Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

Now as I teased yesterday on Twitter and mentioned for the last month or so I said that I was going to review the anime series Phi-Brain: Puzzle Of God. Well as promised, here is my review of the series absolutely 100% spoiler free.

General Information

The series revolves around the main protagonist Kaito Daimon, a gifted high school student who is a genius when it comes to solving puzzles in which he will implement different strategies to help him solve it such as using student desks from a classroom to visualize the solutions. Because of this he is given the name of “Einstein”. However his close friend from childhood Nonoha Itou, feels that the name given to him sort of sounds like a weirdo even though she is good at other things such as sports along with a photographic memory in which she accompanies Kaito when goes out to solve puzzles in which she is not too good at it. Even her cooking is terrible in which Kaito refers to her “Nonoha Sweets” as “Weapons of Mass Destruction”. Odd relationship, I know but there are others that play an important role in the series itself.

Gammon Sakanoue who is know as “Galileo” who tries to beat Kaito to the punch when there is a puzzle with a prize involved. Cubik Galois AKA: “Edison” a intellectual genius who can invent anything under the sun and far more into mathematics than puzzles. Ana Gram AKA: “Da Vinci” who is actually a boy “Accidentally refereed to as a girl” who is able to hear puzzles talk. and Sojui Jikukawa AKA: “Newton” who later becomes “Minotaur” is head of the puzzle club who enjoys drinking boxed apple juice from a straw.

Then there is Rook Banjo Crossfield who is head of the organization know as the P.O.G. and a close childhood friend of Kaito who is out to test Kaito and push him to his limits.

Episodes

Each of the episodes revolves around Kaito and his companions solving a puzzle provided by the P.O.G. known as the Philosophers Puzzle which has a prize attached. However the puzzles are not as easy as they seem ranging from magic squares, sudoku to cracking codes, each puzzle that is given by a giver (An agent of the P.O.G.) has it own unique set of challenges in which is enough to keep us the viewer entertained and also figure out another way to solve them. Do keep in mind that the first few episodes of the series are a little dry but once you get to episode 9 onward it gets interesting and it will only get better.

Final Verdict

3.5 out of 5

Overall I give Phi-Brain Puzzle Of God Collection one a 3 and a half out of five. I had to dock a few points because of the first few episodes being a little dry but once you get further on into the series, it is really enjoyable. I guess you can call the series Yu-Gi-Oh for adults in which the puzzles are more geared to adults and really gets your brain in gear for the challenges that you experience in this series. Overall it is definitely worth picking up if you like puzzles and want a little more spice in your anime collection.

That’s all for now, we got a lot more coming including more Phi-Brain in the days to come so stay with AFC. So until next time. Remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

Well I don’t know if you have been following this at all or not, but recently Congress is currently in the process of passing new legislation in which you buy anything online whether thru Amazon, EBay or any online anime retailer you will be subject to paying your local states sales tax along with any shipping and handling to have it shipped to your home. This new piece of legislation going thru congress is enviably called “The Internet Fairness Act”.

So what is this all about you ask? Well according to the legislation supported by Senators Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) states that internet online retailers would be required to collect sales tax on each and every purchase you make online from 9,600 state tax agency’s including local municipalities. That means that brand new box set or figurine might cost you a pretty penny more if this legislation were to pass.

Now technically, we are supposedly to fill out an use tax form each year to claim sales tax that we owe on good purchased online. Now I don’t know about you, but this is just utter garbage!!!!! This legislation that if it were to pass will affect not only how we purchase our anime and it will hurt retailers with a major headache of keeping track of all the different tax rates, it will just be a major mess overall.

Now I don’t know about you but this legislation is just another preverbal nail in the coffin for the industry as we know it. So I encourage you folks to write to your congressmen and senators and tell then you do not want this legislation to pass. Do it not to only save the retail anime industry, but to save our hard earned money and the hard working anime retailers who support our hobby as a whole.

For more information about the “Internet Fairness Act” and how to contact your members of congress, click on the links below. Also please share your thoughts in the comments section!!!!

