*This is my last post from Blogger!

Hello everyone and welcome back to Nerdy Shique! So, last time I mentioned how I really love Fairy Tail and added it to my top fave anime series of all time! What else is in my favorites? Well, let’s see!

1. DNAngel: This series is what got me into the works of Yukiru Sugisaki and this one is my most favorite she has done!

What is it about? It takes a look into Daisuke Niwa, a teen who just turned 14 when he finds out that all males in his family that have the Niwa bloodline in them turn into the phantom thief Dark Mousy and has to go and steal artwork that possess powerful magic. He goes and takes these works and finds Satoshi Hiwatari, another teenage boy who is a top notch student, possesses a similar bloodline that causes him to change into the angel counterpart, Krad, and brings the feud between Daisuke’s family and Satoshi’s once again! Besides his stealing, how is Daisuke is supposed to impress his crush, Risa Harada, without changing into his angel form?

Why do I like it? Like most people, I was introduced to this series through watching it in Japanese before it was released here. I was in high school when the anime club first started and a girl brought in her disks and we watched it during lunch one day and liked it and when I found the manga preview in my old, fave magazineAnime Insider, I had to get the manga  since it was being released by TokyoPop  in April of ’04! I still have the volumes I collected over time and not sure if they released any more of it but I did get the anime when ADV was still around and I loved how they dubbed it. I know Vic Mignogna is Dark, even though I don’t like him as a person but he does a good job when it comes to playing Dark and this was the first anime I ever heard him in. I do give props for Greg Ayres as Satoshi, which I found out during the commentaries on disks 5 and 7, he wanted to be Daisuke and auditioned for the role but David Williams had him audition for Satoshi as well and was chosen for him and Kevin Corn as Daisuke. If you don’t know who Kevin Corn is, he has been in Angelic Layer as Kotaro Kobayashi. Still, I love the show and the artwork was well put together in the anime and of course, the music is amazing for its instrumentals! Even “Dark Light, True Light,” the Japanese version is my fave version along with the piano version. They should release a third soundtrack to this series because it has more instrumental tracks and they haven’t released a full edition of the music box version of “Dark Light,” I wouldn’t even mind having a music box with it in my figure cabinet.

2. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: The first CLAMP title on my top faves! Plus, it’s their major crossover work that they’ve ever done and it was done very well!

What is it about? Meet Syaoron, a teen who is an archaeologist who took on the work of discovering the ruins outside of Clow Country after his adopted father, Clow Reed, died. He is the best friend of the princess, Sakura, and little did they know, their home connects to many other worlds and a new journey starts when one night the princess is called to the ruins outside of the country and loses her memories as the form of feathers and get spread out over time and space. With the help of Yuko, the Space Time Witch, a wizard with an unknown background, Fai D. Flowright, and a cursed samurai, Kurogane, travel across time and space in order to regain the memories of Sakura. But there is one problem, there is a lot more dangers that Syaoran has to face and find out the truth about himself and the princess to get the feathers back.

Why do I like it?  Because it takes many of CLAMP’s most famous works and cross it into one big series. Even the series ran for two seasons, a movie, and two OVAs, this series is far from complete! I have a feeling the final volume of the manga will be a movie since it has to round up the entire story. I do like how the twists and turns take place within the story, especially with the manga and how certain points do cross with XXXHolic since Yuko has to give guidance to the party. There is one thing though, like many people I did watch the Japanese version first and thought the dubbing was a little rocky at certain points. I do like Jason Leighbrecht as Syaoran since we get to hear him portray a kid in his teens since he is known for doing older men like Ban from GetBackers as an example, but he does have a great voice range. Monica Rial as Sakura was a great choice but I did see Luci Christian for the role or Laura Bailey but she was Primera and Clow Reed’s brother’s assistant. Chris Sabat as Kurogane, PERFECT! Carrie Savage as Mokona, PERFECT! Vic Mignogna as Fai didn’t fit well in my opinion, why is that? I heard that Chris Patton was one of the voice actors who would be Fai, I already saw that while reading through the manga because it fits so well! Plus, there are times when Fai has to be sadistic and very mysterious with it and Chris Patton plays it so well, even when he was Sesame in Pretear and he can pull off the drama in RahXephon and I can see why I prefer him as Fai over Vic and always heard him instead of Vic while I watched the anime. Another thing that kind of ticked me off is one translated song and it is called “Kaze no Machi He!” Which means “City in Sand.” The only problem I have with this song is that in the Japanese version it goes with the beat and it is a slow waltz beat, even though at the end it kind of adds more a syllable but it sounds really sweet. In the English version, the singer to me goes fast and against the beat and it feels as though she wants to go against it, kind of like the lead singer of Neverver doing the same thing with his opening track when they perform. I think the problem was how Funimation wrote the translation and had too many words to it, watch the English version when they get to the virtual world, which is one of my fave arcs of the entire series and you will see what I mean. After watching it, I think they should’ve leave this song in Japanese. Speaking of arcs, other arcs I do like include the Dragonfly Race in the start of season 2, which was interesting in the manga how it was the second arc of season 2 rather than the next. I also did like the very first arc where Syaoran and gang go to their first world and have fighting spirits! What makes me happy about the manga, you get to see Hikaru from Angelic Layer/Rayearth appear but as her Layer form on a chessboard. And the soundtrack, oh man, it is amazing! That’s all I have to say, except that a lot of the tracks do go with every mood and I like it does and of course some songs are the power ups, but one song that always catches my ears is “Song of Fire and Storm,” which always plays when Kurogane starts being a badass samurai from his world.

