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The Bird is the Word: Sophisticated Schoolyard Shenanigans

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Review of the Anime Fate/Stay Night [Unlimited Blade Work]

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By James Zheng, Anime/Game Expert Reviewer for thebirdonfire.org

Hey guys, today I bring you another impressive anime. Before we get into the review, I need to tell you why this title is so long. Well, this anime, Fate/Stay Night, has a previous edition, which was actually terrible. And since this anime is a product of a series, not a single work, and the official announcement says that they will remake this anime, it becomes Fate/Stay Night[Unlimited Blade Work]. This action saved this anime indeed, as it has been improved a lot in many aspects.

Fate/Stay Night, which is also known as FSN, is actually edited from a visual novel game, so it is originally designed by Type-Moon, and it is published by three companies: Aniplex, Notes, and Ufotable. In fact, Ufotable finishes most of the work such as the scripting and producing of the episodes. FSN is also directed by Takahiro Miura.

FSN generated an artistic performance from the game that gives you a sense of fantasy. The strong special effects and 3D animation are perfectly presented in this anime. When all those elements are mixed together in a fighting scene, it displays an exciting moment with realistic feeling. Also, the soundtrack plays a significant role in FSN, as it always fits in at a key moment.

The story of FSN is full of supernatural elements. In other words, this anime is designed based on fantasy. The storyline begins with a war called the Holy Grail War, where there are seven participants who are selected by the Holy Grail (The Holy Grail narrative is developed after the legend of King Arthur). Their purpose is to eliminate each other in order to obtain the Holy Grail, which can fulfill any wishes the winning participant desires. Those seven participants are called Masters, and they have to summon their own fighter to fight for the Holy Grail. Those fighters are Servants, and each of them will have different abilities. Therefore, there will be fourteen participants in total. But the fifth Holy Grail War, which is about to be held, is not going to follow the normal routine.

So finally, to make sure that anime won’t be spoiled, my review is over here. To know more details and enjoy more appealing moments, start to watch FSN[Unlimited Blade Work] right now!

*I recommend you catch FSN[Unlimited Blade Work] on 9anime.to.

 

Note: FSN[Unlimited Blade Work] is recommended for those who are fifteen or older.

                     FSN[Unlimited Blade Work] has a prequel called Fate/Zero, but it doesn’t affect anything if you just wanna watch Unlimited Blade Work. You can also watch both if you want to.

Editor: AJ Patencio

Review of The Grisaia Trilogy

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By James Zheng

Hey guys, this is a non-popular anime for you all. Well, I mean a non-popular anime that is absolutely fabulous and extraordinary. You might be wondering, how can a non-popular anime be fabulous and extraordinary? Let me tell you three things–this anime was not published nor developed by a famous company; the company did not advertise the anime; and I can tell you that there is not even a Wikipedia about this anime. After I finish this, you may have even more questions to ask, but the popularity does not really affect the quality of an anime. Just watch it first before you give comments.

The Grisaia Trilogy includes three seasons: the Labyrinth of Grisaia (Grisaia no Meikyuu), the Fruit of Grisaia (Grisaia no Kajitsu), and the Eden of Grisaia (Grisaia no Rakuen)–ordered according to the time of publishing. And the most important thing before we go into the introduction, I am not a spoiler! I only tell the attractive elements in this anime instead of telling you the plot or the details.

The Grisaia Trilogy was actually edited from a game produced by Front Wings when it was published by Geneon Entertainment. The figure of characters and making of episodes are designed by 8-bit, which also has designed a few animes such as Infinite Stratos and Rewrite.

The Grisaia Trilogy has an ideal performance of art. It does not look quite realistic but gives audiences a sense of comfort since the artistic style shows characters’ faces and actions that are not tense. In other words, the style of its art does not give any excitement but rather a sense of relaxation as you watch it. Also, each season of Grisaia gives you a different story. It makes you feel like watching three separate animes, which is not a weird thing because the stories are connected to each other. At this point, what really makes an anime too boring to watch? Since other animes are too long (over a hundred episodes), you don’t even know which episode is going to be the last. Or it is lack in creativity? You might say, “I have watched a similar one before this.” Well, those issues won’t apply to The Grisaia Trilogy because it gives you three separate stories to watch. The first season has thirteen episodes; the second season is only one episode (about forty-eight minutes), and the third season has ten episodes. Each episode is an outstanding work, and you won’t spend a long time finishing it.

Let’s go to the story part. Briefly, this anime tells a story between a boy and five girls. To be more specific, it’s how the hero helps those girls to extricate from the shadow of their dark past. Well, that is what the first season tells. The second season introduces the prequel to the first season. But, in the last season, it’s how the girls save the hero from his shadow, which is opposite from the first season. To summarize, the most attractive piece of The Grisaia Trilogy is the detailed expression of psychological emotion of characters in the first season, and the humanity is perfectly presented by several figures of character in the third season. Those are the most excellent aspects of the trilogy.

After all those deep introductions, if you are interested in this anime, watch it right after you finish reading my review! Whether you are interested or not, watch the first episode. Then, decide!

 

Note: The Grisaia is recommended for those who are 17 or older.

I recommend you watch the Grisaia Trilogy on a website called 9anime.to by searching its Japanese name.

Editor: Holden Hartle

 

Review of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Adventure of Freedom

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By Gamer and Blogger James Zheng

The fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls was not only a breakthrough among the previous seasons, but it also achieved a really high rating from many credible gaming publications. Before I tell you how wonderful this game is, I am going to give you some basic introductions.

Skyrim was published by Bethesda Softworks; some gamers may have heard of this company. They are famous for their open worlds and letting people apply mods to their games. In other words, you have the power to edit every element in the game as you want to. The story of Skyrim was directed by Todd Howard; he has also designed the story of the Fallout games before Skyrim. Some other designers include Bruce Nesmith, Kurt Kuhlmann, and Emil Pagliarulo. They are all professionals at creating role-playing games, which are also known as RPGs.

Skyrim does an excellent job in its realistic depiction of the environment. It does not require a high power computer configuration or system.

Skyrim is completely different from the traditional RPG as it is far more interesting than other RPGs! In Skyrim, you don’t have to follow the main quest line. It’s your choice to follow the main quest or do some of the many side quests. You may want to go into the ruins to find hidden treasures or find a guild to join. Ninety-nine percent of gamers do side quests while they are exploring the world. The map is really large and gives you more than 50 hours of entertainment. In other RPGs, it has always been a hard decision to choose a class. Mage or warrior? Rogue or archer? Well, you don’t need to worry about that in Skyrim. You only have to choose the race, things like orc or elf. All the classes are unified; you can use all kinds of weapons. It all depends on your preference. If you really want, you can choose to specialize in only one class.  

I mentioned mods earlier; you may have heard these applied to Minecraft. If you install the mod into Skyrim, you are putting something in that is not part of the original part of the game. You could change the look of your character, or you could change the weather and buildings in the game and all kinds of elements in Skyrim, et cetera. However, the system of achievements will be closed if you install mods, in order to prevent earning easy achievements.

That’s almost all of it! It’s your turn to explore the rest of the big world. If you are interested in playing RPG games and want to try a unique style of RPG, you should probably buy and start your journey in Skyrim! Skyrim is supported by XBOX, PlayStation, and PC. It is a little bit expensive at $39.99, but the good thing is this game is often on sale.  

Note: This game is rated “M” for Mature.

Editor: Luke Langlois