There's nothing free in this world.. At least no free manga..

I finally did Shin Angyo Onshi.. Actually I wanted to draw her using her original claw, but it's absurdly huge, so I use gauntlet from PoP. It's quite difficult since her hands are small. The other hand is suzume bachi. Hopefully I did a decent job and do justice for this unappreciated amazing manhwa. This girl is surprisingly thin.. seriously.. I thought I calculated the ratio wrong but she's like that.. http://vividobscura.deviantart.com/#/d2un1h4

No more SAO.. hiks

From this image..

I was at Yahoo Answer yesterday and someone asked why OneManga was so gloom, another guy answered they would closed soon. I didn't believe it.. But it's true ,folks. Viz (evil disguised as distributor) and Japan manga coalition has decided to screw us over for more $$$... Okay maybe I'm being unfair here, they need to make money somehow right? So looking back Scanlation sites are technically illegal, but do they really sure that those same sites didn't advertise their manga.

Okay brief history lesson. In 2006 (maybe) came Manga fox and OneManga (maybe) the first big scanlation site. Their mission objective is to spread the word of manga to uneducated world for FREE!. At this time Viz was around, or at least that much. Many great manga at that time didn't have the advertisement and exposure so they became unknown. I bet 5 years ago, there are tons of people who didn't know Bleach or Naruto.

Enjoy your last Naruto

As time passed, these manga became popular and many publisher or distributor invest in them. The unknown artist that make these manga gradually has more audience and more profit (FILTHY STINKING RICH!!) They were thankful for these site, but now their works can be view for free, which contradicted the stinking rich concept. Most of them lost their dedication and dragged their manga just to prolong these profit. They are milking ther fans.. "cough" NARUTO "cough" BITC.. BLEACH..

Although not every one is like that. Shin Angyo Onshi has great art. I know. I spent 5 hours drawing this one pic. It's only one panel in one page. The artist has to make 40 pages for dozens upon dozens chapters. FMA : Brotherhood doesn't stale and fast pace. Even Bleach or Naruto has redeeming features. The sale of manga dropped because of these sites (allegedly) , so in a way we hurt their money.

Let's face it. We are LEECHERS. Any one visit the forum or the scanlation group and thank them?. I didn't. They do it for free..

Say goodbye to Ichigo

I honestly thought these sites are too good to be true. But I didn't know they would be gone this soon.. In a way I rarely read manga anymore. Once a week or two for One Naru Bleach..or some other manga like Ippo or Chinmi when I'm bored. It's significantly lesser than years ago. But when human is comfortable at a condition and that condition is robbed from them, human will be disturbed, confused and angry. It's okay..

The only loss is for me is not only reading, but searching for drawing reference. I finally able to draw Shin Angyo Onshi. I was gonna horde it, but even mangashare was closed down this morning. I doubt any provider will be left standing soon. If only they tell me sooner.. Sigh.. So we consider the alternative., Do we buy it? rent it? I don't know about you but I've become comfortable with free manga, so the very notion of PAYING for one is staggering.

Ahh I think I'll miss this one.. piece.. hahaha.. hah.. huhuhu

Now I'm not cheap here. If it's worth it, I''ll buy it.. But there are so many things more important than manga. Good novel, games, books etc. Not to mention if you invest in them, you will only get 7-8 chapters for 15k. It's hardly worth it. Okay perhaps you can rent it. But there's one significant problem. IT'S SLOW. Seriously what chapters OnePiece or Naruto in Indo? How much longer do we have to wait? One year? Two? Bleh...

It's not really any different with anime. So with 5k (or free download) you can watch 2-3 episodes, in which means 6-8 chapters. Quiet a bargain, but they are also slow and there's filler too. It's still at least half years til Bleach catch up with manga. Well there are solutions. Piracy never stop so if you can track Binktopia or Sleppyfans, they might still around, they are group not site so they will last. There is always demands for One Naru Bleach so where there's demand, there's bound to be supply.

