Registering for college... again.

Hey-o!

I am back with some random news I guess! I registered for my winter semester~ Unfortunately, I am not in the same class as anyone I care for, but that's life isn't it. xD

At least I have good teachers, and I've learned a valuable lesson. TAKE THE CLASSES YOU WANT FIRST, THEN ADJUST. Yeah, I'm stupid. Oh well.

Alice

Dreams

Hello everyone!

I'm here to talk about one of the most cheesiest things TO talk about, dreams. We've all had some at one point, and some of us actually fulfilled them. Some of us... just moved on. And while that's sad, the only thing to say is... that's life.

I grew up in a strict environment (I had very strict parents), and they often didn't hesitate to hit me if I grew out of line. And while somewhat painful... it did help me, I just don't want to enforce it myself. And these types of parents often threw me out of dream land when I went there. I wanted to be a singer. Denied. I wanted to be an actor. Denied. My dreams were crushed countless times from the early age of 4 (yeah, they were kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinda very strict). And yet, looking upon it now, they were probably just really scared for me if I actually pursued it, and failed, and... etc. They often imposed their dreams on me, however. They wanted me to be a doctor.

Since that day, I've taken that dream to be my own, which was detrimental in it's own way. Once I realized I didn't want to do that, I was lost. The only thing that appealed to me financially was that profession, and I couldn't think of anything else.

I then walked everyday of my life, not knowing what to do next. I was in high school, taking the science classes because they would open more "doors" for me, and I did well enough in them. But I was still lost.

I then graduated and went on to college (which I'm still in), and found myself in the same situation. I'm in science again, because I didn't know what to do in my life. I made many friends (which came to a surprise, since in high school, while I had friends, my high school consisted mostly of stupid people) and was very happy, but still lost as all hell. My friends seemed to have a clear idea though, just not me.

I didn't want to talk to anyone, just because I was scared of judgement. I closed myself in, and screamed at the people who wanted to help me.

Eventually though, I talked to my friends and my sisters. They all basically said the same thing:
"Choose what you like, then see if it's compatible with you."

And that's why now, I can firmly say I want to go in the computer sciences in university. Preferably in the gaming industry, I know it's not how kids envision it, but I still want to do it.

And that brings me to today's topic. TV shows, people around you... everyone tries to tell you to "Follow your dreams", and while that is nice and all, as teens and adults, we understand that we might be lacking in some way or another. We might not be smart enough, we might not have 20/20 vision... numerous flaws stand in our ways.

I'd just like to say this, the dream that your parents impose on you might not be your dream, despite how much you try to deny this. To those who wanted to be a doctor, but whose grades are frankly too low, it might be because it is purely the money/parents that motivates you.

My friend used to be really bad in math, but he got waaaaaaaaaaaay better than me once he realized what he wanted to do.

Even so, if you're completely sure this is not the case... then it might actually not be compatible with you. It's sad to say, but that's life. Things don't work out at times, and... we have to learn how to move on. You can change your dreams, as odd as that may sound. Someone will be there for you, no matter how many times you trip and fall. Never for one second think that you are alone. It's never the case, your brain just automatically shifts into negative mode when it gets the chance.

If you're just thinking about the money, forget it. These words are actually the only solid ones that remain true to this day: "Money does not equate happiness".

However, as pessimistic as I might sound up to now, you should still give your dreams a shot. Don't give up before trying. Live life to the fullest, you never know when things might happen. And lastly, love yourself. It sounds basic, but realize how many times you compare your flaws to people's qualities. Just... complement yourself once in a while. And if you truly don't think you can, then look in a mirror, and try telling the person in it you hate them, earnestly. It's quite hard, because deep down inside, you know you don't.

I hope your days will be awesome.

Alice

Alice Rants - Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Hey everyone!

This one really is a rant, not the "usual" mini-reviews I try to do. >.<

Anyways, I go to my friend's house and we play on her PS4. The only game she owns on it right now is this one, and she offers me a chance to play. And let me tell you, it's quite fun when you don't know what to do. :P

I only got to Nevada, and basically quit when we had to trail Spanish people, but I want to say something. The controls were quite finicky for me at first. During a pursuit, Edward would go on everything and climb on everything, which made pursuits annoying. I'd like to note right now, this was my FIRST Assassin's Creed game to try.

