Kindred Spirits On The Roof Complete Collection Manga Review

Another Yuritopia!

Creative Staff:

Part A Story/Art: Hachi Ito

Part B Art: Aya Fumio

Part B Story: Toi Amatsu (Toitentsu)

Original Creator: Liar-Soft

Translation: Amy Osteraas

Adaptation: David Liederman

Copy Editor: Shannon Fay

Lettering/Retouch: Karis Page, Mia Chiresa, and CK Russell

Cover Design: Nicky Lim

Proofreader: Lee Otter and Jenn Grunigen

Production Manager: Lisa Patillo

EIC: Adam Arnold

Publisher: Jason DeAngelis

What They Say:

Mako and Shiori are childhood best friends trying to repair a rift in their friendship...or possibly turn it into something more. Meanwhile, fellow student Hase Chiharu joins the Quiz Club to become closer to Natsuki and Rika, a power couple she adores. Tokino, another club member, can't take her eyes off their beautiful upper classmates either, and as Chiharu and Tokino observe the couple together, their own sweet relationship begins!

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

I have been waiting a long time for this. Being a huge fan of the Kindred Spirits visual novel (And the Yuri genre in general), the Seven Seas' acquisition of this two-part manga series was immediately marked down as one of my most anticipated releases of the year. With that hype in mind, let me tell you this -- I was not let down. The Kindred Spirits manga is excellent supplementary material for fans of the game as well as a fantastic standalone manga for fans of shoujo-ai.

This rendition of Kindred Spirits takes place roughly one year after the events of the game. That being said, all of the couples formed in the visual novel version are still going strong at the beginning of the manga -- so don't worry about any potential relationship problems that could have occurred within the time-gap between these two adaptations. Instead of focusing on those old couples, however, the manga delves into several new ones. The first of which comes in the form of Shiori and Mako, two first-year childhood friends who have since grown estranged following a love confession from the aforementioned Mako. Shiori, incapable of understanding her own feelings, runs away and ignores the situation altogether. Luckily for her, she winds up being paired with Hina and Maki (Two characters who found their own respective lovers in the game) to design the set for the upcoming school play.

From this point on, it starts to become evident to Hina and Maki that Shiori is troubled. Hina, being acquainted to Mako as her senpai on the track team, starts to catch on to what may be happening and eventually confronts both parties about it. Maki, on the less-nosy side of the spectrum, simply provides subtle relationship advice for Shiori and takes a bit longer to understand the root of her new friend's problems. Regardless, Shiori is able to find solace in the fact that these two girls are looking out for her and eventually comes to terms with her feelings. And after finding out that Hina is in a relationship with Yuna Toomi (Also knows as best-girl), she starts feeling less uncomfortable about the whole girl-on-girl thing.

Yuna, in an act she has become incredibly accustomed to making, winds up playing matchmaker yet again and tells Shiori a rumor about love being realized underneath the tree in the courtyard. On the day of the school festival (And the play), Shiori makes it her mission to return Mako's feelings -- but misses her chance yet again and runs away when the moment is right. Luckily for us, the good ole' Broadcasting Club is nearby and lends Shiori their PA system to say whatever she needs. So, in a last-ditch effort to renew her childhood friendship, Shiori asks Mako to meet her beneath the tree. Of course, Mako complies and Shiori confesses to her -- starting up yet another wonderful yuri relationship and ending Part A.

In Part B, we say goodbye to the newfound shipment of Shiori x Mako and say hello to two new ones -- Tokino x Chiharu and Natsuki x Rika. Natsuki and Rika are the co-presidents for Shirojo's Quiz Club. After putting on an overly-friendly presentation beseeching new students to join their club, Tokino and Chiharu join simply due to the fact that they want to observe the relationship between these two girls. And, after their introductions come to a close, Chiharu and Tokino realize the true motives of each other, forming a bond in which they spy on their senpai together and ultimately try to bring them closer to one another. In doing so, however, they form a bond themselves and it becomes evident to everyone but them that they're missing out on an opportunity for their own love.

Things with Rika and Natsuki aren't all that simple either, though. Yes, the two girls are incredibly close and even hold hands for a solid 90% of the day, but each of them thinks the other sees them as nothing more than a best friend. So when a rift starts to form between the two due to jealousy, Rika's feelings become more apparent, forcing Chiharu and Tokino into action. Eventually, they confront Rika who goes on to declare that she does have romantic feelings for Natsuki and obliges with her kohai's plan to force them together. Their plan -- having Rika confess in the same exact room that the couple became friends in.

