Impact Frame

The Heartbeat of Evangelion Anima

Many creatives helped shape Neon Genesis Evangelion into the classic that it became. Eva-01 by itself is one of the most recognizable icons in anime. A design that has more than stood the test of time. Its distinctive color scheme alone instantly brings it to mind. If given the chance, how would the artist who designed that giant imagine his own “Evangelion”?

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Anima is a novel series written and illustrated by Ikuto Yamashita, the original mecha designer for Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s complete in five volumes and unlike any other Evangelion story. Here’s what I thought about it.

This post contains spoilers for the whole Evangelion franchise.

Steins;Gate RE:BOOT Re:View

Steins;Gate RE:BOOT, the extravagant second remake of the second game in the Science Adventure series, came out this month. Does it live up to the original? What does it do that’s new? How did I feel about it? It’ll take quite a bit more than 36 bytes to tell you.

Looping the Big Order OVA for 7 Hours Straight

Happy Groundhog Day! In anime, the most famous experiment in presenting a time loop story uniquely is without a doubt the Endless Eight from Haruhi Suzumiya, but it’s not the only one. What better way to celebrate this day that has become eponymous with time loops than experiencing, documenting and possibly torturing myself with a lesser known one?

The OVA for Big Order is a menacing beast that requires a flowchart to explain properly. It promises a never-ending experience which will eternally loop itself and yet always be different, taking advantage of randomization features you never even knew blu-rays had.

Originally bundled with volume 8 of the manga, the “Random Order OVA” is made of many segments that are picked at random and eventually loops back into itself following a specific logic illustrated by Discotek Media’s diagram below.

Step through the stage’s curtain;

After a long 8 year wait from its announcement, Anonymous;Code finally came out in English. There’s much I have to say about the game as a whole, but today, I’d just like to once again register a unique experience from my playthrough. A story of closing the loop.

I’ll be discussing heavy spoilers for the end of Anonymous;Code in this post.

Rakugo and Undead Girl Murder Farce

Two episodes of this season’s Undead Girl Murder Farce have aired, and one aspect of the show has been largely overlooked in English discussion: the show’s connection to rakugo and Japanese theater in general.

You may know that the anime is directed by Shinichi Omata, who previously helmed Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. It’s clear that his experience there must have been one of the reasons he was chosen here, and is helping elevate this element of the show.

As an experiment, I searched Twitter for the show’s title or hashtags + “rakugo”. In English, I could only find mentions of Rakugo Shinju. In Japanese, however, that only accounts for a small fraction of the results since airing – the great majority of the comments are about lowercase ‘r’ rakugo. Here is why that is.

Yonah’s Watermelon – My NieR Replicant Experience

I’d like to chronicle one aspect of my experience playing NieR Replicant, involving a nice instance of ludonarrative harmony that felt unique to my playthrough. A story of an unfulfilled promise and my regret.

This post contains spoilers for all of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139….