Assassinating people was fun though. Battles are too (though you should try to avoid them, obviously). Even though at times, guard AI is very... dumb per se. I mean, leap of faith right in front of them, they won't even know you're there if there's something to hide you beneath it. :T

Other than that though, we later played on my friend's file, and she's basically almost done. I must say though, the graphics look fantastic. Crisp texture, and beautiful colored scenery. Navigating on the sea is fun, and if you don't want to travel too far, there's a button that will bring you there immediately. Terrorizing other ships is fun as well, you gain loot appropriately.

The other thing that I don't like however, is the "desync-ing" part. If you venture too far off the mark, you desync (it makes sense in the game). However, if you do that, the game stops momentarily, and you restart from where it last saved. I feel as though an "invisible wall" would have been fine as well, but eh, it's not too bad.

Anyways, I hope to play some more one day, I could get it on my PS3 anyways. :P
But I'd rather start with the first one, seems... more fair.

Remember, not a full review 'cause I didn't finish it. Heck, I just tried it.

Alice 

Alice Rants - Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2

Hello everyone!

I'm here to rant about this game, Devil Survivor 2.

Now, if you go on the Internet (like you are doing right now), you'll find comments about this game varying from:

- OMG BEST GAME EVAAA
to
- Worst Devil Survivor/SMT game, 0/5

And really, I fail to understand humanity at times. I mean, it was popular enough to get an anime. no? Even though the anime sucked a bit, but I still like it. Also, it's getting a sequel, so... yeah.

As usual, to be fair, I haven't played the first Devil Survivor, but I have played the Persona games, 3 and 4. So, I'm basically looking at this as a standalone. How did I find this game? Let's analyse it my way, and go from there!

Gameplay:

This game is a JRPG. Because who saw me "reviewing" another RPG eh? Storyline/Character interactions are presented in a "visual novel" fashion. Click the button to advance, and characters do not bother to move their mouths, but I find this style to be fine, if all games had the same style, you wouldn't need to buy different games.

This is the status screen, it's your way to prepare for battle. You choose what characters/demons to bring in battle.

As for the battle, we have turn-based combat (strategy style). It's basically like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, Luminous Arc or Tears to Tiara. For those who still don't know, you have units that you can move, and during your turn, you're free to do anything you want (wait, attack, heal). On the enemy's turn, they can do the same (HEALING. ENEMY HEALING. UGH). You also have different objectives, either the battle objective that will enable you to win, or mini-objectives that get you more Macca (the game's currency).

That's the base, now let's go in depth. Basically, like I said earlier, you control units and your enemy does the same. The units you control are humans that have the capability to control demons. Every demon/human specializes in their different ways. For example, Pixie happens to be a demon that specializes magically, and Siegfried is rather of a physical hitter. Your human units also have specialties.

Screenshot taken from gavin80001

Also, you get a character that represents you within the game! You are free to name him whatever you'd like, and level him in the way you'd like! What do I mean, well...

As seen in the image above, there is a level up screen. Normally, JRPGs just level your stats for you. However, you choose what stats to level in this game! You can be a tank, a magic freak, a strength freak, a speed freak or a completely balanced person. It's your choice! I found that pretty cool, it's as though you really are that person.

Furthermore, you can choose what the man says! Like in the Persona series, where the protagonist only spoke when you chose what to say. Some dialog is influential, and you can tell. Some dialog... so jokes. Try out the game, it's hilarious!

Similar to the Persona's social links, you have Fate levels in this game (I know I'm making a lot of comparisons, but... I'M NOT A PROFESSIONAL OKAY). You can interact with different people, friends and foes alike, and level up your relationship with them. Furthermore, depending on it's level, you can influence parts of the game.

To get to other areas, you cannot free-roam (which is a shame really), but rather you choose an event, and reach the area where the event is taking place. Each event takes 30 minutes (in game-time), which by the way, is important. Certain events take place at certain times, so you can miss them or certain events have a certain time slot, so you can miss them as well. If you miss certain events, you can miss the opportunity to save someone.

