Mince Pie Reviews 2015: Sainsbury Bakery

It's that time of the year and mince pies are rife, to be honest they've been knocking around from October but who can turn a good mince pie down BUT which is the pie to rule them all? Starting with Sainsbury's Bakery pies, I spied them today whilst locating sourdough bread. 

Appearance

What lured me to this pie?

The star detail of course. Showing all the goods on offer, hehe. Well you can see some have over spilled over the thick shortcrust pastry. MMMM GLUTEN

The First Bite

I will say the pastry has been the best I've tried since 2014 and it was crunchy but didn't crumble into my mouth. It was perfect consistency, not dry or too sweet or chewy - just right. The Mince itself was mild, with t he odd rasien with a burst of sugary sweetness. 

Price

Four for 80p or two boxes for £1.50 (8) With a saving of 10p

Conclusion

Small  portions means you will be eating two at a time. Tastes great with double cream. I would recommend NOT to heat up as it makes the filling chewy. Looks like a kid made it but great for people not into sickly sweet desserts. 

3/5 The modest pie

Moore Mince pie reviews to follow during December but if your not a fan check out my blog for all the latest event news, anime, game reviews, cosplay and Japanese culture.

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Review: Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F

It was a truely 'wow' moment when Manga Entertainment announced that on September the 30th they were screening Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F around the UK.

This is one of the first anime titles to be shown on cinema in the UK which is not Studio Ghibli related.

Being one of the most iconic anime's spanning over 325 chapters in manga form. One of the few anime's to be dubbed into several territories over the world and then into  games and animated movies.

I was fortunate to get tickets for the showing at Bluewater , whereas other Londoners went to the Prince Charles Cinema. Here I saw lots of enthusiasts talking of the series before and after the screening. You also got a free keyring after, sadly I didn't get Goku or Gohan but Freezer himself.

The Film is set after the Freezer sage, Cell Saga and Maijin Boo saga. In fact the beginning eludes you into thinking you were watching another film with happy animals dancing around din flowers where something is tied up in a tree. This is Freezer in his personal hell.

With a great opening scene such as this, the crowd laughed and onto the main story where Freezer's minions seek the Deragon Balls in order to summon Shenron to bring Freezer to life like the title indicates - Resurrection F.

We see all our favourite warriors older, including a Krillen with a head full of hair, Gohan donning a suit rathe than a Ghii and of course Goku and Vegeta still training. This time we see a lot more of Beerus and Whis since Goku and Vegeta literally turn up unannounced to train and well with a little help of edible bribery.

Beerus and Whis feel like villains more than comrades but that adds to their charm and gluttony for Earth food. The animation on the food was divine - i think I wanted the banana split more than they did. With poignant uses of CGI at places the anime really looked crisp on the big screen.

Also the audio was dubbed and it was great to hear the likes of Sean Schemmel, Christopher R. Sabat, Monica Riel again. Also fans of XXXholic would have been pleased to hear Colleen Clinkenbeard and Todd Haberkorn and more much loved favourites who paved the way in anime for a high standard of voice acting.

Obviously hardcore fans of the manga would know the outcome of the movie but I was blown away by the jokes and chemistry between the characters I had not seen for a long time and to hear the audience laugh and gasp alongside the scenes was refreshing.

Also sad part was you didn't get to see Android 18 fuight nor any sign of Trunks or Gotenks. However you get to see a new Super Saiyan form  which is blue and Freezer got full on Gold. Also a rare tim e not seeing Yamcha dying but a lot of Master Roshi kicking butt and taking names. Some of the best one liners came out of Vegetas mouth, I love his hate for Goky, even when they are old and decrepit he will will never let Goku forget how stupid he is.

I dont have to tell you what happened in the movie, frankly I recommend you watch on cinema or buy on DVD. Hopefully Manag Entertainment bring out more titles to the big screen.

For more news on anime, cosplay, games and Japanese culture follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Aisha Anime ^_^

Review: Disgaea 5

Since it first arrived in 2003, the Disgaea series has established itself as a challenging and rewarding tactical role-playing game series with almost infinite replay value in it’s extra dungeons and enemies, making it a rare gem to play. Since then, the series has grown with new iterations across the PS2 and PS3, and more recently, remakes of the games for portable devices like the DS (Disgaea 1), PSP (Disgaea 1 & 2) and PS Vita (Disgaea 3 & 4).

Personally I believe the handheld porting was an excellent route for the Disgaea series due to the never ending grinding, I love the grinding, but this can be tedious when you die in the item world and lose all your progress, so why not have a quick stint on your commute to work?

