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Archive for September, 2007

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Sticky: [Bazaar] 29 September Arrivals from KKnM

LagannGurren LagannDai GurrenArk Gurren LagannDaiginga Gurren Lagann! (3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
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Popularity: 6% [?] 4 Comments Published by tj_han September 27th, 2007 in Bazaar

This week’s shipment has some insane goodies!  Can you say, GURREN LAGANN? And Eva headphones which may suck but look cool.


and many more!

Shipping will be paid for by the buyer and it’ll only be EMS if you live outside USA, Canada and Western Europe. I’ll charge a tiny handling fee depending on the amount of goods purchased (shouldn’t be more than 1-5 USD) as well. To order, just look through the form and email me at

tjhan86 AT riuva.com

Read More of Sticky: [Bazaar] 29 September Arrivals from KKnM Here!!!
It has 186 words, 3 images, and an estimated 45 secs reading time

Nanoha StrikerS Ends! It Could’ve and Should’ve Been Better, But Passes.

LagannGurren LagannDai GurrenArk Gurren LagannDaiginga Gurren Lagann! (2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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Popularity: 6% [?] 8 Comments Published by tj_han September 27th, 2007 in Anime

The Nanoha franchise, if you ignore the elements of loliconism, is a fantastic foundation upon which new series can be created. The universe and premise is very suitable for successful high-octane action series as it contains the desirable elements of magics (super powers), girls (good looking girls) and technology (devices).

StrikerS is thus saved by the above 3 factors. In truth, it’s a pretty mediocre show ruined by poor art, bad pacing and a overly huge cast. Despite this, I still rather enjoyed it above the likes of even Bokurano or Seirei no Moribito. The final battle arc of StrikerS is probably its saving grace.

Read More of Nanoha StrikerS Ends! It Could’ve and Should’ve Been Better, But Passes. Here!!!
It has 1360 words, and an estimated 5:26 mins reading time

[Hynavian] Suzuka: A fairy tale ending in a modern setting?

LagannGurren LagannDai GurrenArk Gurren LagannDaiginga Gurren Lagann! (1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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Popularity: 12% [?] 11 Comments Published by Hynavian September 26th, 2007 in Hynavian, Anime Reviews, Manga Reviews
Fans of the long running manga series Suzuka would have heaved a sigh of relief as Suzuka came to a neat closure with chapter 166.
Chapter 166
I remember first watching the anime some time this year before the start of this semester’s hectic school life as I was really bored with my 3 months holidays. The series caught my attention due to a couple of factors. I had foolishly mistook it as a sports-based anime (Boss, please forgive me!) when I first watched it as there was an emphasis on a female protagonist who was performing high jumps consecutively. The “sports school”, the whole “track and field” backdrop and the many athletic characters that appeared gave me added misconceptions that it would be an anime based on sports. Truth was that I have never watched an anime that managed to integrate sporting events into becoming part of the anime plot. Suzuka managed to do so and hence I picked it up.
The 2nd factor that got me interested was the discrepancy between the title and the characters in the anime. Though the anime was titled “Suzuka”, it appeared that the plot focused more on the male lead (Akitsuki Yamato) instead of the female lead (Asahina Suzuka). In my opinion, the anime did follow the manga closely and it did allow me to pick up the manga chapters that followed after the last anime episode. I did some marathon reading and managed to catch up to where the latest chapter was then and hence joined in the greater pool of Suzuka fans as we waited patiently for the periodic release of chapters.
Suzuka: My short Summary…
The male protagonist, Akitsuki Yamato, moved to Tokyo and stayed in his aunt’s Asahi’s Heights Bath House (a dorm for females) where he coincidentally became the neighbour of Asahina. It was love at first sight for Yamato as he was mesmerised by Asahina when he saw her practicing high jump earlier. Coincidentally they attend the same school, and coincidentally they were in the same class.
From the start, we see a pathetic Yamato trying his utmost to please and to win the heart of Asahina who was terribly mean to a goody Yamato. Yamato joined the school’s track and field team, strained himself physically as he wanted to keep up to Asahina’s expectations, constantly apologised to Asahina even when he wasn’t in the wrong, got slapped, shouted and was given the cold shoulder by Asahina but he never gave up. (Makes me wonder whether I can find such a “nice” guy in Singapore)
A goody Yamato begging for Asahina's forgiveness
A nice guy like Yamato (who could withstand girlfriend abuse) was well-liked by the other female characters too. Female characters like Sakis, Yui-chan and Honoka entered the scene and made the relationship between the 2 main protagonists worse than ever. However, with the manga titled “Suzuka”, Asahina ended up as the overall winner in a BGR situation as it would not make sense to promote a character who would be a loser at the end of the day. Asahina then left a heart broken goody Yamato in Tokyo for a year while she studied overseas.
Fans of Suzuka started biting their fingernails when it came to the later chapters where there was news of Asahina being pregnant with Yamato’s child. The whole manga appeared to be falling apart at that point of time as the probability of a plausible ending appeared to be low. At the previous RIUVA BK round table meeting, Crest and I were “analysing” the mess the goody Yamato had gotten himself and “commenting” on the possible actions that Asahina could possibly take but we dropped it and went on to talk about MxO as we saw greater plot development in that series instead. Though the next few chapters were predictable, I’m actually surprised that the mangaka managed to pull off a happy ending by fast-forwarding time to a year after Suzuka gave birth and to end it off with a wedding for the 2 main protagonists.
Suzuka has provided the many hours of joy and laughter and more moments of frustration as readers get agitated over the lack of progress in the relationship of the two protagonists. A mishap would happen and the relationship of the 2 would “downgrade” back to stage one when they’re almost nearing the final stage. However, all ends well as Asahina’s nasty attitude became better and I heave a sigh of relief for the goody Yamato. Though Suzuka may at first seem to be just a story of the lives of 2 young adults in high school (what’s so nice about reading the lives of 2 losers?), Suzuka would be a good bet if you’re looking for no particular genre or has some time to spare as it has a little of everything, ranging from some sporting action, fustrating love triangle relationships to comedy.  
A picture reunion of all of our favourite Suzuka characters
Of course the ending was not “perfect” but it’s the best that one can get for a manga setting that is set so close to mirroring reality. No Cinderella carriage or a prince on white horse. Instead, a goody male protagonist and a truckload of good pals at a wedding church is the best way to end things the modern way.
My favourite avatar in action once again!
This article was written to prove that Hynavian’s life does not revolves around Claymore only. Feel free to agree or to disagree with what I have mentioned :)

