Please Register and Donate If You Like Us

December 27th, 2010 BiggityB

To any one new to AnimeSalvation, welcome. We hope you comeback often. Please take the time to register for our site.Also we are nonprofit and do this voluntarily for fun. It is a great experience to get our opinions out there.

Take the time to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

We are always looking for volunteers. You can volunteer to review anime, manga, games (video and table top), and conventions you are attending.For our faithful volunteers & staff there is plenty of swag to share. Also press passes to cover your local anime convention. If you are interested in volunteering email at biggityb  @animesalvation.com.

Some of the swag we get (and this is over 4 years ago our collection is MUCH better now):

Also we are looking for skilled website volunteers such as: graphics designers,those familiar with running a website (especially wordpress), etc. Email for more info.

Our anime chat is always open for discussion.

Enjoy!

Best Anime Opening and Ending – Need Your Comments!

November 30th, 2014 BiggityB

Taking suggestions for the best openings and endings. You know when you are watching a series and the song gets stuck in your head so bad, that you must absolutely listen to the full version of it? Or maybe you have been used to heard the first opening when a new one starts on your next episode.

 

animeop

If you stop by here be sure to take a few seconds to drop your opinion, I know if you watch anime, you have a favorite.

Shiki’s Disgaea 4 Review

November 25th, 2014 shikioneen

Disgaea 4 NIS America

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten – Playstation 3 was great! It took the game the fans loved and gave it an interesting twist. They did this while keeping the storyline entertaining, funny, and rather touching at some points. Compared to the others I’d rank Disgaea 4 2nd on the list right behind the first Disgaea.

The graphics have greatly improved from the previous games and you can really see it. Not only are the sprites more detailed but so are the backgrounds during conversations. The transitions between scenes are pretty cool with a horde of bats flying across the screen. I thought that was a nice touch for the game’s main character “Mr. Vampire”

The sound quality has also improved. The voices are crisp and clear and much easier to understand if you don’t feel like reading what the text boxes say. The music collection is pretty interesting as includes some new pieces as well as some from the other games which can all be viewed via a music shop unlockable in the game. As for the replay value, you never really run out of things to do in Disgaea, with the post game story, the land of carnage, or downloadable content, there is always something to keep you busy. The game also features multiple endings to entice you for another go at the game once you finish it. I won’t spoil how to unlock them though.
Disgaea 4 has greatly expanded upon the game that millions of fans have loved since the first game. This was done without taking away from the gripping tale normally found in the series, with the new features and overall restructured HQ the game still holds to the Disgaea series struggle for power. I give Disgaea 4 a 4/5 and encourage even new comers to the series to give it a try. NIS America did it again.

Secret World of Arriety Anime Review

November 25th, 2014 BiggityB

The Secret World of Arrietty1

Known in Japan as The Borrower Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ Kari-gurashi no Arietti?) and in the UK and Australia as Arrietty

It is a rare delight when I can catch an anime movie in the movie theater. It is even rarer for me to catch an anime movie both my daughter and I would enjoy. Well guess what? I went to see The Secret World of Arriety in the theater on 2/20/2012 with my daughter. A definite rare moment to cherish.

I was watched the subbed Japanese version in the summer of 2011. It was amazing. Figured it was time to break down and go to the theater for the release of The Secret World of Arriety.

Studio Ghibli’s films are always a must see for me. While Hayao Miyazaki did not direct, he was involved with the planning and with writing the screenplay. Miyazaki hired first time director, Hirosama Yonebashi, the youngest director with Studio Ghibli, to direct The Secret World of Arriety. I am beyond impressed with the work put into this film. I can see why it topped Japanese box offices the year of its release in Japan.

The Secret World of Arrietty is based on Mary Norton’s 1952 novel The Borrowers, about a family of 4-inch-tall people who live secretly beneath the floorboards of a house out in the country.

The Secret World of Arrietty2

Arriety (voiced by Bridget Mendler), her father Pod and mother Homily (voiced by real life husband and wife Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) make up this family. They “borrow” stuff from the humans (which they call “beans”).

