HELLA HAREM!!

Honkai Impact 3 Review

Game Review : Honkai Impact 3 SEA

Halo gaes, sudah lama sekali gua nggak posting game review di Intion ini. Game terakhir yang gua review kalo nggak salah yaitu Hunie Pop, bagi yang belum baca silakhan klik di sini (review in english).

Sekarang gua mau review game yang nggak kalah "Sexist". Well, meskipun nggak semesum Hunie Pop, Honkai Impact 3 yang baru release server SEA (South East Asia and completely not China! yet) beberapa minggu lalu juga punya poin-poin sebesar dada Jessie yang akan kita bahas di post ini.

Sejak awal announcement mengenai game ini, gua langsung samber pre registrasi dan mulai bisa main satu hari setelah hari release. Baru satu hari, orang-orang yang banyak migrasi dari server-server pendahulu sudah berada di atas. Duduk di tahta top player. Nggak sedikit juga yang sudah pakai karakter kelas A, atau bahkan S walaupun baru satu, dua hari release.

Salah satu trik yang gua pelajari dari orang-orang hardcore ini untuk dapet "head start" yaitu dengan reroll gacha. Pertama-tama, login dengan akun guest, jangan pakai akun facebook. Main story, ikutin tutorialnya (tutorial game mobile itu super nyebelin, super babysitting) sampai poin kita diizinkan untuk mengadu nasib (gacha). Gacha pertama, kita diberikan tiket gratis, dan karena kita sudah menyelesaikan beberapa story dungeon, ada beberapa achievements berhadiah crystal yang bisa kita claim. Menggunakan tiket gratis dan suntikkan crystal di awal, orang-orang hardcore ini melakukan gacha sambil berdo'a. Begitu mendapat karakter yang diinginkan, silakhan bind akunnya ke akun facebook. Kalau belum, silakhan logout, dan login lagi sebagai guest, dan ulang lagi proses sebelumnya. Selamat mengulang.

Masuk ke reviewnya, overall score untuk Honkai Impact 3, sebagai mobile game, gua berikan score 3.6 / 4 Thumbs. Mengingat score google play juga masih tinggi.

Beberapa poin yang ingin gua bahas yaitu :

Karakter yang diperkenalkan di sini cukup menarik. Tipikal harem seperti biasa, yaitu semua karakter perempuan punya spesifikasi masing-masing (Tsundere, Kuudere, Deredere, dll.). Karakter favorit gua yaitu Mei Raiden, khususnya Lightning Empress. Bukan cuma sekadar dere dere nya aja, tapi setiap karakter juga berbeda fighting style nya. Contoh, pertama kita akan diperkenalkan pada Kiana Kaslana, yaitu cewek tsundere pengguna dual pistol tapi pistolnya nggak dipake sama sekali. Kedua kita akan dikenalkan dengan Mei, yaitu ninja yang gerakannya superswift. Tergantung selera masing-masing player, karakter favorit setiap orang bisa berbeda-beda.

Dungeon yang dibagi jadi tiga, dungeon Extra, Story, dan Event. Masih dibagi lagi jadi dungeon co op dan singleplayer. Pembagian begini jadi lebih mudah untuk navigasi, jadi ketika kita mau main dungeon, semua sudah dikelompokkan dalam kategori "Attack". Ada beberapa game mobile yang dungeonnya terpisah satu sama lain, jadi untuk yang belum paham mesti bingung navigasinya.

Co op, fitur co op yang dihadirkan dalam game ini bisa jadi ajang pamer karakter. Di fitur ini juga gua ketemu orang-orang yang sudah bergelimang karakter kelas A dan S. Kekurangan di fitur ini yaitu nggak ada chat, jadi agak sulit untuk komunikasi satu sama lain, terutama soal komposisi tim yang cuma terdiri dari 3 orang. Kekurangan lainnya menurut gua yaitu access limit nya. Untuk bisa main co op kita harus punya entry pass yang dijatah per hari, dan itu gua rasa akan menghilangkan 'replay value' untuk akun-akun yang sudah bersandar di puncak rantai makanan.