Some of you may see this as restrictive, but I see this as a certain plus. In normal JRPGs, you can perform a certain action forever and not be penalized, offering a sense of nonchalance. This is a way of managing the player's time, which is cool.

You can also fuse demons to get better demons. At times, you'll have to use Macca. You can also  buy demons to get better ones, however it takes place as an auction, therefore if you don't offer the highest bid, you lose the chance to purchase it. There is a "BUY NOW" option, but it's much higher than the original price. However, it still offers you a chance to purchase it if you really want it.

You can also register demons in case you want to use them again, at the cost of a bit of Macca.

Graphics:

As for the graphics itself, the game offers nice drawings for the still-images itself. It's anime-styled. However, all the girls in the game suffer (or benefit, depending on how you see it) from gravity-defying boobs. They just... stay up. And don't tell me they all have super-bras or something, Hinako has no bra whatsoever. Her top basically only covers half her boobs, so you can tell.

However, for any other events than the status page or the dialog page, you get little people that walk and move around. This is within the full capabilities of the DS, so you can't say it looks bad. It's rather fine for it's time/console. Also, the backgrounds look also as fine.

Music:

The music is pretty good, I like it quite a bit. The music fits the mood quite well in the game, in events and in battles as well. No complaints here. Still, everyone has their opinion, so I'll post some samples.

Confrontation
JPs Theme
A Gloomy Person

Difficulty:

Oh boy, how to go about this... It's pretty challenging.

I went into this game, similar to the way I would enter a Persona game, and boy was I in for a shock. It's not as easy, that's for certain. There's no difficulty option, but it's just hard from the get-go. I mean, you're not breezing through ANY battle (unless it's an endgame "Free battle"), unless I've been playing the game wrong. I, in fact, restarted once completely because I screwed over my demon leveling. You CAN go in free battles to level your demons up, it doesn't consume any time, so that's cool. However, it doesn't bring your levels up much, so... what I'm trying to say is, when you feel COMPLETELY SCREWED, you most likely are.

This won't happen too deep in the game though, as the difficulty spans evenly everywhere. It's a rather fun difficulty.

What's frustrating however, is the fact that the enemies are too similar to you. What I mean is, they can HEAL. In early game, you're not OP or strong in general yet, and you basically hit as hard as your enemies do, and vice-versa (except for bosses, they're just douches in general). They also have healing skills, which is plenty annoying! If you don't kill 'em off in time, they just spam it. And you take forever to kill 'em. UGH.

A plus though, is the fact that your characters aren't gone forever if they die in battle (unless it's a requirement for them not to die this battle).

Story:

It's rather fine to say the least. You're a normal student, soon brought into a post-apocalyptic world. Demons are everywhere and the only way to defend yourself... are the use of demons as well, through the power of your cellphone by registering on this site called "Nicaea".

You are the influential member of the group, as your actions influence the story. You can choose who lives and dies (intentionally or unintentionally). As such, there are multiple endings to this game. It actually has a nice twist in it too, it's not predictable to 100%.

The characters happen to be lovable too. None of them are stereotypes, or at least if they seem like it, they aren't. The ONLY character I didn't like was Ronaldo. Yeah. Never got his ending.

Overall: 

It's a pretty solid game to say the least. Good gameplay, good design, good music, good story...

Like I said, the only things I can call out on is the difficulty and the inability of free-roaming. We do need hard games in the world, but the healing AI is just unforgivable. And free-roaming is fun, though it is a DS game, so I'm not sure if they can do... wait no. Free-roaming is possible, there's a Zelda game that I know that has that capability. Final Fantasy III also has that function. Sorry game, you just don't appeal that to me.

So, my rating would be 8/10. A "B" if you will. It's a pretty good game, so be sure to check it out!

Alice

A Slice of my Life - Part 1

Hello everyone!

That above is a "dango" that I decided to make today on a whim (mostly because I am unemployed and still on vacation). I was fun to make! Even though it took me 3-4 hours to make, but it's nice for a real first attempt at sewing! You can do it too with the following links:

Dango Tutorial
Dango Plush Pattern

To those who DO decide to make one as well, I didn't make those tutorials, so I take no credit for it.

