Going on Small Hiatus..."Wish Me Luck"

Damn Witches.. 

As of now I am going on a hiatus from doing work on the site until further notice. I still have a lot of drafts that I need to finish up then post here, after that I will done for a while. I just need some time to catch up and think of what to do next is all  "please feel free to give me some suggestions of you don't mind..." As to the other authors here you can still create or upload any of your reviews as you wish, well wish me luck and I will catch you all around later~

-Cecil The Dark Knight

Trick or Treat: Have Some Free/Legal Visual Novels

Such Misfortune

So it's time for Halloween with many tricks or treats. Instead of giving out tricks this time I am going to be generous and give away links to free indie visual novels "which are English of course". This is the least I can do for everyone for being so generous to me so far, by hanging out in my live stream channel or just reading/commenting on my post as well. I know it's been a-long since I did a review/preview for any-thing but hang in there, I have just been a little to busy watching fall shows and playing through little-busters. I do hope you all enjoy these games and leave some feed-back on them.

Five Free Visual Novels
1.) Digital: A Love Story
2.) Brass Restoration
3.) RE:Alistair
4.) True Remembrance
5.) Katawa Shoujo

Enjoy This Character Song

-Cecil The Dark Knight

Just In Time For Halloween... A Review More Depth Look On Higurashi

Rika Will Make You Submit..

This review is an updated more thought for the entire Higurashi series "this will cover the visual novel and anime". This review does contain spoilers so if you really hate that sort of thing.. all I have to say is, just deal with it

This series originally came from a visual novel adaption from 7th expansion which first came out in comiket 62 august 10th 2002, and the squeal arcs where released up until 2006 comiket 70. There is a full English adaption out for this visual-novel from manga-gamer and as of now you can also purchase the first arc for your Ipod/Iphone and Ipad via I-tunes for .99$. If wish to play the p.c. version the head over to manga gamer to buy a legal copy or can download a free demo for the first arc. " I also highly recommend you getting the sprite hack for the visual novel, this makes it much more bearable to look at."

What an I say about this series that makes me flinch. Well one thing comes to mind is that the series animation is done by "studio deen" which is known for quailty works. It's also quite obvious where the animation falls flat on ass, which sadly do cut away from the serious tone the series is trying present. However the series as a whole is picked back up with it's plot/story/characters and sense of mystery with horror elements that happen to kick all of that out the window. So I am able to handle some drops in the overall quality in the animation. One thing I wanto to point out is that if you are not fan gore or are squeamish in any-way please avoid the t.v. anime and read the visual novel.

This series starts off with our male lead Keiichi Maebara who has moved to the country side with his parents in small town called Hinamizawa "this is the usual set up for the typical harem anime and slice of life series however I was proved wrong within the first thirty seconds of episode one." The village that keiichi moves to is in the rural country side so he is in for a bit of cultural shock as well since he is from the city after all "Again I do realize this is cheap set up however it fits the series just perfectly" One other thing I love about this show is that it takes place in the early 80's so there is no chance of DNA evidence to prove who done it "this is a mystery/horror series after all"


Keiichi adapts pretty quickly since he had a reason for wanting to leave his old home town but I will not spoil that for you. He makes friends with one of the main heroine's "Rena Ryugu" who has a fascination with cute things no matter the gender or what kind of toy it is. I also wish to add one of the biggest anime quotes happen to come from rena-chan which is " I am going to take it home". Since the town has such a low population "around two thousand or so" all of kids go to the same school/class not matter what grade you are in, "adding more to reality that the characters do live in rural country side". 

So Keiichi is friends with mainly just "females characters such as Rena, Mion, Shion, Satoko and Rika" but this does not  fall into the harem territory unless you really want it to. " I really thought it was going to be an harem anime at first..I was proved wrong, majorly wrong by the end of arc1.  Keiichi unlike most male leads also helps teach his younger/older class mates, due in part his education is much higher since was learning at a higher level from at his previous school. Even with all of this Keiichi is still a newbie at there afternoon school club where you play card games or old board games and have you have to suffer from a batsu punishment if you loose.