The first characters we meet are Seraphina, the Overlord of her home netherworld, Gorgeous, and the mysterious wandering demon Killia, whom she finds in her path devouring a rare ramen dish as she’s about to be attacked by the enemy army. If you've played Disgaea before, you probably know that food is an important factor in the game to heal HP/TP.

So apart from Sera's obvious fan service we do get a lot of comedy from her arch enemy the Reg Magnus who turns out to be a big brute with a heart of gold, she just doesn't like to wash his pants.

The full review  is on Parallax Play. But I wanted to add some more points whilst I continue to play this game.

UPDATE

I thought I'd mention the changes in interrogation - in Disgaea 4 you would gain prisoners by throwing enemies into your base panel then speak with the Beast woman at your base. So I didn't use this feature much. In Disgaea 5 you have demons surrendering automatically so I ended up using the feature quite a bit. This time you speak to the blonde professor lady in your base and she gives you a list of prisoners with their gauges showing how much hostility they have against you. If they have none you can make them citizens straight away.

If they harbour a lot of 'Revenge' best to beat it out of them, though you have to figure out whether it's through beating, specials or starvation.

Fusion  is much more handy in the game where if you have an army of prinnies you can fuse to make a stronger character on the battle field similar to Reg Magus using his overkill to grow large.

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Aisha Anime ^_^

Angel's Cave: White Lace Cat Beret

Photos by Caroline Mound Photography

Angel's Cave originally focused on dolly attire and accessories to complex wig threading and face plates since I met them at the Danny Choo Culture night ! When the team is not working on making adorable clothes for these smart dolls.they are now making gorgeous hair accessories for human heads now.

Charlotte and Danny Choo

Charlotte has constructed her own pattern for lace cat berets in a variety of colours to match your moggy and stand out in your hair. With moving limbs you can pose them to fit your head and they really look great with any outfit.

As a part time Lolita, I have been experimenting with colors and styles and I took a try at sweet Lolita - Pink isn't really my colour but it really worked with the beret. I have seen these type of hand made and stitched items crop up a lot recently and could be the next big trend in kawaii fashion.

At £5 per beret that's a real bargain and Charlotte can make them in a variety of colours too.

Buy them here.

Follow Angel's Cave for more dolls updates and new accessories on facebook and twitter and don't be shy to ask questions or make a commission.

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^_^ Aisha Anime

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters Review

Title: Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters

Publisher: Aksys Games

Developer: Arc System Works

Genre: Visual Novel,Puzzle, RPG

Platform(s): Vita, PS3

Release Date:10th Mar 2015 (USA) 13th Mar 2015 (UK/EU - NIS America)

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters is a visual novel that follows a group called the Gatekeepers who hold the facade of website of the occult and creepy but are actual mercenaries for hire to exorcise demons. You play the unknowing college student baffled by girls and already deemed a weirdo by the student council president an extreme hottie. When a fellow classmate in a wheelchair asks if you believe in ghosts things begin to unravel.

This game struck me a beautifully presented JRPG but coming from Arc Systems Works I knew there would be more tot his game than meets the eye. You are a generic guy but you enter all your stats at the begging ie name, star sign what club you want to join - I joined Tea because I loathe sports and so should my character but hey that doesn't affect the fact you are now a ghost hunter.

Me and not impressed student president are recruited by the Gatekeepers and Shindo shows us the ropes, since he is confined to his wheelchair he normally contacts us via walkie talkie while we do all the hard grafting. Once at the HQ you use the pc to see requests and pick which ever ones you like these vary in difficulty and maps. 

Maps are important as you are introduced to a quirky shop owner who sells us items to help us on missions, the quicker we catch the demons the more bounty we receive. Certain items can be placed on the maps to prevent ghosts entering rooms or push them in a  certain direction for us to trap them in a corner. 

These items can be household objects like table salt, ghosts cant walk over it and you have more complex traps that push the ghost away from you. But the layout of the room are important as any electricity sockets can move the ghosts around to other rooms which can be frustrating.

You have a certain amount of turns before you fail your mission, it's different for each map. Also you can bump into random demons as well as your primary target, the second you exterminate your mission is over.

You have advantages such as the cat Seecloar she can sense ghosts and also lights up areas at random. She sometimes comes on the map to help. depending on the equipment of your characters as default you have two teams with the EVP gear to sense ghosts nearby so the third team you need to save up money for to get it as you have time constraints and running around in circles is not an option. Shindo from time to time gives clues to where the ghosts are hiding in certain areas or near certain items. 