But are you willing to invest time and effort to track down 17 pages..? I think it will cooldown and we'll have sites like this again, but their income comes from ad which is quiet hard if they make it illegal. And I heard the sums that Viz + Japan demand is very high, no one would take such risk. I could be wrong, I have faith in piracy.

If there's no more site, I'll quit manga. Don't know what will happen to Aizen in Deicide 117 but if it take too long, well forget it. My interest is dwindling anyway.. Still hoping it will continue but good things come to an end..
PS: If there's typo, I'm too lazy to fix it..

Inception review.. and some other stuffs..

Well I found this pic that's great to practice coloring. The pose is unique and the color is a bit simple. It actually more complex than I thought so I drew he.. him half body. Yes, that's a dude. I actually thought it's a she.. There's so many things I wanted to draw here. Middle finger for his left hand, a bunch of silly stuffs on his right hand, but I'd just make it harder for myself.

I bought a book "How to coloring with photoshop". It feels like it's meant for me. It helped a lot. Save more time, more flexible when I messed up and simply more efficient overall. I still can't figure out how to make the color more.. caramel or pastel.. And how to continue lines with lower opacity, like if I make 30% opacity and I want to make another line without making the previous one darker? Anyone?

Yup, that's Kon. Next one is pencil drawing, maybe Sando from SAO or Elika from PoP..

It's a pain to draw the yoyo and handcuff? by pencil.. I wanted to remove the yoyo, but decided not to..

So Inception.. It's basically a really reallly hard method to hypnotize a guy. The story is a group of people trying to plant an idea to a man's head through his dreams. In near future, an "Extractor" can literally messed-up your head by trespassing another man's dream and steal his private information. They can made a convincing world with a bank or a safe, then the person's subconscious will projected his secret onto the safe. The title suggests rather stealing an idea, the characters will attempt to plant an idea.

This is a very cerebral movie, alternate reality and heist movie combined into one. It works because superb director, Christoper Nolan and cast of global actors. Many have tried this type of intellect movie, but they are nowhere the level of detail and depth like Nolan created. It doesn't has the gritty feel like Dark Knight, I was afraid that Nolan would stuck at the dark vibe, but he managed to be creatively different while maintaining the fast pace.

Looks like Joker from Dark Knight poster no?

Leonardo DiCaprio once again stars in my favorite movie, I'm not his fans, but if I make my favorite movies list, he'll be in more half of them. Someone give this guy an Oscar already. He plays Dom Cobb, an extractor with tragic past and a broken man. He's great, able to show conviction on his "reality" but at times he struggles with his shadow of his wife. You can see his doubt, fear and determination to see his children.

Ken Watanabe plays Saito, a tycoon who Cobb previously tried to steal from but ultimately failed. He offers Cobb a chance for atonement by inception. He is charismatic and provides some mature vibe for the movie, but doesn't become too serious and quiet frankly has some better humor part on this movie. Ken Watanabe is a good support cast and it's good to see Asia talent in more prestigious movie and breaks free from the usual stereotype cast.

Dream within dream can be your reality

Ellen Page (Juno) becomes Cobb's nerdy tomboyish apprentice architect, Araidne. She is a young talent and on her way to become full fledged Hollywood royalty. She carries herself well despite playing against far more experienced actors and she feels natural, just like a normal girl. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobb's side kick Arthur, the researcher, is surprisingly good. He starts like any other side kick cliche but he becomes much more reliable and shows quiet determination when the movie progresses especially in the hotel part.

Cillian Murphy (Red Eye) as Robert Fischer is convincing as he suffers through his ordeal when people messed up his head and provides emotional scene as he finally deals with his father issue. You'll sympathies as he's actually a victim here. Tom Hardy as Eames pulls off suave operative agent and manipulative forger. He's more than capable of staring an spy film on his own.

The makers of Matrix cried when watching this..

Of course the highest credit goes to Christopher Nolan. He is superb director, inspiring even. There are very complex parts of this movie but he's very detailed and explained them in speedy fashion while maintaining the momentum so the movie doesn't feel stale and boring. In one part, there are multiple layers of dreams with different story lines and different time lines, but he didn't lose focus and managed to crafted a thrilling feel even just with dialogues.

