The first fact of note that should be mentioned about Railgun is that not only is it an adaptation of an ongoing manga series, but that itself is an adaptation from the original Index light novels. At the beginning of this season, there were only one arc that was complete compared to several novels of Index. That was the Level Upper arc seen in the first 12 episodes. The following manga arc is still ongoing (the Sisters arc from Misaka’s POV) so it could not be adapted due to that constraint.

With Index being a two cour season, it made little sense to make the “sequel” a one cour season, thus JC Staff had to create 12 episodes that had no involvement with the manga. This became the set of episodes that were widely disliked to say the least (episodes 15-24). While personally, I do like the final arc, it did feel at times like the series was missing something tying everything together.

But we have to think about the purpose of the Railgun franchise as a whole: to show Academy City from the point of view of Mikoto Misaka as well as what the “normal” style of life in the city is. Index focuses on the conflicting side of magic vs science, but Railgun serves to flesh out the city into an actual place instead of a setting. When I think of the city that Haruhi’s based in, the little town for K-On!, or even Otogibana City, they seem as settings moreso than places one could live in.

In that respect, Railgun more than succeeds; it thrives on showing the ordinary lifestyles of extraordinary people. There’s not a single character that’s introduced and not expanded upon (with the exception of the main Index characters of course). We see how the teachers that are on the Anti-Skills cope with both teaching and protecting the city. We see the day-to-day styles of the Judgement offices. We see how the city takes care of their youth and why they come to live here.

Unfortunately, it’s only hinted as to the real reason why the whole city exists. That’s more present in the main series, but we get to see glimpses of the main reason why kids are taught superpowers in Academy City: they’re test subjects first and foremost. In the manga, Misaka was asked to give a sample of her blood to start the Sisters arc, which wasn’t shown in either series. Not having read the novels (or even the translated ones available), I hope this gets expanded on in further installments of the whole franchise.

As said earlier, this series was set to focus on the POV of Mikoto Misaka and her friends: Kuroko Shirai, Kazari Uiharu, and Ruiko Saten.We see their bonds of friendship tested time and time again throughout the series (mostly because Misaka wants to always play the hero) and yet it almost never feels like a Superhero show. All four of them are Super-powered-people, yet the emphasis is not on their powers, but on themselves first and foremost. That’s heavily emphasised in the second half of the season, and it’s partly why I really like the franchise.

Not only does the anime series place more focus on Misaka and her friends than the main series, it also places more focus on her friends than in the original manga. The manga starts out with a few stories like the first 6 episodes, but then it goes into the Level Upper and Sisters arcs which focus primarily on Misaka. The anime adaptation original episodes give much more development to the other characters, especially the character of Saten. She’s touched upon slightly in the manga, but she doesn’t get near the amount of exposure she does in the anime. They truly feel at times like different series, and yet they’re focused upon the same principle character.

Railgun is not without its flaws. While the concept of expanding on background characters is wonderful since we don’t often get a chance to see that play out, it’s difficult to actually pull off effectively. Sadly, you can skip episodes 17-19 and have little to no impact on the overall story. Granted, the episodes are nicely done and aren’t actively horrible, it’s just that they’re not as important as every other episode to the main plot. Episode 17 just seemed to bring in cameos from Index just to appeal to those fans.

One other negative against Railgun is the lack of originality in the later fight scenes. It’s been commented before that the final episode has a lot of animation from the second opening (which really hurts it when it’s added in the DVD/BD ver). As a scientist, I would have prefered to see more of the electrical attacks beyond “railgun” and win. The fight scene with Touma in episode 4 added some originality, and the manga expands on the use of electrical currents as attacks, yet the adaptation seems weaker in that aspect.

In a lot of ways, Railgun tries to be a lot of different types of shows and generally succeeds, but it doesn’t excel at any one particular aspect. Index had more shounen fighting scenes, K-On! has more slice-of-life/everyday activities, and there are other special power shows. But what makes this show memorable to me is the high quality of the characters. The deeper caring aspect of Misaka shown in Index gets expanded beyond her “sisters” and herself. Kuroko gets expadned beyond “lesbian love interest”. Uiharu and Saten are introduced and highlighted throughout the series as strong characters. Yet together, you get a sense that while they can’t accomplish the impossible, they can make a difference in this world.