The Village of Shirakawa, Gifu In Japan
This is what Hinamizawa was based on

The other main focus of the series is on vast range of serial murders that have been happening for five years that take place from 1978-1983. Everyone thinks this is a curse from the local deity Oyashiro-sama for wanting to leave/tear down the home land during the dam war "this would flood the whole town and force everyone to move". The curse revolves around some one dying and some one disappears from with-out a trace. Is this truly the work of god/goddesses or is it something more major "you will have to come to that conclusion on your own". However if you wish use the old bastard Ooishi or the detective in the series as medium to gather clues.


Hinamizawa it's self dipped in traditional Japanese culture all over the place, from the festival of departed souls to main head family and being ousted for what your family did even though your child. Even with all of these barriers it is still very enjoyable to watch "although it's not for the faint of heart". There is even use for old Japanese torture devices from the Sonozaki family use to keep sin/punishment in order "you could relate them to yakuza if you wish, due their power they hold in the village". They are even to be suspected behind the murders at one point.. maybe they are or maybe it's some one you are least suspecting "I did not see the reason why, how or who at all and neither will you until arc four or five". Another thing that did surprise me was around arc four you realize no only a few people die..everyone in the entire village does, but how or for what reason???

You Fu**ed bro

Overall Higurashi is a good example of Japanese style horror that will keep you edge of your seat asking what the hell just happened. However  If you have a problem with gore or even "child abuse",  which does happen in some arcs then avoid this series at all cost. Something else that might bother a few is the fact the story "re-sets every arc after every five to six episodes" This will really confuse some at first however it is essential to show or set up different perspectives from other characters, if you hate that type of writing the just avoid the series. However unlike many shows this anime/visual novel has a true/happy ending that is worth fighting for which is obtainable through miracle in the second season kai or answer arcs.

Noting like some bernkastel wine.. " do you get the joke?"

Another huge plus for this franchise is the creepy music it uses to set the mood. This helps establish when something major is going happen "such as some-one being killed or closing in the culprit."  The t.v. anime does a wonderful job on this level with the bone chilling op from season one that even to this day makes me cringe. Higurashi overall does something very important for the mystery genre. They do established who done it and how they done it. However the cover the most important part which is WHY they done it. 

I can not stress enough the reason why is one of the most important branch in a mystery series/novel.This helps gives the reader/viewer a chance to see through the killers eyes and understand what's going on through their brain. It also helps/set up an understanding why a person could kill over two thousand people just to obtain their goal no matter how deprived it may be. Personally even I felt sorry for the person that was doing the heinous acts towards the end, However I think that is the point in covering why the done it in the first place. 

Well I could go on but there isn't any need for me to. There is no longer anyone that holds the anime licensed in America so if you want to download it then be my guest, however the visual novel and manga is here to legally own. If you ask kindly enough then maybe I will post links to download the anime if you wish but I will not provide links to download the game or manga "please do support the legal means of supporting the series if you can". That's all she wrote on this one, just leave me some feed back and tell me. Now do you have what it takes to solve the mystery or will you just let two thousand innocent people die???
 
-Cecilthedarkknight
 
Animation 4/5
 
Music 4.5/5
 
Story/Plot 5/5
 
Characters 5/5
 
Overall Total 4.5/5

Age Rating 17+

Buy Legal Copies Of The Visual Novel

Arc's 1-4 

Arc's 5-8

Buy A DVD Set "beware of price gouging"

Season One DVD Set

So I have Over 20,000 HIts...

Let's Get Shit Faced Nipha~

Huh.. for my little site being up over six months now its nice to see the traffic has racked up around 20,000 hits so far. Eh I know that's highly nothing special in this day/age of the internet that doesn't mean a damn thing, with major sites getting that per hour. However it's nice to know that some people are looking at are browsing my site " I really can't think of reason why". Well I know that I have been rather lazy as of late due something with this site so..guess what?? Get over it, I will have more post up soon plus some reviews as well. Make sure to check out my review archive to see all the reviews I have done so far and feel free to comment on them. Well now.. I will catch you all around later, try no to think to hard or you might hurt yourself.

Zephar/Furfur's Vocal Theme..

Oh I See What You Want!!

