What does a dying star sound like? With data captured from a telescope named ALMA, the Tokyo and New York based agency named PARTY have created the ALMA Music Box. The box makes music by utilizing the data supplied by the ALMA telescope and translating the 70 different radio images onto 70 musical discs, one for each frequency. In other words, the music being played is supplied by the red giant R Sculptoris, thousands of light years away from Earth. As the makers of the music box put it,
Quote:As the disc spins around the player, little teeth pluck the holes and emit a twinkling sound. It sounds sweet, like a lullaby coming from the mobile above a baby’s crib. But there’s a sadness to it, too, perhaps because we know the star is in the process of dying out forever. As Masashi Kawamura, co-founder of PARTY, puts it: “It’s made to sound like a requiem for the star in a way.”
We've seen some of the coolest and most complex Minecraft creations over the past few years, including an Ancient Metropolis, Babylon, and even New York. And now we add yet another one to the list. It is a large scale reproduction project of Tokyo's Disneyland (complete with parking garages, the Tokyo Hotel, and even the insides of several rides), by an individual Disney-fanatic named ぷんすけ , who has painstakingly recreated every single nook and cranny of Tokyo Disneyland. You can view the video of his creation below.
As a stage opening event for the premiere of the Attack on Titan movie, Shingeki no Kyojin Zenpen ~Guren no Yumiya~, the animation studio Wit Studio announced on Saturday that the television show will be receiving a second season in 2016. With its air date in the distant future, fans can look forward to the second movie for the series titled Shingeki no Kyojin Kōhen ~Jiyū no Tsubasa~, which is set to release on June 27, 2015.
More details about the 2nd season's air date will follow sometime in early 2015.
2014 Anime Adventures Secret Santa by Black Hole
It's that time of the year again where Santa Hole-tan is going to be running the AA's Secret Santa. If you meet the requirements and have some spare cash, come and join in! This is the last week you can apply, you have less than 4 days to see if a few more pairs can be made!
Anime Adventures Weekly - Writer Recruitment by Tweety.
The Anime Adventures Weekly team is currently recruiting! Think you have the knowledge to express your views about the Japanese culture, Anime and games? Then come check this thread out for more information.
Discussions
Anime(s) with the best dub? by Xeero
Xeero has the urge to ask what the AA members consider the best dubbed Anime around here, come share your opinion!
Your favorite anime moment. by Encryptings
Encryptings' is wanting to know what your favourite Anime moment is, come discuss it with a video link if you can!
Hello! I'm Fireworks! And I'll be taking over the Cosplay Corner in AA Weekly from now on! Tweety-sama graciously let me take over this section from him, so I hope I can live up to his expactations while hopefully satisfying and broadening your tastes! So without further adue~, lets get started!
For these weeks Cosplay Corner I've found this bishounen (beautiful) lady named Ely here, cosplaying as Yakumo Yukari from TouHou . Be careful, staring is bad for your eyes! This Cosplay struck me when I first saw it. I'm a huge sucker for elegance, white hair, and gothic attire, which, as you can see is definately well done here. You can tell time and effort was placed in her cosplay, from the ribbons on her hair down the elegance of the dress she's wearing.
Looking at some of her other cosplay, I came to notice that she looks good an almost anything an Ojou-sama (Rich Young Lady) should wear. Her simple yet enticing facial features accent almost any cosplay she wears perfectly. The makeup that she wears in this cosplay, for example, accents everything perfectly. Her subtle smile, matches Yakumo personality excellently and her chosen enviornment as well as props and positions demonstrates excellent knowledge of her character, which is something I find that many cosplayers these days are lacking.
