Yuru Camp/Laid Back Camp (2018) (Series + OVA) [REVIEW] Chillax Deluxe

Since it “only” took 3 years to see another season of Yuru Camp, i feel a bit compelled to cover the first season, as it is one of the my favorite slice of life series of all time.

I frigging love Yuru Camp, so i’m here to spead the gospel and critique the series, complete with the 3 OVAs. Yeah, since there are only three, i feel there’s no point tackling them in another post.

I will cover the Heya Camp spin-off as its own thing, though! But also, i will confess i’m not in the mood nor i have the time to cover the live-action series (with a second one coming) as well, sorry.

But first things first. So, what is Yuru Camp (localized as Laid-Back Camp)?

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Happy New Year & The Small January 2021 Post Drought

I’m not exactly taking a break, so there will be articles, i actually plan to review 3 anime series that debut in January, one which is actually a huge favourite of mine, the others… a bit less, so i’ll mostly focus on watching those (taking notes and first impressions) and try to offer a review shortly after they end, as well as taking it a bit easier as to recover from Dino Dicember (and all the work that led up to that).

Of course, work is never over, so i’ll dedicate some time to tidy things up, update the EXPRESSO review catalogue, and offer a “complete review catalogue” page. By February thing should resume as usual.

For now, i’m gonna wish you a happy new year, despite everything, it’s still free to do so and you never know. 😉

Dino Dicember #28: Gyaru And Dinosaur anime (2020)

I’d figured we do at least an anime series on the subject, not really up to review stuff like My Girlfriend Is A Dinosaur (which doesn’t have an anime adaptation anyway… yet), and it’s not like we’re drowning in “dinosaur anime”, so yeah, Gyaru And Dinosaur has been chosen as champion.

Even though this is an exception for me, not so much the subject, but the fact i choose it despite being still incomplete at the time of vetting the candidates for Dino Dicember, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed this one as well, so despite starting in April 2020, the series went in hiatus from May 17, 2020 to then resume November 20, 2020.

So this is by far the more recent piece of media to be featured here, as it just finished airing a week ago. Very, very very fresh, i’d say.

I don’t think i fully understant the term “gyaru”, but for what concerns this anime (based on the manga of the same name), it means there’s a “gal” and a cute dinosaur that look like a stuffed doll or a children mascot, especially a Sesame Street character. They’re roomies, watch TV together, eat, even enjoy being fashionable. That’s really it as far as premise goes, the only explanation for the dinosaur is that the girl, Kaede, drank too much last night and she brought it home with her.

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One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 – DLC Pack 3 PS4 [REVIEW]

Here we are again, for the review of third and final Pirate Warriors 4 DLC Pack.

And i was gonna say this couldn’t be the last thing Koei has planned for the game, given how the company has generaly no shame in selling multiple Season Passes, like it did for DOA 5 or – to circle back – Dynasty Warriors 9. Which had 3 of the damn thing, 2 costing 50 bucks. Each.

But honestly i don’t feel this is case, since it’s also a Namco Bandai joint, and they used this pattern before, with a three-pieced season pass released seasonally for World Seeker, so it would be reasonable to assume we’ll have to wait 5 or more years for another Pirate Warriors title.

Who knows, maybe in that time One Piece will actually reach a conclusion and Koei won’t randomly sponge entire arcs from their videogame adaptation of the series.

Joking aside, i feel lukewarm at the idea of more playable characters for Pirate Warriors 4, like i said in the review of the last Character Pack, good, but i’m just gonna use them on old maps i’ve already played a lot, since i 100 % this game months ago.

And i’m far from a completitionist.

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Dino Dicember #14: GON (manga)

Today we’re doing something quite good and that could use more coverage, as the days of having him as a guest star fighter in Tekken 3 are long gone. Pun not intended.

Yeah, while it has a cult following and it’s revered by many manga (and comic book) fans, GON today is mostly forgotten, and the title will more likely make Gon Freeks, the protagonist of Hunter X Hunter come to mind in manga/anime circles.

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That’s the sound of 10 years of Ken’s Rage

Sorry to “interrupt” Dino Dicember, but i wanna talk a bit about Koei’s musou series based on Fist Of The North Star, dubbed Ken’s Rage. If you follow any gaming news site, you’ve might already know of this, but since we do have some preview footage running around, i feel the time it’s right to talk about what Koei did to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of Ken’s Rage.

(images taken from Siliconera)

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Kemurikusa (2019) [REVIEW] | Leaves Of Tree

After the Kemono Friends anime made a fairly forgotten (and at the time even freshly axed) free-to-play thing become one of the biggest sensations of that year…. Kadokawa fucked the series director over, basically, and in a way of karmic retribution, many resented the second season when it came around, both out of spite for Kadokawa’s behaviour. And because the Kemono Friends gravy train was gone by then.

