Ramblings Of An Aspiring Manga-Ka

Here is my top ten anime list. They are not written according to rank.

1. Get Backers

- this is my most favorite anime of all time! I just adore the storyline! I think it's very unique. Beside, who wouldn't say yes to the series' squad of bishounen (*cough* Kyouji Kagami *cough* Ban Mido *cough* Raitei *cough*). What really won me over though was the fact that the story really isn't what it seems at first sight. The starting episodes would give the viewer the impression that the whole series will just revolve around Ginji and Ban's re-taking missions but once you get to finish watching it as a whole, you will realize that what the story is trying to show is the unique bond that ties Ginji and Ban together. I hate it when people pair these two. Yes, YAOI hater here.

2. Shaman King

- Kudos to Hiroyuki Takei-sama's imagination! I just love this anime. It's very distinct and unique. The idea of furyokus, oversouls, and power spirits amaze me. This anime mixes old and modern spirit perspectives well. But the only drawback was that Yoh believes that spirits shouldn't be used as slaves or toys. It is a good thing. But, when you watch the anime, you will see that the anime itself counters that belief. Or maybe it's just me. I don't know but that's what I saw when I watched it on DVD.

3. Naruto

- Let's face it: Naruto is extremely overrated. This anime has battalions of fangirls (Of which Sasuke's and the Akatsuki's are still leading), one long heck of a story, and insignificant filler episodes. Don't get me wrong, I like Naruto. It's just that I think it's length is really unnecessary. And the plot of the anime is somewhat vague. In the beginning, the episodes clearly state that Naruto's goal is to become the Hokage, which, of course, will generally lead the fans to thinking that that is the main plot of the story. Also, that fact alone will tell a fan that this'll be a long anime, simply because of the fact that someone like Naruto would take gazillions of years to become someone fit to be Hokage. But the filler episodes are just annoying. People today prefer watching short animes with substantial stories. But, oh well. Naruto is a unique ninja boy story, with unique characters, each having unique pasts and unique techniques. Besides, it has its fair share of ninja cuties, so what the heck?

4. Prince of Tennis

- Another overrated anime series. PoT has LOTS of fangirls, but these fangirls aren't true fans as far as I'm concerned. Why? Because they just became a fan of the anime because of Ryoma, Fuji, Tezuka, or [insert another pretty boy tennis player's name here], and not because of the anime itself. I will not be a hypocrite though and I will admit it: PoT indeed has a bunch of the prettiest boys you'll ever see in anime history. At one point, you can't blame these girls either. PoT doesn't exactly have a great, award-winning plot. It's basically all about Seigaku trying to win the Prefecturals, then the Regionals, and then the Nationals, right? No interesting side story. It amazes me also, the fact that almost every character in this anime has ego the size of an ostrich egg, and the fact that almost every character in this anime would commit suicide upon losing a match. I myself am an athlete. I play badminton and I know that losing is such a heartsore but I won't consider it a heinous crime. But, I still like PoT. It's...charming, to say the least.

5. Meine Liebe

- If the previous two were overrated, this one's underrated. Meine Liebe is not that popular, but despite that, I think it has a great story and great animation. Meine Liebe originated from a dating sim, and was made into an anime. I think this anime is one of the best from-videogame-to-anime animes. The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that there isn't a heroine. For a yaoi hater like me, at least one heroine is a must, and the closest thing to a heroine this anime has is Erika Klause. But despite that, Meine Liebe is a short yet substantial anime. I highly recommend it.

6. Yakitate! Japan

- This one's an example of a long anime which deserves its length. Yakitate! Japan is highly comedic and entertaining, with just the right amount of drama. If this anime was a bread recipe, it'll be a tasty one. Like any other cooking-related anime, Yakitate has its fair share of exaggerated reactions (all thanks to Kuroyanagi). Despite being exaggerated, said reactions are highly entertaining and the puns used in this anime will really make one laugh, even a foreigner, provided that the dubbed version you watched was dubbed very well. Anyway, Yakitate has a good storyline, and what's more, some of the bread Kazuma baked were actually sold in Japan during the time this was shown in Japan. Amazing, right? I would pay anything to taste the bread that takes you to heaven.