Aren't dangos adorable? I mostly say this because I've watched Clannad before, but yeah, I've come to understand their beauty. Perhaps I'll go in depth about Clannad some other day, even though half the population of Earth probably already saw it.

It was a fun experience ranting about movies and games! I'll also consider doing that more often. I started off with stuff I like to be positive, but I could bring in the ones I find utterly stupid one day, but I don't like to judge games I didn't finish yet.

Which brings me up to this, my sister's husband recently told me he purchased Final Fantasy 7, to which I replied: "Oh, cool." Then he mutters about he didn't really want it 'cause he doesn't like it, but that he's collecting all the Final Fantasy games, so I shrugged and asked him why. Yeah, biggest mistake of my life, because I was pissed at him in the end.

Acutally, I DO have to play FF7 again to get a proper opinion of it, because I played it at a VERY young age. But... his words were the stupidest things I ever heard. He rambles on about how he doesn't like the plot, the design, the music, Sephiroth is overrated and etc. That part didn't bother me, the part that did was: "I never played it and never will either."

... Excuse me?

So, his hate is based on what others have told him. He can't judge something before playing it (or at least in my opinion). It's like when my mother tells me: "Don't judge my food before you even try it." I do try it all today, and yeah, she's right. Which is why his words pissed me off.

So yeah, I'm planning to "review" that game one day or another, but I have to play it again. Right now though, my mind is filled with:

These three games. I really like the first two (Crisis Core and Final Fantasy VI) but Pandora's Tower has a feeling of ambivalence that hits me. Well, like I said, I can only love/like/hate after fully playing it (unless the game is actually complete garbage). And no, I like other games than the Final Fantasy series, but like I said, it's my favorite, so a lot of what I play is in that franchise.

So yeah, I hope to do this again! See you around everyone~

Alice

Alice Rants - Final Fantasy IX

Hello everyone! I'm here to rant about my favorite game, Final Fantasy IX, for the PS1.

Now, let's start a little about me, because simply saying that I like this game is a bit unfair. It IS my favorite game of all time. I know this play count isn't all that impressive, but I've played it a total of 4 times, fully. The rest of the times were me goofing around with the mini-games.

Also to clarify, this ISN'T my first Final Fantasy. My first was 7, annnnnnd, I kinda played it when I was too young (I think I first played it when I was 4, but actually played it when I was 8-9... either way, too young).

Now, why did I like this game? Let's pretend to analyse it completely, I'm not that qualified to review crap, but I will analyse it in my manner anyways.

--

Gameplay: 

You explore "nice" areas, filled with nice colors and being wide in general. Using the left analog stick works, movement is fluid not block-y.

... yeah, you can tell I'm not supposed to be reviewing a thing. To be fair, it's a rant?

As for battle, it follows the classic Final Fantasy formula of turn-based battle. Enemy attacks you, your turn, so on and so forth.

As for your characters in battle, you still follow your classic Final Fantasy formula, where different people have different classes, such as "Thief, Knight, Black Mage, White Mage, etc.". This offers the characters have unique skills and varying stats, for example, your mage has a higher magic stat, and lower defense and attack, whereas your knight has a greater attack and defense. This makes different strategies that can be formed, which is pretty good in turn-based combat.

Later in the game as well (not too late, so don't be scared for spoilers), Steiner and Vivi have a joint attack, which is rather interesting gameplay-wise. Also, neither character is under-powered without the other, so they can still be used without the other, but it's a nice strategy offer.

Furthermore, I'm not completely sure this should go in this section, but the fact that you can choose the character names in it just makes you more involved. This can be proven by a recent installment, Fire Emblem Awakening.


Graphics:

For it's time (which happens to be 2000), I would say they are pretty nice. Obviously, they are not HD quality, as we didn't acquire that technology yet, but they are not overly blurry, and that's a plus. They also run smoothly, meaning the characters don't look awkward when they move, as though they are disjointing their bodies when they move.