Next month begins the second season of Index, and we shall soon have a return of these four girls (at least in the OP). While I doubt that Uiharu and Saten will be able to be featured since JC Staff adapted the novels very closely from what I’ve heard, I do hope that Misaka and Kuroko get a couple of interesting arcs. Maybe we’ll be able to see another of the Level 5 Superpowered persons and how they match up with the rest of the Espers. With a greater appreciation for the city itself, maybe this next season will be able to expand upon the city itself and the role the higher-ups play as well as why these children/young adults are brought to the city.

Regardless of if there’s a second season of Railgun or not (with the sales its gotten, very likely to get one), the final line says it best: “It never gets boring here in this city.”

Put aside serious political issues like the disputed northern territories off Hokkaido for now. The Japanese Embassy in Russia has published the first issue of a Russian-language magazine featuring Japanese pop culture, hoping to broaden pro-Japanese sentiment in the country.

The quarterly magazine, mainly targeting young Russians, is far from a serious ordinary “government publication,” but rather pop and cool.

The opening page of the first issue of Yaponiya (meaning Japan in Russian) includes an interview with Hayao Miyazaki, in which the movie director said he decided to become an anime creator after being moved by the expressiveness of the Soviet-era animated feature film, “The Snow Queen” (1957). The movie, he said, was “like a prophecy from heaven” that he should pursue his vocation.

On the fashion page, a Russian writer reports on street fashion in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, which the writer describes as “the only place in the world in praise of eccentric outfits.”

The magazine is edited by fashion mode magazine designers and top editors in the field to be fashionable enough for young people to want to pick it up.

The new magazine differs greatly from previous publications, which focused more on traditional Japanese culture and the latest technology.

In contrast to Japan’s often stern feelings toward Russia, many Russians like Japan. According to an opinion poll in March, 50 percent of respondents said they were at least moderately interested in Japan. Meanwhile, the interest of Russians tends to lean heavily either toward Japanese cuisine or automobiles.

An embassy official in charge of the project said: “The latest information about Japan that young Russians want to know is very limited here. We hope the magazine can convey the material in a sophisticated way.”

Source: Yomiuri / Image Source

One thing that brought to my attention was Miyazaki´s comments about his inspiration to become one of the greatest anime directors in the world.  Also, one question surfaces…Where I can get that magazine?

This week’s episode isn’t as action packed as last week’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. It starts off in a typical fashion; I assumed this would be another average episode. I was wrong; this is actually one of the best episodes this season.

The Vice Principal is attempting to summon a spirit. Dim witted Kozue suggest that she should summon the former principal, Maya’s father. Obviously, the Vice Principal needs some practice; she summons a little girl instead.

This little girl is creepy and mysterious. She only wants is to go home, but she’s dead. So going home will only bring back terrible memories. Oh course, she’s oblivious to this, what do you expect from a child? Maya and the gang finally find her home; this triggers an eerie scene that will give you the chills.

Maya and the others are spotted by the departed girl’s land lady. She invites them to her place for snacks, she’s the motherly type. Maya and Kozue ask how the little girl passed away. I’m not going to spoil it, it’s depressing. Something so tragic and sad shouldn’t happen around what’s supposed to be the happiest time of the year. The land lady has some guilt about the girl’s death, but it’s not her fault. The plot isn’t wrapped up in this episode, so we’ll have to wait until next week for the conclusion.

Overall this was an exceptional episode. This series is all over the place, but I kind of like it that way. See ya next week!

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep comes out next week, September 7th to be precise. It’s a prequel to the original Kingdom Hearts game on the PlayStation 2. It tells the story of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. If you’ve never heard of this franchise, it’s basically Final Fantasy meets Disney. Not turned based FF, this is an action RPG.

There aren’t a lot of great PSP games being released, so I just wanted to bring this game to your attention. I already played the Japanese version and it’s an excellent game. If you’re still not convinced, check out the newly released trailer below.

Birth of Sleep Launch Trailer

This episode focuses on Komuro and Busujima. Last week they got separated from the others, so now they’re playing catch-up. Besides the usual zombie slaying, we are treated to a few revealing scenes involving the aforementioned duo. Two things in particular caught me off guard.

