Xavier-kun's Arcade Style Fighting Game Rampage:King of Fighters XIII

Konnichiwa!!

Hey its Xavier-kun here with the second installment of my arcade style fighting game series of reviews and its a doozy that's right
 the classic Completely anime styled game is back with  the 13th installment and I know, I get the same kinda

feeling when you see 13 because you know there has to be a few more 18 to be exact(not counting remakes/hd versions) but aside from the big number its there for a reason so lets get it on. hehhehheh

Story
The story behind King of Fighters is pretty good although it has one of those story's that are separate from the arcade mode. To get the real story mode that incorporates all of the characters instead of just character-character relationships there is a story mode which is like a visual novel instead of a fight some then watch/read a cut scene it's just straight words which is OK if you need a manga to read because it feels like a book but slightly better(not as good as an anime or a manga but ok-ish all the same)
Now with the story that comes with arcade mode, it's really good because you learn about the love-hate-I'm gonna rip you limb from limb, relationship that all the characters have with each other so it gets you really knowing the characters.

Graphics
The graphics for King of Fighters is really really Really good. Why 3 "really's" you ask, because of all the anime artwork!All of character designs are done in anime style which is really awesome because come on what can't anime art make better? It's a scientific fact that anime makes the world a better place to live in. Another tidbit is that the art is all done in pixels which makes could make you think the game would look kinda

Right? But that couldn't be further from

see the difference?


Balance
The balance for King of Fighters is really close to street fighter but with a little more aerial combo accessibility so that opens a few more combo ideas to float in your head.

Characters
Well he we are again with the lack of character difference being pretty clearly evident in this game it makes want to just walk across the ocean, to the developers headquarters and just

...everywhere...everywhere...EVERYWHERE!
It honestly gets on my last nerves when company's make games with characters that all fall into a couple of categories and to make it worse the characters are put into teams that play relatively the same, almost like each character covers for the others weaknesses which would be cool if it was a tag team game but of course not its choose the order of your team, and play each character to their deaths.

9/10-Great game,Great Graphics 50-50 Characters

Joe-San's Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Review

 

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! By: Akira Amano 

Ciaossu.  Sup guys?!  Today I'm reviewing one of my personal favorites.  This Shojo style Shonen Manga is done by my favorite author/illustrator, Akira Amano and ran in Shonen jump.  It has 409 chapters and has an anime with 203 episodes (Apparently its just on hiatus not quite sure).

Story/Plot

The story is set in Naminori, Japan.  It follows a nonathletic unpopular absentminded middle school-er Sawanda Tsunayoshi or as he's called loser Tsuna.  That is until the day a hitman named Reborn comes to his house.   Reborn tells Tsuana that he is next in line to head the worlds most powerful Mafia family.  Tsuna isn't convinced, but Reborn becomes his tutor to train him to become a good mafia boss.  Reborn helps lift Tsuna's status from loser to cool  (somewhat).  This brings Tsuna new friends, but it also gets them caught up in the mafia business.

ART
I really like the more shojoish style brought to this shonen Manga.  It gives the Manga an interesting atmosphere.  It goes good with the story and the charecter design is pretty cool, although sometimes the faces look kinda weird.   Overall there isn't much bad stuff to say about it though. Nice job Amano-Sensei.

Final Remarks   
Reborn is a great example of what can happen when you mix styles for the better or worse.  Although the story line is the classic strong guy trains weak guy into a BOSS (Literally).  It is still very entertaining despite its rushed conclusion.  Still a must read.

John-San Eats Asian Stuff!

Home-made Sushi!

In this one, I hire a sushi chef!

Enjoy!

Blaine-san's Anime Review: Naoki Urasawa's Monster

Naoki Urasawa's Monster

Naoki Urasawa masterfully puts together a highly psychological anime, after the hit manga. This series has multiple instances where the story could go right over your head, unless you fully stay involved in the story line.

The main character Dr. Kenzo Tenma starts out as a brilliant neurosurgeon at a massive hospital. He has a bright future only if he kisses up to the main people of the hospital.

The story really begins when a young man named Johan Liebert is rushed to the hospital with a bullet  in his head. The director of the hospital sends Dr. Tenma to go to work on the Mayer even though Johan came in first. Dr. Tenma saves Johan, so the mayer dies. This starts Dr. Tenma's spiritual journey with the idea of all men being created equal.

This belief later leads to Dr. Tenma's journey to end Johans life because any person who is in Johans life in any way is killed because all Johan wants is to be a fake person. Meaning, all proof of his existence is erased.