The visual novel aspect is beautifully done, you have seamless cut scenes that morph into an almost 3D dimension feel and you can re watch the sequences in the scrap book at the HQ. Sometimes you are faced with decisions and this is the confusing part, you are given the icons: mouth, ear, hand, nose. I automatically thought mouth was to talk- apparently not my character within the first five minutes of the game tries to snog the student president. Awkward. This probably the only thing that lets the game down no quick tutorial in game or instruction Manuel of how to use the icons. I don't think these decisions really change the game but affect the script but otherwise you follow the story in a  linear fashion.

Other things you can get up to in the HQ include mini games if you fancy a break from the ghost hunting and main story. Also when you leave for a mission you get to select tracks to listen to in the car and on the mission. A lot of details has been put into making this game a great experience. i worry about playing it whilst travelling as I can get very immersed and miss my stop.

As a horror fan I really enjoyed the ghost aspect of the game, you get a loose story about each ghost and the art compliments it so well. the level of artistry used to do the movie sequences makes it feel like your part of a movie. Apart from the lack of instructions on how to manovere the emoticons, a sold game with great soundtrack, composed by Nobuo Uematsu famed for Final Fantasy.

Definitely a 4 and a half out of 5 I loved freaking out the girls in this game, makes it more entertaining.

More info on the game on the Official NISA website and listen to the awesome soundtrack there too.

Buy it on amazon now!

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Aisha Anime

Review: The Tale of Princess Kaguya & Competition

So march has been a pretty lucky month for me, I had the pleasure of winning tickets to the preview of Tale of Princess Kaguya on the 16th March at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square and then invited to another preview at 71a gallery but both held unique qualities to each showing.

AT the PCC I didn't know what to expect I got an email whilst at LSCC and was enthralled to have won tickets to the double bill screening of princess Kaguya and Graveyard of the Fireflies, armed with my Totoro hat I went in high spirits. upon entering I was given a free drink and sushi box from Feng Sishi (one of my favourites!). I was then ushered in to the plush seats. We had a brief introduction from Studio Canal and then prizes were award to best Studio Ghibli Character, a fantastic Kamaji won and so did a pair of casual Princess Mononoke and Ashitaka. There was also prize for person who brought a special Studio Ghibli possession that to my surprise I won. Before I entered the screening room someone asked to taker a photo of me unknown to me it was a member of Studio Canal, they were impressed with my Totoro love as I brought my soot ball and matching bunny sprite from the movie.

The movie itself was amazing at the PCC it was shown in Japanese audio and English dubbing and I was mesmerized by the water colour style of animation. Studio Ghibli really went back to their roots with the animation.

The movie follows a Bamboo cutter and his discovery of a tiny princess in one of the bamboo branches. He brings the doll like princess home to his wife who believes she was sent to them to look after and bring up to be a princess. Upon touching her clothes disappear and she takes the form of a newborn baby.

The baby then miraculously begins to get bigger and bigger within minutes, the couple make haste to a wet nurse but all of a sudden the wife produces milk. It was extraordinary seeing how the baby was animated with great realism on the movement.

Enter curious children watching from afar and it seems news has spread of the weird child who grows very fast. They nickname her 'Little Bamboo' because of this though Miyatsuko (Bamboo cutter) carries on calling her Princess (Hime in Japanese.) As Hime grows older she picks up things quickly from learning to cook to weaving baskets. She even knows a forest song that has the other kids confused as she was so small at the time to know it. The sad faint song haunts her for the rest of the film.

Miyatsuko finds gold and fabric for fine robes in his bamboo grove and is convinced the forest spirits are telling him to bring her up as the fine princess she is meant to be. So he often travels to the city to build her mansion fit for her stature. When all is ready they prick up and leave just like that leaving poor Princess pining for Sutemaru the forest villiager's handsome boy. 

Her new life begins with 'how to be a lady' lessons from Lady Sagami who teaches her the koto, calligraphy and etiquette which princess does not take seriously at all but in front of her father she demonstrates perfectly. Upon becoming of age, they hold a banquet in her honour and do the naming ritual. When a pervy old guy checks her out and her etiquette and decides she is as slender as a supple bamboo shoot and radiant so her name should be Kaguya. 

Apart from this fellow all the other nobles don't see anything special inn Kaguya and reprimand her family and she feels helpless and escapes. back tot he forest, her home. But everyone is gone, the land is desolate and the mountain dead...a man explains after 10 years the mountain will regain it's power and the foresters will return, Sutemaru will come back.