The first thing was Komuro asking Busujima if she had a special guy she’s into. Well, that came out of left field! I’m not sure if he’s interested in her, or if it was just a random question. Only time will tell, I haven’t read the manga so I’m in the dark (that’s the way I like it).

The second thing that really threw me off was Busujima’s past. She’s a little crazy; I understand it must feel pointless doing all that training, when you don’t have any real opponents. Sadly, that doesn’t give you the right to lure in random guys, and then go to town on them with your training sword.

Like a good boy, Komuro accepts the darkness inside her. And even though I was a little disturbed at first, I’d do the same. It’s the zombie apocalypse, who cares if you murdered some horny salary man for no good reason! Just help me show these zombies the true death (I’ve been watching too much True Blood).

Overall this was a good episode, not the best episode this season, but far from the worst. That honor goes to the fan service episode. Next week’s episode looks like it’s bringing the drama. That should be entertaining enough.

Oh and one more thing, I think the guy Busujima likes is Komuro. After he accepts her for what she is, her whole attitude changes towards him. She’s become clingy, hopefully this doesn’t turn into a harem anime, I loathe that genre.

Winner!

Runner Ups!

You can check out the rest of the images here…Who´s your favorite?

…and of course, if you like it, support Megami Magazine and get 125 now!

Long a favorite of lovers and honeymooners, a Japanese beach town with fading sparkle has found a new tourism niche in the wired age by drawing young men and their virtual girlfriends.

One recent sweltering summer’s day, a tour bus from Tokyo pulled up at a sun-kissed beach at Atami, a Pacific coast resort southwest of the metropolis, and disgorged more than a dozen excited, iPhone-clutching young men.

The determined youngsters, paying scant attention to the bikini-clad girls frolicking on the sand, instead headed straight for a bronze statue that depicts Kanichi and Omiya, a couple from an old love story set in Atami.

The focus of the men’s attention—and of their smartphone cameras—was a tiny black and white square, a two-dimensional barcode that, thanks to “augmented reality” (AR) software, brought to life the object of their desire.

“Look, it’s like I’m in a snapshot with her,” said Shu Watanabe, 23, as he showed off his iPhone display, featuring himself next to the image of a doe-eyed cartoon character named Rinko, a smiling high school girl.

Rinko may only be digital, but try telling that to Watanabe or the legions of other fans of “Love Plus,” a dating sim or simulation game that is played on handheld Nintendo DS consoles and also boasts AR applications for iPhones.

Its creators, Konami Digital Entertainment, have long thrilled young men obsessed with high-tech, manga, and anime, known as “otaku,” by letting them chase virtual girls in the alternative universe of their digital dreams.

The hit videogame made headlines when a 27-year-old Japanese man known only as “Sal 9000″ staged a tuxedo wedding late last year, which was watched by thousands online, with his favorite cartoon girl, Nene Anegasaki.

But in the latest edition, game makers have gone a step further and teamed up with the very real city of Atami, an onsen or hot spring town 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the Japanese capital.

They have selected 13 romantic locations which can be overlaid with images of Rinko or her teenage friends Manaka and Nene, who have all swapped their usual sailor-style school uniforms for casual summer wear.

Local souvenir shops in the resort town have caught on and capitalized on the love-struck new clientele, selling Love Plus-themed souvenirs, from good-luck charms to steamed buns and fish sausages.

The local Ohnoya hotel even offers traditional rooms to the unusual couples, which feature two sets of futon beds and another barcode panel that allows the men to visualise their girlfriends in a flattering summer kimono.

Love Plus, released only on the Japanese market, has become the country’s most popular dating game since its release last September, selling nearly 430,000 copies, according to research firm Enterbrain.

The secret is that the dating game goes a step beyond the genre’s usual boy-meets-girl script and asks players to build long-term relationships.

“In conventional love games, you went up stages to make a virtual girl fall in love with you, so that she would accept you as a boyfriend or express her love for you,” said Konami spokesman Kunio Ishihara.

“But players of Love Plus are in a scenario where they are a high school boy who is already dating one of the virtual girls. The goal is to see how good you can be to her and to build a relationship.”

