Tag Archives: anime

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K #Netflix #Anime

Posted by Yvonne Nicolas on

Saiki Kusuo is the kind of dude you want on your side!

I haven’t read the manga, so when I clicked on this anime, I didn’t know what to expect. I usually don’t care to get caught up in the silly anime. I love actions and thrillers. The grittier, the better! But after the first episode, I was looped in. This one caught me off guard. I found myself laughing uncontrollably. Considering the world we live in today, some mindless laughter is welcomed.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K is about a guy who was born with special abilities. His powers are a wide range from extrasensory perception to teleportation to superhuman strength. He could move things, buildings even, with his mind. He could even change a person’s thoughts and reverse time. He’s pretty much a superhero in the body of an awkward, anti-social teenager. That made him mysterious in the eyes of his peers. That also made him the cool, unapproachable guy in school.

He desires a normal life, but given the circumstance, that’s impossible. His parents were special, in a wacky kind of way, but Kusuo loved them to pieces, though he didn’t show it much. What I liked most about this anime is that he narrated his own story. In my opinion, that added to the comedic value because he didn’t see the world like a normal person would. Why would he? He’s a supernatural phenomenon.

His story is about how he handles everyday life, which to him were obstacles. Because he was anti-social, he used his powers to avoid social life – school activities, sports, and girls. Speaking of girls… They wouldn’t leave him alone. Neither would his classmates. He was, after all, a cute guy with pink hair and antennas. How could anyone resist?

All in all, this show was hilarious. Every episode had me giggling or laughing out loud. The last time I had this much fun watching an anime was when I watched Prison School. Please don’t confuse the two anime! Prison School was borderline Hentai.

I give it:

Check out my suspenseful rock romance, Scorpion Tail!

 

Sex, Drugs, Rock n’ Roll… and Murder.

“One day, I’ll soar to the heavens and touch the sky. But today, I’d rather play in the flames.” ~ MonaLisa

 

Thanks for Reading!

I found my spirit animal! #Retsuko #Aggretsuko #Netflix #anime

Posted by Yvonne Nicolas on

Retsuko is my spirit animal!

Many of you already know that I love anime! It’s the thing that keeps from killing people on a regular basis. So, when Netflix dropped Aggretsuko into my catalog as a recommended show to watch, I jumped all over it.

Aggretsuko is about a 25-year-old, socially awkward, red panda named Retsuko, who is insanely adorable and MAD AS ALL HELL. The series focuses on how she deals with everyday challenges in her life, like her annoying co-workers, her chauvinist boss, and her self-confidence.

What I enjoyed most about Retsuko was the way she coped with her stress. Death Metal, baby! At the end of a hard work day, she would head to the karaoke bar, quaff a large beer and then dive into some screaming death metal. My girl even kept a microphone in her bag for emergency death metal sessions. That’s boss-level swag right there!

I knew I would be entertained as soon as I pressed play on the first episode, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I think the reason it appealed to me so much was because the character was relatable. On a daily basis, she was harassed by her manager and her boss who was a pig. No lie. He was literally misogynist pig! She did her best to cope with him. She even tried to appeal to his better nature, which only worsened the situation. Now in this day and age, with the Time’s Up movement afoot, women no longer have to put up with that kind of bullshit at the workplace. #GirlPower

That aside, it was interesting to see how she dealt with those uncomfortable situations.

Long story short, Retsuko made some friends in high places at her company who more or less took care of the pig for her. However, such as life, she still faces struggles.

Even if you’re not an anime fan, there is something in this series you can relate to. Give it a viewing! I promise you won’t be disappointed. Unless you’re a chauvinist pig.

I give it:

Check out my new release Alexis Moonlight (Book 1) from the Cross Knight Chronicles

“Don’t take my love for you as a weakness, Tristan. I will kill you.”

Flashing a glimpse of fang, he offered a boyish grin. “Good. Because you may have to.”

 

Thanks for Reading!

Netflix Adventures #NeoYokio Review

Posted by Yvonne Nicolas on

“While attempting to distance himself from his demon-slaying past, Kaz Kaan, a wealthy magistocrat, is forced to question everything he knows about Neo Yokio.”

Let’s talk about Neo Yokio, the American-made Japanese series on Netflix.

I admit it; I saw the preview and I was instantly sold on this show. I knew I would love it! How could I not? Not only did it have an anime vibe to it (You guys know I love anime), and a supernatural flair in the storyline (Hello, paranormal romance writer here!), it starred a person of color (Boom, baby!).

Win—win, right? *deep sigh* Wrong. Oh so wrong.