The movie starts out with the arrival of a sick boy named Shawn. Amidst father and daughter’s borrowing spree they are both seen by him. This eventually leads to a friendship between Arriety and Shawn. Pod, however, becomes worried that the friendship could lead to the boy alerting other beans to their existence under the floorboards. The nosey housekeeper Hara (voiced by Carol Burnett), knows the Borrowers exist and wishes to find them by any means. This leads the family to plan to move.

This is a very imaginative movie with lush animation. Electrical outlets are passage ways, Arriety finds a human sewing needle she wields as a sword, a tea kettle is a boat…the list goes on about what is used as what from the perspective of a little borrower.

I have constantly heard this is a slow and boring film. I extremely disagree.  This is yet another Studio Ghibli (THANK YOU Disney!!!!) gem. I agree it could’ve been a little bit longer and the ending could have wrapped more up. Honestly those are my only complaints.

Oh and the soundtrack I must rave about! It is an absolute work of art. It is composed by Cécile Corbel. She is a very talented composer. I highly recommend getting the soundtrack. It created a stir of emotions within me. I can not explain but the musically truly was an experience. It fit right in with the beautiful animation.

The Secret World of Arrietty3

I did sorta laugh out loud over the “Disneyfied” choices for a few of the voice actors (Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana and Good Luck Charlie). The Japanese version of the film is call The Borrowers Arriety. I guess I was disappointed with the name change too.

My daughter enjoyed the movie, I think almost as much as I did. Hara scared her a few times (hey she is a 7 year old lol) and the cat made her laugh. Another Studio Ghibli masterpiece.

This one gets 5/5! My complaints would  not even lower how perfect of a movie this is. Looking forward to the next Studio Ghibli film and I hope it is directed by Miyazaki.

Shin Chan Season 3 Pt 1 Review

November 25th, 2014 BiggityB

shin_chan_z

One of my favorite anime series on Adultswim was Shin Chan. Each and every Saturday night I looked forward to laughing my butt off at Shin and his family.  I was truly sad after season 2 of Shin Chan ended. Adultswim had no more Shin Chan. I had to go to my DVDs. Now when I heard Shin Chan Season 3 was coming out I had to jump up and down with joy.

I have watched Shin Chan Season 3 Part 1 several times now.  I still laugh out loud.  There are so many great episodes on part one. Some great new characters too.

The series takes place 2 years in the future. Much has changed. Georgie’s family went from rich upper class to the bottom of the ladder.  Penny’s father has stopped beating his wife and daughter. My personal favorite of course is Action Bastard gets his own movie, in which he says the “C” word (take a guess lol). Immediately after watching both discs, I noticed the series was a little more profane and touched on subjects we did not see in the first 2 seasons.

shin chan1 shin chan 3

My understanding is since season 3 of Shin Chan was not being syndicated the creators had more freedoms. I must say the episode  “Fibromyalgical Mystery Tour” had me laughing.  Shin’s fibromyalgic neighbor gave Mitzi some shrooms. Let just say Shin manages to get to them first. In several episodes on the 2ndDVD, we are introduced to Mitzi’s sister Bitzi. She is of course addicted to brown-brown (cocaine cut w gunpowder. The episodes with Bitzi in it are classic. Also, a parody of True Blood/Twlight is done. This is a 2 part episode.

I laughed until it hurt watching Shin Chan Season 3 Part 1. I am looking forward to the 2nd part which comes out later this month.

I give the DVD set 4.5/5. It didn’t get the 5 because it should have been released as one whole set.

 

Bleach Soul Resurrection (PS3) Game Review/

November 25th, 2014 shikioneen

ps3_Bleach Soul Resurrection Game Review

NIS America games have always treated me well ever since Disgaea they always held so much replay value so after beating the game I was never truly finished with it. I expected the same with Bleach Soul Resurrection but unfortunately it didn’t hold the same replayability that the other games had.

I honestly don’t think it was worth it to buy brand new. first off the game is really short. to beat all the episodes it will take about 4 hours. second its a watered down version of dynasty/samurai warriors meaning its basically the same except that you don’t capture bases and its Bleach.

bleach resurreccion ps3bleach resurreccion ps3

The visuals are pretty good. when running around the Soul Society or Karakura Town you might be surprised how much it looks like the anime. The sound effects are also quite impressive. The music might be over shadowed by the sounds of combat. Another issue is if your playing with the Japanese voices, like I did, you might have to read subtitles. If you actually want to know what everyone is saying (which slightly gets in the way when in the middle of boss fights). So if you want know what’s going on with out the distraction, turn subs off and play in English.