The details are superb. The children faces never shows, you become curious whether they are real or not. The simple dialogues that don't mean much but you know the meaning later on. The fight at hotel when Arthur bounces form floors to walls to ceiling while fending off guard. The gravitational shift in hotel of dream 2 because the van flips in dream 1. Everything is thought off to simplest details.

There is heist vibe like Ocean's Eleven, the combat is fluid like a mix of Matrix and Children of The Man and funny reference to Lost with flight from Sydney to LA. The movie has some funny scenes which are perfectly timed, a brief break from the suspense but it doesn't ruin the mood. The depth of this movie is excellent, while not for everyone but it appeals to wide variety of crowd. Amazing story well told by a brilliant director and great cast. 9.5/10.

Ah the.. pendulum.. buttton.. thingie..

Hentai Doujinshi.. Form of entertainment or waste of talented artist..?

This drawing almost never happen.. When I was nearly done with the shade, I went for a cup of coffee. Then I managed to gracefully stumbled and slashed a big thick line across her face with my darker pencil.. My reaction was normal... "AGHHH HOLY SH*T NOOO WHY MEEE?!!"

I tried to photoshop it but instead big ass black line, there was big ass white line.. I almost give up right then and there, but it was salvageable, although I have to sacrifice some dark tone.. But at least it's decent.. Check out my devart, it shows much better there than in facebook, more zoom in http://vividobscura.deviantart.com/#/d2tyczc

It almost FUBAR

From this image.. no improvisation this time.. although I had urge to draw suzume bachi or sharingan on her..

The world is indeed a vast place..
I saw KaedeKarasuma art and learn anatomy from there http://kaedekarasuma.deviantart.com/gallery/
Then I saw wackurhment0 and learn semi-realist http://wackurhment0.deviantart.com/gallery/
Recently I saw Arief Reifra from our own Indonesia soil http://riefra.deviantart.com/gallery/
This guy makes me proud to be Indonesian, as good as Nico Di Mattia. So talented yet so humble.. Truly a humbling experience.. TT

So enough sentimentil stuff.. I read an article about Queen's Blade yesterday. It seems after only one day in PSN (online for PS3) they pulled it off because the mature content. It seems USA is more concern about censorship and nudity from Japan. Well it has big boobs underage nympho whose hair form hands to cover her tits and fight by spewing acids from aforementioned tits. Japan has weirder.. appreciation of art..

Okay.. Right...

Now it's fun and games, but do you ever wonder why it mostly come from Japan? I mean not that I'm attacking Japan, I love Japan. But there are a bunch of crazy stuff from there, cat-girl, moe, yaoi and a bunch of other stuffs. The thing is they are actually good, aside from serious lack of any story depth or characters development, the art from some of this are great. Now if it's probably because there is a market for hentai in Japan and the artists look it as an opportunity.

I don't know if hentai can be considered as art, considering anime as whole still has childish stigma to be considered an art form. I have to give credit to the artist, it's not easy to make manga, let alone anime. It's hard and arduous, looking at the number they produced, there is bound to be niche genre fans. But why does it become cheap attempt to rake cash. Sex sells, I know, like Air Gear is more popular than FMA.

My favorite.. I meant Germany...

I'm not a hypocrite here, I'm not immune to temptation. It's been ages since I watched hentai, but this came along, it shaken my resolve. It's an attack to our primal weakness. They refuse to create anymore than flesh and absurd sex stereotype because WE ALLOW IT! Can it become art if the producer and consumer refuse to be more than that? Who's with me??!!... Who am I kidding here...

Recently I searched Bleach art to learn drawing. I found out Aki Akane or something, I thought it was a collection of award winning artwork or some collaboration since the art is so amazing. But it was not, it's hentai doujinshi and not your ordinary one, it's quiet sick hentai. Usually hentai just bare minimal or some perverse version of the anime / manga, but this one is superbly made, Tite Kubo would be proud (maybe) and superbly disturbing.

Sigh.. such a waste of talented artist..