3. Glass Fleet: An uncommon anime that Chris Sabat did the ADR direction for and one of the most awesome storylines you will see, and it is like Star Trek meets Pirates of the Carribean in my opinion.

What is it about? Imagine living in a galaxy that is about to be destroyed due to a cloud in the deep space, plus having two groups fighting each other, one is the People’s Army and the other is The Black Cross Religion and try to free a galaxy  from doom. Two brothers from a dead royal family come and take on a prophecy in order to restore their name in order to fix the conflict between the groups and find that “ever lasting galaxy!”

Why I like it? Oh my god! This series is the most beautiful series I’ve ever seen! How so? Well, when someone is starting to watch it it is kind of confusing at first but most series are kind of like that, I seen it in Dragonnaut: The Resonnance as an example! But it does get better as you keep watching! Yeah, Michelle is pretty whiny but he does get better and you get surprised by his true identity in the seventh episode but it does get relevant later. Trust me, I even almost cried during that point too. What about cast? It is the best casting I’ve seen in anime, yeah Fairy Tail and Soul Eater share great castings but this is the best one yet! Travis Willingham as Cleo Corvalle was the best choice and he can do rough characters and Cleo was rough and the coldness was played very well. Laura Bailey as Michelle Vauban, okay, I will reveal it, he is really the sister of Michelle, you need to watch the series to understand why she did this masquerade, anyways she plays males pretty well which she just needs to lower her voice one octave from her older female voice and make it sound serious. Jason Leighbrecht as Vetti Sporza, when you hear him do a British accent…oh man sexy yet chilling at the same time! Even though you want to despise Vetti and yet the voice just fits it when he has to be the evil guy for the Black Cross side! The rest of the cast was very well executed like Monica Rial as Shilowa, Greg Ayres as Knowy, and of course, Luci Christian as my all time fave character, Eimer! I have to give Chris Sabat major props for who he picked for the characters, which were smart choices for them. You need to see it and see what I mean. I still want to get the soundtrack, but one day if it is still on Ebay or if I can find it at a con, I will get it. I even tried finding the artbook but can’t find it except for Ebay of course, but still doing cosplay right now. Still, you should see this series, it is phenomenal and very different from all the space opera animes you see, I think it went along with Captain Harlock but more dramatic! So, check this series out!

4. Soul Eater: I always love a pop culture reference! I am still working on my Dresden/Soul Eater crossover and it is still a top fave.

What is it about? Imagine the grim reaper put together a school for taking out villains who eat eggs known as kishin souls and have to eat a witches soul in order to become one of his weapons. Meet Maka Albarn, Soul Eater Evans, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz and Patti Thompson, and Death the Kid who are students at the academy known as Death Weapon Meister Academy, the DWMA, in Death City, Nevada, where they want to get their weapon partners to be Deathscythes, but evil villains do get in the way but they have to stop them and take their soul or the madness will take over!

Why I like it? It takes pop culture and makes it funny in its own way. Now this is the main element of how I crossed Soul Eater with Dresden Files, since Harry is known for making a pop culture reference here and there and well Soul Eater is filled with them. Plus, the comedy is pretty priceless and flows. The cast is great, especially a ADV veteran known as John Swasey as Lord Death makes it priceless since he can play goofy pretty well! This also introduced new talent to the team which were Micah Asoledad who would pass on as Johnny Yong Bosch! No kidding! He sounds exactly like Johnny that you have to wonder if it is Johnny or not! I thought it was Johnny in the Tsubasa OVAs for Tokyo Revelations but it was Micah! I can imagine if Vampire Chronicles were animated and Micah and Johnny had to work in the same booth, oh boy, it would hurt people’s heads! Anyways, Maxie Whitehead is also new to the gig as Chrona, the person who dresses as a nun! According to the anime, Chrona is a boy and the manga, a girl but Maxie plays it so well in how Chrona has to do the whimpy act and then the creepy act with the Black Blood inside and Ragnarok of course. Speaking of which, I did ask SonnyStrait if he has sore throats after recording Ragnarok since he has to scream, he said “Yes!” At least he still pulls it off!

