Anime Reviews: Stardust Crusaders, Book of Circus, Nobunaga Concert thus far

Still from Nobunaga Concerto

As usual, I don't catch up with anime unless it's JoJo really good to the point I can't stop watching it. It makes me sad that a couple of anime series have already ended. Fortunately some of them will continue soon. I'm excited that Psycho-Pass season two is starting next month. I've been waiting for it since last year and I hope the story is just as good as the last season. In this entry, I'm reviewing four series that have been completed or are close to completion.

100th Post! PART ONE: Music and Entertainment Recommendation

Woohoo! I've reached the 100th post milestone and this calls for a celebratory post. Today's post will be a compilation of a variety of things that I came across recently.

Drama: Murder in the First (2014)

 

This TNT detective drama has recently finished airing and that ending was like ... wow. I thought it would a little more dramatic, but maybe the reason behind it was to reflect how the aftermath of a heated case is sometimes more quiet and brooding. Murder in the First investigates two cases that are seemingly unrelated. The tension between the detectives, Terry English and Hildy Mulligan, and Erich Blunt is just great. In each episode, there's always this wavering decision between proving Blunt innocent or guilty. You have to watch the entire series to the end to get to the bottom of the case.

First Concert Coming Up, Good Anime to Watch, Sweetest Fruit Ever

I am excited to announce that I will be going to X-Japan's concert at Madison Square Garden on October 11. It'll be my first concert and a dream come true. Many years ago I had the dream of seeing or meeting Gackt in person, but he never held a concert on the East Coast and I eventually lost interest. Now it'll be X-Japan I'll be seeing. Really it was Yoshiki and Sugizo that got me interested in X-Japan and learning more about the band made me realize how influential they are in the music industry. For them to perform in Madison Square Garden is just great. It's a historic venue right here in New York and I can travel there conveniently. Since they practically showed up right at my doorstep, it would be extremely foolish of me to not attend their concert.

July 2014 Anime OP/ED Worth a Listen Worth a Watch

This month, there are some promising animes worth watching and I think it's good to see that the music used lived up to its expectations. At the end of this post, I have an honorable mention and a shout out to a band I respect very much. Depending on the genres I suppose, I noticed a certain musical trend this year. A lot of the dark and more violent action themed animes like to use electronic based rock. I'm not too sure if there's a name for it, but that's what I'll call it for now. It's very harsh sounding, but still recognized as mainstream. Some of these opening and ending animations are very fun to watch. Typical openings/endings feature a stationary pose for the entire cast of characters making it very boring to watch over and over again. The new trend I suppose is using more motion and fluidity in presentation in terms of colors and graphic design.