7. Full Metal Alchemist

- I only need one word to describe this anime, and that is AMAZING. All caps. Yes, I believe I share the same sentiments with those who have watched FMA. Everything about it is great: the storyline, the characters and their traits, the alchemy action, and the political and military aspect of the show. Every episode was well-crafted, with the right amount of action, comedy, and gore in each. This anime made Alchemy more interesting than it was before. Heck, I took Chemistry seriously, half of the reason being FMA and the other half being my educational welfare. The only thing I despised was the ending. Damn, Ed and Al didn't have to be brought to another place at another timeline. It was so not cool!

8. DN Angel

- This is my kind of a short and sweet anime. A lot of people have criticized  DN Angel for several reasons, but if you're someone who likes to see romance, action, and fantasy all in one short anime, then this anime is for you! DN Angel won me over because of the fact that students can pretty much relate to what Daisuke, Riku, and Risa were going through. Those were very typical junior high emotions, and with the addition of two pretty boy angels, everything became much more perfect. Also, Daisuke's dialogues were VERY touching, especially during the course of his infatuation with Risa. I cried. Yes, I did. Those dialogues moved me so. For me, DN Angel is a very good anime with a great storyline and great animation. Period.

9. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

- Since they're both of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and since I like them both, I've decided to tie them up at #9. First off, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters.

I realized that the main drawback in watching every Yu-Gi-Oh! anime is the fact that some fans don't know how to play the game. It is, in fact, very easy. The franchise has its own games for several portals including PS, PS2, PSP, Gameboy Advance, and PC. One can learn through these games. Also, trading cards are sold all over the world. As long as you know the basic rules, you will survive. I find playing Yu-Gi-Oh! a major stress reliever. Onto the anime. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters features Yugi Mutou, who, would be later known as the King of Games in the sequel, GX. In a lot of ways, this one is better than GX. Aside from being the "flagship" series of the franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters has expounded the card game's history and purpose. Of course, the Millenium Items added very significant bonuses to the storyline, and it was ingenious, to make the three God Cards tie everything up in the end. Basically, this anime focused more on the game's history, and it served as a really satisfying introduction to the world of Duel Monsters.

On the other hand, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, the sequel, focused more on a school known as Duel Academy and its students, the main hero in the form of Slifer Red student, Judai Yuki. This sequel takes place ten years after its prequel, and Seto Kaiba was the one responsible for making the said academy (damn, I could imagine Seto, sitting on a revolving chair in his office, with all his business tycoon glory). Anyway, this sequel focuses more on the game. Plus, a whole bunch of new cards were added to this sequel, such as the Elemental Hero card series, the Destiny Hero card series, and the Elemental Hero Neos card series, but favorites like the Harpie Lady deck and Dark Magician deck were still present. After all, nothing can beat the original.

All in all, the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise is simply outstanding. Being a duelist myself, specializing in a water attribute deck, I highly thank Kazuki Takahashi-sama for making a very fun past time.

10. Gakuen Alice

- And last but certainly not the least, Gakuen Alice, better known as Alice Academy. It has a basic storyline but the animation and the extreme distinction of each alice power is what sets this apart from other animes. It was also highly romantic (Major Natsume X Mikan fan here!). The only thing that annoyed me was the fact that the hero and heroine were ten year olds. Hello!? Romance seemed unreal! I just wish they were at least 12, so that I really could savor the romance.

That's it for my top ten! Hope you enjoyed reading this post!

This is the second part of the Top Ten List arc. Haha. And this time, it concerns my tope ten favorite video games of all time. And yes, this time, the numbering is based according to rank. For fun and excitement, let's start from the bottom.