She awakes, was it all a dream? Her hand maid Me no Warawa is still asleep - she is my favourite character in the film. She has the face of a cat, poise of a lady barely speaks but has all the loyalty of the world for her princess. Also a great source of comedy when it comes to talking about the princess's suitors, sadly she cannot alleviate Kaguya's mental anguish.

Now she is named and prim and poper with her eyebrows removed and teeth blackened it's time to get married ! This isn't want Kaguya wants but her father believes will make her happy. Somehow good intentions are led astray and the forest song comes to haunt Kaguya many times after. She is faced with five of the wealthiest suitors trying to win her hand in marriage but love letters won't cut it she sets them the task of bringing to her the famed items she has been compared to and this indeed shows their true colours.

One princes brings a fake jeweled branch which is exposed when the artisans arrive with their bill unpaid. Another with a fake fire rat fur again this is test by throwing in fire to see if it burns or glistens. The next a real philanderer comes without the item but tries to fool her with sentiment but one of his past wives turns up. The two more decent nobles actually go on search for the items, one leaves his wife and sets to sea for the jewel on the dragons neck but I presume dies at sea and the last and youngest falls whilst trying to secure a shell and breaks his neck. This films files by the tragedies like it's nothing. Lady Sakami leaves in utter disgust, this is what all princesses want a rich suitor but Kaguya has turned away five of the 'best'.

The hardest task is to come the Emperor has now got wind of Kaguya's tasks and presumptuously assumes it is because she is saving her self for him. He comes at random to the mansion and forces herself upon her which is the last straw. She dissapears like magic and by doing so has alerted her true family. They are now coming to take her home back to the moon as the folklore states. 

My heart went out to the mother who really did everything to make Kaguya at home from having a garden reminiscent of their old home and shack to do their weaving in away from snobbery. She fulfills her daughters last wish and returns her to their old home where she basks in the glory of nature and then sure enough Sutemaru appears, she had seen him in the city 3 years before stealing a hen and her interference causing her a severe beating but her heart ached for him so. He had moved on married had a child, but something inside him heard 'Little Bamboo' singing and they were together alone for for what felt like forever. Till the moon came out the moment ended and was it a dream once again?

On the 15th August they came, everyone was at the ready to protect the Princess but it was all in futile, when arrows were fired they turned into flowers and all were sent to sleep. She was taken but before she wore the robe that erased her memory she was able to say goodbye to the parents who loved her so dearly. Then Buddah descended to the moon with her and the procession

Basically Buddah was the villain in this story or was it men? Either way she did 'end up 'belonging' to someone and I sat there feeling depressed. She grew up too fast and didn't get to experience life fully and Buddah is a douche.

I ended up watching this again the next day at 71a who set up a great spread of sushi buffet for the attendees before doing an origami workshop with sesames.co.uk where we learnt to make a pig, lotus flower, shirt and classic crane. After the great demos and laughs we watched the movie this time in English. I have to say I love the dubbs by Ghbli but this was a little lack lustre, not enough emotion apart from Chloë Grace Moretz as Kaguya and Lucy Liu as Lady Sagami. However you focused a little more on the art whilst listening. I know some friends who would enjoy it but hardcore anime fans stick to Japanese audio!

Special thanks to Studio Canal UK for the great hospitality at the PCC, Manga Uk for the tickets and Little White Lies in Conjunction with 71a Gallery and Studio Ghibli UK ^_^

Competition time !

Due to the popularity of my postcards from Japan, I will send another wave of  20 snail mails for all my readers new and old :-) All you have to do is like my Facebook page and share this post on Facebook! Simples.

For more news, events, reviews follow me on Twitter and Facebook ^_^ Aisha Anime

Review: Sing For your Life

 I’s not everyday you walk out of a theater stating: “What have I just watched, it’s so wrong yet so hilarious. Am I going to hell for laughing?”. Sing For Your Life is the musical that sums that response up. It is a play using roadkill taxidermy puppets which was touring last week in London as part of Vault Festival in Waterloo.

Charlie Tuesday Gates who essentially came up with the whole concept is actually a taxidermy artist who made pieces for Elton John and Beyoncé in the past and now put together a pack of animals for this saucy cabaret. The Vaults gallery, is an atmospheric space which you get to buy walking under railway arches off Leake Street past some amazing to the exciting live venue. It holds a handful of performance spaces and a couple of bars inside and is home to both the Mimetic festival in November and its own six-week Vault Festival.

