the story, it was interesting to see what happened during the one year gap between KH1 and KH2. Namine comes out more in this game and you are able to understand her powers more, and you get to learn a little more about the organization. You also get to learn more about Riku and Axel.

The graphics in this game are great, its a huge improvement to the graphics in the Gameboy version. The music as always is sweet and nostalgic but its getting kind of annoying that they cant come up with new music for the new Kingdom Hearts games, as much as i like the song Sanctuary, do they have to use it for every single game??? Also, for you Mickey Fans out there you’ll get to see a lot more of him in this game, and you get to hear his squeaky voice a lot, i used to love Mickey, but my love has officially been destroyed. One thing i really liked about this game is that when you finish the game there is a 2nd Story Mode. You actually get to play as Riku! You’ll get to see what happened to him after he disappeared behind the door with Mickey in KH1. I’ve always wanted to play as him, unfortunately you can tell they didn’t really care about originality when they decided to piece together a quick little game that features Riku. They actually force you to fight the same exact bosses and you revisit the same worlds that Sora did, i dont get why you had to do this. It was really annoying, but it was worth it because you get to learn so much more about Riku. Anyway, if you are a KH fan then i would recommend playing this game. Otherwise just head over to youtube and watch the cut scenes, you wont be missing much by skipping the game play.

Top: Gameboy Version Bottom: PS2 Version

You have to synthesized doors in each world to see cut scenes and reach the worlds boss.

     Animation Supercon (October 2 – 4, 2009) was held this year at the Doubletree Miami Mart Convention Center. This years convention was especially exciting because of the reunion of the cast of FUTURAMA and PINKY & THE BRAIN. When we first got there on Saturday we were surprised to note that the convention was strangely empty this year   and it stayed that way throughout the day!

     Anyway, we started the day by joining the Fancy Onigiri making panel. It took us two hours to make the Onigiri, and guess what? We still don’t understand why those Japanese girls spend hours making Onigiri for the guys they like! Its a lot of hard work just to make a small ball of rice, that tastes like…okay. However, we would love to try Onigiri made in Japan, to see what it really tastes like. But i will say that it was a lot of fun to make the Onigiri.

     After making Onigiri we went to the first floor to meet Billy West. He is the Star of Futurama, Ren and Stimpy, Looney Tunes and lots of other cartoons. It was so cool to get to hear him do the voice of Bugs Bunny (what’s up doc?) and lots of others voices from Futurama. He talked about his career as a Voice Actor, and how he started his career by doing voices on a radio show. Eventually, he started auditioning to do voices in cartoons, and that’s how it all started. It was really cool to meet him, he seems like a really fun person.

     We then went to have lunch at the hotel mart and looked around the shops. When we got tired we went back to the Convention to see some Anime. We got to see a hot guy in the Anime Needless. We didn’t get to see much although the end credits was a bit weird with the girls making out. Afterwards, For the first time ever we tried to play a game for the DreamCast at the game room (it was some kind of fighting game with weird girls fighting with a violin and a tennis racket).

     There is an interesting artist we met that we were very impressed by his artwork. He is called Alfonso and we find his artwork to be one of the best among the other artist at the convention, check out our picture gallery to see an example of his art work. We also came across an interesting panel hosted by four girls that tried to teach the guys how to pick up girls at an anime convention. It was interesting to say the least, but since we’re girls we don’t really need tips on how to pick up girls!

     There was a great band called “Select Star” that played songs from video games. It was nostalgic to hear songs from some of my favorite video games. We even took a video of them playing Aerith’s Theme, from FF7. At the end of the day we saw the cosplay contest, there were so many interesting costumes. Our favorite was a cute little boy who was dressed as Ash Ketchum from Pokemon, he couldn’t have been more than 5 but he was so brave to go up there and pose for everyone.

     Although, there weren’t many people at the convention, it wasn’t any less fun. It actually felt good not to wait in line for anything. For example to buy food, to play games in the game room panel or to find a seat to watch the Cosplay contest. Overall we had fun as always!

 View Pictures and Video of Select Star band & Cosplay from the convention at our Site!

     The First episode was cute with both of them flirting as always, Horo always hungry and Lawrence always has something new to sell. Their next stop was at a town called: Kumerson. They are there for the Radora festival. In town they meet a kid that is also another merchant called: Femi Amati, who helps them find a room at an Inn since all of them were booked because of the festival. Also, Amati seems to like Horo by the way he looks at her. This might have been caused by the sweet girly face she put on but that might have been to their advantage since the kid found them a room.

     The last five minutes of the episode was my favorite since they seem to find it hard for each to end their journey together so soon and it’s cute how they find excuses as to why they should continue traveling together. The first episode was what I expected; I loved the first season and hope to love the second season as well.

 Cute Screen Shots:

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Shounen.