When Rika finally does confess, Natsuki goes on to say that she's been in love with her this entire time. She goes over how she fell for her the first time Rika introduced herself in class and that she's been working hard at getting smarter ever since.Everything Natsuki has done since meeting Rika was all in order to get closer to her -- making this one of the cutest relationships we've seen in Kindred Spirits thus far. The two eventually emerge from the classroom together to find Chiharu and Tokino waiting outside. But instead of detailing their newfound relationship, they simply state that the two younger girls should start bonding over more than just watching other couples. Chiharu and Tokino face each other and immediately blush, hinting at possible romantic growth between them in the future and ending the second and final story.

Even though this manga serves well as a standalone book for those without prior exposure to Kindred Spirits, I really think it's best enjoyed by pre-existing fans of the game. There are so many cameos (Particularly in Part A) that evoke feelings from the past and shine light on how the old couples have grown in the last year without utilizing too much time on them. The scene in which Hina reveals her relationship with Yuna to Shiori is a particularly adorable one -- although that might have only been the case for me considering my affinity for the pairing. Either way, these additional stories really add volume to the Kindred Spirits universe and I truly hope they can find a way to bleed more out of it in the future. I don't want it to end.

In Summary:

Kindred Spirits on the Roof is one of the most adorable, affectionate yuri tales on the market. Even though the manga will be best enjoyed by fans of the game (Due to several cameos from older characters), this book functions well on its own and is an utterly fantastic example of romantic comedy. With cuteness on the forefront amidst well-written comedy and an endearing character roster, Kindred Spirits truly is something special.

Content Grade (Part A): A-

Art Grade (Part A): B+

Content Grade (Part B): B+

Art Grade (Part B): B

Packaging Grade: A-

Text/Translation Grade: A

Age Rating: 16+

Released By: Seven Seas

Release Date: January 31, 2017

MSRP: $18.99

My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected Vol. #03 Manga Review

If that's why you're being so nice to me...then just stop.

Creative Staff:

Original Story: Wataru Watari
Art: Naomichi Io
Character Design: Ponkan8
Translation: Jennifer Ward
Lettering: Bianca Pistillo

Cover Design: Hiroyuki Kawasome

What They Say:

Hachiman Hikigaya's travails in the Service Club continue! When his younger sister Komachi comes to the Service Club with a problem involving Hachiman's stoic, intimidating classmate Saki, he's faced with a challenge. How's he supposed to break through Saki's unflappable and frankly frightening demeanor? Is it possible that Hachiman's notorious cynicism is actually going to be good for something, for once?

The Review:
Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)
When we last left off, the Service Club (Along with Zaimokuza and Totsuka) were brainstorming ways to figure out where Saki Kawasaki works. Needless to say, this volume picks up exactly where the last one left off. And after a few panels of fan service revealing Yukinoshita and Yui in maid costumes, we're ready to get back to business! Oh, also, Saki doesn't work at the maid cafe. No surprise there.

Where she does work, however, is a high-class bar on the top floor of some fancy hotel in Chiba. After our lovable team of protagonists throw on their best dress clothes and head up there, it is revealed that Saki has slipped into delinquency due to the sheer fact that she needs money. That reason winds up being revealed not that night, but the next day when she meets with everyone at your standard McDonald's knock-off. Apparently, Saki only got this job because she wanted to go to college and didn't want to burden her family or her brother. What's even crazier than this is that Saki Kawasaki has managed to make it all the way to high school without ever hearing about scholarships. So, with some help from 8man and the gang (Which could totally be their band name if they ever started one), Saki decides it's best to focus on school. And, suddenly, everyone is happy....Until they aren't.

See, this is the part of the manga where Hachiman finally learns that Yuigahama was the 'sweets girl'. And after hearing about this, he doesn't thank her for her continued attempts at making him feel human, he basically tells her to go away. Being head over heels for the guy, Yui breaks down and runs away, making things awkward between the two from that point on. In fact, she even stops showing up to club meetings. Of course, Yukinon and Hachiman need to figure out how to get her back, but what's more important right now is going to a freakin' pet expo because penguins.

Komachi (Also known as best-girl) and Hachiman apparently go to this expo every year. Yukinoshita, on the other hand, really just likes cats. So when the dynamic brother and sister duo unexpectedly run into the cat-loving ice queen, they all decide to hang out for a bit and, what do you know, there's Yui. Of course, this is a manga, so Yuigahama interprets the chance encounter as an admittance to Hachiman and Yukinoshita being a couple and storms off once again, albeit right after Yukinoshita makes the poor choice of having, "I need to talk to you about us" being her last words of the meeting -- which, in hindsight, was a terrible move. The only way to fix this now is obviously by buying her a birthday present because, as it is right now, Yui is on track to have to worst birthday ever. Queue the mall trip!