We follow our protagonist a designer handbag underdog who’s un conditional love for this owner is thwarted away and he questions his life. After pooping on some narcissistic one night stand who was romping with his owner, he is left neglected and wonders out of the house. The perky pup comes across a strange underground cabaret company. The band of animals who run the show are; boss badger, a drunken hasbin fox, a splattered cat, three plucked chickens, four quarreling squirrels and a stripping mink (shudders uncontrollably).

They beckon to the ‘man’s best friend’ to help get a crowd for their show using his universal cute charm. They sing their stories to him in hope he will relent and join their disorganized razzmatazz. We have great covers of songs such as ‘I’m a slave for you’ with entertaining puppetry or dancing. I have to say it was amazing to see two-three actors working one puppet and seeing them bolt across the stage in order to make realistic animal movement.

True to my Japanese culture interest I did watch it thinking the animals were animated in a bunraku-style. The actors voiced each puppet and looked directly at the puppets and not audience. They also demonstrated some beautiful vocals from ballads to Jazzy solos on stage. Four actors and 11 puppets on show literally singing for their lives. This show made me think of the BBC series Mongrals but with extra bite!

The themes explored all revolved around the main focus on injustice; the dogs is neglected, the chickens are plucked and  eaten after every show, the squirrels show prejudice nature against the one buff red breed amongst poor splat cat’s loneliness as ‘no one wants to go near that pussy’.

All the arrangements of music coupled with dark humour were directed by Kieron Vanstone, musical director Barnaby Southgate and the band’s four other musicians. Gates wrote the piece and performs alongside Madeline MacMahon, Nicholas Anscombe and Matthew Maguire.

I attended the last show of the week and it was completely packed and I was near the middle and I managed to get a great audio of the actors speaking and the musicians but I wasn’t able to see everything too clearly – which was a shame. I would recommend this for a big stage. The puppets were something to see. The humour retained sensibility at times but went full out crude at poignant moments also and I think everyone over the age of 156 would have understood and loved the show. My mother accompanied me to the show, who is in her 60’s, walked in cynical about the whole show but left with a tear in her eye and missing our cats immensely feeling sympathy with dog.

The show’s theme tune “Sing for your life,” was ingrained in my brain and I was singing all the way home.  I think I’ll be investing in the soundtrack soon. If you like animals you must take the opportunity to watch this musical in the future. 

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http://www.charlietuesdaygates.co.uk/

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Review: The Pyramid

Being a huge horror/thriller fan I had to watch this movie regardless of any bad reviews or the cast.

*Spoilers Ahead*

Produced by the team who made 'The Hills have Eyes' I knew there would be some softcore porn or rape, I was surprised to see neither. There was a questionable scene where a robot was filming a girl get changed but no nudity was seen only implyed.

Initially we follow Sunny, anchorwoman for her documentary of a new pyramid being discovered due to satellite signals uncovering a tip. Her and cameraman Fitzpatrick aka Fitzy (clunge guy from The Inbetweeners, James Buckley) interview father and daughter about their discovery.

Amongst some loose love affair between Noora Holden and Michael Zahir (a cocky Arab speaking tech guy) you see that they are revoked access to entering the newly discovered pyramid due to uprising in Cairo.

 They literally are packing up to leave by Zahir drives his robot into the pyramid to get footage of the inside but something attacks it 'maybe it was a wild dog that wondered in' ohhh no that is most certainly the least likely thing to have ripped this robot into pieces. After intially opening the tomb the poisonous gas killed a man and infected others - animals are much more sensitive to smell and would of ran miles away.

However they decided to set off inside to recover the expensive equipment borrowed from NASA (why they lean't it to that tool Zahir I will never understand). So despite the Arab solider warning them not too they venture in and get royally lost. Their wire mysteriously gets cut and they feel it is appropriate to remove their masks in the poisonous tomb. Things are going splendid so far, lost, found bits of the robot, the room collapses, Zahir is trapped under a rock. Actually the rock falling on Zahir is probably my favourite part of the movie mixed in with Fitzy's one liners making this horror some what amusing though it REALLY shouldn't be.

In an attempt to escape Sunny, reveals she rock climbs in her spare time and climbs up but gets her faces scratched by some unknown beast. I think they are starting to get somewhat worried. They leave Zahir to sit around and bleed to death while they look for another way out but he would be lucky to have such a painless death. Something rips his body away from the rock and takes him up the hole.