Well with the poll closed for what visual novel I should play/stream next in a close vote between shuffle coming in second. In all honesty I really didn't expect any of you want to see Higurashi.. I just hope you all realize you're in for long haul. Each arc last around can last around ten to twelve hours, so just get your-self ready and prepare for some total mind-fu**. Actually this in just perfect for the month of October being the month of horror/mystery/murder. I will start live streaming the visual novel starting on the 8th, so look forward to seeing it then.

Side Note: I will be using the ps2 sprite Hack for the game, however there is no voice over patch what soever. I really wish there was, but I am unable to do anything about that.

-Cecil The Dark Knight

Fall is here... So here are some titles that I will be watching this season

Your Gonna Get Invaded

So with the summer season finally wrapping up nicely, it is time to decide what shows that I will be watching for Fall 2011. My list for the fall season  is pretty shabby so far, however I will be updating when C.R.announces their full fall simulcast line-up. Now despite the legality of watching some other shows, I will watch these four shows by any means necessary.  I just happen to be  that type of "wonderful" person after all. So with out further ado here are the first three shows I will be watching this fall season.

1.)Squid Girl II

2.)Fate/Zero

3.)Future Dairy

4.)Working II

5.)Guilty Crown

6.)C3


7.)Shana III

Don't Make Me Kill You...

Squid Girl 2 or season two is the only series that has a legal simulcast so far this season but it's not that big of surprise due in part that crunchy roll streamed the first season. If you wish to take a look a the fall-lineup chart then be my guest. So just out of curiosity everyone, what will you be watching this fall season?? Just feel free to leave your comments below and let me know. Well I am off for now, so lets kick October in to high gear and have some fun, catch you all around later.
  
Update One : It Seems that Crunchy Roll picked up two more of the shows,so there links are provided. There is still no changes in my watch list as of yet.. heh.. I think I am getting to old for this shit.

Misaka's Everywhere

Update Two : Well Funimation seems to have learned that streams are really important before sales of a series. With that said they teamed up with Nico Nico's streaming site and they are streaming series using their video service. So this means even more legal options are open for streams with shows like Future Diary, C3 etc. On the subject at hand I will be watching Guilty Crown and Future Diary there and using CR for other shows.

-Cecil The Dark Knight

A Series To Watch Out For Fall 2011.. Future Diary!!

Don't Worry..Yuno Will Play Nice!

This fall 2011 anime season is shaping up to be pretty decent so far, however most are just squeal/prequel series or remakes of shows. This is not really a bad thing per-say, I just want to watch something a little more original or not been adapted into series already. As luck would have it Future Dairy or "Mirai Nikki" is getting an anime adaption that will start airing October 9th 2011 on Tokyo MX. The main focus of the story is much like Higurashi/Umineko or even Steins;Gate.  Normally I don't get to hyped over adapts that much anymore "being the unbiased person that I happen to be mind you", I just happen to have some slight hope for this series. 

Yuno and Yuki

One huge reason I am lingering on to some little hope is that I want to see the last two volumes of the manga released in the states due to Tokyo pop going out businesses "being left in limbo with two volumes left sucks a**". Now if you happen love yandere arc type characters this will fill that void in greatly for the early fall season, "epically this being month of horror/terror." Well guys watch the preview video below and leave your thoughts of what you think. I will catch you all around later and lets hope it gets picked up for a legal stream license.. if not time to buy another external HD

-Cecil The Dark Knight

Preview Video

Woah...A Japanese Horror Game Heading State Side For The Psp

Hmm Those Urinals Need Some Cleaning...

So to kick the month off I am going to share this tidbit of good news with you psp/horror game called Corpse Party "yeah it's lame name". In all honesty I really have not been excited to play a psp in a long time but the premise alone for this game sends chills through my spines every which way possible. The basic premise is that four to five high school teenagers are stuck in a haunted elementary school to where grizzly murders of four children took place back in the mid to late 70's. 

The original game it's self was made in RPG Maker, so getting a full remake for the psp should say a lot already for the game. It seems that X-Seed games knows what people want to play for this fall season, so just look forward to playing it, however as of now it's a digital download only through the PSN. I personally don't have a problem with that, I was just hoping to pick up a special edition for the game. Well lets kick off this month with a great start and get this ball rolling.

 Official Preview

 -Cecil The Dark Knight

News Link