Well I might as well ask why there is porn.. For any masterpiece like FMA : Brotherhood, there is bound to be one easy hentai cash in.. At least it provides some interesting cosplay though ^^

Best ani.. no Best TV show..and some other stuffs

Pop Quiz: what's so unique about World Cup 2010? It's watched by millions of people? No, previous World Cups also watched by millions. It had many surprised.. Well some but Spain ended up champ after all and they no.2-3 I think. Well the different about this World Cup is Vuvuzela! Yes The hell-spawned, most annoying instrument ever created that, unlike others instrument, can only do one note: High F*. It seems that some evil entity see World Cup and went "Humans, having fun.. This will not do!" and crafted millions of Vuvuzela at Mount Mordor or some shit. Don't agree with me, check this vid.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P40TP1ughek&feature=player_embedded#!

I did another drawing. The sketches took 1 and half hour. The coloring took almost all day.. I'm still trying to figure out Photoshop. The main concern is the skin tone is too pale for Tatsuki. I am also not sure about her boobs, I think she's bigger than Soi Fon but not as big as other Bleach's bazzongga.. At least I have basic idea how opacity and color works. I have another idea, but maybe in a few days. I have to do skripsi, hopefully I'll reach ch 4 in next week.. http://vividobscura.deviantart.com/#/d2tsieb

Still not good enough.. Next will be line art, probably semi-realist..

There are a bunch of this image, but only the lineart is from Tite Kubo..

Anyway FMA : Brotherhood just ended last week. It is the best anime ever.. yes I use "EVER" there.. This is not hyperbole, it is really that good.. The original was already great but it has some flaws like Ed's mother and Izumi's kid became Homonculus, the plot plod there. Scar wasn't that well developed and the Nazis thing was weird. When they made a re-tell, I was skeptical. The original wasn't perfect but the new one could ruin the story, especially when they introduce characters from Xing. However FMA : Brotherhood became many things that the original couldn't be. As if the original was only preview on how great Brotherhood is.

The story is brilliant. The most well-written story in anime. It has very heavy subtext and mature theme like death, immortality and knowledge. The tone is still anime or manga and it has some light humor, it doesn't become bleak like Death Note and better appeal to wider audiences. The art is still anime-ish and honestly, the manga is so simple, some doesn't even have shade. This simplicity can actually be good, the characters don't have over-the-top costumes or weird hairdo, but their personality more than makes up for it.

Truly a masterpiece

And there's the characters. They are superb, not many anime or even movie or novel has this level of characters quality. If I have to make top ten best chars, I can easily make it with FMA : Brotherhood chars alone. Each protagonists have their own strengths and weaknesses which are portrayed evenly and by doing so let many characters to shine, even the antagonists. Roy Mustang is designed very simple and plain uniform, but he is one the best character, even as good as L. King Bradley, although he is Homonculus has no regret of his life, very contrast with Envy who committed suicide. I can go all day here. Bleach and Naruto have no chance.

This guy is awesome, smart, strong willpower, he could easily became the main character.

The pace just flows effortlessly. The build-up leading to Central Rebellion arc is well-written. I tbuild up the hype, the characters and sometimes have some fights and revelations to keep things moving. Many other anime become stale in build-up, but Brotherhood keep the momentum going and keep the story moving nicely. Then there is the climax. It is 16 consecutive brilliant episodes.. Let that sinks in.. 16!!!! That's one season! I kept thinking there is no way the next one would be better, but it did and it surpass any expectation and kept improving again and again.

The Central Rebellions arc is perhaps the best arc in anime, even better (slightly) than Arabasta from One Piece, simply because the build-up is shorter and the fall of villains have more impact. The fight is fluid but also fast, there is really no minute spared in Brotherhood. The movement is solid and the use of magic-like alchemy is thought and balance carefully. King Bradley fight although long but it doesn't plod, I actually want more of it. It doesn't lose focus amidst all the chaos, One Piece (Ace's Execution) could learn from this.

The villains are memorable. Only good antagonists can bring the best of the heroes.