At this point you realise there are more than one entity in the tomb and they are hungry. This leads to them shitting themselves and running, which is ALWAYS a bad idea, they trip over traps or in the Dr's case, he presses stuff he shouldn't be and sets off a trap, Indiana Jones/Goonies style they run through the corridor to avoid being suffocated by the sand being let in.#

The strongest and most agile person, Sunny, avoids everything to stop at the spike pit to have FItzy run and accidentally push her in to it. The next part is more cringe worthy then the torture in the Saw movies, she has spikes in her chest shoulder leg and guess what those creatures comes out. Looking like pet cats of the Pharoahs buried alongside them they start eating her. I can only imagine the agony of having being impaled to being then ripped apart. They light flares to scare the zombie kitties away but she dies from shock and wel you see her face has become highly infected from the scratch, she wasn't going to survive either way.

Through common sense and Egyptian know how the father and daughter deduce the cats survived by eating each other and breeding. Again stuff I found interesting but Fitzie kept telling them to stop blabbering and escape.

Now they get trapped and lost and the guard actually makes it in to then be grabbed and dragged through a tunnel which led to a dead end. But for the guard to get in through a different way - means there is a way to escape right? Perhaps but I think I was more freaking out about the thing that broke his body to drag him through that tichy tunnel...

The Doctor again manages to press something and a wall moves and they are led to the home of the zombie kittys currently out for lunch. They walk past bones and feces (which there is a lot of from the start). They they find the Pharoah's actually coffin and whilst reading the hyroglifics. Daddy get's his heart ripped out by this massive being. Turns out this is no other than the God Anubis himself. The tomb was actually built to imprison this crazed dog. He had tried to escape Hades to heaven by eating peoples hearts in an attempt to eat a pure heart. After many death, he was captured and buried alive. So daddy is somehow still alive and Anubis holds his hearts, weighs it on a scale then eats it, Daddy turns to dust. Noora freaks out and well Fitzie becomes the hero or so he thinks. They figure out the way to escape in the room while Anubis goes for a stroll.

As they climb out both are gra bbed down. Fitzie is miraculously still alive! Till Anubis steps on his face. It's Noora's turn but conveniantly she picked up a tomahawk in the tomb and uses it to cut free and shank Anubis. She tries to escape...again. Does better as the zombie kitties go awol and start eating Anubis.

Is there light at the other end of the tunnel, after a long 10minutes of her struggling to climb up and drag her carcass to what looks like is an opening. She falls you see her face is diseased with the same infection as Sunny and that all of them contracted at the start when the tomb was opened. A child runs towards her picks up her camera and then she whispers faintly 'Help me' to what I thought was the kid running off with her camera, was actually Anubis dragging both back down in !

It's hard to rate this movie, it was amusing and made me jump at times and the actual CGI for Anubis was pretty good. But sadly not enough detail, this could of easily been a 2hour movie and I would of thoroughly enjoyed it unlike Cabin in the Woods - which was dragged on confusion with a hundred points but nothing elaborated upon. Nice seeing James Buckley in it making it a better film overall. The Pyramid was a great idea left incomplete but I was entertained. Also loved the metal soundtrack that accompanied it !

7/10

Review: From Up on Poppy Hill

A anime movie from Studio Ghibli which quietly hit the cinema and went in 2011 which feels like forever ago. I missed the initial cinema showing but caught it on DVD release which I borrowed from Becca, (League of Extraordinary Cosplayers). This anime tells a tale of two kids fated to find out a sick truth that would change their lives forever.

This story is based around history and is set in 1963 Yokohama, Japan, the first thing that struck me is the main protagonist - high school girl Umi Matsuzaki. She has the same tendencies of the characters in Ponyo, everyday in her boarding house she puts up flags as they did with the lights in Ponyo. Umi is forced to grow up early as her mother is always away for business so she is left managing her Grandma's boarding house. This entails from waking up before all the guests, cooking breakfast, getting herself and her sister ready for school. Her father went out to sea to never return but puts the flags up in case he ever did come back.



One day a school a bunch of kids set up a spectacle to get attention on the pending close of their club house. This envolves a boy jumping into a pond/pool. The boy is Shun Kazama, a dashing member of the school's newspaper club, he straight away charms Umi into helping him clean up the school's clubhouse, Quartier Latin.

Tokumaru, however, has different ideas, the chairman of the local high school and a businessman, intends to demolish the building for redevelopment and Umi and Shun, along with Shirō Mizunuma, must all band the school together to convince him the building is important to them.

Without ruining the whole movie there is another plot revolving closely around Shun and affects the developing relationship between him and Umi, as school crushes go this one is complicated.