10. Harvest Moon: Back To Nature 

     Platform: Playstation

     I know farming and livestock don't sound appealing as a video game topic but for me, it is. Sure, Harvest Moon can become dragging at times, watering crops everyday, feeding chickens, milking cows, shaving sheep, going to town, gathering mountain herbs, but hey, it's all worth it! The main game plot only lasts for three years but after you have cleared the game, you could play is for as long as you like. My file lasted for five years and still counting! What's amusing is that your character can marry a girl from the town. My character married Ann from the town bar and on the fourth year of the game, they had a son. By the fifth year, the son was already crawling all over the house. It was so cute. I recommend Harvest Moon to the patient gamers out there. It is highly amusing.

9. Rival Schools

    Platform: Playstation

    Rival Schools, also known as Project Justice, is mostly a two-player game, pretty much like the Street Fighters and Pocket Fighters scenario: both players choose a character and duke it out in battle. It also has a one-player mode, wherein you fight the CP level after level. I am an RPG Gamer and I usually don't appreciate these things but what's cool about Rival Schools is that it has a story. Basically, the game is about five schools, each having several students (and teachers) with unique fighting abilities. There are two versions of this game: the English and the Japanese. The only advantage the english version has is, well, the fact that its english! I prefer the Japanese version because its complete. Some options were deleted in the english version, such as the simulation option, wherein you customize your own character and you get to interact with the Rival School fighters in random situations depending on the responses you choose. I have the Japanese version, BTW. All in all, Rival Schools is an old-school must have!

8. Tales of Legendia

    Platform: Playstation 2

    I love the Tales Series. I worship Namco. Tales of Legendia is the latest PS2 installment of the famous Tales Series. It stars Senel Coolidge, a young marine who goes off to an unknown island to find his sister, Shirley, who has been kidnapped. Turns out, Shirley is the Merines, a savior figure to the Ferines clan, who hates humans even though they are humans themselves to begin with, except for the fact that they can conjure wings whenever they don't feel like walking. Anyway, like any good old Tales game, ToL has stunning visuals and badass fighting technology. You get to play Senel mostly throughout the game but during battles, you can switch characters. Like any Tales game, ToL has unique and interesting characters, with unique and interesting individual powers. In this Tales installment, powers are known as Eres. All in all, ToL deserves to be a part of the prestigious Tales series.

7. Suikoden I

    Platform: Playstation

    My most favorite game line of all time is the Suikoden Series. I worship Konami even more than I worship Namco. The Suikoden Series is ingenious! A big video game break worthy of praise! All Suikoden games mostly revolve on one thing, and that is the hero's gathering of the 108 Stars of Destiny, people who will help the hero do whatever he's supposed to do. Also, the world of Suikoden revolves around magical stones known as runes. People use runes but there are special runes, the 27 True Runes. These special runes choose their bearer, not the other way around. Anyway, onto Suikoden I...

   Suikoden I mostly revolves around the Scarlet Moon Empire, known as the Toran Republic in newer Suikoden games, during the reign of Barbarossa Rugner. The hero, Tir McDohl, strives to free the Empire from the clutches of the emperor and his wife, Windy. Tir is also the bearer of the true rune, the Rune of Life and Death, and is the leader of the Toran Liberation Army. He replaced Odessa Silverberg. Suikoden I shows the two major inevitabilities: life and death. The game shows how the Rune of Life and Death has traveled, feeding on the life source of the people close to its bearer. Add to that the several destructions Windy, Yuber, and Neclord brought to th Village of the Hidden Rune and others. All in all, Suikoden I has served as a great appetizer for its installments.

6. Tales of The Abyss

    Platform: Playstation 2

    Another member of the Tales series, TotA is as good as its predecessors, or maybe even better. TotA has it all: great animation, action-packed gameplay, and a tremendous storyline. This installment stars Luke Fon Fabre, son of Duke Fabre of the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. Several years ago, Luke was kidnapped, and since then, he lost his memories. Turns out, the current luke is a replica of the real Luke, who is now Asch the Bloody, a member of the Six God-Generals. It's quite hard to explain but you'll understand once you play the game. The source of power in this Tales game are Fonons. TotA has a bunch of interesting characters, with Guy Cecil topping my list. But most of all, the storyline, ah, it's brilliant! At first, it may be confusing, how Fonons work and all, but once you understand how it works (courtesy of Jade Curtiss), you'll be aware of what you really need to do because you yourself know it, and not because a character from the game told you it was the necessary next step. All in all, TotA is a brilliantly-crafted game.

5. Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: The Beginning of Destiny

    Platform: Playstation 2

    WARNING: If you do not duel and you do not know the anime, then this game is not for you. You'll have a hard time. Why? Because the game is totally dependent on the anime version. If you have seen the anime, you will realize that the game follows the exact timeline the anime has followed, from the Interschool Duel to the Rise of the Sacred Beasts Arc. To unlock several characters such as Jinzo and Atticus Rhodes, it is a necessity that you've watched the anime. Heck, the game has the exact dialogues! Amazing! If you do not know how to duel, even the basics, you will REALLY have a hard time. It will be explained to you in the game but if you do not know at least the basics, then you won't be able to finish the game. Onto the game itself...

    The dueling animation here is much better than its Playstation counterparts (the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters games, which features Yugi), and so is the character animation. Basically, the game's target are tag duels, with your own character trying to befriend all the others, and hopefully, having them ask you to be their partners for the Academy's upcoming Tag Force Tournament. I beat the game several times already, using almost everyone as a partner. You will notice that whenever you beat the game with a new character partner, you will see a new available card pack at Dorothy's shop the next time you start from part 1. All in all, for duelists, this game is a must-have! Remember to watch GX first, though.

4. Suikoden III

    Platform: Playstation 2

     Ahh, the wonders of Suikoden. Suikoden III is the latest Suikoden in terms of the story's timeline. The timeline is as follows: SIV, S Tactics, SV, SI, SII, and SIII. Anyway, this game introduces to us the Trinity Sight System, a system which lets the player choose who gets to be the main character: Hugo, a boy from the Grasslands, Chris Lightfellow, a female knight from Vinay Del Zexay, or Geddoe, a mercenary from Harmonia. As far as the storyline goes, the real main character is Hugo, as he really will become the bearer of the True Fire Rune, with Chris as the bearer of the True Water Rune, and Geddoe as the bearer of the True Lightning Rune. Even though I'm a huge Suikoden worshipper, the new system introduced in this game was...well, crappy. I prefer the usual Suikoden style, wherein you have only one hero, six party members, and spell-activation-according-to-turn system. The great thing though is that the hero actually has a mind of his own. He doesn't rely on strategists or other people. The protagonist isn't a silent one. The story was great, but I hope they stuck to the usual Suikoden system style. It would have been a lot better. Still, I recommend Suikoden III to Suikoden fans like me.

3. Suikoden IV

    Platform: Playstation 2

    Like Suikoden III, Suikoden IV was also an experimental Suikoden, because its gameplay style strayed from the usual Suikoden style. But Suikoden IV is better than Suikoden III in terms of hero choice and what I would like to call as the spell-activation-according-to-turn system. The major drawback is the fact that you could only have four party members. I mean with all the cool characters and the cool abilities, its virtually IMPOSSIBLE to be satisfied with one party organization. That's the only drawback. Animation and storyline is great. You will really pity Lazlo here, and I mean pity. Here, Konami brought back the silent protagonist mode, which was ok, to say the least. Suikoden IV has the coolest range of characters (at least for me...), with a badass woman strategist to boot! (Well, Lucretia of SV is also a badass strategist...). Highly recommended!