The dubbed and OST are superb. The seiyuu puts a lot of commitment and their cry and shout are convincing. The soundtrack are probably also the best in anime. Some anime like Bleach also has some good OST, but Brotherhood OST are more consistent. Even if it's not my favorite, it still very good, perfect example of audio and video synergy. Songs like Again from Yui or Ray of Light from Shoko Nagakawa not only reflects the anime but are sung so emotionally.

Full Metal Alchemist : Brotherhood is truly an accomplishment by anime genre. It achieve what any show sought. Great story, like-able characters, fast pace, incredible audio and brilliant ending to ties all end. Other than the simple art of the manga, it is flawless. In fact, I can't find any notable weakness in the anime because the pro simply over shadow the flaw, if there is actually one. The pinnacle of anime. Rate 10/10

Kick-Ass review

I just realized that I, mostly, only drew girls. So here's a dude pic, it's Calintz from Magna Carta II. Wha? Looks like a chick? File your complaint to the artist.. Now the thing about this pic is his unnatural slender body and long legs. Apparently Magna Carta artist is a bit "shoujo" style as in the characters has tall and thin bodies with extremely long legs. I didn't notice this at first, I forgot about it and thought he looked tall because of the sideways view and. So I started with some usual frame, half-way through I realized how ridiculously tall he is.

Since it's on paper and I used up all the space, it's impossible to resize without deleting most of the pic, so I just drew him crouch slightly lower.. I also wanted to change the outfit, but since it's so good and the shading is great, I thought I'd learned more if I just followed it. Beside I don't think I'd do remotely as good as this.. Well okay, Hotaru's tengu sandals and sword also Soi Fon's butterfly pattern managed to get in there.. His square pants motive is so annoyingly hard. http://vividobscura.deviantart.com/#/d2suk27

I lowered the hips a bit to fit my frame..

From this image.. This dude is tall

So any one watch Kick-Ass movie yet? If not, you are just like me who saw the poster and "WTF is this?".. Or was I the only one? Anyway, I though it's like a spoof like Disaster Movie by its poster, silly pointless and a bit forcing movie. I was wrong, it's actually great, people. How great? IGN gave it 10/10. Holy sh*t. Why no one told me this before?

It's a comical funny movie, but it doesn't fall to ridiculously obnoxious category like Meet The Spartan. It surprisingly deals in mature and serious context. If you think Dark Knight was too philosophical or gritty, but you like hero movie, this fits the bill. It follows the superhero frame while also maintaining some respect to comic material but still manage to be original. The story is about a normal and plain teenager, he is as average as one can be. He is inspired to be a superhero like in comic books, but there is one tiny problem: no superpower.

This is good, trust me.

So what the most realistic and plausible way to do this? Buy a custome! But no amazing Batman gadget like Bat Light or batarang, what to do? Create MySpace account! But what happen if he actually fight? He got stabbed, of course. There is a brilliantly crafted balance between realism and humor. The dialogue is superb, cleverly written, funny and witty. It exactly how you expect them to talk, with much much profanity. Swearing can be tricky sometimes, it can sound like the chars tries too hard to be edgy by dropping F bomb continuously, but the screen writer make it believable.

The acting is great, Aaron Johnson fits as Kick-Ass, he doesn't looks too arrogant or silly doing superhero wannabe. The antagonist from Sherlock Holmes (err Mark Strong, I think) delivers such convincing comedic but a bit lunatic at times. Nicholas Cage as Big Daddy is actually good here, not the same cliche action hero, but a genuine father figure. He shows some sadness or hurt protagonist, but also a bit crazy and vengeful. There is one scene where he trains her daughter to withstand a bullet.

Little girl drenched in blood shooting people dead.. Awesome..

The best acting is, in my opinion, Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl. She is beautiful in psycho kinda way. The most outrageous but somehow believable char, she has many gory action scenes and it's very interesting because a mix of violence and innocence from one so young. Her little size and background make her easy to root for especially in some more emotional scenes. I don't know if she did her stunt, perhaps not entirely, but if she did, this girl will go a long way.