Umi is considered lucky as everything she is involved becomes fruitful. This is hard for her to live up to as Shun takes a turn for the worst in his beaten male ego which he takes out on her ignoring her. Which everyone notices.

The missing parental figures are quiet important to the story and through miscommunication and assumptions a huge secret is unearthed about Shun which is is desperately trying to prove wrong again with Umi by his side everything is put straight.

This film requires a lot of focus as every little detail is important to both intertwining plots. The best way to describe this movie is historical slice of life. I much prefer Studio Ghibli's fantasy aspects which this story had zero amount of and one of the themes is quite cringe worthy. To not spoil it I recommend if you are a hardcore Ghibli fan you should go watch. If you got bored of Ocean's Wave then stay away from this title too!

I give this movie a 5/10

Review: Action Jackson

Action Jackson probably the worst named Bollywood movie of 2014 (also copying an American movie) is an action 'masala' film directed by Prabhu Deva, who would recognised from Tamil movies and is a choreographer and is famous for his crazy dancing.

It features famous stuntman come actor Ajay Devgn in a double role, alongside Sonakshi Sinha, Yami Gautam and Manasvi Mamgai as the female leads. Kunaal Roy Kapur appears in a supporting role with Anand Raj portraying the main antagonist. Other reviewers have commented on the poor dialogue and excessive violence as I am now about to :-p

Vishi (Ajay Devgan) is a small time crook who would do anything for money. He is attracted towards Khushi (Sonakshi Sinha), and lots of toilet jokes ensue which i think were pointless and verging on cringe worthy than sexy.  Later Vishi's lookalike Jay is beaten up mistaken for Viski or Aj, I am still confused by this silly plot as they are both goons, nothing really differentiates them for each other apart from one has a Chinese tatoo. The tatoo is only there to include silly shirtless scenes and to showoff Devgan's body - which I'd expect no less from a stunt man. 

Vishi freaks out on seeing his lookalike but Jay reveals his real identity. In a flashback Jay reveals that he is a professional assassin AJ, who used to work for Bangkok based Don Xavier (Anand Raj). Xavier's sister Marina (Manasvi Mamgai) is been kidnapped by his rivals from where AJ single handedly rescues her. Marina falls for AJ but he rejects her as he is married to Anusha (Yami Gautam). Angered, Xavier tries to kill Anusha twice, which leaves her brutally injured. AJ escapes to India and get her treated.

In present time AJ requests Vishi to go to Bangkok disguised as AJ to fool Xavier and his sister, meanwhile AJ gets time to get his wife operated who is expecting a baby. Vishi agrees to help and goes to Bangkok along with his friend Moosa (Kunaal Roy Kapur). They manages to fool everyone for few days, but Xavier gets suspicions. Marina tortures Moosa to find out the truth. They later kidnap Anusha and her new born baby and calls AJ. It is then revealed that AJ and Vishi had already switched places and the person at Bangkok is the real AJ. In the climax AJ kills Xavier, Marina and their gang. He rescues Anusha and their baby before returning to India.

The music was done by Himesh which was shocking as most of the music was ok but nothing really catchy apart from Keeda which was filmed in Austria with Elvis impersonators for reasons unknown LOL! They introduced new actress Yami Gautam playing Anusha, AJ's giflfriend who has the cutest dimple on her face and is soft spoken and suit the role perfectly of being battered to a pulp.

Not a family friendly movie lots of brutal killing scenes and terrible dancing - I think a simple idea was ruined with flashy unnecessary special effects and awful dialogue. Glad mum paid for this ticket - I cannot get those 2.5 hours back of my life...

3/10

Review: Inazuma Eleven 3: Team Ogre Attacks

After much badgering from my fellow anime nerds I was obligated to try the Inzuma Eleven series of games since I was hearing more good things than bad - but the anime was so contrived I found it hard to take the game series seriously.

Inazuma Eleven was originally an anime released in 2013 using a combination of football (we're British we call it football not soccer)with magic. Starving to get into the championships. Overall not a favourite anime. However shortly after the first IE game came to DS. After a friend urged me to give this 3DS version a try after saying the magic world JRPG, this clearly is not an average sports game.

I half expected the game to be a mini Fifa but with anime cut scenes and Japanese VO. Being the first IE game on the 3DS I expected some sort of summary of the game or the story thus far, that doesn't happen you meet the man character and loads more across the world.