Additional info:

Director-Masayuki Kojins

Writer-Tatsuhiko Urahata

Music-Kuniaki Haishima

Studio-Madhouse

Licensed-Siren Visual/Viz media

Network-NTV

English network -Super channel, Syfy, Chiller

Original run date-April 6, 2004-September 27, 2005

Episodes-74

Additional info from Wikipedia 

Xavier-kun's Arcade style video game rampage!:Super Street Fighter Arcade Edition PS3

Konnichiwa

Hey its Xavier-kun here with my first post for the series of reviews on arcade style fighting games because I love how they play and the overall amazingness and otaku swag. So to start it off will be one of the newest installment of a classic Street Fighter series
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alright so here is how I'm gonna break this whole review thing down: Graphics, Balance, Story and Characters.

Story
The story behind Super Street Fighter Arcade Edition is that the evil S.I.N. corporation that wants to complete a mysterious project by holding a tournament to lure the strongest fighters to use them.
So everyone goes through the tournament fighting for a variety of reasons until you fight your rival which includes a motive that ties in throughout the series i.e. Cody and Guy having a history spanning from the Final Fight series or Rufus and Ken who have nothing to do with each other rather than Rufus is full of himself.

Graphics
The graphics are pretty amazing despite earlier versions being in anime style:(super street fighter turbo 2)
So missing an anime touch to the art style which really disappoints me because that pulls the overall otaku friendliness level down, but the graphics are still great and cell shaded.

Balance
The balance in Super Street Fighter Arcade Edition is really good although this game definitely is a big step up from something along the lines of Marvel vs Capcom 3,Persona 4 Arena, or anything with a simpler combo system. There is definitely a required amount of playtime and tutorial time to really get good at the game, so it's time consuming but well worth it when your so amazing online.

Characters
The character roster is pretty amazing standing at 39 characters (4 exclusive to arcade edition) each with a style of their own. The only let down with games like this that have such huge rosters is that the characters can be broken down into "classes":Simplistic(Ken/Ryu) Grapple(Hakan/Zangief) Distance(Dhalsim/Vega) and + Characters(Balrog/Blanka). So cool with 4 types of characters but when you play games like Persona 4 and BlazBlue with completely different characters (although rosters less than 1/2 the size of SSF)that require individual time/effort to master it disappoints to see the lack of originality that goes into each character.

8/10-Great game but really lacks character originality

Xavier-kun's game review: Arcade style fighting games galore!!

KONNICHIWA AND GOMENASAI

Well hey there guys well first thing is that I am super sorry for not posting anything on the blog for a while so John-san has been holding us up for a good while and we will definitely be posting more otaku stuff not just food reviews (although ramen is super good). So basically what I'm about to do is make a series of posts within the next few days about(hence the title) ARCADE STYLE FIGHTING GAMES!!! Why? because they are amazing and a good portion of the best come from japan so HA!. Well that's all for now will post the first review in the next hour or so and I really need lots of recommendations of Japanese or anime style fighting games(may make a few exceptions for American ones...maybe).
well since this post is severely lacking pictures I'm gonna improvise.strongest soul eater character PERIOD

John-San eats some Ice Pops!

Ice Pops!

John-San again!

I eat some really good Japanese popsicles.

Yeah.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKk0hgw-eP8

John-San Eats Asian Stuff! (Differently this time)

 The First Video Review!

I've done 3 written reviews, and I have been meaning to do one for a while, but I could never get around to it. So, I did a video review!

I've never done one of these before.

However, I have recorded 2 more of them and will release them later.

I wonder why everyone gets angry when I do something... huh...

Enjoy!

Xavier-kun's Manga Review: One Punch Man by One/Murata Yuusuke

Konnichiwa!!
Hey it's Xavier-kun and I'm reviewing the manga One Punch Man!!. So basically One Punch Man is about a guy named Saitama (which is the name of a prefecture and a stadium) who has the power of being the most powerful man ever...and he doesn't care at all. Personally I think Saitama: and Miharu: who's faces both stay relatively the same throughout both of their series could be distant cousins. Since saitama is the most powerful man on earth  he has fame, glory, babes and lots of money.Right?, right?, RIGHT!?!

ART
Well the art is really good(there is a writer and artist FYI(TEAMWORK!) because the artist has a good amount of credentials(Eyeshield 21,A whole bunch of one shots). Although it does get kind of annoying/weird when saitama is  one second then all
in the very next panel because someone called him bald or he missed the sale at walmart in the sake of potentially saving millions of lives. So really good variety overall but super plain with saitama.