Title - Elfen Lied (エルフェンリート) Genre(s) - Action, Drama, Ecchi, Horror, Romance, Psychological Studio(s) - Arms Episodes - 13 Episode Length - 25 min. per episode Rating - R+ - Mild Nudity Airing Date - Jul 25, 2004 to Oct 17, 2004 Airing Status -Finished Airing On Crunchyroll? - No
Synopsis
The Diclonius, a mutated homosapien that is said to be selected by God and will eventually become the destruction of mankind, possess two horns on their heads and have a "sixth sense" which gives them telekinetic abilities. Due to this dangerous power, they have been captured and isolated in laboratories by the government. Lucy, a young and psychotic Diclonius, manages to break free of her confines and brutally murders most of the guards in the laboratory where she is being held, only to be shot in the head as she makes her escape. She survives, falling off a cliff into the ocean and manages to drift along to a beach where two teenagers, Kouta and Yuka, discover her. Having lost her memories, she was named after the only thing that she can now say, "Nyuu," and the two allow her to stay at Kouta's home. However, it appears that the psychotic side of Lucy is not dead just yet...
Characters
Kouta
Kouta is one of the main characters of the series and is first introduced in Episode 1 when he arrives in Kanagawa Prefecture to attend college, having previously arranged to stay with his cousin Yuka while at school.
Lucy "Nyu, Kaede"
Lucy is a Diclonius girl around eighteen years old. She has developed strong emotions of hatred and vengeance towards regular humans mainly because of how she was treated by the majority of them as a child, making fun of her horns and giving her insulting nicknames such as freak.
Nana "Number 7"
Nana can be seen as the exact opposite of Lucy. While Lucy's default personality is serious and cold, Nana's is friendly and kind; Lucy's split personality "Nyu" is similar to Nana's default while Nana sometimes goes into trances and acts cold like Lucy's default personality. Nana is in the middle of the spectrum of Lucy's split personalities: she's not as mature as Lucy, but more mature than Nyu.
Tails' Opinion
Usually when I decide that a show doesn't have a clear genre or direction, I get upset and decide that it isn't great, but Elfen Lied is an exception. At first it seems like it's just going to be mindless violence, pointless killing with no real story to it, all icing and no cake. Well, then the whole series is turned on its head when they start introducing backstory, making you have feelings for these characters that just kill. It's great. I give the story a 9/10
The characters are a bit of a question mark to me, not in whether they were good or not but in the complexity of them. For the MC I found myself feeling like "wow this guy is an idiot" to "wow I really understand this guy" to "wow this guy is an idiot". Honestly, I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing for the MC. There were times where I wanted to sympathize with him and there are times when I wanted to murder him myself. As for Lucy/Nyu etc, she is a complex being. The fact that she is the way she is makes it that much more interesting. Without going into too much detail I will just say, great character. I give the characters a 8/10.
The art was pretty standard for a 2004 show I guess, there isn't any 'wow' factor to be seen here, but if I had to point out a bad point to the show it would be the art. Honestly, everything was poured into making this show as good as it is so I would take this trade off any day, but for the art itself, average. I give the art an 6/10.
What doesn't this show have? Badass creatures killing things with ease, check. Emotional connection/roller coaster, check. Did I mention mindless violence? Well it has a lot of that so a big check. Honestly ask just about anyone in AA or anyone that has seen it and they will agree, this show is great. A must watch. In terms of enjoyment I give it a 9/10
Programmargorp's Opinion
As some of you guys are aware, I was absent for the past few issues due to real life. Now that’s over, it’s time to get back to doing weekly(ish) reviews again. For this week, I want to try shuffle up my review format a bit, I’m not sure how well this will turn out so chuck me some feedback.
This week we have a series that’s often deemed so violent that if they were to air it today, they would probably have to censor most of the screen for like, half the series. As the star of this week, we have the anime adaption of one of my favourite Manga series of all time by Okamoto Lynn. This week we have Elfen Lied as our series to critique.
To be perfectly honest, when I first watched this I didn’t have high expectations for it. I mean, was there any point putting any expectations into a series which was essentially about people killing each other?
Oh boy was I wrong.
Elfen Lied is a beautiful story about the ideas of alienation, prejudice, abuse, regret and ultimately the result of such actions. Elfen Lied follows the story concerning a group of people, focusing on Kouta and Lucy and their attempts at life together. Again, I aim to spoil absolutely nothing in this review (or write about anything too complicated that might imply spoilers), so I’ll leave it at that. See, the problem with Elfen Lied is that it uses violence to portray a side of our world that most people choose to ignore, to the extent that they are blinded by what lies right there in front of them and miss the main messages behind it.