 Story wise your in the future, your the main character's grandson you bump into Team Ogre it’s here that we are suddenly thrown back to the present where the main character Mark Evens is training for the world cup after “his most recent victory” that is never elaborated upon.

The general jist is we follow him and his group of friends as they try to become the best players in the world, while also trying to save football against the antagonists. They are a team from 80 years in the future called 'Team Ogre' and come with the mission of destroying the Raimon Soccer Club. The game assumes that we the player are aware of the complex story and all of the character connections hates and friendships. Nope, so from what little details I remembered fro the anime I played clueless-ly to all the references. It's a shame since it's a JRPG and the crux of the game is storyline and talking.

I really enjoyed the game-play there is none other like this it's comprised of playing football and solving tasks, talking to people, finding items similar to Pokemon just no monsters! Also it's a 2D game and it's surprising easy on the eye and I liked that quality and I'm glad it wasn't 3D. Enjoying their over the top hair in chibi form! It was also cute that we could customise the equipment like we could in battles for other games, instead this is for stars to help football.


The main bulk of the game is the football matches play out with the typical rules of footie with a mix of 4v4 and 11v11 games, the player starts with the ball and uses the touch screen to control the players by dragging and tapping the screen. If the carrier comes into contact with a member of the opposite team, the game pauses and allows the player to choose their next action from a menu, they can try to dodge / charge, or they can perform a super move that will drain their SP. Every time a move is selected the game shows a short cinematic of the characters performing the action with a little number by each player showing their stats. I think it's a combination of stats and skill on the stylus.

Looking at the previous titles, not alot has changed in the game play mechanics. It's a an RPG but with spurts of football rather than fighting so it would be  an excellent game for the pre-teens to get some non violent gaming ingrained into their brains. The controls aren't easy well they are, the 3DS doesn't always interpret them the right way. So I'd say layer up your screen with a few protectors you don't want to rage scratch your precious 3DS.

I can see that Level-5 RPG had incorporated all the anime sequences well like the Professor Layton games but sadly IE did lack in other departments. The failure to integrate previous story-lines did leave me disorientated but I got the jist f what i needed to do and looked past story references and looked more towards graphics and strategy. Mixing sport with an RPG - who would of thought the unlike two could pair up to make something so fluid and enjoyable.  8/10 ~Aisha Anime~

Persona 4 Arena Review

After a big wait and pushed release dates, we finally get the game we pre-ordered six months ago, yet American players got to play on their region locked version last August. Persona 4's JRPG heritage makes it more anticipated than the likes of Injustice, another fighting game that's loaded with detail and a whole lot of talking.

Arc System Works has demonstrated its system on previous games like Fist of the North Star and Capcom's Sengoku Basara series. It offers high level graphics, with a fighting system that feels easier to pick up then, for example, Blazeblue's. It also does an outstanding job of adapting the original turn-based cast into real-time fighters.

The game takes place two months after the events of Persona 4 and sees the Investigation Team reforming after the Midnight Channel becomes active once again. The Persona users pass through the television screen and are forced to fight in a tournament that's being run by Teddie.

You can access all 13 characters in Arcade mode, but only have four to begin within story mode. Story mode is more for RPGaholics, I am such a person, but all the script with added actions felt like reading a book and it was half an hour before I actually got to fight - irritating players who just want to get down to business.

If you are an RPG enthusiast it’s worth trying the Lesson mode which is a glorified name for tutorial where you are taught basics from how to walk, to how to summon your Persona, and rather than the inelegant Beginner Mode control system from BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, every player has access to a basic combo that dials out whenever you tap the attack button repeatedly.

You enter an Awakening state that unlocks your most potent super moves when your HP falls to 35%. What's interesting is that you have to mash the attack buttons - in a similar style to some Marvel 3 supers - to get as many hits as possible before launching your opponent.

Challenge mode offers a total of 390 combo trials, so you won’t get bored of this game too quickly. Playing online is a must, though most European players have moved on from their early release. You can also customise the eight-player lobbies to attract a certain fighter, or to bar players with slow connections. Another fun bonus feature lets you build a three-word title out of a huge list of over 3000 words.

The only fault in this game is the longwinded narrative in story mode, it isn’t integral to know Princess Yukiko has dropped carrots on the floor and is bending to pick them up, not to mention all the shameless plugging of Atlus and Arc System littered all over the place. The graphics of the backgrounds and hand drawn anime cut scenes are great to watch and the music adds a contemporary feel to the game. The American voice actors do a great job, which is quite rare, so it’s all the finer details that make the game complete for the beat’em up player.

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Aisha Anime ^_^