The game is strictly single player and the episodes get rather boring after a second round. However, the game does have around 28 missions for players to tackle, if they are trying to reach the max level for their characters. The game also features a soul attack mode which includes Time attack,  Beat attack and Soul attack. Time attack is essentially a race to the finish with a group of required enemies at the end. Beat attack is a timed kill fest and Soul attack is similar except the point is to rack up a major combo so you can obtain more soul points.

bleach-soul-resurreccion-trophies-guide-screenshot-640x325

The game is good. but it could have been better. The visuals and sound effects were great but that doesn’t make up for the lack of replay value. I probably should have waited for a used copy but I’m still glad I got it when it first came out.

As for the voices I’m sure the English voices are mostly the same. I haven’t tried playing as everyone using English voices but its quite the opposite for the Japanese voices. I have played the entire game with Japanese voices but I have no idea what everyone is supposed to sound like. I am sure almost everyone sounds how they should

Rating: 3/5  Vintage: 20011  Reviewer: Shikioneenshingen

 

 

OVA – Open Versatile Anime – Game Review

November 25th, 2014 Miki

ova cover 2

OVA review

By Miki

 

This can be a fun table top game but requires a little finesse and creativity on the GM’s (Game master) part.  We start out with creating a character.  In my game we started with 6 attributes with 2 or 3 of these as negative traits.   We decide on looks and weapons next then a lot points to the attributes.

Example character : Akui

Attributes:

Abilities                                                                 Weaknesses

Intimidate 2                                                        Short temper 2

Lucky 1                                                                                 Hatred 2

Combat skills 2

Will power 1

Health 40             Endurance 40    Weapons:  Knife n Mr. Stinky doll

He has red short spiky hair green eyes and pierced nose ear and lip.  He’s short and angry with a sneer upon his face.  He laces his dialogue with sarcasm and his cynical views color his hatred for the world and everything in it.   When Akui was 5 yrs old his mother died of an overdose and his father left him on the streets.  In order to survive he joined a gang but due to his shortness and red hair he was bullied.  So he soon took on his I don’t care I hate u all attitude.  He learned to be meaner and more aggressive than everyone else and now runs rampant committing all sorts of crimes.

The story starts with a Castle appearing one day in the sky.  A large full moon then shows up during the day transforming into a mirror that shows us the villain inside the castle.  He then tells us that players have been selected to participate in his war games.  They will be transported to the game site and given a Negai which is a magical weapon.  Then the games will begin and it’s may the best creature survive.

The first day was individual battles this wasn’t as much fun as when we fight all together it also took up lots of time but thought made better footage to show how different battles could be.

Battle 1 Round 1:                                             A cute cat girl is beat up by a cyborg.  He hits her pretty hard she pulls a flying squirrel out of hammerspace and throws it at him.  This creates laughter in the audience.  He removes most of her life but then taunts her causing her to girl rage twice.  The 1st she pounds on him n crys “u big meany” but the 2nd she jump round kicks him in the face giving a great panty shot to all her devoted fans.   Now that he’s angry gets serious and rapidly hits her until she falls unconscious.

Battle 1 Round 2:                                             Gibly and Zaimoku fight.  Gibly takes the lead when she uses her striping snake technique.  Zaimoku being the perv he is gets distracted by pleasure.  The battle changes though as he tangles her in vines and proceeds to fondle and caress her.  He also uses his power attack but hits a bone and hurts himself.  She uses her snakes tickle power but it’s no match this time for his pelvic thrust attack which proceeds to knock her unconscious.

Battle 1 Round 3:                                             Kalvin vs. Akui.  Kalvin uses his mecha cannon causing Akui to retaliate by carving loser on his mecha.  Mecha flips over causing Kalvin to get out of mecha which causes battle to heat up.  We now have a small dagger vs. a ball of yarn.  This is funny and getting us nowhere so Kalvin proceeds to climb back in his mecha and crush Akui.