Interactive menu dengan segala animasinya, dan terutama karakter yang memberikan respon ketika kita sentuh, dan respon yang diberikan berbeda untuk setiap bagian tubuh yang disentuh dan tingkat love nya. Ketika stamina habis, koin habis, dan crystal habis untuk berjudi, kita bisa menghibur diri dengan menyentuh karakter di bagian-bagian yang tidak akan pernah bisa kita sentuh di dunia nyata(?).

Base, di dalam game ada yang namanya base, fungsinya untuk memeberikan kita penghasilan koin pasif, dan tentu ada juga adventure dimana kita bisa assign karakter-karakter yang nggak dipakai di tim utama untuk pergi mencari resources. Satu hal yang gua bingung, di sini ada option untuk give like, atau commend base orang lain. Masalahnya, base orang dan base kita nggak ada bedanya(?) cuma berbeda level saja, selain itu semua kurang lebih sama persis. Gua nggak tau kalau di server lainnya yang sudah lebih advanced, mungkin ada fitur untuk mendekorasi base? Jadi kita punya alasan solid untuk like base orang lain.

Screenshot yang masih kurang banget kualitasnya. Game fast paced begini memang susah kalau kita mau ambil screenshot pas momen-momen yang mantap. Contoh kita baru ngekill satu musuh dan Mei Raiden membuat pose yang sangat keren gua pengen pamer ke facebook, tapi sayangnya kualitas screenshotnya masih kurang bagus. Gua punya beberapa contoh screenshot ketika lagi di dungeon, masalahnya di sini yaitu nggak ada fitur zoom in, atau semacamnya jadi bisa lebih jelas kelihatan karakternya.

Armada, game online tentu nggak komplit tanpa fitur guild, clan, squad, atau apa lah namanya yang fungsinya mengumpulkan beberapa player dalam satu grup. Fungsi aramada di sini, kita bisa unlock armada shop, ada juga hangaar untuk boss invasion bersama rekan seperjuangan, commission untuk reward-reward kecil, dan treasury untuk request item yang kita perlu ke member lain. Selain itu gua masih belum menemukan fungsi lain. Mungkin bisa ditambah fitu seperti Armada skill? Jadi join dengan satu armada bisa memberikan keuntungan yang signifikan selain sekadar reward berupa materi.

Terakhir, berhubung gua juga main Honkai Impact, dan sedang panas-panasnya, akan sangat menyenangkan jika ada temennya. Kebetulan armada gua, Kunoichi sedang ada lowongan kosong, butuh player yang aktif. Level nggak masalah, yang penting aktif, jadi seeU in game.

Kalo lu suka main game mobile, mungkin lu bakal suka game satu ini.

TOP 3 TWIN SERIES

Copy & Paste Series

Anime Series Overlapping Each Other

So as the title says, this post will be talking about anime series that are overlapping each other, or what I like to call "Twin Series". These series are basically the same story with different characters, and it's just annoying to look at how people have lost creativity. However, it's also kinda fun seeing these twin series competing with each other to be the more popular one.

Copying is not wrong, a great somebody told me that "Inspiration didn't just come out of nowhere, it came from something that's already been made". In this case, anime series trying to become popular, trying to swim to the surface inspired by more popular series in the same genre. A good example of good copying, is SAO and Log Horizon. Both of them talk about MMORPG, and both of them had main characters stuck inside the game. At first glance, it does look like Log Horizon is trying to copy SAO to the core. But if you actually watch the series, you'll find that Log Horizon is not really the same like SAO, so does the other series like Accel World, Overlord, etc.

Another example of good copying is Koutetsujou no Kabaneri. It's obvious that this series is pretty similar to Shingeki no Kyojin. However, KnK has their own unique universe in which instead of giant humanoid creature, the use Kabaneri as the enemy. In SnK, only a group of chosen people who're allowed to go outside the wall, and they're even equipped with maneuver gears while in KnK they use the Koutetsujou, a impenetrable steam train. They're both telling the story about human race survival, and even starting with the exact same story.