Regardless, TATSUKI continued to work on other projects (see Keifuku-san and Hentatsu, which i already reviewed), and in 2019 he decided to adapted an older work of his, an original net animation called Kemurikusa (released between 2010 and 2012), into a TV anime series (which so far only streaming on Amazon Video), once again tasking the same animation studio of Kemono Friends (studio Irodori, which he was part of) and the same production company (Yaoyoruzu), culminating into a project that didn’t seem raise much interest online.

People knew the director of Kemono Friends was behind it, definitely, but i guess it wasn’t enough, so the Kemurikusa TV adaptation came out without causing much clamor (outside of some circles) or attracting much attention even from dedicated outlets or anime enthusiasts who knew it existed. At least i got that impression.

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[EXPRESSO] Bot Vice NSWDDL | Cyberpop Lane Cabal

Bot Vice’s story is basically a nostalgic mash up of 80 and 90s, with the animesque character designs, the heroine sporting a tank top, attitude and a bionic arm with weapons (heck, the application’s icon is a reference to Alita Battle Angel), as she fights an army of animal themed cyborgs at the orders of the villain, ready to blow up the Nakatomi Building (and quote Terminator, Robocop, AND Beavis And Butthead, because), symbol of the decadent cyberpunk Bot City.

Surprisingly, alongside a nice retrostyled soundtrack you get voice acting for the cutscenes (which could have been shortene), and decent voice acting as well, fitting the whole “self-aware, shameless reference spouting” glut so typical of this sub-set of retro indie games. It comes off as cute, but thankfully Bot Vice it’s also a very tough “gallery shooter” in the style of Cabal and Wild Guns, as in you move around the bottom of the screen, shooting and rolling to avoid enemy fire, collecting special weapons with limited ammo and also using taking cover, which can be destroyed.

And it is tough, quite merciless, even at the beginning, so you’ll need to master moving around, rolling and using cover, as each level is a short but intense battle arena, culminanting in a boss fight. Oddly, the game puts an overall time limit for you to finish all stages in, despite the stages being short and not that numerous, even more as the game doesn’t detract the time spent re-trying stages.

The developer Dya Games managed to do a lot with the “gallery shooter” setup, making for an intense, short but sweet experience, quite challenging and with enough replay value, thanks to its arcade perfect setup, extra difficulties and a bunch of extra missions.

Recommended, even more when it goes on sale.

[EXPRESSO] Lupin III – The First (2019) | LUPIIIIIIIN THE THIRDDDDDD

was supposed to see this one in theathers (if you didn’t know, Lupin III was and still incredibly popular here in Italy, so much a couple of licensed PS2 videogames technically have a PAL release because they were only released in Italy, outside of Japan) back in march, but the lockdown happened, and eventually this one was snapped by Amazon as a Prime Video Exclusive. Smart move, in hindsight, since i was also waiting to see the second MHA movie, which got a new release window…. but cinemas have closed, as we’re in a quasi-lockdown situation.

I’m faffing around because i really don’t have to introduce Lupin III, now, do i?

The plot is fairly typical, concerning a book by the archeologist Bresson, containing a mysterious treasure and encased in a cryptic mechanical contraption, and standing as the only one the original Arsenè Lupin wasn’t able to get. But not only Lupin The Third himself wants to do out his grandfather, a girl named Laetitia and a surviving nazi group are also after the treasure.

It’s what many would call “classic Lupin III”, it’s quite appropriate (even more since it’s dedicated to Lupin III’s author, Monkey Punch, who passed away in April 2019), and it’s still quite a blast, thanks in no small parts to the downright amazing 3D CG animation by TMS Entertaiment and Marza Animation. The animation itself is worth the “ticket” by itself, just a masterful implementation of this style, which is often derided as stiff or a cheap compromise that never satisfies or manages to translate “anime” into CG.

THIS is how you do it.

To draw a comparison with another new film based on an old series also released that year, this is definitely better than City Hunter: Private Eyes, in pretty much everything.

Iwa Kakeru – Sports Climbing Girls [FIRST EPISODE IMPRESSIONS] | Rock Climbing, Joel

Lippert can even direct anime girls from the grave, how amazing!

I usually wait for the first three episodes of an anime series to do a first impressions, but due to time costraints i won’t this time (by the time i wrote and edited this, the second episode is out already, but i can’t afford to delay the post), just talking about the first episode and how it presents the series.

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