STORY/PLOT
We start with saitama who is mega strong and fast(not smart though) who is really pissed about being so strong and is a superhero as a hobby. You would think that throughout the whole thing, since he complains so much he tries to get weaker or something but he spends most of his time watching TV and training his sidekick genos.

FINAL REMARKS
A good read overall but doesn't update as quickly as other serials in jump. Definitely worth your time.

SAYONNARA!!!

Joe-san's Deadman Wonderland review

Deadman Wonderland Written by Jinsei Kataoka and Illustrated by Kazuma Kondou

Hey guys! what's up!  Joe-san here with my next Manga review. It's a really good one, Deadman Wonderland.  It has 53 chapters (ongoing) and already has an anime adaptation with 12 episodes and an OVA.  By the time I read the first chapter I knew this was gonna be interesting.   It runs in Shonen Ace and the anime is done by Funimation.


Plot/Story

The story is set in near future Japan and it follows a high school student Ganta Igarashi who lives a pretty normal life.  That is until the day a red man appears outside Ganta's classroom window.  The Red Man proceeds to slaughter the entire classroom except Ganta, who wakes up to the horror of dead bodies and blood, but no Red man.  Because he is the only survivor, the police convicted him of murder and is sentenced to death.  Instead of executing him immediately the authorities send him to Deadman Wonderland, which is the one and only privately owned prison in Japan.  Here he finds that he has a special ability called the branch of sin and has to fight others with the same ability to survive in this living hell.  Sometimes it has him wondering if he should just die, but he finds resolve in the goal to kill the Red Man and get revenge for his friends.

Art

The art fits the mood of this story perfectly with a more realistic and serious style, which gives off a dreary feeling.  The artist that did Deadman wonderland also did Eureka 7.  The backgrounds also do a good job in reinforcing the dreary and serious feeling.

Final Remarks

Deadman wonderland really makes you feel sympathy for Ganta and his situation, which makes you want to cheer him on through his journey.  I really like the story line, it's pretty interesting, but its kinda graphic.  So it's not for a younger audience.  It's a good read and you should check it out.  Your comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.   

MAMA Ramen Food Review!

Hi! My name is John-san, and I handle various food reviews here on the blog.

Today, i'm gonna be reviewing a tasty ramen food.

This stuff is called MAMA. I have no idea why. 

It's a little smaller than your average instant noodle packet, however.

I guess moms really like it or something.

Here's the back.

But...

It's not from Japan.

WAIT! Before you...

Deal with it! I can't get everything from Japan!

Anyway... let's cook!

Cooking!

Now... for those of you who have had instant Ramen, you know you need to boil some water.

While we wait for this, let's take a look at what's inside the MAMA packet.

A flavor packet,

What I later found out was some kind of garlic butter,

And the Ramen itself.

Now that the water has boiled, I am going to let it sit.

Eating!

And finally, the product.

Taste!

Once you add all the spices, it doesn't actually taste like chicken, but more like a spicy garlic bread. That's not a bad thing, though. The spice isn't enough to make you cry, nor will you laugh at it's spiciness. This is sooooooooooo good.

The Final Verdict...

This is very good, even for it's small size. That being said, if you have a bottomless stomach like me, you may want to make two packets.

For it's incredible tastiness, but the kind of small packet, this earns...

4/5 Kai Blasts!

I also have my own blog here, which doesn't talk about Japanese things, but rather american things like movies and comic books.

Thanks For Reading! 

John-san eats Asian stuff!

Kasugi Fruit Gummy Candy Assortment!

I was in world market buying stuff, and I got to the candy section. I was about to pick up some Mentos, and walk away satisfied, but then I thought, "Wait a second, I'm in world market! I can get another food review on the blog!"

So I found this.

Here's the back.

And for those of you who have eagle vision, you may be happy because you saw this.

And your reaction is...

There were other flavors I could have bought, but I bought the three pack for the sake of the review.

Here they are when they come out of the package.

Package-Ception!?!?!?!?!?!

The flavors from top to bottom are:
Strawberry
Lychee
and Peach.

Here they are when you take them out of the package within the package.

Left to right:
Strawberry
Peach
and Lychee

Now! ON TO THE FOOD!!

Strawberry

It tastes like your average strawberry candy, but a little sweeter. Nothing Special.

3/5

Peach

It tastes like a before-ripe peach. Again, nothing special.

3/5

Lychee

This is the best one, but the taste is kinda perfume-y

4/5

Overall

Not as good as i'd have hoped, plus there is this weird sugar thing on the outside that makes your teeth feel weird. Plus they're all individually packaged, which is kinda fancy, and it keeps them from all getting stuck together. But it makes a huge waste pile when you eat them.