There were some positive components in the show, but they were overshadowed by the not so engaging storyline and stilted voice-acting by the lead actor. I forced myself through the 6 pilot episodes because I got this thing about completing something I start. It wasn’t horrible, it was just difficult to finish.

I will say that I appreciate what the writers tried to accomplish with this series. Deliver something new and fresh. Granted, the story was indeed new and fresh, it was just poorly executed. And that’s just my anime-loving opinion on that.

I must say the art was nice, bubbly and fun. Some of the characters even made those goofy expressions you sometimes see in anime. Many people in the FB comic groups complained about the art style, but I think the style went well with the theme of the show.

Jaden Smith portrayed Kaz Kaan, an aristocrat demon slayer. I love Jaden, I really do, but he may have to take an “L” for this one. His voice acting was detached, lacking that special pizzazz that would make him desirable to listen to. Perhaps, that’s how it came off because the character is pretty monotone and removed from emotion, unless the situation involved his ex-girlfriend. I’m sure he’ll get better with more practice.

Jude Law, Susan Sarandon and Steve Buscemi did great as their characters! I expected nothing less from them.

But the shining light for me, and quite possibly the reason I kept watching, was Arcangelo Corelli. He was one of the comic reliefs as well as the antagonist. That being said, he was the jewel of the show, which is unfortunate for Jaden, because his character was supposed to be the star.

I also enjoyed Kaz’s friends whenever they were on screen. They were amusing.

What really bothered me about this show was the lack of representation of women of color. We simply didn’t exist in the high society created on the show, unless we were cronies to an uppity white girl or a masked performer who received no less than 5 seconds of screen time. Ah, I forgot to mention the episode when Kaz’s best friend jumped into a pool full of cursed water and was turned into a woman for the day. I guess we can count that as a WOC sighting. How disappointing. The main character is a person of color, but the writers couldn’t be bothered to give a woman of color a slot in the main cast.

Needless to say, if Neo Yokio gets a second season, I won’t be watching.

★★ out of 5 stars

My Korean Drama Addiction #BoysOverFlowers #KDrama #Anime #Netflix

Posted by Yvonne Nicolas on

News Flash! I am officially a K drama fan!

When a fellow anime lover suggested I watch some K-drama, I was reluctant. Simply because I’m not fond of subtitles. I usually don’t even watch an anime until it’s dubbed in English. However, once I watched the first episode and got locked into the storyline, the subtitles didn’t bother me in the slightest.

I started with the show “Boys Over Flowers”. It is a live action remake of an anime/manga series, which in all honesty, is what drew me to the title. Even though it held a 5 star rating on Netflix, I didn’t expect it to loop me in like it did.

BoysOverFlowers

High school student, Geum Jan Di gets an offer to attend an exclusive academy—Shinhwa High after she saves a student from committing suicide. During her first day of school, she runs into F4—a group of super cute, privileged, arrogant boys. Goo Joon Pyo, the leader of the F4 pack pretty much runs the school. His best friends, who are also members of the notorious group, Yoon Ji Hoo, So Yi Jung and Song Woo Bin, are basically the academy’s princes. They are all feared by their students and even the teachers.

Jan Di has a run-in Joon Pyo, where she berates him with a few choice words and a roundhouse kick to the face for his bold rudeness. After that, she finds out firsthand what happens when you cross F4; she becomes the victim of school bullying. But in an interesting turn of events, Joon Pyo falls for Jan Di. However, she only has eyes for Ji Hoo, Joon Pyo’s best friend.

And the love triangle begins.

I enjoyed every part of this series. In the beginning, I was rooting for Ji Hoo, then later, I found myself rooting for Joon Pyo, which is amusing ‘cause I couldn’t stand him at first.

I finished this series (25 episodes) in 5 days. My only gripe is I feel like Song Woo Bin was left out in the rain when it came to character development. We were shown the backstory of all the main characters. Yet, he was the only one who wasn’t expanded on when it came to the storyline.

Nevertheless, I was thoroughly entertained. I agree with the 5 stars on Netflix because the series was well worth my time.

My next k-drama addiction… Secret Garden.

This week’s #anime obsession is #PsychoPass, #animelover #FUNimation

Posted by Yvonne Nicolas on

When I started watching season 1 of Psycho Pass, I had no idea I would like this anime so much. It was addictive. I went from one episode to another, not wanting, but needing to know what happened next. A whole day hadn’t passed by before I moved onto season 2. Yeah, I am indeed obsessed… so obsessed, I’m thinking about writing a fan fiction. Me, writing a fan fiction… I know. It’s laughable, but I’m seriously considering it, hence how much I love the series.