As for in-game cinematic, they look absolutely gorgeous. The characters remain true to their in-game graphics, the environment looks... beautiful as well. When the game wants it to be, it will be vibrant, when it wants to be dark, it will be dark. Nothing is out of place. And I say they still look fluid, similar to the in-game graphics.

I'm not sure if it's because I'm somewhat biased that I'm saying this, but it does looks better than some of the games released today.


Music:

Praise. PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE!!!!!!!!!!

Nah, I'm just kidding.

I like the music for the most part, that is true. Music for the environment fits, music for the sad/happy scenes fit... but some of them are not the BEST things that I've heard. For one, I'm on the side that the battle music isn't one of my favorite in the series. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, I love it, A LOT. But, sadly it could have been better. I'm nit-picking at this point, but I find that the battle themes in each game had to do with the game itself (as it always should), and frankly, for the playfulness the game has in IX, we don't see that too reflected in the battle themes in that game.

Final boss music is still fun though, just... anyways, I'm trailing off. For the most part, it's great. But the battle themes... not my cup of tea.

If you don't mind, check some out. I'll indicate a spoiler alert attached to it if it contains too many spoilers attached to it.

Rose of May - One of my Favorites (POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT)
Terra - One of my Favorites (POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT)
Not Alone - FREAKING ACE (Definitely spoiler-filled, for the brave)
Festival of the Hunt - Also awesome
Battle Theme


Story:

It's pretty good. I mostly play games for it's story, so yeah. One of the main reasons why this game is one the Final Fantasy's I prefer, is because it is properly placed in a fantasy setup. Now, to be fair, NONE of the Final Fantasy's could happen in real life, and I haven't gotten to play all of the ones on the PS1 yet, but I found it had a nice fantasy aspect to it. The characters have... character in them.

Now, let me explain.

You know how there are characters these days that just seem like a cardboard cut-out? Well, I feel as though the characters in this game are not. Thankfully, we don't have overly sexualized characters (I like 'em, even though I'm a girl, but in story-focused games, they do not belong unless they are actually prostitutes) or overly-feminist characters (you know, the female that can do everything a man can, I'm not saying they can't, but I don't want a she-male).

The thief is a proper thief, the kids act like proper kids and the princess acts like a princess. They do not act out of character at any time (at least in my opinion), and they evolve during the game. No, not like Pokemon, but personality-wise. Character development. NICE.

I also like the little comedy tid-bits. It adds, the playfulness that the characters looks like they should have.

And you get mini-choices in the games in the dialog too. They don't affect the story line in a major way, but to be fair, it doesn't even happen during serious scenes, so it's not a crime that it doesn't affect it. I liked it.

There's a reason for everything in this game, and not "I'm just doing it for the ride".

Except... no. I'll let you discover that. It'd be unfair to let out a spoiler now.


Difficulty:

Sadly, I must say it's not the hardest in the franchise. As a child, I beat the game at level ~80, but nowadays, I can beat it at level ~55, without obtaining all the special items for my characters or getting all their skills. 

Furthermore, there are ways to beat the game in ~12 hours, or at least reach a far area in the final dungeon in that time, as there is a reward for doing so. Also, there are playthroughs that show you that you can beat the game with ALL your characters at level one. It does require skill, but it still seems... sad. 

However, there is an amount of difficulty, which is nice. After all, it's not a walk in the park. So, it's still fun.

Little Extras:

This above picture depicts one of the mini-games in the game, "Chocobo Hot and Cold". It's like a treasure-hunt minigame.

It's rather fun, and it's an opportunity to get good items for your characters if you get "deep" in the minigame, but there are downsides. At times, it is too sensitive. You will be THIS close to the object, but unless you specifically touch that pixel, you won't find it.

This is another minigame in the game, Tetra Master. It's an in-game card game that is rather addicting in my opinion.

You have cards with differing stats and they "attack" other cards in the direction of the arrows they have. The point of the game is to get the majority of the cards to become your color cards.

Problems with this minigame? Hmm... the only fault I can see is that they don't explain stats, but humans learn, so it's not that bad?

And this part, GOLD. If you wait on the menu screen for "so long", you get this little thing. It shows the main characters in the game with little quote that sort of describe them. I do not care, I love it. It's in the book/manual though. OH WELL.