Fortunately for us, best-girl Komachi tags along again, making this the most appearances she has had in a volume yet. Unfortunately for us, she immediately leaves and forces her brother and Yukino to go on a sort of semi-date without her. This, of course, results in Yukino fawning over stuffed animals and Hikigaya just being awkward and uncomfortable. As the "date" inches closer to its end, Haruno Yukinoshita makes her first appearance of the series as she bumps into our fake couple at the mall. If you aren't already familiar with Haruno, she's essentially the polar opposite of Yukino -- outgoing and bright. But, according to Hachiman, it's all just a front that she puts on. Eventually, Haruno leaves and we time-jump to the designated meeting time for Yui and the others. And, in an unexpected turn of events (Which is becoming an expected turn of events with all of the terrible timing these characters have), Zaimokuza shows up right as Yukino is about to spill her heart out (Or at least what's left of it) and the volume ends.

Oh, and there's also an arcade trip with Totsuka somewhere in here, so that's cool if you're into traps.

In Summary:
OreGairu continues to impress in every form of media. And while the anime had significantly more success with conveying emotion, the build-up and overall feel of this entire manga is easily still enjoyable after three volumes. You really have to give it to Watari for fleshing out such enjoyable characters. The comedy in OreGairu hits hard and the word count is rather impressive for a book of its size. Even though the art could be a bit cleaner as far as I'm concerned, this is an excellent rom-com/melodrama that only gets better from this point on.

Content Grade: A-

Art Grade: B-

Packaging Grade: B-

Text/Translation Grade: A

Age Rating: 13+

Released By: Yen Press

Release Date: December 13, 2016

MSRP: $12.99

The Isolator Vol. #01 Manga Review

Nothing is safe in this world. Whatever can happen, will happen.

Creative Staff:

Original Story: Reki Kawahara

Art: Naoki Koshimizu

Character Design: Shimeji

Translation: Jenny McKeon

Lettering: Scott Brandon Jones & Xian Michele Lee

What They Say:

Mysterious objects from space have landed, embedding themselves within human beings around the world and granting them impossible powers according to their deepest wishes. Seventeen-year-old Utsugi Minoru's only wish is to be able to live apart from the world and events around him. But will he remain the same after experiencing his new powers and new dangers?

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

Reki Kawahara is a name in the anime and manga industry that, despite having a limited selection of titles, is still relatively well-known. After his first series, Accel World, missed the mark several years back due to the controversial appearance of its protagonist, Sword Art Online picked up the slack and became an absolute phenomenon within anime and manga culture -- particularly in the west. That being said, Kawahara's newest story, The Isolator, has a lot to live up to if it's going to be able to stand next to something as colossal as SAO. One more thing to note before we get into the nitty-gritty, however, is that this book is drawn entirely by Naoki Koshimizu, a mangaka so fresh that he doesn't even have a Myanimelist page yet. But don't let that fool you -- this man can draw.

The Isolator follows the typical Kawahara pattern of an unlikely male candidate being given super powers and learning to harness them via an attractive, powerful female co-protagonist who would totally win if the two were to get into a fight. This time around, our male character is the aloof and antisocial Minoru Utsugi, who simply wants to lead a life where no one bothers him. Suffice it to say, that doesn't happen. Utusgi is randomly approached by a strange, black orb one night that buries itself inside his chest, ending any dreams he had of living a normal life. Three months later, after being hit by some jerk on a bike, Utsugi's power [granted by the orb] awakens. He doesn't feel anything. This power becomes relevant again just several pages later when these other jerks from the track team call Utusgi out behind the school and try to jump him. So if there's anything we have learned from the first two chapters, it's that Utsugi's pain is somehow being negated and that there are a lot of mean people wherever he lives.

Among all of these unfriendly faces, however, there is one saint -- Tomomi Minowa (Who I'm pretty sure is the Chiyuri Kurashima of this series). Minowa seems to be the only person in town willing to talk to Utsugi. She is also the only person in town who remembers something about him that he's spent the last several years trying to forget. "Wow, it must really be a terrible secret," is what you're probably thinking, right? Well boy, are you wrong. Utusgi's deepest, darkest secret is that this one time...he yelled at a teacher! Wow! What a scarring backstory! In fact, Utsugi seems to care more about this 'tragic' event than when his entire 'effing family was brutally murdered in front of him. But apart from our main character's inability to prioritize the sadness of his past, we have an average, everyday protagonist that just really likes to run for some reason. This, of course, hides behind the guise of Utsugi 'running to forget' but really, I just think they needed to make this guy seem damaged right off the bat. 

