Accel World

We all have those moments where we wish to escape reality, and just become a part of a video game. However, what if someone told you that you actually could? That you could visit a world that is like a game, where you can fight and level up and become the best of the best? For Arita Haruyuki, that becomes his reality.

Our story starts off with Arita Haruyuki, or Haru, who is miserableat school, who during his breaks at school  indulges in video games to help him escape reality. However, one day, he meets Kuroyukihime, one of the schools most popular girls, introduces him to a mysterious virtual reality game named Brain Burst, where people fight to the death in order to gain points and level up. As Haru gets drawn in deeper in the Accel World, where the game takes place, he learns that people are not always the same in a game as they are in real life.

Personally, I love the story for this anime.As a gamer, I think this story is epic due the fact that they can actually get involved with a video game. True, they fight to the death, and they get hurt when they take damage, but it still intrigues me as how far the technology has come in order to allow them to play a virtual reality game almost anywhere due a special device on their necks.

The characters were very relatable in my opinion. Haruyuki is a guy struggling with his own self worth, a problem that a lot of us go through on a daily basis. I will admit Kuroyukihime was that one chick that is a bit too perfect, but she slowly fades from the picture near the middle and near the end. Chiyu is of course the female lead that does nothing, i.e.Sakura from Naruto.

Overall, this anime is what you make it. On the surface, it is a sci-fi anime that deals with video games, but it could also be looked at as a guy's sturggle to find his own self worth. If you haven't checked this one out yet, it should be on the to watch radar due to the fact that the series is just so epic.

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai

As you might have figured out, I love ecchi anime to no end. When the anime Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai was announced for this anime season, naturally I jumped on the chance to possibly see another great ecchi anime like High School DxD. Was my wish fulfilled? In some ways, yes, in some was no.

Out story begins with Kaga Ryousuke, a normal healthy teenage boy who is a big more open about his horniness than most. One day, he meets Lisara, a reaper from the world of Grimwald, and then she tells him he only has a few weeks left to live, but then she forms a temporary contract with him so that he can provide her with energy to keep her sustained in the human world. His energy, however, comes from his horniness. As they try and prolong his life, he meets many other interesting girls along the way, including the beautiful Iria and the slightly loli Quele.

Now the story its self sounds amusing from the fact that the energy comes from him being horny, and if she takes his energy he can't get horny anymore. For some reason, just the fact that the whole anime revolves around him being horny is hilarious, and it provides for many ecchi moments. Although people might say that I'm a bit too big on ecchi  and that ecchi doesn't have a story, in this case, your wrong. There are tits and all and it still has a story, and a passable story at that.

The art kind of reminded me of High School DxD, with the main chick the guy is pursuing having red hair and the flat chested loli and a big busted girl who is close to him. True, they aired this anime uncensored, so of course there was an abundnce of boobs, and they if course were well drawn. The background art was nothing to take note of, except when they went to Grimwald, and that just had a green overtone along witha  sort of gothic feel, but I almost expect nothing less from the demon world.

The characters all fell into stereotypes, I am sad to say. Ryousuke was your typical harem lead, except for I will give him credit: he was a lot more open about his perverseness than the rest of the harem leads I have seen. Lisara was a tsundere at times, but was basically the girl he sought after. Mina was the childhood friend and sought after Ryousuke. Iria was our super maniac pixie dream girl, and like all super maniac pixie dream girls, she annoyed the crap out of me. Quele was basically there as the loli/little sister character, but I will admit, she also kind of annoyed me.

Overall, I will admit I liked this anime. It provided me with a senese that my ecchi needs had been completed. While the characters might have been stereotypes like no tomorrow, I still somehow found them enjoyable. I would like to also thank my friend, Mike for watching this with me.

Borderlands

In case you shooter fans did not know, in the coming days, Borderlands 2 is going to be released. Now while the game the proceeds it, Borderlands, has been out for a few years, it was not until recently I had a chance to play it. I will admit, I did not have high standards when starting the game, but I will admit, it left quite a good impression on me, and now, when I need to relieve stress, I can simply turn to this game and just let my worries go.

Our story follows your character on the planet of Pandora (Avatar nerds, don't get your panties in a bunch) searching for the Vault, a rumored trove of glory that only opens every 200 years, though no one really knows what's in it. You can pick to be Lilith, the siren who is proficient in SMGs and elemental attacks, Mordecai, the hunter who rocks at the sniper rifle, Brick as himself, who can use the rocket launcher and shot gun like no tomorrow, and Roland, the soldier who likes to use combat rifles and shotguns. Along the way, you are guided by the Guardian Angel, who communicated to you through the ECHO communication device.

The story it's self sounds promising, but in actual game play, it can be easily disregarded until the very end. It basically becomes a hack and slash shooter midway through, beating various enemies for missions, but the first real cut scene comes at the end. But although the story might be weak, I didn't really play the game for the story, I played mainly for the fact that it was an easy way to relieve stress through a shooter.

The charatcers, like the story, are just there. You have your character, who is like almost every first person shooter character: just a set of hands or a gun. Along the way, you meet various enemies, such as 9 Toes (he has three balls too!) and Commander Steel, and Sledge (p.s. He's not your friend.) The comical relief character Clap-Trap is always present, but he doesn't really add much to the story except at the beginning.  There aren't many "good guy" characters, but the bad guys make the game worth while.

The game play is a basic first person shooter. You start out with the weapon your class is most proficient at and you have one slot open to switch weapons. Later on in the game, eventually the number of weapon slots expands to four. The quest mechanic is also solid, using the waypoint and compass mechanic. Personally, the game play to me is awesome due to the fact I can sit back, relax,and kill some skags.

Overall, for anyone that likes to shoot stuff and not too much story, then this is the game for you. Sure, Call of Duty has all that, but Borderlands does it in a fun fashion and with a random gun generator hat can generate over 17 billion guns that provides for a lot of versatility. If you're ready for a bunch of guns, adventure, and pure hack and slash shooter, then head down to your local game store or steam and get it.