Internet Fairness Act

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324493704578432961601644942.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle

Congressional Directory

http://www.house.gov/

http://www.senate.gov/

So until next time, remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

My apologies for not updating last week. With the end of the semester and all it has been a busy time for me, but getting down to business. Now a while ago I was watching the anime series Hetalia in which I got absolutely addicted to the series with all the crazy antics of Italy, Germany, America, Brittan and the rest of the crew. But what would happen if they all ended up at Epcot Center at Walt Disney World? Well you’ll find out the answer to this and many other questions on this edition of Anime Remix.

Edit: Ok, I took that last bit from a classic Nickelodeon game show from the late 80’s called Make The Grade. Look it up on YouTube if your interested in learning more about it. It’s a good show, but getting back on track here.

So the video was created by a fan group known as Anime America Podcast in which I have to say that they did a pretty good job of re-enacting the characters. You have everybody from Italy, Belarus, Switzerland and China just to name a few. It’s kind of cool that they got to hang around Epcot, though there are rules that you cannot wear costumes in Walt Disney World unless you are ten years old or younger. It’s true by the way, Google it if you don’t believe me. 

If you want to see more of there work, click on the link below to go directly on there YouTube page.

Anime America Podcast YouTube Page

http://www.youtube.com/user/AnimeAmericaPodcast

And with that, we conclude another edition of Anime Remix. So until next time, remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

Well spring is in the air and so is the wonderful world of anime. So here is what’s to come from AFC.

Well for starters, I have a review of the anime series Love Hina in which your going to enjoy. We will also look at the spring special since it’s spring. I have to admit that this is a great series in which I had a ton of laughs, but that’s not the only thing you will see.

I will also share my first impressions of all of the spring anime series including Sparrow’s Hotel, Devil Survivor 2 and Mushibugyo along with a few series that we didn’t get to cover.

And finally we also have a review of Claymore in which is going to knock your socks off. So get ready anime fans, spring has sprung for AFC.

So until next time, remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

Well it has been eight years since the Xbox 360 was released here in the U.S. Now the next generation of the Xbox Gaming Console will be coming later on this year. So the question is, should you trade in your old 360 for the 720 or just save your money and get a PS4? Well here is the skinny of what is to come (supposedly) with the new Xbox.

1) Graphics- The new Xbox is going to have less graphics power than the PS4 in which might not be a good thing for hard core gamers. The CPU will have a 1.6 Ghz processing speed in which will be the same as the PS4 but the 8gb’s of memory may be a tough sell for hard core gamers.

2) Blu-Ray: There are also rumors that the new Xbox will contain a Blu-Ray drive but it may not include one at all. Now keep in mind that when the 360 was released back in 2005, they adopted the HD-DVD standard and you all how how well that turned out. So including a Blu-Ray drive might be a smart move for Microsoft to do to compete with Sony which had Blu-Ray in the PS3 from the get go.

And now the downer that might just turn people away,

3) No Support For Used Games: Now this rumor has been going on since the rumors of the 720 have been going around. For those of you who don’t know, if you decide to go sell your used games at your local GameStop for new games, you will not be able to play them with the new system. I feel that this is going to be the hardest sell for those who want to upgrade but they don’t want to shell out 50 to 60 bucks for new games in which might just make the loyal Xbox faithful switch over to the PS4 and hurt the used game industry as a whole.

Now keep in mind that I only covered a few pieces of information about the new Xbox, but these are mostly rumors so these things may or may not appear in the final product when it is released for the 2013 holiday shopping season. So stay with AFC for more info on the Xbox 720 as it develops. So until next time, remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

Well here we are at the conclusion of our spring anime preview and I have to say that I managed to save the best for last. And believe me, when I first saw the preview image of this series, I knew that this is one that I will definitely be watching. So what is the series that I am talking about, I am talking about a dark anime that will send shivers or maybe some laughs your way know as Sparrow’s Hotel.

What Is This Series About?

The story revolves around Satou Sayuri, a young lady who comes to the Sparrow’s Hotel to interview for an open position in which she lists on her resume “Large Brest’s” and “Assassination” on her resume in which captures the attention of the manager Shiokawa Tamaki and is hired for the special taskforce and as a guard. However this brings more attention to the guests who stop in to stay for the night in which they see a somewhat of a middle schooler as the manager and his bodyguard as the front desk staff.