Do you get it now? It's basically "You can copy my homework, just change some things a little bit".

Now onto the list :

1. Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry vs Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

This one has the same start, same harem style, same school fighting concept, same tournament concept, and so on. In my opinion, RKnC is obviously better, but for some reason it's really underrated so the twin counterpart got a second season instead (I don't know why). The only difference I can find between them is that Gakusen Toshi Asterisk is progressing in faster pace compared to the twin counterpart.

2. Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut vs Masou Gakuen HxH

Now these are some boobs. Both of them talk about mecha and both of them starting with Infinity Stratos start in where the main guy enters girls only school in a world of girls only system. This guy is a special guy cause he is the only one who can operate the mecha like girls, and also he has a special connection/position in the academy. Like a big sister who's the headmaster or something.

3. Shokomeza vs Saekano

These are basically the exact same anime. Majority of people agreed that Saekano is better, but I can't really tell because apparently I watched Shokomeza first and I didn't even finished watching it. When I started Saekano, it really piss me off how these series have the exact same story. Saekano got second season though, so if you want to watch, I suggest watch Saekano first.

So those are the twin series that are similar to each other. Do you know some more twin series? let me know in the comment, also, which one of these twins do you prefer? Is your opinion go with the majority of people or are you standing by yourself?

If you like top x posts like this, you may also like this Top 5 Waifu!

BEST ANIME 2017!

Anime Review : Tsurezure Children

Tsurezure Children

So I did make a post about Tsurezure Children Best Girl, but that does not mean I reviewed the series. Now I just got some free time so let's review the series.

Tsurezure Children (12 Episodes) from Studio Gokumi. This is a short series, only half duration per episode, yet they achieved what every romance anime out there fail to get done. I said it earlier and I'll say it again, Tsurezure Children is basically an oasis for me. It came when I lost my will to continue on living and legitimately considering suicide. But this series showed up in my facebook timeline and it looks interesting, so I checked it out. And it was worth it, now I have reason to live again.

Now onto the anime review, to be honest, I can't really say there's anything missing in the series if we are talking about romance. If you want to see the couple who's building up slow, there is Sugawara x Takano, you want a couple who build up fast, there is Kamine x Gouda, you want a tsundere breaker, there is Kaji x Masafumi, you want a romcom? There is also Kana x Chiaki.

Considering the series ended with only 12 episodes and half duration, this may lead to a promotional series. Like, they tried to bring you in to read the manga, and I assure you it's worth it. Go read the manga, trust me, you will be enlightened with ray of hope. There are a lot more couples and stuffs going on in the manga.

I really love this series so this review will be biased, but that's fine in Emotion Inside right?

The only thing I kinda disappointed from this series is the fact that they ended it during the end of sports festival and the beginning of the summer vacation arc. Well maybe because I read the manga first and already know what is going to happen afterwards, so I feel like it's not a very suitable ending. But I think it'll be fine for people who haven't read the manga.

Also, the fact that this series is relying on multiple couples to describe the universe, you may not be able to tell who exactly is that and why are they doing this, etc. A good example is when Kana and Chiaki was about to kiss in a cafe, but Chiaki accidentally kissed Kana's nose. So he asked for a retry, but got interrupted by the presence of Toda and Sunagawa (You wont know who they are unless you read the manga).

Enough bragging about this wonderful series, now the scoring, obviously Tsurezure Children will get 4.0/4.0 Thumbs. This series is flawless, cause it's practically all you can wish for from a romance anime in one series.

Now for the Character Review, I kinda modified it a bit cause there's a lot of characters in the series. So I will be reviewing them in couples!

Character Review

Kaji x Masafumi, voiced by Sakura Ayane and Ono Kensho. I'm gonna give you this, Kaji is a normal tsundere girl. Well, maybe a little bit a delinquent, but overall she's just ol' good tsundere like any other. However, Masafumi on the other hand, is a ladykiller. He even answered "No, I've tested it." when Kaji asked if he's gay. Masafumi is not some romcom main protagonist who doesn't now how to confess to a girl, he found Kaji smoking, he come to her and asked for a kiss right away. What a man he is, and for that we will give Masafumi Akagi score A while Kaji Ryouko got a B. And for their couple score, it will be : A.