Anyway, after all of this initial character development and stuff comes to a close, we're introduced to several new characters, albeit briefly. One of these characters is Yumiko Azu, the Kuroyukihime of the series. Other than her, we have some dude who is presumably her sidekick (For now) and the dumbest protagonist I have seen in years -- The Biter. "Wow, what does that guy do?" you must be thinking. Well, get this, ladies and gentlemen...He bites people. To death. "Oh, well he probably looks cool at least, right?" Wrong. Instead of having a cool transformation or even a slightly threatening appearance in general, his mouth turns into a wolf's mouth -- making him the stupidest looking villain of all time. He's just some angry dude with half of a wolf-face. Combine that with the fact that he is nicknamed "The Biter" and that he literally says, at multiple points, "I'm going to bite you!" and it becomes pretty damn hard to take this manga seriously.

But even with that being said, there was still something about this volume that I enjoyed. I'm not sure if it's simply due to the fact that it's almost a carbon copy of Accel World, but I really did wind up liking it somehow. After this "Biter" dude is finally gone, I feel like this can really go somewhere. For this being an actual first manga from Koshimizu, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little impressed. The artwork is actually pretty fantastic and Shimeji's character designs are beautiful. Even Utsugi, despite how much I already dislike him, looks awesome. The strange thing is, Kawahara's story is actually the weakest part of this manga -- which is surprising considering how intricate his stories normally are. Maybe that will change with time; maybe it just wasn't portrayed well in the first volume. Who knows? What I do know, however, is that fans of Kawahara's can still find something in The Isolator. For those of you that haven't checked out any of his work, don't start with this.

In Summary:

The Isolator, despite being an impressive display of Naoki Koshimizu's artwork, has many flaws that wind up creating an ultimately dissatisfying reading experience. You will spend one-half of this volume questioning the thought process of the overtly antisocial protagonist and the second half laughing at the idea of a villain named "The Biter" who's mouth looks like an evil duckbill. This manga, in its current state, scores no points for originality, being what is essentially a carbon copy of Kawahara's own 'Accel World'. I will give Kawahara credit, however, for leaving the digital universe out of this one. It's nice to see him taking steps in a new direction...Kind of.

Content Grade: C

Art Grade: A-

Packaging Grade: C-

Text/Translation Grade: B-

Age Rating: 13+

Released By: Yen Press

Release Date: January 24, 2017

MSRP: $12.99

Rewrite Episode #15 Anime Review

Honeymoon Over a Silent Ocean

What They Say:

Kazamatsuri, a modern, well-developed city renowned for its burgeoning greenery and rich Japanese culture, is home to Kotarou Tennouji, a high schooler least privy to the place's shared values. Content to fill his pockets with frivolity, the proud and nosy boy whiles away his time pestering the self-proclaimed delinquent Haruhiko and indulging in his amorous feelings toward the oddball Kotori.

Equipped with the superhuman ability to permanently rewrite any part of his body to multiply his strength or speed, Kotarou is naturally drawn to the supernatural. One special meeting with the lone member and president of the Occult Research Club, the "Witch" Akane Senri, leads to Kotarou reviving the Occult Club by recruiting Kotori and three other members: the clumsy transfer student Chihaya, the strict class representative Lucia, and the unassuming Shizuru. As Kotarou unveils hidden secrets of each member of the Occult Club through their shared adventures, he will inevitably encounter a fate that only he might be able to rewrite.

The Review:
Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

Now that Kotarou isn't worried of being slaughtered by Kagari anymore, we can finally get the ball rolling in terms of this season's plot. And what better way to start that off than by overloading Kotarou's brain with literally every last bit of information pertaining to planet Earth conveniently piled up under one tree? That's right, folks. Kotarou now possesses more knowledge than any other human to ever walk the face of the Earth. In fact, he possesses so much knowledge that he can now rewrite the world itself instead of just his own physical capabilities. Or maybe he's been able to do that all along? I'm not really sure. That part wasn't exactly clear.

