Monthly Archives: January 2010

Hello World, Mindez Style

Posted by Mindez on 2010年1月28日 – 18時50分
Filed under General

Hello World!

I’m Mindez, yet another contributor to this fine new blog. And this is the traditional ‘Hello World!’ introductory post that’s expected of me.

So, a bit about myself! I’m Mindez online, Daniel in the offline world. I’m from the UK, England specifically. Currently studying Computer Science in my second year at Manchester University. I have Twitter here, email here, and a probably very poorly maintained and out of date MyAnimeList here. Actually, looking at it, it doesn’t look too far out. Yes, it is extremely short.

I’d consider myself the otaku newbie around here. I’ve seen far less anime, read far less manga and probably know far less Japanese than anybody else here. Well, let’s put it this way, I’ve just spent a good few minutes making myself a translation guide to the categories of this website and now I’m sitting back in mild pride while simultaneously knowing that nobody would be impressed. Well I am.  Er, I’m getting a bit sidetracked aren’t I. That’ll probably happen a lot. I tend to forget where I am mid-sentence and just kind of go with wherever it takes me.

At the moment I’m watching バカとテストと召喚獣 [Idiots, Tests and Summoned Beasts] as recommended on this blog, some random other series’s as and when I feel like them, and I’m always happy to hear recommendations. I’m here as the newbie to learn after all.

So that’s basically it for my introductory post, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go free up some space on my external hard drive so I can go on an anime downloading spree soon. Hoorah!

Mindez.

First Impression: Idiots, Tests, and Summoned Beasts

Posted by Navarr on 2010年1月27日 – 20時00分
Filed under Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu
Tagged as ,

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Shimada Minami, Mizuki Himeji, Kinoshita Hideyoshi, and Tsuchiya Kouta playing cards

I spent a very decent amount of time procrastinating when it came to watching this anime.  If you’ve ever seen my Anime List, you’d know that I spend a very decent fraction of my time watching a LOT of anime for no particular reason.  Because I had been working with my step-father for some time, I had a good amount of catching up to do.  So I prepared the episodes but never watched them – until yesterday, that is.

For such a ridiculous concept, this anime is incredibly enjoyable.  Let me explain the very weak plot:

>Akihisa Yoshii is a very, very stupid character – though, with a very kind heart.  He is the “Idiot” of the animé.  He attends Fumizuki Academy, a school where instead of everyone being on an equal level, your class is chosen by the score you received on your entrance exam, and there are six different classes students are sorted into: A, B, C, D, E, and F.  The “A” class is, of course, the smartest of the smart and looks almost exactly the same as a Five Star Hotel whereas the “F” class is the lowest of the low – Wooden (broken or breaking) desks, walls where the air from outside floats right in, and traditional Japanese sitting mats without any stuffing inside them.

However, despite this sorting students are encouraged to promote their grades through an event they call an “Exam Summoning Battle,” or ESB for short.  During these battles, the students call forth “Summoned Beasts” whose HP/AP equal the combined score of the student’s Testing ability.  If the lower class can defeat a higher class at an ESB, they are permitted (though apparently not required) to switch class facilities.

Other than this climb to the top, the rest of the plot tends to focus on the love triangle between the females Mizuki Himeji (cute, innocent, withdrawn) and Shimada Minami (tomboyish, tsundere) and the main character Akihisa, of whom is too stupid to realize that either of the girl’s like him.

Overall, this is a very fun and relaxing anime with a lot of fighting, a quick bit of absolutely ridiculous perversion (without any actual fan-service & LOTS of nose bleeding), and some sort of a storyline.

Personally, I think if gg is subbing it, it has to be good of some caliber.

Name Change

Posted by Navarr on 2010年1月27日 – 11時35分
Filed under General

こんにちは、みんな！

We’ve undergone a name change and the URL will be changing with it within the next few days.  I am no longer writing for 日本へ行こうか but WE are going to write for Collective Otaku!

This site will probably stay small, but who cares?  We’re all going to have fun.  I’m still welcoming authors onboard, so look out for introductory posts (as always)!  If you’ve subscribed to the RSS please unsubscribe for the moment (let me get Feed Burner setup first).

I’m fairly sure that we’re going to cover *everything* Otaku.  Games, Anime, Manga, Japan, Japanese, and anything else we can think of!

So, welcome aboard and thank you for joining us on our journey. ^_^

千里の道も一歩より(せんり　の　みち　も　いっぽ　より) – A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step

Konnichiwa!

Posted by 雪・松田 on 2010年1月27日 – 05時47分
Filed under Anime, General

I’m Alex, my friends call me Yuki; I’ll be posting here every now and then with information, tid-bits and quirks about Japan, sometimes about anime, sometimes just randomness. Check out my bio, or better still my own blog or website, if you would like to know more about me.

And on a more relevant note, my recommended Anime for today is: Hetalia (it’s also my Favourite anime).