Battle 2 is on a different day and its 2 vs. 2 bad guys ahead.  Then Battle 3 is 4 vs.4 Good guys won.  These battles were quicker so notes not taken as well.   The Hero’s then went to castle to get their prize only to find the castle had vanished and they were back home in their beds thinking was this all just some crazy dream.

This was lots of fun but took some getting used to since we all play DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) it was weird not having hit points or AC (armor class).  We roll against each other which kept the dice rolling.

Overall it was a very fun productive day of gaming.

If OVA sounds like a fun game to you and you wanna check it out, there is a quick start download available for free  here and OVA can be ordered here for $15.

ova-kickstarter

Looks like they have had recently successful Kick Starter Campaign. We will inquire and keep you updated about anything we find out.

MCM Birmingham Comicon

November 21st, 2014 mouseycou

Coming this weekend, we see the return of the MCM Birmingham comicon. This comicon is in the UK and is the founding location of all the MCM Expos across the country.

Animesalvation will be attending this event, though the reviews and coverage will be handled by our affiliate UK-based site AniHelp.

Animesalvation will be sending our UK convention correspondent to this event to report back on this and more information will be added here shortly.

For a brief overview of what the MCM Birmingham Comicon is and how it began, you can find our more via the Pre-review of the event on AniHelp which can be seen here:

http://anihelp.co.uk/Other-89-MCM-Birmingham-2014

We plan to share more reviews and ventures between the two sites in the future, please look for further contact and interaction between our two sites.

Kyle Hebert Interview

November 20th, 2014 momo26

Kyle Hebert“Always follow your passion, do something with your life that’ll make you happy.”

LA based video game and anime voice Actor Kyle Hebert got his start in the early 90s as a fellow anime fan auditioning for Teen Gohan/ The Great Saiyaman for DBZ with a Texas based studio called Funimation. Since then, his career has taken off and he’s become a well known, looked up to man and I know I’m lucky enough to call him a great friend.

Over the years he has voiced the crazy Saiyan teen Gohan who calls himself “The Great Saiyaman”, a military officer who survives the military and its crazy alchemists literally with his eyes closed! warrant officer, Vato Falman. A dog boy ninja with a smart aleck attitude and a dog named Akamaru at his side, squad 8 member Kiba Inuzuka. A crazy boar riding, sword wielding doofus named Ganju Shiba, a soft spoken, genial, yet sexy soul reaper captain whose secret ambitions throw soul society into utter chaos and betrayal, Captain Sousuke Aizen, and most recently, a big mouthed, blue haired, tattoed, cape wearing, ambitious knucklehead from Jihaa village, that pilots a gunman called Gurren, named Kamina.

His recent video game roles include a Jedi on a star wars game (not released yet), Ryu on Street Fighter IV, two characters, Held, and the soft spoken Sigmund for a game called Infinite Undiscovery, a game that Kyle traveled to China to record.

Recently, I spoke with Kyle and asked him a few questions about the world of voice acting among a few other things.

1. What got you into voice acting, where did you get your start in voice work, did something inspire you to do so?

Growing up on Looney Tunes, when my dad said one guy voiced all those characters, I knew it was the job for me. I actually started doing character voices in radio, which was another life long passion. Back in 2000, some radio station coworkers heard about auditions for Dragonball Z, a show I had been a fan of for years. I went in, tried out, and got cast. I started out doing bit part voices and the rest is history, as they say.

2. Are there any challenges you find in voice work?

With anime especially, there’s the technical challenge of acting on top of matching lip synch. But I’ve always had a blast doing voice work, no matter what type of project. I love the director throwing curve balls at me, having to improvise sometimes, and the symbiotic relationship that develops in helping to bring a character to life. I just get the biggest creative rush……..and I even get paid for it.

3. Kind of follows question 2..are there any characters you found especially challenging to voice?

Ganju on Bleach was actually a bit tough to nail down at first because I have a fairly wide range of voices trapped in my head. I found it particularly rough to keep his low, gruff sound consistent. I’d keep changing the texture, or the gravel, and end up having to re do takes. I don’t think the first appearance of his character sounds too much like his eventual voice. I’d give anything to go back and re-record it, but ah well, what’s done is done.