But Gorp, are there really any messages it’s trying to convey besides that people are squishy?
Yes, yes there are, throughout the series we’re clearly shown the growth of the characters, especially in Nyu/Lucy and her split personality. In fact, perhaps the most powerful message conveyed is that of Lucy’s childhood where we get to see how alienation and social prejudice has managed to shape her in such a way.
But enough about all of that, you’re here to read a review, not a bloody analysis on the relationship of anime to life. In terms of production value, Elfen Lied is with what you’d expect and sort of lacking in terms of production. We don’t get fancy colours, modern art or any 3D animation at all (which is alright considering this series was made in 2004). What we do get however, is Gustav Klimt style art and a story which makes up that lack of “pretty pixels” that don't seem to be present.
So to conclude this shorter review, let’s answer the most important question of this. Should you watch Elfen Lied?
That depends on quite a few things, including, but not limited to, your ability to withstand gore, your tastes in anime as well as your intelligence. If you've read the manga and are expecting an adaptation that lives up to it, look elsewhere; the anime adaption is lacklustre compared to the Manga. If you have some spare time and don’t mind the gore, watch it and see if you like it; if you do, go read the Manga. That ending literally left me in tears.
Title - Gothic Sports Title in Japanese- N/A (Apparently it's German) Genre(s)- Comedy, Sports , Slice of Life , High School , Lolita Chapters currently released - 5* Author – Anike Hage Artist(s) – Anike Hage , Anne Marie Horne Released - 1 July 2007 - ??? Status -Ongoing
*According to Wikipedia (not on MAL for some reason) Apparently no new volumes have been released for some time, so it is currently unknown if the project was dropped (It's very un-documented)
Synopsis
Rejected? Disrespected? Make your own rules! Anya, the new girl at Lucrece High, just isn't fitting in. Her dream is to join one of the school's elite sports teams, but when she tries out, she's instantly rejected! Anya doesn't get mad, though--she gets even. When she meets other "misfits" who've been similarly written off, they form their own soccer team, complete with cool, edgy uniforms. They may not be the most experienced, but they've got something no other team has: style. Say hello to the world's first Gothic-Lolita soccer team!
(source: Blurb)
Characters
Sitting like that looks rather uncomfortable...
Anya
Anya recently transferred to Laurece High, hoping that she could join one of their top sports teams. This is unusual as that's not the school's main skill, but it does have a reputation for always getting to the top three of competitions. Unfortunately for Anya however, she is rather short... and a girl... This makes getting on the basketball team very difficult and makes sure that she will never get a chance to actually play on the football team. So she does what any sane person would, collects her own band of misfits and starts her own team.
Vandie’s Opinion
Well, to be fair I only picked this up due to its stupidly cheap price (£3 for the first 2 volumes from the local comic book store and read the rest online) as it is not really the sort of thing I enjoy reading, but whatever. It was cheap and looked decent. That's reason enough for me. I discovered upon further research that, although known enough for fan art if you look it up on Google, it is not on MAL or any other indexing sites, which makes this write up rather difficult due to limited synopsis and character study locations (in this case none). Now, on with the review...
Gothic sports is certainly an interesting idea that fits a rather small niche. It follows Anya and 10 other misfits as they start a Gothic football team due to their rather unfair rejection from the other school teams. The story is rather fast paced and is incredibly easy to read, but it I found it rather standard at entertaining me so... The story gets a 7/10
The characters are rather interesting, if a little generic. They may have that cover up of being goths and/or being unpopular, but when looked at after this they seem to fit almost every other group of friends in a manga. There's the quiet one, the control freak, the love interest, the unusual one and the smart one, as well as others. This makes me feel like little thought was put into making the characters and generally made me enjoy the manga less. It doesn't help that some of the characters are really annoying... The Characters get a6/10
Finally we get to the art. By far the most enjoyable part of Gothic Sports was the art. It was simplistic yet beautiful. Fresh, but still using the styles we have come to know and love. I know little about the artist but I can say that they appear to be in a stage of finding their style and have created something beautiful with it. I feel that for a European artist they did a bloody good job of creating a manga that actually felt like a manga rather then simply another comic book that wished it was Asian. Anike and Anne Marie have made a beautiful manga and disserve credit for it. For this reason, The art gets an extremely high9/10
I liked reading Gothic Sports, despite its flaws, and that's unusual as I quite frankly hate sports and really believe that most things which include Gothic in their name are usually terrible. I believe Anike and Anne Marie should be proud of their accomplishment and I do hope that they get their act together and continue to make Gothic Sports. Having read the first few volumes, I know I would quite happily of paid up to triple the price I did for just one of the volumes. I highly recommend Gothic Sports and so Gothic Sports Receives a9/10
Thanks for reading my section again guys, I know that a lot of you enjoy reading AA weekly so I request that if you can, do send a PM requesting a manga to me as I feel kind of stuck when it comes to picking one at the beginning of each week.