This is all fine and good -- I mean, what human being wouldn't seize the opportunity to obtain every secret the world has to offer? But Kotarou, caught up in the heat of the moment, winds up obtaining a little "too much" information, eventually going mad. Fortunately for him, Kagari shows up and is able to stop him from killing himself and the one other person (If you can even call her that) that exists in the current world. After all of this is said and done, we're left with the idea that all of those blue leyline things underneath the tree are actually branches (Or routes) that life could possibly take. Each branch that comes to an end is a universe in which human life could not be saved. And, unfortunately for everyone, it seems like every branch is coming to an end. Which then goes on to reveal Kagari's true purpose -- finding a route in which humanity does survive.

Kotarou, figuring this out at an incredibly opportune moment, decides right then and there that his mission is going to be protecting Kagari no matter what the cost. Little does he know, that was his mission for about half of the first damn season. Either way, he decides this right on time considering monsters have started appearing once again -- and all of them want Kagari's blood. But here's the kicker, all of those monsters were sent out by the spirit of Sakura Kashima (Who I guess still lingers around even after her body has passed). Kotarou, knowing full-well that he can't possibly combat all of these monsters, finally figures out that he can just respawn his friends to help him out. And while this seems like exactly what we've been waiting for since the start of this season, the manner in which his friends reappear completely misses the mark and does so without even an ounce of sentiment -- something incredibly rare for a KEY series. In fact, the reappearance of the Occult Club is so sudden that you barely have time to feel anything. Had the episode used even a minute of the ten that it spent on Kotarou's magical body floating through space on this scene instead, the episode may have actually meant something.

The good side to this is that all of our heroines are back. The bad side, however, is that I'm pretty sure they're all still dead. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things play out.

In Summary:

Despite a variety of impressive visuals and some of the strongest dialogue the series has seen, episode fifteen misses out on the sentiment so typically synonymous with KEY animation. The first half of the episode is overwhelmingly slow, which causes unavoidable pacing issues in the latter half. Even though some of our favorite characters are finally brought back into the picture, we're left with too many questions that Rewrite was not capable of answering despite all of this episode's time utilized on that alone. I'm sure the series will recover once again, but a slip-up at such an important moment in the season is too disheartening to overlook.

Grade: C

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Rewrite Episode #14 Anime Review

Three Cups of Coffee

What They Say:

Kazamatsuri, a modern, well-developed city renowned for its burgeoning greenery and rich Japanese culture, is home to Kotarou Tennouji, a high schooler least privy to the place's shared values. Content to fill his pockets with frivolity, the proud and nosy boy whiles away his time pestering the self-proclaimed delinquent Haruhiko and indulging in his amorous feelings toward the oddball Kotori.

Equipped with the superhuman ability to permanently rewrite any part of his body to multiply his strength or speed, Kotarou is naturally drawn to the supernatural. One special meeting with the lone member and president of the Occult Research Club, the "Witch" Akane Senri, leads to Kotarou reviving the Occult Club by recruiting Kotori and three other members: the clumsy transfer student Chihaya, the strict class representative Lucia, and the unassuming Shizuru. As Kotarou unveils hidden secrets of each member of the Occult Club through their shared adventures, he will inevitably encounter a fate that only he might be able to rewrite.

The Review:
Content:(Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

It's back! And it's...weirder than ever. After what would have been a definitive ending for anyone but KEY back in the thirteenth episode, Rewrite picks up in what is essentially the middle of nowhere in terms of this anime's underlying plotline. After several confusing, unrelated scenes of Kotarou thrown into random situations without even an inkling of relevancy to one another, we [the viewers] are able to ascertain that, once again, there are alternate dimensions in this KEY production. Luckily for Kotarou, each of these alternate timelines seem to have him matched with one of the five heroines in Rewrite (Which I'm assuming correlate with the girls' respective routes in the VN. But, just to remind you, I have yet to play that).

While Kotarou spends the better portion of the first episode describing his current situation to us, there is still plenty of imagery and a plethora of Kota-routes (One of the worst puns I've ever made) that all seem to wind up with him just waking up from a dream. Once his dream comes to a close, he picks right back up where he was in the pilot of Rewrite -- that abandoned, decaying town with Kagari and himself being the only inhabitants. In fact, the pilot of Rewrite may have even been a flash-forward to this particular moment in the timeline because the probability of Kotarou having the same exact jumping pose this time around as the one from months ago seems relatively slim. However, Gaia summoned a damn dinosaur with human souls last season so I am in no position to doubt the probability of anything.

Regardless of my position concerning dinosaurs and humans souls and whatever, Kotarou's mission seems plain and simple. Get to Kagari, talk to her, don't die. However, this three-step plan is not necessarily fool-proof. In fact, Kotarou winds up dying almost every single time he approaches Kagari -- but that's probably due to the fact that half of those times he just wound up hitting on her. Queue the semi-sentimental bonds from last season!