PsychoPassThe in-depth storyline reminds me a lot of i-Robot and Demolition Man, with a little Judge Dredd thrown in the mix. Despite that, the concept is so unique.

The characters are easy to get attached to, specifically Kogami in my case. He’s a criminal enforcer with a dark past and wicked nature, but his devious mind leads the Sybil police force to solving many crimes and eliminating many killers. He has a calculating mindset, and he is extremely smart, much like his counterpart, Makishima, who was the charismatic villain in the story.

Tsunemori is a new recruit who gets pretty much thrown to the wolves on her first day of work. The storyline revolves around her. She comes in on the force as an innocent doe, but after a few field cases, and some pretty gruesome crime scenes, she toughens up and becomes a predator. But her wide-eyed experience on the force is not without tragedy and enlightenment.

Now, I usually don’t think much of the villains in these anime storylines, mostly ‘cause I’m too busy rooting for the good guy, but I enjoyed how raw and absolutely brilliant Makishima was. Every ruthless kill he made was to exploit the system, to show the public how imperfect and flawed the Sybil system was. And he did it very well. He found other people, with a serial killer mentality, and compelled them to basically kill for him. But that’s not to say he didn’t get his hands dirty. He was pretty skilled with a switchblade, or whatever kind of blade it was. His ultimate scheme was to shut the Sybil system down, but he had to be crafty with the way he went about it, since he was basically dealing with a super computer. There was something so intriguing about his character, though I haven’t figured out what that something is yet. *grin*

Nevertheless, this anime gets put at the top of my list as one of my favorites.

*As a side note, if you’re an anime fan, but you are faint of heart, this IS NOT the anime for you.*

PsychoPass2

Available to watch on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Funimation

What will you watch during this #Halloween week? #ASMSG #HorrorMovies #HorrorShows #anime

Posted by Yvonne Nicolas on

While I perfect my special Halloween martini for my drunken Halloween night with my neighbors, I have several movies and shows that are a must-see every year.

ALIENS:

This movie hypes me up every time I watch it and it never gets old. Private Hudson’s epic melt down will forever be one of my favorite scenes. I don’t know how many of you watch Phineas and Ferb on the Disney channel, (Sue me, I have kids) but during their recent Halloween special, one of the characters—Buford—reenacted Private Hudson’s melt down. I could not stop laughing. 😀

I AM LEGEND:

How could you not love the realistic freakiness of this film? A deadly pathogen created while scientists sought out a cure for cancer turns the test subjects into vampire/zombie-like hybrids. And that’s not all. The pathogen becomes airborne and turns the majority of the population into those creatures. One man, who is immune to the disease, (Will Smith) takes on the task of finding a cure, and he has to do it before the creatures get to him. This film will always be one of my faves.

GOTHIKA:

This is considered a thriller, but it falls in the category of horror for me. This story is wrapped around one spirit’s need for old fashion revenge. Of course, the big mystery in the tale shrouds that underlying vengeance in a brilliant way. This story was well told, and at the end, it leaves you with the satisfying feeling for the one who sought the revenge, because they got it.

WHAT LIES BENEATH:

This one leaves me with chills. It’s yet another story about revenge, where the mystery in the plot clouds “what lies beneath.” << Hahaa, see what I did there? 😉 I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve seen this movie. The storyline was enthralling, but the last 30 minutes were gripping. I have an intense moment during those last 30 minutes every time I watch it. *shudders*

RESIDENT EVIL:

For some reason I’mma sucker for this film. It’s not a “Great” movie, per se, but I find myself watching it every time it airs on the movie stations. The gore, the zombies, the psychotic security system that takes the form of a little girl, and the kickass heroine… It’s an entertaining flick.

INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE:

I was instantly drawn to this movie when it came out. First of all, the cast was phenomenal, which is one of the main reasons why this flick was so successful. ‘Til this day, Tom Cruise IS Lestat. He was so convincing in that role. In my opinion, it was one of his best performances. When I read the book, I saw his face as Lestat. That aside, this story was excellent. I thank Anne Rice for that.

WORLD WAR Z:

This movie freaked me the hell out, yet I keep watching it. Not only because it stars the handsome Brad Pitt, but because this film introduced a new kind of walking dead—zombies that could move fast as hell. They were leaping on people like frogs and creating huge zombie mountains to scale over incredibly high walls. It was crazy! If you got bit by one of these things, you would transform into a zeek within seconds. I admit, the ending was a little soft, but it’s still a really good film.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY (TV Show):

This is one of my binge watch shows. I used to watch it when it aired, but there are so many shows on my view list that I just don’t have the time watch them all. As twisted as this show is, it keeps you entertained. I couldn’t get enough of Angela Bassett last season. Aww man… She was flawless and dominated every time she was on the screen. She portrayed the deadly voodoo witch, Marie Laveau, like no other. I can’t believe she hasn’t gotten an award for that role. Honestly, she’s the reason I watch AHS. And she’ll be the reason I continue to watch.