Author: Mashima Hiro

Volumes: 35

Review:

I recently finished reading Rave Master, it is now completely scanlated, so if you haven’t checked it, out do so now!

This manga is about a society that is trying to take over the world by using “Dark Bring,” which is a special stone that can give the user different types of powers, for example elemental magic, like fire or ice, and one character was able to turn his body into mental. Anyway, there is one thing that can destroy the Dark Bring and that is Rave, which was created by a sorceress 50 years.

The current rave master is an old man called Shiba, but the Rave has chosen a new Master, Haru Glory; a sixteen-year-old boy from Garage Island. Haru must go on a quest to find the 5 Rave Stones so that he can complete the Rave and destroy the Mother Dark Bring. The Mother Dark Bring is the ultimate Dark Bring that can be used to obliterate the world. Lucia Raregroove, is the one that is destined to complete the dark bring.

The one thing I didnt like about Haru, is that even though he is supposed to be incredibly powerful because of Rave all he does in major fights is faint! Even in the last fight! Despite that he is actually a great swordsman, I just wish they wouldn’t make him appear so weak. But there is something really likable about him, he has changed the lives of countless people in the story.

The first person he affected is my favorite character, his name is Let, and he is from the Dragon Race. When he first appears in the story he looks like a human/Dragon, it was kind of strange, but he eventually becomes completely human.  At first he is a really quiet and calm guy that only cares about fighting others and becoming the strongest fighter. But after knowing Haru, he becomes a person that cares about the new friends he has made, and he would do anything to help Haru in his quest.

The interesting thing about Let is that he had a girlfriend that was transformed fully into a dragon. When a person is transformed into a dragon they cannot become human again, but Let uses an Elixir to heal her. She had been taken away by another guy that used magic to make her believe that Let had died. Anyway, they eventually get together in the story. She became my favorite female character in the story. I really think there should be more female characters like her in other Manga.

This is Let and his girlfriend Julia, in this scene she thinks Let is interested in another girl.

She is a cool and strong woman that isnt afraid to get into a fight with someone stronger than her, but despite the tough act she puts up, she is really caring. I especially like when she punches her boyfriend when he does something to piss her off, and she even accuses him of cheating on her and beats him up before letting him say anything.

There are too many interesting characters to mention them all but some that I like are Elie, Musica, and Sieg.  Elie is the Main female Character she has a mysterious power that is connected to the Rave stones, she is also the girl that Haru likes, its cute to see the love between these two grow throughout the story.

Musica is the leader of a gang, Haru meets him early in the story and since they both have quests that lead them to the same place they team up, but eventually they just stick together because they’ve become such good friends.

This is Sieg Hart, my second favorite character.

Sieg is my second favorite character, when the story starts he is just this psycho guy that is obsessed with protecting time and is willing to sacrifice anyone to do it. But as time goes by he is influenced by Haru’s kind heart, he starts to see the value in other people, and he isn’t so willing to sacrifice others, instead he is willing to sacrifice himself for others. Out of everyone in the story he makes the biggest sacrifice… I wont ruin it by revealing it here, but believe me you will be crying like me when you get to that part of the story!

The ending of Rave Master felt a little strange and dramatic, and everyone seems to be at the point of death and they keep saying they’ll make all these sacrifices to help Haru and the world, when the truth is they are all carrying Elixirs that can heal almost any wound. However, the ending leaves you feeling happy since it is a happy ending! Overall, I was glad i finished reading this Manga, not just because of the action scenes but because there are so many awesome characters in the story that its very easy to fall in love with this story, so check it out if you can!

In the Japan Version of Itunes, the song, Butterfly by Kaera Kimura (aka Kaela Kimura), is currently the top song. According to Imdb Kaera is a “Top singer in Japan.” The video is a little strange, its kind of a world that seems like a kids popup book; it’s definitely different from other music videos. The song is OK, it isn’t very unique, but watch the video, you might like it!

     The F.S.C this year was held at the Double tree hotel in Miami,Fl. on June 5-7 but we only made it to the one on Saturday June 6. The F.S.C consists of Anime, comic books, video games, fantasy and Sci-Fi. The F.S.C main entertainment for us were the people dressed in cosplay or costumes, the guest artists & writers, and the media guests.

     After arriving an hour late and missing the opportunity to see the hottie actor STANISLAV IANEVSKI (from the movie Harry Potter series) we found ourselves asking everyone in Cosplay and costumes for their pictures, making us feel at one point like if we were tourist for the first time at a country taking pictures. lol.

  “A Historical look into Modern Japanese Fashion”  in Panel Room B, the speaker was very informative on the topic and has taught elementary school in Japan. The speaker showed us PowerPoint slide pictures on different category styles in old and new fashion like Gothic-Lolita, Manba, Decora, Gyaru and more.