Near the end of the episode, Kotarou decides to just try and help Kagari in whatever way he can. Fortunately for him, one of those methods of helping includes making coffee -- and we all know how much Kagari likes coffee. Needless to say, after bringing a pretty nice-looking thermos to the super-tree and giving a mug of fee-cof to Kagari, the bond between them reawakens, albeit ever so slightly. In fact, I have a feeling that Kagari knew this bond existed the entire time and was simply testing Kotarou. Even Kotarou showed hints at this through lines like, "We've met before, haven't we?" Either way, Kotarou has managed to go a day without dying -- making him an already more effective protagonist than Natsuki Subaru.

At the end of the day (Literally), the story inches forward and we are left with too many dots that need to be connected just to figure out where we are in time. Is this post-apocalyptic Kazamatsuri? One would normally assume so considering the town's decaying state. But, Hell, you never know with KEY. One could even argue that this is far in the past before Kagari was even discovered by Guardian. In the coming episodes, I'm sure more will be revealed. But as of right now, I'm just happy Rewrite is back. And I have a damn strong feeling that this season will be better than the last.

In Summary:

The return of Rewrite comes off as confusing at first but once it's able to find its footing, we pick up right where we left off -- with Kotarou trying to make a slight difference in some way or another. We get some fanservice in the route-scenes with Kotarou and the heroines that I'm sure the VN players will be able to correlate back to their time spent with the game, but the episode doesn't solely focus on that and instead diverts its resources to plot advancement (Which there is going to need to be a damn lot of if this is going to work). KEY's love for alternate timelines comes into play once again and, guided by Kagari, will become more prominent than ever.

Grade: A-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Fate/Grand Order - First Order Anime Review

The future has not disappeared...It's been incinerated.

What They Say:

The story is set in the year 2016, during the final era over which magic still held a strong influence. The humanity survival and security organization, Chaldea, was established to observe the world that can only be seen by magic and the world that can only be measured by science; as well as to prevent the final extinction of humanity.

Thanks to the efforts of many researchers, the path of human history has been ensured for 100 years into the future. However, without warning, the realm of the future that was under constant observation by Chaldea vanished. The apparent cause -- Fuyuki City, 2004.

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

There are two words in the anime industry capable of making me jump any time they are mentioned -- one of these is Fate. That being said, I'm going to have to strap myself down for the duration of 2017 because, thanks to a few like-minded people across the web, this year has been donned 'The Year of Fate'. And what better way to kick that off than an hour long adaptation of Fate/Grand Order -- the ever-popular Type-Moon mobile game. Before you watch it, though, there are a couple things that need to be noted.

Fate/GO isn't necessarily in any direct relation to the Stay Night/Zero universe. Instead, Fate/GO delves into an alternate timeframe in which something got really messed up during the 2004 Fuyuki Grail War. In addition to that, the series isn't animated by ufotable, who has gained tremendous popularity in recent years due to their rendition of the Fate franchise. Instead, Grand Order is brought to us via Studio Lay-duce -- IE: The dudes behind Classroom Crisis. Even with these things in mind, though, Fate/GO still manages to bring us a plethora of familiar faces that even those unfamiliar with the series will recognize (Cough, Saber, cough).

In the early stages of this half-movie, half-OVA, we discover that an organization comprised of the world's top scientists and mages have banded together in order to form a machine capable of predicting the future of humanity (Because science). The gist of how this machine works is as follows: Light is good, dark is bad. That being said, when Chaldea's light starts to dim, things start to get real. Our protagonist for this story is yet another Lawful-Good and blindly obedient dude, this time named Ritsuka Fujimaru instead of Shirou Emiya. (Sidenote, Fujimaru sounds a lot like Fujimura -- the last name of Taiga-sensei who went on to Shelter Shirou in the original Fate series). Anyway, after a fire breaks out in Chaldea's central terminal, Ritsuka and some doctor who looks like the unmentioned fifth member of Motley Crue are tasked with essentially saving the world. One thing leads to another and, after discovering the half-crushed corpse of his new crush, Mash (AKA: Shielder), Ritsuka and company are teleported to good ole' Fuyuki City. Unfortunately, the city is in ruins and there are skeleton pirates all over the place. That's right -- skeleton pirates.