Synopsis:
The one who obtains the Holy Grail will have any wish come true.
The Holy Grail War.
A great ritual that materializes the greatest holy artifact, the Holy Grail.
There are two conditions to participate in this ritual.
To be a magus, and to be a "Master" chosen by the Holy Grail.
(The experience as a magus is not questioned if one has the aptitude)
There are seven chosen Masters, and seven classes of Servants.
There is only one Holy Grail.
If you wish for a miracle.
Prove that you are the strongest with your powers.
Story review:
Fate/Stay Night was released in 2006 by Type-Moon studios as their premier work. It was created by Kinko Nasu and quickly became a gigantic franchise along with the rest of the "nasuverse". This visual novel follows 7 people as they fight to the death to obtain the "Holy Grail", but is told through the eye's of Shirou Emiya, our main protagonist. He is the Master of Saber and is by all means the weakest of the 7 masters. But as things go on relationships bloom and Shirou is forced to make some tough choices. These choices depend on what route you follow. There are three distinct routes labeled Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel. In the Fate route, Saber is the main heroine and the focus of the overarching story. In the Unlimited Blade Works route, Rin Tohsaka is the main heroine, but the focus of the overarching plot is on her servant, Archer. Finally, in Heaven's Feel Sakura Matou is our main heroine and focus of the overarching story. As we follow Shirou and start to make choices, a lot of them will lead to a dead end because they are the smart way to do things. To really get into this VN you have to start thinking like Shirou and how he would proceed, given his ideals and beliefs about the servants and what they are all fighting for in the Grail. The major characters in his progression are his servant Saber, Rin and Archer as they force him to look at his ideals and beliefs in different ways which leads to different outcomes. This is why there are different routes depending on the choices you made early on. Through each of these routes you get more back story on the characters and you start to understand each character's motivations and ideals. By the end you will really understand why they do the things they did and you could most likely see yourself doing the same if you were to be put in their shoes. But through all this, the story itself may seem a bit shaky. There are some events which made me audibly say "BULLSHIT." when they happened. While these things were reasonably explained later on when new info surfaced, it still left a slightly sour taste in my mouth for the entirety of the read. Overall, however, the story is solid and quickly became one of my favorite VNs.
Sound:
I do not have much to say about the soundtrack other than amazing. The entirety of the soundtrack just fits the mood so well. There was not a time in the VN where the soundtrack did not fit and the majority of the soundtrack is now on my day-to-day playlist. They are just amazing by themselves and some of the covers people have made just enhance them. Be warned, however, that the songs are labeled for when/who they are played for. So looking up song names WILL lead to major spoilers for all routes as tracks are played so it is best to finish the VN before seeking them out.
Art
The Art for the VN is starting to show it's age. They had a small budget to work with and it released in 2006 but it is still pretty darn good. I will show some select samples here that are a great representation of the overall art style of the VN.
Spoiler (Click to View)[img]http://cgv.blicky.net/fsn/0009.jpg[/img] Spoiler (Click to View)[img]http://cgv.blicky.net/fsn/0012.jpg[/img] Spoiler (Click to View)[img]http://cgv.blicky.net/fsn/0021.jpg[/img] Spoiler (Click to View)[img]http://cgv.blicky.net/fsn/0035.jpg[/img] Spoiler (Click to View)[img]http://cgv.blicky.net/fsn/0030.jpg[/img]
As you can see the art style is consistent but still looks a bit dated although that in it of itself can be one of its charming features.