The stunts are not the best I've seen but they are not bad, they are fluid and not with CG. Some are on par with Blade II. There are many tributes to comics, movies and even games throughout the movie. The costumes may be silly and some scenes are hard to believe, but the presentation is brimming with passion, it's easy to relate to the characters. I don't think it's perfect 10, but this is by far better than most superhero movies. This is a very unique movie and made with great commitment, definitely check this out. 9/10.

This is Nicholas Cage.. Yeah..

Some lucky find and one forgotten good manga

It's been one month since I started drawing. I remember because it's about the same time my skripsi almost fail. It's a constructive way of spending time and it cheered me up, just one hour or so per day. It's a good hobby. Yesterday I was not in a good mood, I searched side view image and I found something interesting instead. Call it revelation or enlightenment or level up if you will.. http://vividobscura.deviantart.com/art/Parasite-Eve-Aya-Brea-2-168912850 Help me get more pageview, maybe someone will notice and give some advices.

I'm less crappy now

From this image

I spent three hours with the drawing with just pencil. I think if I had darker pencil I could do it better. Pencil 2B is too shallow, need something thicker. It's definitely an improvement though. It's all thanks to this guy http://wackurhment0.deviantart.com/gallery/ Actually I found out while searching for Ichigo Bankai. No he didn't teach me anything but his pics said it all. The eyes, the hair, the shades etc. They are all great. What? I'm not carbon copy here. To acquire others' brilliance and make a concept of your own is not rip-off. it's called learning!

Actually I had no idea I'd so much into this drawing thing. If I cried and screamed one month ago, I'd probably just stressed myself. My skripsi survived thankfully and whilst it's not easy, I hope I'll pull through. I still have much to learn though.

Oh I also found long lost manga, Tekken Chinmi Legend. It doesn't appear on Onemanga, so I thought no one translated it. I haven't read manga continuously since Ippo last year. Come to think of it, Chinmi is the longest running series that doesn't suck. It exist since my elementary school days, what manga that last this much? Conan? DB? Not interesting anymore, but Chinmi is still good, just because the combat alone.

Better skill than overused Rasengan or Getsuga Tenshou.. The anticipation of "Did he make it!? Did it hit?" rather "Enemy appear! Whatever.. Getsuga.."

Okay so the art and story are so simple,they are not mind blowing in any way but they are decent enough and have very detailed fight scenes. It might seems complicate but it completely plausible, if you are some master stuntman. Some fights may took many panels or even pages, but they are far more exciting than most manga like, Kyo which is just random super tech but not clear what they do. If you read the book it might too fast, but if you read it in mangafox, which need a few seconds to load, it'll be just right.

Princess Mito has better personality and spunk than many half-naked chicks in other mangas.. I'm looking at you, Air Gear..

Chinmi is as simple and stereotype char as any. He's just a normal humble nice guy, helping others and sometimes comical. He doesn't wear any crazy outfit or has weird hairdo. In every stories, he is always at disadvantages, the enemies vastly outnumbered him, has superman strength, has crazy range or speed and he always fights them consecutively in some gauntlet. He's a sympathetic hero and strong-willed, the manga reminds me of Chocolate movie, even the stance is the same. For consistency and awesome battle, I rate it 8/10

Oh btw any one hear this song lately??.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0

Taboo.. Tasteful.. Distasteful...

So about the title. It apparent that with technology improvement, many medias slowly but surely are trying to capitalize on taboo subject. Many failed miserably or just got censored and never see the light of day, but some rise above other to give audience fresh idea and intriguing concept. Here's an example how to make taboo or mature theme palatable and other example of how not to.

TASTEFUL: Persona series. (Games and manga)

Persona series is a niche series, many don't know them which is a good thing because it has so many taboo themes. This could be a problem in USA because censorship issue that could lead to no English version, but luckily it didn't happen. Persona deals in mature themes such as suicide act, mythological tales, biblical references, gay issue, sexual issue, gender bender, psychological killer and many more. What differentiate Persona that it's stylish approach, you know that they are sensitive subject but the way Persona portrayed it really hit home and relate-able making them easier to digest.

This is the promotional poster, yes those are guns pointed to their heads.