Why Should You Watch This Series?

So why should you watch this series, well I have to say that a young lady like Satou who has the skills of an assassin and the good looks to go with it, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her working the front desk at a hotel. And with the clientele that comes into the place, I can see why. Overall I feel that this is going to be on my top ten best new anime series for 2013.

And with that, this concludes our spring anime preview. Now there are tons of more series that are coming out that we would feature, but if you want to see what else is coming out, click on the link below and check out the other series that you may be interested in.

Spring 2013 Anime Preview

http://neregate.com/blog/

So until next time, remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greeting fellow otaku,

Now I know that you were expecting part three of our spring anime preview, but were going to take a break from it for today anyway. But rest assured, I will reveal the next series that you should definitely be watching tomorrow. But for right now, it’s time for another exciting edition of Anime Remix AMV Edition.

And for this edition of Anime Remix, we are going to showcase a series that I will be reviewing in the near future along with a popular movie song from the 80’s. So what do you get when you combine the two, you have Ouran High School Host Club performing Kenny Loggin’s Footloose from the film of the same name.

Now I have to say that the music for this clip totally fits to the theme of the show, however I won’t give away the plot of the story since it will spoil the series for those of you who are interested. But anyway enjoy the clip and until tomorrow, remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

Well as promised we are continuing our look at the new anime series for spring 2013 with another anime series based off a video game called Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 the Animation. 

Now for those of you may remember from a little over a year ago, Atlus the company who created popular game series as Persona and Devil Survivor released Persona 4 The Animation with mixed results. So when it was announced that they were diving into anime again, I was a bit hesitant but just take a look at the background of this series and you might just have a change of heart.

The story revolves around the characters know as the protagonist, his friend Daichi and there other friend Lo coming back from a mock entrance exam in which they receive a mysterious e-mail from a website known as Nicea which forecasts a persons death or a natural disaster in which they witness themselves in a video being killed in a subway accident. However they manage to survive the accident from a avatar from the site in which in turn become Devil Summoners to protect others from this same fate.

Why Should You Watch This

So why should you watch this series, well Atlus is getting back into the anime game again and hopefully this will get better reception than Persona 4 the Animation. Granted it was a good series but with the popularity of this game in Japan and in interesting story line to go with it, I see it being a major hit for hardcore anime fans.

So there is another preview in the books, and we got more coming so until next time. Remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

Well the college basketball season is coming to an end and baseball season started today, so it is time to take a look at some of the really great shows that are going to be hitting our computer screens and Roku boxes in the coming months. So through this week, I am going to highlight some of the series that might just be worth your time. I know they will be for me.

So lets begin our look at the spring anime season by looking at a series that takes place in 17th century Japan in which big brother plays a major role in everyday life in the series called Mushibugyou.

So what is this series about you ask? Well the series revolves around the Edo Era in Japan in the 1700’s in which the government requests black boxes installed to have the commoners submit there thoughts. However a new magistrate known as the Mushibugyou is created to protect the citizens from harm.

Why You Should Watch

So why should you watch this series, well for one reason it is a series revolving the Edo period and with a cast of characters with different fighting styles, what else is there to mention. Well Ok , I know that it’s not much to go on but I predict after watching one episode of this series you will be hooked.

Now keep in mind that this is only one series that we will be highlighting this week, there is plenty more to come so stay with AFC for more. So until next time, remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

Hello and greeting fellow otaku,

Well I know I haven’t posted much lately this month, but hopefully this will make up for it. So for this edition of Anime Remix, we are taking a look at a classic anime series mixed with one of the weirdest pop songs of the late 90’s. So my otaku brothers and sisters, I present for your viewing pleasure Love Hina with Barbie Girl.

Now your probably asking yourselves, why would this classic anime series would be combined with a weird pop song from 1997? Well for one thing, both deal with innuendo in some way, shape and form but none the less, Love Hina has to be one of the most interesting series that I have ever seen in all the years that I have been watching anime.

BTW, I will be having a full review of this series in the next few days along with Ouran High School Host Club, Phi-Brain and a preview of the spring anime lineup as well. So make sure you stay with AFC for all this and more, so until next time. Remember that there is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.

P.S. Have a happy Easter everyone!!!!!