Overall Satisfaction:
Through the entirety of the story, it did not lose my interest once and I can understand why it is so well liked in the VN community after spending 60+ hours of my life reading this. Story: 9/10 Sound: 10/10 Art: 8/10
(Click to View) Angel: Hi Cloud, how are you doing this evening?
+Cloud: pretty good :0
hungover as hell actually >.>
Angel: That doesn't sound too pleasant. Before we begin your interview, I would like to get to know you a little better. So, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?
+Cloud: thanks
well i guess theres not much to say
im cloud :0
i like the lolis
and i like to watch anime and chill out
what more could a man do with his life
Angel: What an interesting fellow we have here. Starting things off, what is your favorite anime and why?
+Cloud: my fav anime would def have to to be
mirai nikki
i mean do i even need to say why o-o
because yuno is in it
10/10
also it was one of the first anime i've watched so it will always be that anime
Angel: After seeing your avatar and signature on HF I'm not sure why I even asked :P I mostly hear people say that the only reason they liked the series was because Yuno carried the entire show. Would you still have liked the series if Yuno hadn't been in it?
+Cloud: well, yuno was definately the glue of the series
and if yuno wasnt there would have to be a different mc for there to be a show
i mean yuki was useless =.=
Angel: Lol, Yuki was so useless. Moving on, are there any series that you're currently watching? Maybe an anime that's airing right now or one from your to watch list that you've been dying to watch?
+Cloud: well atm im watching baka to test
and i must say
it is hilarious
Angel: A comedy, eh? Could that be your favorite genre and if not, what is?
+Cloud: its not my favorite but you have to throw a comedy in here and there
i really like the dark gory anime but in the end my fav is def romance (cat)
Angel: Ayy, I'm a sucker when it comes to romance, by far my favorite genre. Now I would like to talk about the AA section for a bit. Today, a thread asking about the first anime you watched and when you watched it was posted. So Cloud, what was your first anime?
+Cloud: well
the first anime i saw that was not pokemon, dbz or yu-gi-oh would probably be Neon Genesis
i remember going through my uncles dvd collection and thinking yaay cartoons when i found it
i was like 7 at the time...
so i was mentally scarred by the end
Angel: Well I guess you got to start somewhere lol. NGE was also the show that got me really into watching anime. Recently, as I'm sure you're already aware of; Omni closed the AA lounge and has since put an end to all lounge related threads. What is your opinion on this and were you surprised at all? I mean we did make it all the way to lounge number 11.
+Cloud: to be honest when i found out... i was contemplating suicide o-o
i would have to see pointless threads flying around aa
it gave me nightmares just thinking about it
+Cloud: but there were alot of lq and off topic posts that shouldnt have even been posted there
Angel: I can agree with that. With the closure of the AA lounge, activity has really seemed to have diminished and the amount of unnecessary threads has skyrocketed. What do you think about the current state of AA? Is there any hope left for it?
+Cloud: well i think that we just need to set a standard with the new users that join aa
make sure the taboos and unwanted threads are knowen by everyone
we should come up with a new word that we call people in aa who breaks these standards
Angel: Faggots? Even if standards and rules were created, none of the newbies would ever bother to read them, just like the stickies. Well, that's pretty much all the time I have for now. Wrapping things up, is there anything you would like to say to our readers?
+Cloud: i'd just like to give a shoutout to fireworks and tweety i guess :0 coz they are cool beans....
and umm
lolis
Angel: Ew, Tweety (puke) Anyways, thank you for taking the time to let me interview you, it was a pleasure.
Recruitment
We are coming closer to the end of our winter recruitment phase. We need more dedicated AA members that are willing to put some time in to entertain our community as well as keeping the AA Weekly tradition running. Think you got what it takes? Know your ins and outs around the Japanese culture? Check out the recruitment thread, we don't care if you are ub3r, l33t or even a normal member, we will like to have you on our cosy little team! Recruitment can be found here.