2. Suikoden II

    Platform: Playstation

    Suikoden II's major advantage is its brilliant storyline. It revolves around the friendship of the hero, Riou, and his bestfriend-who-would-later-be-his-archnemesis Jowy Atreides. The first part of the game shows the unique friendship these two have, an invisible yet strong bond tying them together. They went through all kinds of things together, and this friendship gets shrouded in confusion upon them receiving the two parts of the Rune of Beginning: the Holy Shield and the Black Sword. Riou got the first one while Jowy got the second one. In the process, Riou becomes the leader of the Alliance Army while Jowy becomes the new King of Highland, upon the death of Luca Blight. This game shows perfectly the meaning of true friendship and loyalty. Actually, I cried while playing the game. Very, very heartwarming. The animation may not compare to that of the PS2 Suikoden games but its still charming in its own way. Old school. Highly recommended.

1. Suikoden V

    Platform: Playstation 2

     And the greatest of them all, Suikoden V, tadaa! Suikoden V has it ALL: outstanding gameplay, stunning visuals, a great storyline, and most of all, GREAT RUNES! Lots of new runes are introduced in this game! But what makes this game the best is its storyline! It shows what's happening to our world now: corruption in the ruling class, poverty, etc. The game takes place mostly in the Queendom of Falena. Since it is a "Queendom", male royalties aren't that important. The hero is Falena's only prince, Prince Faroush. There are two factions in the Senate: Godwin and Barows. These two factions have been vying for the Queen's support but the Queen is aware of their plans. Anyway, everything ended in a great mess, the Queen and the Commander of the Queen's Knights getting murdered by the Godwins, and all the blame pitted against Georg Prime, a loyal Queen's Knight (Yes, he is the same Georg from Suikoden II. He's the younger and hotter version.) Princess Lymsleia, the heir, has been forcefully coronated as the Queen and has been held a prisoner in her own Palace. The Prince manages to escape, and he becomes the leader of the Liberation Army, whose goals include saving the Princess, the Queendom, and the three powerful runes of the royal family: The Sun Rune, the Dawn Rune, and the Twilight Rune. The story is very touching and realistic, as if you could actually see it being reported on CNN. Corruption is all over the Queendom's Senate, but there are still good souls remaining. The animation is perfect and stunning. The gameplay is extraordinary. But the best part is that Konami reverted back to the original Suikoden style: One hero, Six Party Members, and my preferred spell-activation-according-to-turn system. I love it! I highly recommend it! Two thumbs up!

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: The Beginning of Destiny is one of, if not, the newest console game from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game franchise. It is based on the popular anime, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, a sequel to the famous Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters.

The game can be played in two ways: Story Mode and Free Duel Mode. When you start the game, you are instantly taken to Story Mode, wherein you become a new student at the prestigious Duel Academy. After three months, a Tag Force Tournament woul occur at the Academy. The tournament is unique because participants will play in tag duels. As a new student, your job is to attend classes, and to make friends with the other students, so that when the day of the tournament arrives, you'll find a suitable tag partner. When you beat a certain character in the Story Mode, only then will they be available for tag duels or normal duels in the Free Duel Mode. If you want to earn more DP or you just want to have fun, play the Free Duel Mode.

It is a must that you know how to play the card game, or else you won't appreciate the game. The game has lots of tips and tutorials but if you have no basic knowledge, then don't even attempt to buy this game. Also, it is somewhat important that you have watched the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, at least up to the Rise of the Sacred Beasts Arc. The game is completely based on the anime, and there are some unlockable characters, which you would only be able to unlock if you know when and where to find them, courtesy of the anime.

There are lots of bad reviews going around the internet about this game, and so let me tell you: DO NOT BELIEVE THESE REVIEWS. What pisses me off is that most of the reviewers have no basic knowledge of Yu-Gi-Oh! It is only natural that you give bad comments to something you don't even understand! They say the story of the game sucks, but that's only because they have ABSOLUTELY NO idea as to how to play the game. The game isn't just about the card game itself. There's a lot involved, and to the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX fans out there, let me tell you: THERE ARE LOTS OF NEW INFORMATION IN THIS GAME. The only people who have the right to give reviews to this game are those WHO HAVE PLAYED YU-GI-OH! BEFORE and those WHO HAVE WATCHED THE SERIES. Others have absolutely no right to criticize this game.