Overall:

So we have on our hands, a game with great visuals, great storyline, great gameplay, for the most part great music, good difficulty and good extras. My rating of it?

9/10

It just... It's a good game. This is what a great Final Fantasy is like.

Alice

Alice Rants - A Certain Magical Index Movie *Endymion's Miracle*

So, I finally got around to watching this movie. And... I enjoyed it! It felt like a classic addition to the story, not just a movie tacked on to JUST make more money. By the way, GIANT SPOILERS, so don't read and complain thereafter, you chose to tread the path.

Short synopsis (my style):

The story starts with a plane in space, undergoing an accident. The plane crashes, but thankfully all passengers are safe. We then skip to our main protagonists, Touma and Index. They discuss the giant tower in Academy City, then meet with the growing singing sensation, Meigo Arisa. She discovers that she has been recruited to be an idol for a major company in order to promote the giant tower. Later on, the latter gets attacked by magicians, including Stiyl and Kansaki. While Touma tries his best to protect her, they soon get rescued by the Black Crow Unit, along with it's leader, Shutaura Sequenzia. We then discover that Arisa might arouse a war between the magic and science factions. We learn back story about the new characters in the story. Arisa later goes to make her first official appearance in public, along with Misaka Mikoto's gang, but the event gets ruined, as the venue gets bombed. However, every single person at the venue is completely unharmed, and the news claims it to be a miracle. However, things cannot remain merry. We find out that Arisa may be a saint, which is why both the magic and science factions are after her. Arisa soon gets abducted by her boss, Ladylee Tangleroad, as we find out that she plans to destroy half the earth, as she wishes to die herself (she is immortal) and Arisa happens to be the key to making it happen. Ladylee launches an event at Endymion, and Arisa decides to sing to invoke a miracle. Many bad events happen at the venue, and we later find out that Shutaura and Arisa used to be one, and that Arisa came to be because  of Shutaura's wish for a miracle to occur. They both proceed to sing, which brings an end to all bad events at the tower. Touma and Index both ponder about Arisa, since she has vanished. Index wonders if she was just an illusion, however Touma reassures her that she wasn't, as he was able to touch her with his right hand. They both then stare at the sky, as if they heard something (probably Arisa).

WELL THEN. ON TO THE RANT.

This is Arisa Meigo. She is a new character introduced to the series. My evaluation of her is...
great! It's my opinion, so yes, deal with it. Let's look at it objectively, then I'll tell you what I think of her personally.

Objective view:
She is the product of Shutaura's wish to save everyone from the plane crash in exchange for all that Shutaura's loves. She is a Level 0 esper, however she has the power to invoke miracles when she sings, this is why at all the events which she attends and sings at, a miracle happens. She loves singing and believes that this is what makes her... her. It's all she has in her opinion. She also has no memories prior to 3 years in the past in correspondence to the movie's timeline.

What I think:
I love her. I loves characters who are selfless and work towards the one dream she wants. She's also adorable and her voice is lovable. We have characters who lament about their lost memories, but she just pushes on. I'm not saying that all of those characters suck, but they can annoy me at times. She's like a fresh breeze to me.

And yeah, she has spurts of courage. She can't do much other than this (and miracles, but we call them miracles for a reason).

In conclusion, 7-8/10. We have a cute, courageous and talented girl on our hands! And that's great~ She is sadly gone, and part of a few cliches, but let's get into that later. NEXT.

--

This girl is another new character, Ladylee Tangleroad. She is the CEO of the Orbit Portal Company at the age of 10. My evaluation of her... 5/10 sorta. I'm used to characters like her unfortunately, and they aren't high in my list. Let's move on to my objective views though.

Objective view:
In reality, she happens to be an immortal human, who is also a magician. Having lived for about a millennium, she wishes to die, hence the plot to use Arisa to destroy a giant portion of Earth. She believes that the spell she is about to invoke has the potential to finally kill her.

What I think:
I don't love or hate her. She feels like a rather recycled character design, being one that wishes to die as they are immortal. Though, we can't expect her to embrace it either if she doesn't like it. Just... I know that you REALLY want to die, but to involve almost half the population of Earth? I mean, she doesn't even hate them, so she has no other reason other than selfishness. But because of all of this, I can't hate her either. I mean, look at this.