THE WALKING DEAD (TV Show):

Oh my goodness, where do I start?! This show is easily one of my guilty pleasures. Though, I must admit I can’t binge on it like I do other shows. My heart can’t take the pressure. I have to watch one episode at a time. And at the end, I have to catch my breath, wait until my heart rate normalizes and then have a drink. I have invested my emotions in most of the characters on the show. It’s difficult not to because some of them are so loveable, like Daryl. Because my emotions are involved, I’m afraid for their lives. It shows the actors are doing a damn good job.

ATTACK ON TITAN (anime):

Another guilty pleasure for me! I’ve watched AOT Season 1 more times than I’d like to admit. This anime is so unique, gory and highly entertaining. What I like most about it is, it’s unpredictable and you never know who’s going to die. It’s like the Walking Dead in many ways, but in some cases you find yourself rooting for the giant zombie titan. Not all of them are mindless, and not all of them are slow. You just never know what you’re going to get. That’s what keeps me locked in.

Here are a few other shows and movies I like to watch in the spirit of Halloween. These are in no particular order.

  • Knights of Sidonia (anime)

  • Final Destination

  • Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (anime movie)

  • Carrie

  • Queen of the Damned

  • Hellsing (anime)

  • Penny Dreadful (TV Show)

  • Blue Exorcist (anime)

  • Death Note (anime)

  • Christine

  • Sleepy Hollow (TV Show)

  • Sleepy Hollow

  • Constantine

  • Blade

  • Warm Bodies

  • Wolf

  • Underworld

  • War of the Worlds

  • The Wolfman

What movies and/or shows do you find yourself watching for Halloween?

For those of you who are following my Halloween free read, I’ll post another chapter this week. I was supposed to post one this weekend, but my youngest samurai came down with a cold, so I didn’t get to do any writing. Never fear though, I promise not to leave you hanging for long. 😉

**Click on the image below to begin reading CRIMSON DAYS**

CrimsonDay_final

Tajaé Zhang from the #DragonQueen Series, drawn by @DennisArtWorks #Art #Anime #Manga #ASMSG

Posted by Yvonne Nicolas on

Happy Friday, friends!

Today, I have a new image to share with you. I hope you like it as much as I do!

I came across an artist named David Dennis on Tumblr and I immediately jumped at the chance to work with him. He’s a great guy, who is totally unaffected by my wacky personality. *grin* I can’t wait to share more of his art with you. Many of you know I’m a HUGE anime and manga fan, which is why I was drawn to his artwork. Anime takes me to my happy place, and so does his art style.

Want to see more of his work? Swing on over to DeviantArt and check it out.

Click on the logo banner below to be directed to Dennis’ DeviantArt Gallery page.

dennisartworkslogo2

Now, I present to you, the badass black panther shifter from

THE DRAGON QUEEN SERIES…

TAJAE ZHANG

Drawn by the very talented, David Dennis. z_h_a_n_g_by_david_dennis-final

 “I’ve often asked myself, could I have you without hurting you; rouse your body in ways you never knew possible without tripping over to the dark side of my nature and taking my desire for you too far? How can I resist, when I want you more than my next breath?” ~ Tajaé Zhang

Tajaé is the second in command of the UK based Chalvaiz clan—the largest shifter clan in the world. He is ruthless, ferocious when in battle, and at times, separated from morality. But that doesn’t mean he can’t be a lover and a fighter. He is introduced in the fourth installment of the Dragon Queen Series, SHIFTING DARKNESS. In this novel, London has been thrown into a vicious zombie apocalypse. It’s up to Tajaé and his clan to eliminate the rapid spread of this demon virus before it destroys mankind as we know it.

ShiftingDarkness2An unseen war is brewing in the shadowy underworld of London. Dr. Faith Miller, a local pathologist, is exposed to the horrific reality when she stumbles upon her brother consuming the flesh of his lover.

Tajaé Zhang, the second in command of the UK based black panther pack of the Chalvaiz clan, and his fellow shifters have been systematically exterminating the walking corpses—zombies, in an attempt to control the rapidly spreading demon virus.

Secretly, he has observed Faith from afar for months. His attraction for her has grown into an untamable love. After she’s bitten and infected with the virus, Tajaé defies the laws of the shifter packs and puts his life on the line to save hers.