Love Plus is an open-ended “communication game” with basic voice recognition software and a screen clock that keeps real time to make players feel like they are really sharing their life with a girlfriend, Ishihara said.

That means that the girl can get moody when neglected by a player who is not sufficiently committed, and that she demands attention when she feels unwell.

If players want to go on a summer trip with their girlfriends, they have to convince her and plan ahead through virtual communication, Ishihara said.

The fans milling about town clearly enjoyed the challenge.

“With earlier love simulation games, we only scored girls, as bad as that sounds, and that was it,” said Naoyuki Sakazaki, aged in his 40s, after taking iPhone shots before the bronze statue in Atami.

“Love Plus is fun because the relationship continues forever.”

The popularity of Love Plus has been a welcome shot in the arm for Atami, which has seen visitors decline some 40 percent since its 1970s heyday.

More than 200 Love Plus fans have stayed at the Ohnoya hotel alone, while well over 2,000 have visited the resort town for the campaign, which kicked off on July 10 and runs until the end of August.

Young men have come from as far as South Korea and Taiwan, say locals.

Atami’s business association was at first hesitant and puzzled by the story line, in which a high school girl spends a night at a resort hotel with a man.

“Some people were opposed to taking part in this campaign, saying the game is immoral,” said association member Saiki Ota.

“We also didn’t expect it would sell that much.”

But they eventually realised the economic impact of the project, he added.

Konami’s Ishihara stressed that the game has no sexual content.

“The virtual girls can kiss you as a way of communication, but nothing happens when she sleeps
next to you at the hotel,” he said. “We have no intention of trying to sell a product with pornographic elements.

“I think Love Plus fans would get offended if somebody tried to disrespect his girlfriend like that.”

Source: The Inquirer Global Nation

It could be good for the City of Atami, but I think it is a really bad thing for Japan´s declining birth rate, don´t you think so?

The set comes in one Blu-Ray case with a box to hold the case. Each has their own specific artwork on the front and back.

Opening the case shows the disc (which contains both cover artworks) and the insert advertisements/postcard. Removing the disc shows the final piece of exclusive artwork. Minoru Shiraishi as the red demon!

The inserted pieces to the left include one of three possible postcards. I was lucky to receive the Nyoron~Churuya-san cover art, but the others are the Haruhi-chan cover art and the Taniguchi demon art behind the disc. The advertisements included one for The Mahjong of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya PSP game that will be released on February 24th, 2011, one for the various books throughout the Haruhi/Haruhi-chan/other spinoffs universes, and one for the upcoming BD/DVD releases. Kadokawa was cutting it close on the PSP game and Disappearance announcements.

Onto the main feature! When I first started this set, like all other Japanese releases, I expected to see the familar logos from Kadokawa/Kyoto Animation/Clockworks. What I got were these:

Instantly, it’s emphasized that this is in HD for the first time. Like the Haruhi 2009 DVDs, Kadokawa included English subtitles on this set for the main feature (none for the bonus features or songs), but they have to be selected on the main menu. These are the same subtitles(with a few corrections for spelling) that were on the infamous Youtube versions. If you’re looking for this set because of the subtitles, I’m sorry to disappoint you.

The opening animation starts the whole feature (it’s one long track that is split into 40 chapters) and we see that indeed Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san were animated in HD. This set is not going to test your televisions or monitors for clarity nor for the visual aspects like some other sets (cough cough Clannad), but the improved quality does make a big difference. Thanks to TMSIDR of his blog and Anime in Blu, I can show some comparisons between the DVDs and BD set. (I do plan on getting the R2 and R1 DVDs, just when I get some spare time from other purchases)

The images on the left are from the BD version and the right is the compressed DVD format (that actually is the same ratio that the data is stored, it’s not on my or TMSIDR’s part). You can see the BD is still clearer and more colorful.

All 25 episodes of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuutsu, all 13 episodes of Nyoron~Churuya-san, and the special OP/ED for Haruhi-chan are included on the set. It runs just over 2 hours combined. Following that is about 10 minutes of special features. We have all of the DVD commercials featuring Shiraishi-san as the Red demon in various places around Japan and the two BD Box commericals with all three of the demons riding across a bridge. Besides the obligatory textless OP/ED, there’s a special OP sequence with Shiraishi and the blue demon goofing around included as well. Finally, the last special feature is the promotional video that was shown in stores to promote the first DVD last May.