Her wish doesn't get fulfilled, and she gets attached like this after the ruckus. I mean, from the looks of it, they're conducting an experiment, but WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY RESEARCHING?! Like, yes, she did bad things, but throw her into a prison or something. This does not swim well for me. :T

Plus look at this:

Like, what the hell? The first shows that she doesn't even resist to violence, possibly because she is trying to die and that this time MAY be the time. But... just look at the rest of the images. Blown up 38 times? Stabbed 16 times? All these painful experiences, and all for naught too. And for some reason, I'm assuming that she did these to herself, or at least didn't resist in the least. *sigh* It just... hurts, y'know? Moving on though.

We get some minor insight on her too. I'm guessing seeing people she loved die before her eyes caused her maniacal attitude, but I'm sorry movie. Don't expect me to suddenly love her because she now has a back story. We don't get details, we don't get love.

In conclusion, we get... her. A 10 year old-looking immortal who wishes to die. A lot about her is sad, but I just... can't love her. I'm sorry. She is also part of cliches, but luckily less than Arisa. So yes, not a bad or good character in my opinion.

--

Here's another new one! She is Shutaura Sequenzia, head of the Black Crow Unit. Her evaluation will be... low. I'll give the details in the conclusion, but basically, she is MISS cliche.

Objective view:
She is a Level 4 esper, possessing the ability to control rare earth, called Earth Palette. She is a good hand-to-hand fighter and a strong esper, which ended up helping her for the better. She is very strict and cares for the city's safety, a "duty girl" if you will.

What I think:
Like I said before, I don't like her. Maybe it's because at some point, she pointed a gun at Arisa. But, I do have my own valid reasons. For one, I don't like very... upright characters?

For one, when Touma and she meet, the only thing she ends up saying after saving them is "Don't get involved with Arisa" and basically introducing herself in a rather cold tone. While I do understand that she has to keep things secret, saying it in that way won't change a thing. And she just leaves too. I mean, Touma is Touma, so he's going to end up helping her anyways, but how the hell will he know she'll be safe after this? You don't do much other than this.

Also, this scene. In anime, I NEVER get how they fail to notice such a giant injury when they first look at them. I mean, THERE'S BLOOD EVERYWHERE. Were you blinded somehow? I don't know, I never got it, and possibly never will.

I don't get it lady. For those who don't know, she basically lunged at Touma for saying that the fact that everyone was unscathed is a "miracle", and she hates that word. So much that she threw a man who suffered a HUGE ass concussion against the wall. He just saved your life, ONE WORD shouldn't throw you off so quickly. It's like, the one thing you shouldn't do as a soldier.

Girl, going alone is strategically unadvantageous. I know you want revenge and all, but YOU KNOW she's plotting to destroy half the world right? More troops might, oh I don't know, EVACUATE PEOPLE OR SOMETHING? Let them do that, and you challenge the boss.    

SHE DID NOT... JUST SHOOT DOWN MY ARISA-CHAN. But I sorta get this scene, she was on edge, and Arisa happens to be the cause of it. This one is more of a personal complaint, but actions like this will eventually make her into a psycho-path. I mean, if you can't take music at all, yeah... must be hard to live anywhere really.

Yeah, more inflicting pain onto Arisa. Don't like this. At all.

I do get her butthurt-ness though. Her father was also part of the so-called "miracle", yet no one bothered to make note of that. In fact, since he died and Arisa appeared, they didn't even know he existed. I mean, that sucks.

In conclusion:
3/10 really. I'm really sorry for those who like her, but the world is only so fun when we're different. She's cool, so that's a plus. But she does do stupid moves at times, which is a minus. So yeah.

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More new characters! This is the last batch guys~ We can't go in depth on these guys, but I can still talk about 'em.

This one is Marie Spearhead, the water magic user.

This one is Mallybath Blackball, the earth magic user.

And this one is Jane Elves, the wind magic user.