If you are going to get this, I recommend buying the lychee bag.

3/5 Normal Kai blasts

I have a personal blog as well, mentioned in previous posts. 

Xavier-Kun's Manga Review: Special Martial Arts Extreme Private Highschool (trying saying that 5 times fast)

Special Martial Arts Extreme Private High School

What!!! why is the title so long its irritating and just UGHH!!!Well kind sirs and ma'ams that is the exact reason you should check it out, I mean who wants to read something with a boring name like bleach(calm down don't worry I love bleach). The beauty of the name is that its supposed to stick out and frankly this manWHa(south Korean comics are second to Japanese ones in my book) is 1/2 gag manwha and 1/2 action so don't hate ,because its really good.

STORY/PLOT
The story starts with wimpy,drooly(seriously),weak Kang Chiu. He is a kid with a strange tendency to drool buckets of saliva at random moments throughout the entire story. His nice loving mom decides to transfer him to a martial arts school that is(unknown to Kang) run by his dad. So then begins his adventures learning to master his grandfathers martial art style of Geukji-do, defeat his father and (hopefully) STOP DROOLING!!

ART
The art for Special Martial Arts Extreme Private High school(gotta love that cut and paste technique) is really amazing partially because the whole thing is in computerized color, although actual coloring is really good I think computer coloring creates a whole identity for manwha/manga because you can do so much more than with markers. All of the backgrounds look amazing and characters are original and ridiculous in design as well as personality.

FINAL REMARKS
Special Martial Arts Extreme Private High school is probably one of the greatest examples of really funny manwha/manga that can have amazing action in it, seriously if you can blend an amazing fight scene with Kang using the Buddha Nipple Defense technique. The manwha is still going I think but releases slowly due to the computer coloring and translations although it currently stands at 21 hilarious chapters. So read!!

John-San's Editorial: Why is Japan so strange to us?

The following content does not represent any of the views of the MREB team of this blog. It is just the opinion of just one person, me. (John-san)

Why Are They So Strange To Us?

I'm not the god of all japan knowledge like xavier-kun, but i'm fairly certain we all know one thing.

JAPAN IS STRANGE.

Before I answer this question, i'm gonna tell you some of the things that make us think they are strange.

Restuarants

Some of these may be kind of gross... you've been warned.

The first is Alacatraz E.R.

In this restaurant, you dine in a fake prison... yeah.

When you get there, fake nurses ask you what your blood type is, handcuff you, then take you to a prison cell and this is where you eat. Food is suggestively shaped, (If you know what I mean) and occasionally, a man will "break free from his cell" and run around until someone captures him. Kids must love it!

Second is... Cannibalistic Sushi

Don't worry, there is no actual cannibalism going on. 

Patrons order a human shaped body that is a lot of sushi.

Whether the sushi is good or not, I cannot say.

Life!

This is a Japanese subway bridge

Enough of that... now on to commercials.

Japanese commercials are so strange. Sometimes they are funny, other times, they are gross, and other times you're left questioning yourself and the world.

Look at this Mcdonalds' commercial

 Look at this chips commercial. (I think)

And finally, look at this banana commercial.

The Bottom Line

I don't think japan is weird as a whole, in fact, I think commercials like these appear rarely, and these weird things are probably a few people, and when these things do happen, i'm sure there are plenty of people that say, "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! What is that?!" or, "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH！！！！それは何ですか!" When this does happen. Its kinda like saying all Americans are lazy and fat. Its just a few people, not the entire country. 

So just remember, when you see something Japanese that makes you go,

They aren't all like that.


You can see my personal blog here.

Xavier-kun Manga review:Junk-Record of the Last Hero-

Konnichiwa!

Today I will be reviewing the shone manga "Junk-Record of the Last Hero-" or Junk for short. Junk?!? How could anyone think that "Junk" is a good name for a manga?! Well I thought the exact same thing which is why I took the time to read it , so here goes.

Story/Plot
Junk is the name of a kamen rider/power ranger looking suit mixed with a downgraded iron man armor(COMIC BOOK REFERENCE!!!). Basically there is guy in high school who is raped/bullied/forced to eat worms or something that requires a group of teenage guys to grab him take his pants+undergarments and say"Hurry and get the worms!"... Yeah so that makes the main character Hiro Yuuki stay far away from school for a long while, surfing the Internet and eating ramen. But eventually that serves him well as he stumbles upon an Internet contest/raffle that is offering "Junk" as the prize, with nothing better to do he signs up,wins(along with 1 other person) and gets the Junk super suit mailed to his door and there begins his adventure while choosing to be a hero or to use the junk suit for his own selfish desires.