Takano x Sugawara, voiced by Minasi Inori and Ishikawa Kaito. This is the type of couple who's progressing in a slow pace. The type that often get interruption and misunderstandings.I'm not really a fan of this kind of couple, but the characters are indeed interesting. Takano as a kuudere, she looks kinda like Hishiro form ReLife. However, Takano is not completely unconscious about her feelings towards Sugawara, it's just she's got a huge misunderstanding about Sugawara. Sugawara, actually not a dense motherfucker like some romcom series have. He did tried to confess several times, but then again, they're the couple who got a lot of interruptions and misunderstandings. As for Takano Chizuru, we gonna give a A- and Sugawara Takurou will get another A-. Their couple score of course, will be : A-.

Kamine x Gouda, voiced by Ogura Yui and Maeno Tomoaki. Now let me tell you, this is my favorite couple. This is me. I'm telling you the truth, my gf really similar to Kamine. She's clingy, and very much a spoiled child. Kamine asked Gouda out for one day, and the other day they're holding hands while walking home together, the next day they've done their first kiss, and progressing in a really fast pace. Though not as fast as the first couple mentioned in the list, Kamine and Gouda I have to say is the second sweetest couple in the series. Kamine Ayaka the sweet, cute, clingy, spoiled girl, I'm gonna have to give her a S while Gouda Takeru the man of men he is, he got A. As for their couple, fufufu... obviously I will rate them with a S. Reason is obvious, they're not backing down, and they're progressing in a "just right" pace.

Minagawa x Furuya, voiced by Hanazawa Kana and Amasaki Kouhei. This, is the sweetest couple I mentioned before, since Kamine x Gouda is 2nd. I tell why, it's because Minagawa is a really good example of what "The girl in the offense" like. She has a very good sense of pull and pushing the love target that is Furuya. Not many romance series I know showing the girl in the offense, and even if they did, they mostly give up or, like, just waiting for the guy to do things in the end. That's not the case with Minagawa, as I said, she's really good in pulling and pushing Furuya, so there's no "too much", like when you accidentally make the person you like hate you. Nope, Minagawa Yuki got it in under control, so we give her a S. Furuya Jun, though he's a really serious guy, he eventually caught up with Minagawa's pace, for that we give him A. Their couple score should be : A considering they're the sweetest.

Kana x Chiaki, voiced by Kito Akari and Yamashita Siichirou. The last one is more like a romcom indeed. However, Kana is not some girl in puberty. She took the lead and go ahead assume that she and Chiaki are dating. They're osananajimi though, so I'll give my respect to that. If you just want to have a fun time watching Tsurezure Children, and want to see more of the romcom aspect to the series, this pair is definitely your choice, considering Chiaki is an idiot, but not a dense motherfucker like harem protagonist. Though being an idiot most of the time, Chiaki Uchimura is apparently a man inside, you can tell by the end of episode 12, I really like how he handled their temporary break up, so we'll give him a S. On the other side, Kana, as we know she's actually the one steering the relationship. I like how she's without any hesitation breaking up with Chiaki, even taking her phone to the bathroom is just awesome so I'm gonna giva Kana Ijima score A. This couple overall score will be  A. They're not my favorite, but it's just too good to give anywhere below it.

Now, this is only a little bit of couples in the series, there are a lot more couples popping out here and there, as well as interesting characters. I really recommend reading the 4koma, it'll change your life forever.

If you like Intion's anime review, check out Kabaneri of Iron Fortress Review!

THE PRINCE AND THE PRINCESS LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER

How Romance Story Should Be VS How It Actually Is

Romance : Expectation vs Reality

Quick announcement, I didn't make a post in the past few weeks cause I'm actually working on a project with some friends to create Intion's YouTube channel. We gonna be doing anime reviews and stuffs there so stay tuned if you're interested to see Intion's posts in video.