Persona has stylish presentation from the menu, anime cutscenes, character models, soundtracks and story all told in fresh original and interesting way. In Persona 3, you summon your Persona with Evoker, it's gun thingy that shoots into your head to materialize the Persona. Of course when the characters first found out about it they hesitated, tremble and cried, for more strong willed they immediately embrace it for power. It's a great take on suicide issue, for a game to has such risky mechanic is a daring move especially in USA games are considered root of violence.

The best on series is Persona 4. The story is a nameless protagonist arrived in Japanese countryside when kidnapping and murder spree happen. The victims disappear for two weeks and then appear dead hanged in electric pole. He (player) and friends find out about a myth that if you turn off TV at rainy mid-night it will show you Midnight Channel, last thought of a person. It exists and the victims who appear on TV will die in two weeks and the only way to save them is to dive to TV. It clever plot to move the story along and Midnight channel also serve as dungeon.

Persona 4 opening (It's good, people): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeUYTPdpAP0&feature=related

Midnight Channel is different depend on the victim's thoughts, emotions and dark personal issue, it shows the dark version of the person. One time the victim is gangster but Midnight Channel set is public bath and his dark side is gay. When the victim is pop idol, the set is striptease club and her dark side is.. you know. When the victim is supposedly detective boy, the set is wacky lab and his? dark side is a she. When you closer to the boss, you can hear their thoughts, their denials and eventually they will break. If you slow, they die.. It's very convincing and can motivated player, rather than most games "Go here, fetch this" type mission.

More convincing than most 3D high pixeled chars.. Myb that's why Sony use them for PSP ad.. Sigh..

With such dark gritty themes, you wonder why it's not Dark Knight level of darkness.. Surprisingly they use very light comical anime tone that works brilliantly, it's not forced but feels natural. Some moments are genuinely relate-able, like "Here, taste my cooking!".. Chew2.. "Gahh, Poison!!!"" cliche anime pun, but it's still manage fresh and funny due the cast. The dub and soundtracks are amazing, apart for some battle campy battle cry. All this in glorious PS2.. Most x360 RPGs are not this good. Kudos to Persona. Rate 9/10.

Battle OST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddA7h9ahaKY&feature=related

DISTASTEFUL: Air Gear (Anime and Manga)

Wait now, I don't say that Air Gear is all that bad. If you read it, then by all mean, continue to read it. What I'm saying is it uses many taboo themes so blatantly to attract more viewers that it became err offensive. Air Gear is a manga abbout Ikki, a boy who assemble AT team to become "king". That's it really, the rest is obscure. I watched the anime and lost interest fast. The manga didn't make sense, it was just "oohh cool art" skip bullcrap dialogue "ohh another art" and so on.. I know what I'm talking about here, I just need to read one chapter to prove my point here.

One on top kneeling, a lolita bondage mistress? without underpant but with dick..
Below lying, a guy who has multiple personalities, one of them is (was?) girly..
Air Gear in all its glory

To be fair, Air Gear has great art, maybe even better than Bleach. It has detailed gorgeous images with complicated poses. The attention to background is superb and device, like guns are drawn beautifully. Some are overcomplicated and unnecessary, like some outfits but it has distinguished style. I wish I can draw like that, but then if the author has such talent why waste it on juvenile tricks like naked women and such. It's a manga, not a doujinshi. For whatever difference, if any.

Air Gear really conflicted with itself. One time Ikki said he's a racer not brawler, but a few chapters ahead he throws magic at people. The art for combat is nice but it's so obscure, it looks good just accept it. The other themes are really childish, half-naked women, full naked women, maid, every fetish or moe is here. At one point there's a tuner clan consist of all naked women, why must naked women who tune some roller blade? why must they sing church hymn while bowing to half naked men like a slave, I'm not religious here, but I find that offensive. There are so many more that went wrong here, I'm surprised it made top ten best.

I think one screenshot is enough, if you want more proof go to 1000manga, the mature version of Onemanga, click any chapter, you'll see. Now that I mention it, you probably will. Rate 5/10.