Art
Junk-Record of the Last Hero- is drawn and written by Kia Asamiya who has created many works such as Batman:Child of dreams and Steam Detectives (may get reviewed later on). The art is definitely influenced by comic books as how the style is slightly more realist then others, sometimes I wonder what goes on with some of the lesser characters because their faces can look a little troll facey sometimes the character design is good and the action flows nicely although it seems a little confusing a few times like something important happened in between the panels that I missed but over all the art sets itself apart from the average manga.

Final Remarks
Overall Junk-Record of the Last Hero- is really good as a superhero/villain type manga and as a shonen manga. Junk is currently available in English in bookstores and online so BUY AND READ!!!

SAYONNARA!!!

Joe-san's first review

Nisekoi by Naoshi Komi

Hey guys Joe-san here with my first manga review.   I'm going to be reviewing Nisekoi a really good romance manga running in shonen jump.  It only has about 70 chapters and doesn't have an anime yet but Shonen Jump announced it will have a VOMIC.   Please leave comments or suggestions about what I should review next.     

Story/Plot
Nisekoi follows the son of a mafia boss Raku Ichijou.  His school life is pretty normal and he has a few close friends and a crush.  That all changes when the daughter of the beehive Mafia Chitoge Kirisaki along with the entire family comes back to Japan. The two gangs don't get along well so the two bosses devise a plan. The two airs should start dating so the gangs have to get along better. Chitoge and Raku already didn't like each other but found out they had to start dating.  He also found at more about his "Promise" girl a girl he promised to marry 10 years ago.

Art
Nisekoi art is very interesting I gives a romantic comedy manga. Its very Shonen like art which I think is a good mix. The character design is a little bland but I like the new age manga style.

Final remarks 

All around Nisekoi is pretty good I can't what for the next chapter of it to come out.  Just cause This runs in Shonen Jump doesn't mean you'll enjoy it thought if your the kind of manga reader that likes action this isn't the manga for you. But if you enjoy these kinds of manga definitely check it out.

Angie-Chan review: 5 Centimeters Per Second

5 Centimeters Per Second is an amazing love story between two people who love each other but, are separated for a long time.

The story takes place in modern day Japan, and it isn't some gross love story either, it is about young love.

I hope you enjoy this as much as i did!

ENJOY :)

Angie-Chans review: Studio Ghibli

Hey Everyone, I don't know if you people have ever heard of Studio Ghibli before, but this is my  (Angie-Chans) most favorite Japanese animation film studio ever!

It is directed by a super awesome guy named Hayao Miyazaki.

Hayao Miyazaki

They have made several amazing motion pictures that have all ended up being my favorites. Some of my favorite ones are My Neighbor Totoro, Kikis Delivery Service, Ponyo, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky.


All of these movies are great to watch if you want a break from all the loud action packed anime for awhile, and just want to just relax.

I will be doing reviews on the individual movies as soon as i can.

Thanks for reading,

Angie-Chan :)

Angie-Chans Cosplay review: Hungry Joker

Hey guys I have some hungry joker cosplay here for you. I hope you enjoy it and read Xavier-kuns post on hungry joker.

Haiji:

I really think this cosplayer did a great job at capturing Haijis personality. The apple looks just like it does in the manga, however; the hair is a little bit greener on the cover of the manga.
more cosplay to come, thanks for reading :)

Angie-Chans video game review: Pokemon X and Y

Pokemon X and Y is going to be the newest Pokemon game, and it will have a whole new plot line and characters. If you have played any Pokemon games before you must be wondering what the new starters will be. These starters are not too bad if you ask me, their names are Froakie (water), Fennekin,(fire) and Chespin (grass).





      The coolest part of any new Pokemon  game is the all new legendaries whose names are Xerneas and Yveltal. There are a couple of theories about these two such as Xerneas being a light type and Yveltal being a sound type. Personally I can see the whole "light" type thing since there is a dark type, but I cant really see a "sound" type I mean, where would Loudred and its evolved forms go. This game will also be played on the 3ds so i bet the graphics will be far superior to any of the other Pokemon games.
     There are also many other mysteries to go with this game such as the new eeveelution Sylveon ,and a Mew THREE! Sigh i guess we will have to wait until October 2013 to uncover them. Tell me your thoughts on Sylveon and what you think its type will be in the comments:)