Optic

Added some mini character profiles on the Characters tab. I haven't seen Refrain yet, but I've preordered it on Amazon. January 20, 2015 release. Cover art looks amazing.

Inaho is ridiculously OP throughout the series. Ending will shock or frustrate you. At least it did for me.

Good strategy. Indeed. They come in 7, 14 or 21 day versions, I went for the 14 day one. It also allows you to get free seat reservations too BUT you have to book it in person, at the station. Can't prebook prior to your arrival, not a deal-breaker though as usually there's plenty of reserved seats as long as it's not a festival or holiday.

Cappucino flavour?! Wonder what they tasted like - cappuncino you tend to associate with sweet (due to the chocolate powder). Pringles are not bad, though I find they're a bit too "starchy" for my liking. But that could be due to the flavour powder overpowering it as they're stacked versus a bag of crisps which you can shake.

So it seems I'm stuck on True Arfoire in Celestia. She's just two shotting MAGES and Compa. And her health is regnerating much much faster than I can damage with. Though Neptune in Purple Heart CPU form has no trouble soaking her damage. Think I just need to level up and make some more plans? My main party: I haven't changed any of the CPU equips for Purple Heart:

Glad you loved Angel Beats @drill. A second OVA has been confirmed for release called "Hell's Kitchen" which will be bundled on the Japanese Blu-ray box set for release on 24 June, 2015. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-12-22/angel-beats-gets-new-episode-with-anime-blu-ray-box/.82506

I'm a sucker for Cyberpunk, Mecha and Sci-fi. I know that's three genres but often those three have overlap. Thankfully I haven't been disappointed by any titles within those genres. Except Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny.

I watched Angel Beats based on someone's recommendation, and that was what got me into anime again. I had never seen such a title before so that made me curious about other anime genres. In terms of introducing anime to a complete newcomer... It would depend on the person. Assuming they don't mind violent themes, I reckon Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Fate/stay night (UBW) are good bets as they are easy to get into and have good likable characters with very strong stories.

Mostly Shokudo resutaunts around the tourist attractions. Have you ever been to the multi-storey shopping centres directly adjacent within Kyoto Station? There are some nice restaurants there.

Great to hear. If you don't mind me asking, which directory? That's the dream. Thanks for your kind words. Of course that is okay, I welcome all feedback and implement as much feedback as possible. As you probably noticed on the front page slider there are some new titles airing soon. I will endeavor to start watching as many as possible and post my impressions. I imagine @drill will probably beat me to it though. In any case I'm sure there will be something you'll like.

With 2015 soon upon us, have you thought of any new year resolutions? I only have two: Continue to grow Anime Forums Learn the Japanese hiragana and katakana characters. How about you?

I really need to finish this before Rebirth;2 comes out. Can I expect a happy or silly ending for Rebirth;1 ?

I must admit I don't normally go out of my way to play VNs but I saw this recent release whilst browsing through the Steam holiday sales and was impressed watching the trailer: the animated expressions of the two characters (Vanilla and Chocola) are really smooth and diverse (normally the expressions in many VNs are static). Just wondering if anyone has tried this one out? Steam link: http://store.steampowered.com/app/333600/?snr=1_5_9__205

If you plan on travelling as a Tourist to Japan and plan on visiting various major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto you definitely may want to consider riding the Shinkansen. Overall impressions: Fast, and quiet! Food carts that provide snacks and drinks visit the cars from time to time. BUT it's quite expensive (I paid 300 yen for a coffee for the novelty) so it would be better to just stock up on a bento or snacks from a convenience store on the platforms or train stations prior to boarding. Some seats have a power point and USB port to charge your devices Stowable meal tables and cup holders Only thing to consider is luggage. Space can be limited when the cars are full so if you're lugging around large suitcases it might be better to get your luggage forwarded ahead of your destination and perhaps travel with a smaller bag to get you by. I should also add that the Shinkansen is quite expensive on its own, so you should definitely get a Japan Rail (JR) pass before arriving in Japan as that allows unlimited travel on many train lines, including the Shinkansen. Of course only tourists can get this. Anyone else have any experiences riding the Shinkansen?

Just wondering if you've ever made a YouTube channel? I've been considering making a dedicated channel to go with Anime Forums featuring short anime segments, which may help in bringing some extra activity in here. Would greatly appreciate any thoughts if you're familiar with YouTube and/or creating a channel.

On the contrary, it sounds like you're quite proficient. I can barely do basic conversational Japanese from a beginner's course and watching anime. I've been interested in learning it for sometime now as I've actually been to Japan twice now. Once for work purposes and recently for holiday. Whilst Tokyo and Kyoto had decent English, I felt I was missing out considerably whenever I went shopping as I couldn't ask basic questions in Japanese or even strike up a basic conversation. There are limits to what Google Translate can do on the spot on my smartphone. Eating out and shopping in general was challenging too as I couldn't read any of the hiragana or kanji. Many places did have a English menu but yeah, often the English isn't great and sort of takes away from the experience. Would you recommend any particular one? Or would online resources be the way to go? I actually found slice of life anime to be really good for listening practice, many of the phrases they use do match real life ones that are likely to be used. I have access to a Japanese teacher I work with at my workplace and he did offer me some resources, however it is difficult to practice Japanese conversations during work hours as he is quite busy. Definitely agree it would be worthwhile finding someone to chat with on a more casual basis. I found it very informative ssjup81, thank you.

9 more days to go, so excited! Here's another preview teaser of the OP theme 'AKINO from bless4 - "Kaishoku (Miiro)' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9uafzMgkhY

Hello ssjup81, nice to have you onboard on Anime Forums. Ooh so you would be pretty fluent in Japanese? Do you have any hints for those interested in learning the language?

Have you ever watched an entire anime season in one go in the same day? Or maybe came close - over the course of two days perhaps? Only one anime title I've marathoned and that was Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. 11 episodes in one go, I found it very tense and just couldn't stop watching. I think the reason was because as the name implies, the plot revolves around a major earthquake crippling Tokyo, and two children that have to make their way home. The earthquake strikes the centre of Odaiba Island, which is one of the attractions I went to during my time in Japan so seeing the areas in an anime gave an air of nostalgia for me. A close second would be Steins;gate, I watched the entire TV series over the course of two days. 24 episodes in one day was just too much for me unfortunately. How about you?

Indeed I love the second one too. Third one is... bizarre to say the least, completely takes it in a different direction. It looks like they'll have the dub out for it towards the end of January, 2015.