So back to topic, the reason I suddenly write something like this, is because I just read ReLife up to chapter 205. It wasn't bad, I love chapter 197, if you haven't read it, I suggest opening a new tab and read it right now side by side with this post.

However, just as good as it is, it's also quite frustrating knowing that this series is progressing in a very slow pace. I'm guessing at this rate, they will end during the climax in reader's heart, that is when both test subjects go back to their life and then accidentally or purposefully meet up at some point, eye-to-eye contact, and then the series ended. Classic, really classic. Wanna know which series do exactly the same ending? Kimi no Na wa, Angel Beats, Ano Natsu de Matteru, and many more that I couldn't think of.

To be completely honest, there's nothing wrong with using that cliche as ending. It's just doesn't feel right when you desperately extend a story by adding some more chapters of the characters loitering around, going back and forth, no progression at all just because you have to meet the quota with the ending you want for the story. If the story ends at one point then just end it there. If there's still some quota left, make some extra chapters or something, or just change the ending into something that will work better with given amount of chapters.

I'm talking like I understand anything behind the scene here, but I assure you I don't. I'm just a fellow story writer that got irritated seeing a story like this. So I did some research, and I finally found where this Rom-pocalypse started.

Have you ever heard the sentence "And so, the prince and the princess live happily ever after... "?

That, is the root of all these no-story-after-life things. This sentence is mostly used to end a story, an ancient story like The Beauty and The Beast, Cinderella, etc.

How is this sentence related to today romance anime?

The answer is simple. This powerful sentence gives the author a freedom to not developing the story anymore, they don't have to think about the characters, don't have to think about progression, and so on. This sentence simply put an end that everybody wants, a happy ending to a romance story, and let the author take a leave from the series.

Of course they don't simply say the sentence out loud in the end of a series. They camouflage it into something more acceptable for people. Example #1, Angel Beats. [Spoiler Alert] The end of Angel Beats is basically Kanade and the main guy left in the void while everybody else has already reincarnating. Apparently, Kanade also reincarnate just when the main guy hugged her and that is so sad. However, by happy ending rule, there's an epilogue in where Kanade and the main guy reunited in the real world. It ended when Kanade was about to reach out to the main guy's hand and POOF! That's the "Ever after" sentence.

Still not convinced yet? Example #2 Charlotte. [Spoiler Alert] After going through hard times, collecting power throughout the entire world, the main guy has to be satisfied with a group video. Damn, what a bummer. I mean let's be honest, it'd be nice if the author put an epilogue in where the main guy and the girl together since the romance happened at the end part of the series.

Do you get what I'm saying this whole time? These are endings that gives us a glimpse of what happy ending the characters have when the story ends. Just a piece of it, no more.

Now another good example is Stens: Gate. [Spoiler Alert] The end of Steins: Gate we can see Kyouma encountered Kurisu on his way, and then he acted as if it's a "Unmei no Deai". At this point, the series ended, it is indeed an "Ever After" ending, but apparently they released a Steins: Gate movie that takes time after the main series in which Kyouma and Kurisu already going out together so that's fine. I said that is fine, then the others should be fine too right? Since they might be making another season or movie in the future. Well maybe, but have you seen season 2 of Angel Beats or Ano Natsu de Matteru? Nope.

Another example is from manga, Hadi Girl, my favorite manga back then, ended with 30 or so chapters. After finally being able to confess to the she likes, they ended right when they were about to accidentally kiss each other's lips. So cute yet so annoying.

Final words, there is nothing wrong in simply using "Ever After" ending. That being said, don't go ahead and forcefully extend the chapters of your story to meet the quota and then end it with an "Ever After" while you just loitering around with no progression for 20 chapters. Hadi Girl ended like that cause of the chapters limit, but it's a good time to end use "Ever After" ending and not drawing random chapters where the main couple don't even interact with each other. If, for some reason you really want to use that, then pull a Clannad, or a Tasogare Otome x Amnesia in where the couple become official early and have some after story before it actually ends.

If you're interested in romance manga, check out my scruffy Ano Natsu de Matteru Review!