4. You voice a lot of different characters, each dynamic in different ways..is there any certain type of character you’ve enjoyed playing whether it’s personality wise, good characters, villains?

I truly just love doing the work. But a recent character that I loved playing was Kamina on Gurren Lagann. Gung ho, goofy, and a big heart…….it reminded me of my DBZ days doing Gohan/Great Saiyaman. Kiba on Naruto is always near and dear to me. Aizen of course, I get a huuuuuuuuuuuuge rush out of playing since he’s so……….evil. :)

5. If you didn’t get into voice acting, what career do you think you’d be doing? was there anything you wanted to do before you got into voice acting?

I’d be TRYING to get into voice acting. I just love it that much. I wanted to be a DJ about the same time I got interested in voice work as a kid. I can say I’ve been blessed in fulfilling those goals. My long term goal is to be an established cartoon voice. Its a very tough and tight circle, but once you’re in, you’re set. I want to be able to record alongside a cast of people I’ve admired for years, helping to entertain the masses. I can play drums, and I think it’d be fun to be in a band, but I lack the discipline or patience involved in trying to get a music career going. I’ve just gotta keep my eye on the prize.

6. are there things you enjoy doing outside of your voice acting career? hobbies, interests?

I love movies. I collect blu ray and love going to the theater. I’ve just started getting back into comic books again. I also love playing video games. I’m just a big kid. I’m 39 and refuse to grow up. Hmmmmm, that may explain why I’m single.

7. kind of follows question 6, are you a movie goer and what types of movies do you enjoy?

I love sci fi, action, horror, comedy, and occasional dramas.

8. what do you think about the anime cons you attend? seeing people cosplaying as your characters, the fans in general?

Its great to have an outlet for fandom to get together and celebrate anime as a community. I love meeting and mingling with the fans, since I am one myself. The fans make my job possible. I’m always genuinely flattered and honored.

9. you play video games, do you enjoy any certain type of game genre or system? what about the games you do voice work in?

I’m big into shooters, fighters, and racers. I mostly voice RPGs, but I don’t have the time or patience. I’m into instant gratification. The irony is I suck at games. But I’ve always had fun, and that’s the bottom line.

10. are you working on anything currently that you’re allowed to tell us about? or anything you recently announced that you’re excited about?

I’m particularly psyched to be Ryu on the new Street Fighter game, coming early 2009. Also, voicing an original Jedi character for a new Star Wars game, which I don’t even think has been announced yet.

11. do you have any words of inspiration for your fans about voice acting or just in general to say to them?

Follow your passion in life. Its crucial to get into a career that makes you happy. Being rich is great and all, but at the end of the day you HAVE to enjoy your work. I’m certainly not rich, but the amount of creative satisfaction I get from my work is invaluable. Understand that making a dream come true takes a long time. It never comes fast, easy, or cheap. Its always an investment in your future, and you have to take that seriously. Accept the bad with the good, and keep that chin up. Thanks to all the fans for all their support. It certainly is a source of great strength and inspiration to me.

You can also hear Kyle on his podcast “The Big Bald Broadcast” all the geeky news you can use! with his co-host, Other World Steve. You can also speak with Kyle on AIM at kibavox, through his website www.kylehebert.com, where you can also find his podcast. Also his Myspace page, and Facebook 

Finn’s Game Review: Tentacle Bento

November 20th, 2014 FinntheFrisian

                                                                           Tentacle Bento2

Type: Card Game

Ages: 16+

Players: 2-6

Approximate Game Length: 60 minutes

Company: Soda Pop Miniatures

At long last your humble manga reviewer has returned, but this is no manga review. No, today I bring before you a card game. That’s right, a card game. Tentacle Bento is a card game based on the rich anime tradition of doing horrible things to cute young women. Well, it’s not as bad as you might think. While most of the cards are decorated with suggestive pictures of scantily clad schoolgirls it doesn’t quite cross the line of totally bad taste. Fans of ero-guro and tentacle rape might be disappointed in the relatively tame nature of the game. It is certainly ecchi, not hentai.