     We then walked around the small shops and each bought a cute Lolita lace head-band. This time we didn’t see too much variety like we usually do but sufficient enough to make us stop by and look at them. =)

     A few hours later we stopped to buy food at the food stand they had available by the entrance and had a laugh when the lady told us that they ran out of burger bread so we told her to just use a hot-dog bread instead. lol.  They had salad, hot-dogs, burgers, chicken tenders, croquette, nachos and other snacks. Tate’s snack stand was there too selling Japanese snacks, so of course we had to buy our favorite Strawberry Pocky Sticks!

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We took a stroll down the Artist & Writers isle and found some very nice and interesting drawings, some really worth buying. Some of the Artist were drawing/painting so we managed to take a picture of them in the act. 

     In the Anime Viewing room is where we ate our Burger/dog while watching pieces of Guin Saga. We didn’t stick around too much since there was other things to see. Among the list of anime to view was Sengoku Basara and more of springs season anime.

     The Double Tree hotel has Mart stores that we went over to look at and bought a few accessories. That took up most of our time, we are girls and shopping is a must! The Mart consist of three floors and has over a 100 shops. Very interesting items and discounts!

Anyways, back at the convention we tried to make it back on time to see another viewing on panel A titled “Wacky Japan” that talked about the weird things they do over there. We made it for the last 10min and were able to see how Watermelon has different types of shapes and how they mix beer with milk!

     Our last viewing room was in panel room D titled “What the heck is a Geisha, Anyways?” we did not get to see much since their projector was not functioning properly and the speaker was tying to entertain the audience by showing around her geisha fan and her kimono. When one of the staff members did get the projector working, another staff member comes in and ruins it by making it not function again, so we got annoyed and just left. =P

     Overall the day proved to be entertaining like an anime fan or comic fan would feel at any other convention that satisfies our obsessive needs!

Want to see more pictures from the Convention, then click below, and enjoy!

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Genre: Action,  Comedy,  Fantasy, Shounen, Supernatural.

Author: Shiibashi Hiroshi

Review:

This is currently my favorite Manga, I obsessively check everyday to see if it’s updated. It is currently in chapter 58 (Volume 6.) After you see the picture of the Main Character I am sure this will quickly become your favorite Manga too…

The strange thing about this Manga is that in the beginning the character is a 9 year old boy, but a few years go by and he is now 12 years old; even though he is still young, his “other form” makes up for the age problem (he looks older and sexier).

Rikou is special, because he is Human during the day and Youkai at night. When he is in his Night Form he is more confident and stronger. The cool thing about Rikou is naturally a good swordsman; you won’t have to wait 20 chapters for him to improve, like in other Shounen Manga.

At first Rikou denies his Youkai half, because he thinks Youkai aren’t good people, but he believes he can change the way Youkai are perceived by using his Night Form to help humans. It is interesting to see Rikou’s struggle with his Night and Day form, he knows his Night Form is more powerful but he refuses to give up the part of himself that is human.

Romance isn’t a big thing so far in the manga, but his childhood friend, Kana, seems to have a crush on him, although that quickly fades when she meets Rikou’s night form (which really disappointed me, i hate seeing girls in Manga swooning over guys.) Another girl that seems to like Rikou is Yuki Onna, she is one of Rikou’s Body guards, and she has a magical Ice ability. She likes Rikou no matter what form he is in and he very loyal to him.

There are a lot of interesting side characters in this story, the two that really caught my attention so far are Inugami and Gyuuki. Inugami is a dog Youkai, his powers were awakened by Tamazuki (a Youkai that wants to take over all Youkai) when he was awakened he killed a bunch of people. He is a person that has never been loved, and he resents Rikou for being loved by so many people, sadly Inugami has a sad fate, and somehow I cant help thinking that if someone had loved him, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up the way he did…

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This is Gyuuki, he is a Youkai, and the story of how he became a Youkai, is probably the saddest in the whole Manga.

Gyuuki also caught my interest because of the way he was turned into a Youkai. He was separated from his mother for a while because he went to serve at a temple to pray for the salvation of his father’s soul. He was treated badly at the temple because the other kids were jealous of him, and so he decides to go back home to his mother. Unfortunately, on his way home he meets a Youkai, this Youkai murders his mother. In despair, Gyuuki transforms into a Youkai while holding his mothers dead body. The look on his face as he transforms into a Youkai was painful to see.

This is a scene where Yuki Onna protects Rikou.

         

The song that is currently the top song in Japanese iTunes is My Best of my Life by Superfly. Don’t let the name fool you, the song is actually in Japanese. The song is nice, she has a pretty voice. However, the video is a little strange, its basically her in a white dress, on a piano is what appears to be the desert; a little strange. What in the world would a piano be doing in a desert? <~obviously confused. Anyway, check out the video and see if you like it!