5. Finally, Burst Angel: A spaghetti western that has an awesome storyline and action, a mech named after Djengo.

What is it about? Kyohe is a student at a cooking academy and decides to take up cooking jobs in order to save up to study abroad. His life changes when he meets Sae and cooks for her tenants, Amy, a master child in technology, Meg, a sassy cowgirl, and Jo, a gun toting lady with a mysterious past! Once he gets involved with their secret work of taking out robots with green brains, his life is no longer normal!

Why I like it? Like Glass Fleet, this series was smartly casted with Clarine Harp as Sae, Jamie Markie as Meg, and of course, Monica Rial as Jo! What is interesting is that no one recognized Monica except me, how is that? Besides my great voice recognition, I did remember Monica doing an older character in RahXephon and she can change her voice very well! I will get her signature on this since I already have Jamie’s, Colleen’s, and Kyle Hebert’s on it so far. And I still need to find the Jo figure since I have figures of Amy, Meg, and Sae but having a hard time with Jo, there is always Metro this July. Another thing I like it is that this is one of the many great works that Gonzo has put out and improved on what they dish out, plus it’s beautifully animated, this is why I wanted to put this anime to “Black Water” by Traverser because it sets the mood and does describe the girls, especially Jo. If you get your hands on this, I would have to say get the three volume manga because it is the prequel to the series, I still have my copies of course. As said, get your manga copies so you can understand the anime and get the boxset while you’re at it, it does come with the entire series  and the OVA and the commentaries are great too.

Other animes I miss but get their own categories…

Most Manly Anime: Gurren Lagan! I know there is a lot of manly anime, even MFK may agree or disagree with me on this since he does the Manime panels at the cons and at a comic book shop near me, but Gurren Lagan is one of the most manly anime I’ve seen! How so? When I first got into anime, mecha anime was the first things I seen and that was Voltron and this anime has the giant robot aspect except it uses drills even when they go Mega form! This is one anime that needs a Blind Experience edition in the future!

Greatest Cult Classic: Fruits Basket! Why? I almost thought FullMetal Alchemist, the original not Brotherhood, but Fruits Basket has been around a little before FMA was over here and it is pretty well known. Even though the animals of the zodiac do have different forms for two of them, the dragon and ox, but I still like the story and how people transform into the zodiac animals by the opposite sex, you rarely see that! Well, Ranma ½ did their own version but this was a major classic to a lot of people! Plus, it has a great cast to boot! Now, if only people can stop getting my Angry Kyo shirts mixed up with Bleach!

Best Anime Original: FullMetal Alchemist! What I mean is that the better version of an anime in its original storytelling and that goes to FMA the original series! Yeah, a lot of people prefer Brotherhood due to it going with the manga but I couldn’t stand it because they forced the comedy way too much and another thing is using Izumi’s coughing as comedic  material didn’t work because it is supposed to be dramatic! Anyways, yeah, the ending and the movie didn’t go as a lot of people hoped but most creators do end up running out of ideas and to me I liked how it ended! Seriously, I liked how at first it was kind of funny but towards the end of season 1, it turns totally dark and the movie, Conqueror of Shambala has it too and liked the idea of the real world and world of alchemy parallel  in it, it kind of gives off an “what if” scenario for each side! I don’t care what most people say but I still prefer FMA in how the story is put together and the comedy and drama just flows throughout it. That is what a story needs, flow!

Best Series to Have Abridged Versions: Both DBZ and Naruto! I know a lot of people liked the Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Series, I do like that one but Naruto and Dragonball Z had a lot of elements that can be easily made fun of. I still love doing the Itachi stuff since I have “Carmen Sandiego” and “Caramel Dancin” on my phone to walk with them playing at cons, still I love both series. Hell, I still can’t watch DBZ Kai Guru without thinking of the abridged version! “Nail! Gather all the Dragonballs and wish for a TV!” And now with Nicktoons about to show the Bowjack movie, now thinking to King Kai with yelling “SHUT UP BOWJACK!” And back to Naruto, I still want to tape a Klondike bar to a log and put it next to a Sasuke cosplayer and make sure a Naruto is near them and know the line “At least they left you something to remember you by!” And get that videotaped! Anyways, these two series are some of the best abridged stuff you will see, now I can see why Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged sparked it all!

Well, that’s about it! One thing before I go, I am moving Nerdy Shique! It will be on Word Press and named Nerdy Shique Universe! It goes with my stars and planets theme with my e-mail and thought it would be easier, especially with the reading on Word Press. So, when I have my next post which is a major collective haul, go to www.nerdyshiqueuniverse.wordpress.com! So, until next time!