Double Decker! Doug & Kirill – First Impressions (Episodes 1-4)

What’s it about? A police constable who dreams of being a hero finally gets a chance to join an elite detective team. Under the guidance of his cool and philosophical partner, they try to put a stop to the new super drug – Anthem.

What are your first impressions? There have been some very funny moments so far. Definitely enough to keep me going. In the first episode, Kirill stripped and emerged from a cloud of smoke pretending to be a time traveller in an attempt to confuse a criminal long enough for Doug to take him down.

Favourite character so far? Doug is amazing. I love his dry sense of humour… although I don’t think he’s trying to be funny. Whatever, he’s hilarious and really keeps Kirill on his toes.

Who do you want to see more of? We need more Pink. She may come across as a dangerous loner, and for the most part, she is, but she’s also calm and calculating. In the dubbed version, she’s also voice by Jamie Marchi which is always a good thing. She is badass!

Are you going to continue watching? Yes, definitely. There have been more than enough funny moments to keep me interested. I think Kirill is going to take a little getting used to, but the rest of the characters more than make up for him.

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 17: What is an anime you want to watch but haven’t yet?

What is an anime you want to watch but haven’t yet? All. Of. Them! All right fine, I’ll pick just one. There is one anime that caught my attention a little while back when the trailer first circulated on YouTube. Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye on where it’s available. So far, it’s exclusive to Amazon Prime so I haven’t seen it yet. That anime is Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.

Why is that? Seriously? Watch the trailer! It is set during an industrial revolution, so pretty much steampunk. The infected undead are attacking the fortified cities, so post-apocalyptic zombies. I’m not sure what else to say. It just all sounds epic to me.

I do wonder if the inability to get hold of a copy is making me want to see it more, although that probably just means it’s on my most wanted list because I haven’t been able to just sit down and watch it.

As a content producer myself, I don’t condone pirating media so I’m not about to get a copy that way. Maybe, in the near future, I’ll look to get an Amazon Prime subscription or it might become available elsewhere, but until then I will just have to look fondly at the trailer.

Anything else you’d like to say? The best thing about wanting to watch lots of anime is that even if I can’t watch Kabaneri right now, there is plenty that I can get on with. I just love watching anime!

SSSS. Gridman – First Impressions (Episodes 1-4)

What’s it about? A boy with amnesia is sucked into an ancient computer and transformed into a massive robot so that he can stop kaiju from destroying the city. When the battle is over the world resets and the casualties histories are altered.

What are your first impressions? The kaiju fights are impressive. Tower blocks come crashing to the ground. It’s total destruction. There is obviously something more to it though with the way the city returns to normal the next morning and everyone’s memories are erased except for the members of the Gridman Alliance. My gut feeling is that it’s all a virtual world, but at this stage, who knows.

Favourite character so far? Calibur, the quirky Samurai is by far the coolest character. He can transform into a giant sword for Gridman to use. He also kind of reminds me of Lupin III.

Who do you want to see more of? Rikka is probably the most interesting character. She’s been pulled into this crazy situation by the location of the ancient computer and is, therefore, the most reluctant hero. Surely, that is what caused Yuta to pass out outside her shop and lose his memories. Rikka also has some history with Akane, which could get interesting.

Are you going to continue watching? I will, but mostly because I’ve formulated a theory and need to see if I’m right. Normally, I would bond with the characters and that would be more than enough to keep me going. However, other than Calibur and Rikka, I don’t really feel anything for the cast. That can change, but that’s how I feel right now.

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 16: What is the last anime you watched?

What is the last anime you watched? At the moment, I’m currently working my way through the new season of anime. I think I have about twelve different shows on the go… but the most recent anime I’ve completed was Dominion Tank Police.

Why did you watch that? I watched it as a part of the Otaku on Writing podcast where we watch, review, and analyse classic anime to inspire original fiction. We take it in turns to nominate an anime and this one was my choice. I had a lot of fond memories of Dominion Tank Police because it was one of the first anime I saw.

It’s certainly pretty out there, but I didn’t remember just how out there it was. There were certain images that stuck with me, for example, the Cat sisters teasing the SWAT team so they could make their escape, and I vaguely remembered the land mines…

Sadly, like a couple of other anime we’ve rewatched, Dominion Tank Police didn’t really stack up against my memories. The first half was particularly odd and had little to no story. It was just a series of gags. The second half was actually much better and as a stand-alone, it would have been very good.

Anything else you’d like to say? Be careful rewatching old anime that you used to love, sometimes it’s better to settle for the nostalgia. Also, if you like classic anime and are interested in writing, you should definitely check out our podcast – Otaku on Writing. You can also subscribe to it using Apple Podcast.

Otaku on Writing Podcast – Episode 21

What are you talking about this week? So, following on from the obscene discussion of Dominion Tank Police (you might want to check out last week’s episode!), we shall attempt to brainstorm some ideas for another collection of stories. This is going to be interesting!

One line pitch! Otaku after dark…

Any other news? Did I mention that we love reviews? If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a review on iTunes. It helps others find us. Also, if you’ve read any of the Otaku Stories, you can leave a review for them too. Hooray… reviews… Thank you very much.

And now for our regularly scheduled entertainment…