You play as a tentacle monster who has infiltrated an all girl’s high school in order to do what tentacle monsters always do. The point of the game is to be the monster who “captures” the most girls. The game plays like rummy. You make sets of cards by playing a location, a capture, and at least one girl. There are four suits, sexy, smart, cute, and sporty. Each suit has a different type of mayhem that ensues when you make a capture using only cards in that suit. There is also one girl in each suit who is an All-Star. They are worth more points, and have a more powerful unique mayhem. The game is completed as soon as all four event cards are pulled from the deck. As soon as a player draws an event everybody follows the instructions on the card. The events are Sports Festival, Talent Show, Cultural Festival, and Final Exam.

Tentacle Bento Kasumi

Theme: 2.5/5

While many fans of anime might not bat an eye at a game based entirely on the implied brutalization of vivacious, large breasted teenage girls, you might not want to try playing this game with your elderly aunt. She might like rummy, but she most likely wouldn’t find this game oddly charming. Unfortunately, I don’t see much appeal to it either. The girls are moe enough I suppose, but it just feels a little bland. I would prefer if they had gone for a far more intense guro theme instead. Worst of all is that they recycle pictures for the girls. It feels like Japanese high schools are awash with clones.

Tentacle Bento Location

Gameplay: 1/5

There are some serious flaws in the fundamentals of Tentacle Bento that make it more difficult to get through the hour long game than an episode of  Glasslip. A game of rummy ends when one of the players puts their last card down, but the same isn’t true with this game. Instead the players suffer through a situation where they draw and discard until a school event comes up. It is a frustrating situation that can be rectified with some house rules that would let players draw a card in certain situations. As it is you will end up wishing the game was over already 2o minutes in.

Tentacle Bento is a game that you might want to buy on a whim. You may even have fun playing it a few times before it ends up gathering dust on your shelf, like mine has.

tentacle bento special card

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge episode 1 review

November 19th, 2014 FinntheFrisian

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge episode 1

Title: Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge

Producers: SHAFT, Starchild Records, Square Enix

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Seinen

Rating: PG-13 – Teens 13 or older

Finn here with the first of 3 new season anime reviews. This fall is such a fantastic season for new anime that it is actually pulling me away from my hobby of reading manga until my eyes bleed. It’s really tough to find the time for all the new series so I have to be careful and only watch the very best of them. Arakawa Under the Bridge 2 is one of those that I will be watching every week. This is a continuation of the absurd adventures of the uptight perfectionist Kou “Ric” Ichinomiya and the various vagrants who live along the banks of the Arakawa river. If you are wondering how a wealthy young bachelor like Kou ended up living under a bridge with a woman who claims to be an alien then you should probably watch the first season or read the manga. This episode starts with Nino waking from a dream about being abandoned on earth. Ric takes this opportunity to suggest her moving in with him. She misunderstands the proposition and they end up trading houses. Ric finds himself dealing with the clinically insane residents of the riverbank who keep dropping by to visit Nino at her house. Most of the second half is about a yearly marathon the vagrants hold along the riverbank. Though Ric is at first unenthusiastic about participating his competitive personality comes out after a little taunting from Star.

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge episode 1 review

Art: 4/5

Bright and colorful backgrounds make this a pretty nice looking anime. The opening song is “Cosmos vs. Alien” performed by Etsuko Yakushimaru. The song was alright, but I think I prefer the previous opening “Venus to Jesus”. The animated sequence for the opening was a little confused. It didn’t really work for me.

Story: 4/5

This anime is all about the community of insanely oddball characters. Ric seems to look down on most of the other characters for their senseless behavior. Yet he always ends up getting dragged into their pace and seems to even enjoy his unusual lifestyle. There was a little bit of plot development in this episode with a few allusions to Nino’s mysterious background. Just like the first season this is an enjoyably amusing show. Well worth watching.

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge episode review

I also really like the opening tho this series, super catchy:

« Older Entries
Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More

  • Featured Video

  • Translator

  • Anime Salvation Facebook

  • Subscribe To AnimeSalvation


     

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Design Downloaded From Free Wordpress Themes | Free Website Templates | News and Observers
eXTReMe Tracker