Their impact though? It was actually okay. They made nice magic effect and they weren't useless or anything. Little comedy tid-bits, overall good filler characters.

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For the movie itself:

Like I said, I liked it! Obviously, there were some cliches here and there, but it was better than other... said movies (perhaps I'll discuss that one when I get the chance). I'll tell you what I liked and what I didn't like.

This scene offered insight, foreshadowing, etc. Yeah. All movies do this, so I can't blame 'em. It actually helps too, because we'll be informed and stuff.

We're not foreshadowing, we're just showing you a girl who's praying. STOP DOUBTING US OR I'LL KILL YOU.

Aw, she started off like this~ And wow, for someone with absolutely no support whatsoever, you got some nice equipment girl.

I like Shirai Kuroko, for her part, she actually cares for Mikoto (albeit in a yuri manner though). And this scene, GOLD.

Touma, I don't hate you, really, I don't. But please stop getting all the girls. At least not this one.

Stop telling me I'm foreshadowing. 'Cause I'm not. Honest.

Kira kira~ SHE SPARKLES BECAUSE SHE IS AMAZING, WORSHIP HER, FOOLS.

Oh hey, just passing through, not trying to kill you is all. 

While I admit this saved their lives, a bug? It looks like one. *sigh* I'll never understand concept design. 

Yeah, cliche number one. Has dream relating to previous foreshadowing. Aw well, I still love you Arisa. <3

You got me there anime movie, two cliches in a row? Didn't see that coming.  But, I still like this one at least. Simply because it's true, singing IS all she has. No memories, no family... BUT THE PROBLEM IS...

That info shows after. So in fact, when I first saw the "singing is all I have scene", I actually lost a bit of faith in Arisa. But the pluses, nice fountain. :D TOUMA, I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HER YOU WOMANISER. Oh, and CLICHE NUMBER THREE! Don't worry, this one didn't happen right after, I just wanted to make a point. 

Intro to Ladylee! And her lair looks pretty damn nice. 

It's the loli teach again. xD We all love her. 

I was wondering, but does this mean that Touma slept with Index (just together, get your mind outta the gutter) before Arisa came? 

Yay~ The bro trio~

Oh, 'sup you~ CAMEOOOO~

Bath time, fanservice time, can YOU see the difference? I thought so. 

How do they know each other? I'm fine with it, BUT HOW?

Hey, Kuroko, I AGREE. Seems like what I would have written when I was younger (and I did, you'll never see it though).

Hey, a fight scene. :3 It was pretty cool, gotta admit. 

To all of those who watched the movie, don't tell me I'm the only one who thought her dancing looked... awkward. I think they used a different animation for that for some reason, like CGI. :T

Hey look, Google's twin. 

I didn't see this coming though. I just thought: "Ten year old pres? Eh, bad writing."

How'd we get HER involved? 

LOOK, ALL THE FORESHADOWING CONNECTS. Plot for revenge is also there. Ladylee is evil btw. xD

That's... really nice. 

Hey look, it's that time of year again. Oh, and screw physics. 

This is beautiful too. Very.

I loved this. I love the SISTERS, and erm. LOOK AT THAT GIANT LAZER THING HFAIFJ AIOJFIO ASJF IOASJ. 

And those two~ I LOVE YOU ACCELERATOR~ <3

And yeah, gotta snap you out. Touma, freaking no mercy. But this is why he's superior over the characters who are like: "I CAN'T HIT FEMALES".

Yupp, Arisa was born from her wish to enact a miracle. I actually didn't see this coming, I only saw that Arisa wasn't really a "real" human per se. I just don't get why Shutaura had to be naked after. 

And yeah, foiled. 

Hey, all that's well ends well. And unless my video was broken, it'd would have been nice to hear the actual singing instead of pure silence. I dunno, it's technically another cliche, but I was wondering what the hell happened to those two. Oh, and Arisa's gone. TT-TT

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So yeah, that's the end of it. I hope you watch it someday, or that you enjoyed it as much as me~ By the way, I would rate this a solid 8/10. For an anime movie, I don't think that it was too cliche. And pretty much coupled with skilled voice acting and nice animations ('cept for the concerts, BRRRR). 

Alice