It's immediately apparent that the only people who were able to make it into this dimension were Ritsuka himself, Mash (Complete with lower body), and Olgamally Animusphere (The new, downgraded version of Rin Tohsaka). Mash, being magically turned into something known as a demi-servant, now has a noble phantasm of her own. The only downside is that she doesn't know how to use it. But that's okay because due to the unspoken Fate series rule of having Rider as the first boss, Mash doesn't really face any actual threat. Oh, by the way, Rider is Lancer now -- which, may I add, is awesome. Ever since the Fate VN went over how various heroic spirits can be summoned as others should they meet the qualifications, I've been longing to see some of them brought to life. That being said, we all know why everyone really watched this series.

BOOM. Shirtless Lancer.

Lancer, being summoned as Caster this time around, is actually extremely important to First Order. In a callback to the original series, he teams up with our protagonists in order to fight the biggest threat to everyone. This time, however, that threat is none other than Saber. After being corrupted by the Grail and going on to slaughter several of the other servants (Only to have them corrupted as well), Saber seems to be the cause of Fuyuki's destruction in 2004. Luckily for us, Mash's noble phantasm is a shield and she basically spends this entire OVA just holding the damn thing up. Don't get me wrong, it's cool and all, but if you're going to have her stand there for forty minutes, at least put her damn glasses back on.

One thing ultimately leads to another and Mash's shield winds up turning into a larger shield once she's able to uncover it's hidden potential. Her job then becomes simply holding out until Cu shows back up. Where is Cu, you may ask? Oh, he's just out fighting against the protagonist of the last Fate series. After finally being able to defeat Archer/Shirou, Cu provides the much-needed backup for Ritsuka and SLAMS SABER INTO A GIANT WICKER MAN. Who cares about how half-assed the Wicker Man CGI was? That thing was the most badass magical creature I've seen since Bluebeard summoned Cthulu way back when. Needless to say, Saber is defeated and the day is saved.

Or is it?

Earlier in the episode, we were introduced to a man by the name of Lev Lainur -- the creator of Chaldea itself (But I'm just going to refer to him as Slash because come on). So, Slash isn't who we've imagined him being up to this point. In fact, after Saber is gone, he straight up comes out and says, "Yeah I'm kind of just going to usher in the end of the world right now, LOL" and then force-chokes Olga's body and throws her into the sun. After establishing himself as the most badass antagonist since the aforementioned Bluebeard, Lev vanishes and demands that everyone 'Try and stop him'. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. There are seven effing more dimensions just like this one that Ritsuka and Mash are going to have to combat WITH JUST TWO COMMAND SEALS. Yeah, okay. Good luck, guys.

After Lev vanishes, Rituska and Mash return to their normal world and find Chaldea's base pretty much smashed to pieces. But thanks to Doctor Motley Crue, at least some of their friends are left alive. We end the day with some nice, G-Rated hand holding and high hopes that the next installment of the Fate series might be a little more composed than this one. Regardless of its shortcomings, however, Fate/Grand Order - First Order serves as a solid appetizer for the 'Year of Fate'. Thanks to a few new likeable characters and Lay-duce's most impressive artwork to date, Grand Order becomes just one more title to add the always-expanding Fate universe

Now, onward to Heaven's Feel!

In Summary:

Being what is perhaps the least Fate-ish of the Fate franchise (Not counting Prisma Illya), Grand Order definitely comes off as quite different than what we're used to. That being said, seeing many of our beloved servants from the past several years reimagined in new classes easily becomes a much-needed trip down memory lane. Grand Order highlights many of the facets Fate fans have grown to love over the years and adds several new ones that fans of the game will absolutely adore. Mash and Ritsuka have some solid, only slightly forced character chemistry that is still enjoyable overall at the end of the day. The ending, remaining completely open-ended, allows for a probable continuation of Fate/Grand Order that I will most definitely add to my watch-list. All in all, it's an entertaining seventy minutes that starts off Fate's busiest year on a good note.

Grade: B

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Bloom Into You Vol. #01 Manga Review

My wings are just growing a little slower than other people's.

Creative Staff:

Art & Story: Nio Nakatani

Translation: Jenny McKeon

Adaptation: Jenn Grunigen

Lettering And Retouch: CK Russel

Logo Design: KC Fabellon

Cover Design: Nicky Lim

Proofreader: Lee Otter and Janet Houck

Production Manager: Lissa Patillo

EIC: Adam Arnold

Publisher: Jason DeAngelis

What They Say:

Yuu has always loved shoujo manga and awaits the day she gets a love confession that sends her heart aflutter with bubbles and hearts, and yet when a junior high classmate confesses his feelings to her... she feels nothing.

Disappointed and confused, Yuu enters high school still unsure how to respond. That's when Yuu sees the beautiful student council president Nanami turn down a suitor with such maturity that she's inspired to ask her for help. But when the next person to confess to Yuu is Nanami herself, has her shoujo romance finally begun?