Popularity: 12% [?]

Tokyo Majin Rocks. Claymore Sucks.

LagannGurren LagannDai GurrenArk Gurren LagannDaiginga Gurren Lagann! (10 votes, average: 3.6 out of 5)
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Popularity: 10% [?] 17 Comments Published by tj_han September 25th, 2007 in Anime

This is the period of time when many anime series end. The numerous quality 26 parters from the spring season, the not-so-quality 13 parters of the summer season etc.

Having seen so many ends and with more to come, it’s quite an emotional period for me because I almost always cry at well-done endings. I just saw Tokyo Majin season 2 episode 9 and it was one of the more epic final battles I’ve seen. I know Odex has licensed and is actually preparing this series for sale, so I’m surely going to get the DVDs for both seasons.

Read More of Tokyo Majin Rocks. Claymore Sucks. Here!!!
It has 417 words, and an estimated 1:40 mins reading time

Zero no Tsukaima 2 Ends! It’s So Deus that it’s a Zeus Ex Machina!

LagannGurren LagannDai GurrenArk Gurren LagannDaiginga Gurren Lagann! (18 votes, average: 4.61 out of 5)
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Popularity: 19% [?] 18 Comments Published by tj_han September 24th, 2007 in Anime

Despite the rubbishness of the overall pacing, where too much time was spent on side characters like Agnes, I still kinda liked Zero no Tsukaima 2. It’s perhaps the sequel effect, where one finds the familiar elements nostalgic and is tricked into liking the series in spite of the flaws.

The biggest flaw is of course how Saitou survived! Obviously he did not, because the eclaire d’amour withered. But he got revived by the 7 magical pearls of Tiffania just like that! For no reason! And he still had a corpse, which was not logical because there were 200 artillery cannons, 120 mages casting Firaga and 2000 archers raining arrows on him!! While he was dying as well! I was so weeping because he was surely dead. I demand my eye fluids back.

Read More of Zero no Tsukaima 2 Ends! It’s So Deus that it’s a Zeus Ex Machina! Here!!!
It has 611 words, and an estimated 2:27 mins reading time
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