(Nov 25, 2014 07:56 PM)Vipеr Wrote: Guess I posted too quickly XP
Yay another one, just caught a little error:
Recommendation Threads
Anime to watch on holiday recommendations?[/color]
Fixed, MyBB can be pretty annoying to deal with sometimes, compiling these really do put a strain on the brain lol.
(Nov 25, 2014 07:58 PM)tweety Wrote: Fixed, MyBB can be pretty annoying to deal with sometimes, compiling these really do put a strain on the brain lol.
It does, I get tired from it when that happens with a thread filled with MyCode.
(May 12, 2022 10:16 AM)Goku Wrote: Doesn't change the fact that a human sperm is as human as we are.
Nov 26, 2014 02:03 AM (This post was last modified: Nov 26, 2014 02:04 AM by iMew.)
To everyone who watched Elfen Lied and liked it: the manga is a LOT better in every aspect except the art. It's an amazing read if you can put up with the drawing style and my favorite manga.
While the technology of converting raw signals into data isn't new, it really is amazing what we can do with it. Yeah Japan, yeah science!
I don't like Minecraft but I can appreciate the effort that guy put into that creation; talk about dedication. People like to focus on the weird shit Japan does, but stuff like this and the ALMA music box are pretty awesome.
Ely definitely has a knack for cosplays with Victorian dresses. You can see by her portfolio she tries to be diverse and looks pretty good in a lot of stuff. I think her Ryuko is good and Mayuri is really cute. But sweet jesus I nearly fainted when I saw her Kurisu; it's as close to perfection as you can get. The outfit was spot on, body type was just right, and a very convincing wig. I like her original characters too because she does a really good job at bringing them to life. I'm not sure how to describe it but it just looks like those characters "fit" her. And is it me, or does it seem like she has really big eyes? Very moe.
That's actually the first Miku Hatsune song I've heard and I liked it. I should probably check out some more vocaloid stuff. The lead guitarist in the second video looked kinda crazy but the song was good. There's always a rock submission that I can jam to. That last submission was 2deep4me. Interesting use of soft, poignant vocals and melancholic atmosphere with the harsh guitar but a good song nonetheless.
I'm surprised that y'all gave Elfen Lied that high of a score to be honest, especially Programmargorp. No doubt it's one of the more enjoyable anime I've seen and it was surprisingly emotional. I've read reviews that tear it to pieces and some that hail it as this holy grail of anime but I think it falls somewhere in the middle. That OP though...
And to Programmargorp, the review format was fine. I think the majority of AAW readers enjoy shorter reviews. Personally I like detailed ones and I found your previous reviews always an entertaining read.
Props to Hentai for finishing Fate/Stay Night VN. That thing is fucking long!
Another day, another great issue of AA Weekly. Proper job guys, stay classy.
(Nov 26, 2014 04:47 PM)Toonami Wrote: While the technology of converting raw signals into data isn't new, it really is amazing what we can do with it. Yeah Japan, yeah science!
I don't like Minecraft but I can appreciate the effort that guy put into that creation; talk about dedication. People like to focus on the weird shit Japan does, but stuff like this and the ALMA music box are pretty awesome.
Ely definitely has a knack for cosplays with Victorian dresses. You can see by her portfolio she tries to be diverse and looks pretty good in a lot of stuff. I think her Ryuko is good and Mayuri is really cute. But sweet jesus I nearly fainted when I saw her Kurisu; it's as close to perfection as you can get.
Yeah no kidding. some of the best cosplays i've ever seen. Especially the Mayuri one.
![[Image: 00FCJmg.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/00FCJmg.jpg)
![[Image: gjqy9an.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/gjqy9an.jpg)
![[Image: TfgtfsS.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/TfgtfsS.jpg)
![[Image: 6883.jpg]](https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/10/6883.jpg)
![[Image: 58458.jpg]](https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/15/58458.jpg)
![[Image: 44100.jpg]](https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/5/44100.jpg)
![[Image: 81735.jpg]](https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/15/81735.jpg)
![[Image: Manga.png]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65278367/AA%20weekly%20pics/GothicSports/Manga.png)
![[Image: Anya.png]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65278367/AA%20weekly%20pics/GothicSports/Anya.png)
![[Image: 1R0ujMv.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/1R0ujMv.jpg)
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