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

Yuu Koito is just another girl trying to make it through high-school. She's obsessed with love stories and shoujo manga -- basically, anything that gets her blood pumping. Being a first year in a brand new environment, you'd expect one of Yuu's biggest problems to be choosing which club she'll spend the next year in. However, there's something much bigger she needs to cope with -- her inability to feel love.

With her last year of school ending on a cliffhanger confession she still hasn't replied to, Yuu is hoping to find the answers to her feelings this time around. After being essentially forced to attend a student council meeting, Yuu runs into what may very well be the answer to her problems. Taking shelter behind the corner of the school building, Yuu witnesses a boy (Presumably a year older than her) confessing his feelings to a girl we will come to know as Touko Nanami -- student council vice-president. Without any hesitation, Touko turns the boy down and sends him off. Almost immediately after, however, she spots Yuu hiding around the corner. Instead of being mad, though, Nanami simply asks who she is and what she's doing there. After a brief explanation, Nanami tells Yuu who she is and the set off to student council together.

Touko is beautiful -- that much is apparent even to Yuu. It's no wonder she gets confessed to so frequently. Because of this, Yuu decides it might be in her best interest to approach Nanami about her own situation. After all, any teenage girl would be worried if they were incapable of feeling love. Hell, that's what like 90% of high-school life is comprised of. But after Yuu explains the situation, things take a dramatic turn. Touko confesses to Yuu right then and there. The more interesting part of this (Aside from the two being girls) is that just moments ago, Touko said that she, too was incapable of loving someone. So why now? Why would she turn her back on her own words right away and declare her feelings for Yuu? The answer is simple -- love works in mysterious ways. At this point, roughly all Yuri manga would transition into the period of the protagonist realizing that she may or may not be into girls, but this story is different. Yuu still feels nothing.

Instead of reciprocating Nanami's affection, Yuu remains silent and time skips forward to the next day. Both girls decide to not even talk about what happened yesterday -- at least not until later. Instead of making things awkward or feeling rejected, Nanami asks Yuu to be her campaign manager for the upcoming student council election. Yuu reluctantly agrees and the two start to spend more and more time together, albeit with no change to Yuu's apathy. Things continue on this way until Yuu decides to bring up the topic of the confession. Without any hesitation, Nanami turns to Yuu and kisses her, using an oncoming train as a shield so those around them wouldn't notice. But, yet again, there is no response from Yuu. She simply accepts the kiss and the story continues.

No matter what Nanami does, Yuu's feelings do not change. Strangely enough, Nanami seems okay with this. In fact, she even reveals that she was not expecting Yuu to fall in love with her. Nanami makes it apparent that even if her love is not reciprocated, she doesn't want to give up considering she's never felt this way before. Yuu, not being technically opposed to Touko's feelings, decides against cutting off their relationship and allows her senpai to continue being in love with her. The two girls push their feelings aside for the time being and decide to carry on with their goal of getting Nanami elected as student council president.

When the time comes for the final campaign rally, Yuu notices something about Touko is amiss. After beckoning her outside to figure out what's wrong, Yuu manages to force out feelings of fear and nervousness from Touko that had been seemingly invisible up until now. So even though Yuu still doesn't feel any form of romantic affection for Nanami, it's increasingly clear that she at least cares about her enough to notice things that even her best friend, Sayaka, can't. Nanami then goes on to detail how she created a different persona for herself -- all in an effort to feel like she was special. Nanami then rests her head on Yuu's shoulder for a while and the two head back inside to finish the campaign. And, after a successful speech from both of them, Nanami is elected as the president of the student council.

In Summary:

Bloom Into You breaks a lot of rules for Yuri manga -- but this is exactly what makes it great. Throwing sexual tension to the side and instead focusing on a relatively unrequited love (At least at this point in time) makes for an incredibly interesting and suspenseful shoujo-ai relationship. With minimal glances into Yuu's feelings and an already-apparent backstory for Nanami, Bloom Into You combines many different elements of romantic manga into a neatly-wrapped package capable of rivalling almost any other installment of the Yuri genre. Combine that with intimate artwork and well-thought-out, multi-dimensional characters and you have something you're going to remember. This is one of the best Yuri manga series to date -- hands down.

Content Grade: A

Art Grade: A-

Packaging Grade: B+

Text/Translation Grade: A

Age Rating: 16+

Released By: Seven Seas

Release Date: January 3, 2017

MSRP: $12.99