The new footage (BD Box CM and special OP) is in 1080p while the older footage has been upscaled to 1080p. There is a very noticable difference not only between the special features, but with the main show as well.

The audio sounds great (I can’t test through surround sound just yet), so I have no complaints with the sound. The menu features the promotion artwork of Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san leading the groups and is very basic. I enjoyed the special features very much. It was nice to see all of the CMs in one go (how many did Shiraishi do for the final volume?!) and the special OP is hilarious. The packaging is strange to describe, but it works well due to the set being both shows. It actually relieved a lot of concerns I had about both the regular series’ BD Box artwork and the “steel case” from Amazon Japan.

Overall, this set is not for those who are wanting to see the show for the first time with great subtitles, but for those wanting to see Haruhi in HD for the first time. The visuals are astonishingly clear and just makes you want to see the real series. For the special VN opening in episode 25, the animation is incredibly well done. I can’t recommend the subtitles, but the visual aspect of it more than makes up for it. It’s a good set for importers, and a very good set for those who understand Japanese.

As always, I take more screen captures than I can put into a review (and I’m sure Toonleap is loving the massive amounts of pictures for these past two reviews) so if you’d like to see these and more in their normal 1920×1080 size (except for the 720×480 DVD ones provided by TMSIDR), you can view them in my Photobucket album.

Legions of Asuka / Ushijima fans!

She looks hot right?

Sexy pose!

Anta Baka?

Are you talking to Me?

Nice Plugsuit…and body!

Now, Thats cool isnt it?

For Rei fans, She does not let you down!

Hope you enjoyed Iiniku Ushijima Cosplay…She does the job portraying Asuka and Rei…Where is Mari now??…

As usual, this volume contains one Blu-Ray disc, one CD with four mp3 tracks containing the final four episodes of To Aru Radio no Railgun, a 12-page explanation booklet, and a short story.

As said before, this set contains episodes 22-24: the final three episodes. They are Level 6 (The one who Arrives at the Meaning of God while in the Body of a Mortal), Right now, what do you see?, and Dear my Friends. It wouldn’t be off to say that these can easily be classified as “backstory, build-up, and climax” in that order for this arc.

Level 6 gives us the backstory on Kihara Gensei, the famous researcher who was developing a drug in order to increase ones level to Level 6. The experiment that Kiyama Harumi (remember her from the Level Upper incident?) gave her children to do. This episode really gives a bad name to scientists around the world. The type of experiment that Kihara used would never be given the light of day in a real-life laboratory, but it works very well to set him up as the “main evil villian” role. We also get to see that Kiyama’s finally found her students, only to have them taken away by Telestina and Misaka.

Right now serves as the build up to the finale as it’s finally revealed that Telestina is this arc’s villian. She kidnaps Erii and takes her as well as Kiyama’s students to an unknown facility. The scenes where Misaka acknowledges that she can’t do this alone and where Saten convinces Yomikawa-sensei to gather the Anti-skills to help them are two of my favorite in the series. Emotions are running high, but they’ve got to hold it together. It’s also the absolute best use of Real Force‘s ED to show the gathering of the groups for the final episode.

Finally, Dear my Friends continues the lesson of teamwork built-upon from the prior episode. It’s only as everyone works together that they are able to defeat Telestina. Of course Saten’s destructive ability with the bat was not foreseen ahead of time when I first watched this episode, but just showed that even a Level 0 has purpose. The series ends with a touching reunion of Kiyama and her students and ends the way it started. “Academy City. It’s a place where something’s always going on.”

The home release version of the final episode, just like the first episode adds in the OP in order to allow the scenes to be viewed without the text from the opening credits that were present in the television version. The set also includes audio commentary by all four main seijuu for the final episode and textless endings from the three episodes.

Once again, a fitting finale for Railgun and one that works well to tie the first arc with the ending. I’ll offer my thoughts on the second part of Railgun in my final review, which I hope to have up in a couple of days. As usual, I’ve taken way too many screencaptures (and since this is a finale volume, it ended up being double the usual amount) to include in this review, so if you would like to see the 1080p version of the shots, please go to my Photobucket Account.