Angel's Anime Rating Guide

Another off-topic post. After my recent adventures with Microsoft Solitaire , I decided to try my hand at resurrecting some of my DOS era games. Of particular interest was an early first-person shooter called Doom . After a quick peek into the depths of the internet, I came across a project called the Doomsday Engine . The Doomsday Engine is a port of the original Doom rendering engine using updated technologies to breath new life into the old Doom maps. Once I had the Doomsday version of Doom up and running, it wasn't long before I stumbled across a similar effort for Wolfenstien 3D called ECWolf . ECWolf is similar to the Doomsday Engine in that it is a port of the original rendering engine that can read the old map data for Wolfenstien 3D . After ECWolf , I came across an impressive MOD for Doomsday that simulates Corridor 7 . After my success with the these two applications, I came across another project called DOSBox . DOSBox differs from the previous applicat...

I picked up  Non Non Biyori ... Season 1 When Hotaru Ichijo transfers from a school in bustling Tokyo to a tiny school in a quiet countryside village, she should be experiencing major culture shock. After all, there are only three other girls in the school, and none of them are even in the same grade as her. But adjusting isn't too hard for Hotaru thanks to first grader Renge and the Koshigaya sisters, Natsumi and Komari, who are in the seventh and eighth grade respectively. Even though it takes 20 minutes by bicycle to get to the only place that sells comics and the video store is 10 train stations away, there's something about the laid-back lifestyle that makes her feel right at ease. It's a big change from the big city, but there are still plenty of new adventures to look forward to as Hotaru learns that home really is where the heart is. Season 2 Even though there are still only five students who attend the remote Asahigaoka Branch School, each one of the girls...

This subject is very off-topic, but, after trawling the depths of the internet for a couple of days, I thought I would share my experience. Your mileage may vary. Recently, I picked up a Windows 8.1-based PC. The PC came bundled with new XBox-ified versions of Microsoft Solitaire . I'm reasonably OK with the new Solitaire, but, it does complain mildly when I refuse to provide an XBox account log in. It also complains when it can't share scores. And, more recently, it is apparently pissed that I added the Microsoft Store Broker to the list of blocked applications in my firewall. And now, with Windows 10 looming, there's word that the next version of Solitaire will complain bitterly with nag boxes to play Solitaire for free. In light of these disturbing developments, I decided to take some decisive action in advance of a planned upgrade to Windows 10. The internet is wise, but, sadly, it took quite a while longer than I expected to find the wisdom I was looking for. The...

Recently, I picked up  Knights Of Sidonia ... A thousand years after the alien Gauna destroyed the Earth, a small remnant of humanity still fights on to survive, fleeing on the gargantuan asteroid-based spaceship Sidonia. But centuries of flight and warfare have changed mankind in incredible ways: genetic engineering has allowed humans to photosynthesize like plants, reproduction occurs through cloning, and a third gender has been created to balance the population. Even though it's been a century since the last encounter with the Gauna, military service is mandatory, with all those able enough enlisted to pilot the Garde robots that stand as Sidonia's front line of defense. For Nagate Tanikaze, whose grandfather secretly hid him in the forgotten bowels of the asteroid, it's a strange new world as he's forced to come to the surface and join the ranks of defenders. Yet his recruitment comes just in time, for the Gauna have suddenly reappeared, and what could be ma...

Recently, I picked up Noragami ... Minor god Yato is down on his luck. Fed up with his slacker lifestyle, his partner abruptly quits. He has no money, no worshipers, and no shrine to call home. But just when things are starting to seem hopeless, a bus accident forces him to cross paths with Hiyori Iki, a sweet and perky high school girl. After the accident, Hiyori's soul has a bad habit of slipping out of her body, and after enlisting Yato's help to get her back to normal, she begins to fall into the world of spirits and gods. But Hiyori's not the only one who's keeping tabs on Yato. A god from Yato's past is back, and he's not interested in a friendly reunion. Noragami looked like something I might like. After watching a few episodes, the relationship between Yota and his shinki -- a disembodied soul that can transform into a weapon as needed -- is bit strange. Yota's shinki is bound to the will of Yota, but, doesn't always obey or even respect To...

Over the weekend, I picked up  Expelled from Paradise ... With Earth now left in ruins following the "Nano Hazard," most of humanity has abandoned the planet they once called home along with their physical bodies and rebuilt their digitalized minds into a society within the cyber universe of "DEVA." A.D. 2400, DEVA's central council detects an incident of unauthorized access into their mainframe. Someone on Earth was trying to hack into the system. The only information DEVA was able to retrieve was that the hacker referred to himself as "Frontier Setter." To investigate the mysterious hacker's motives, the high officials of DEVA dispatch System Security Third Officer Angela Balzak to the Earth's surface. Equipped with a prosthetic "material body," Angela attempts to make contact with a local agent Dingo, but what awaited her instead was a swarm of Sandworms now infesting the Earth's surface. Angela intercepts the gruesome pe...

Over the weekend, I saw Inside Out ... Emotions run wild in the mind of a little girl who is uprooted from her peaceful life in the Midwest and forced to move to San Francisco in this Pixar adventure from director Pete Docter (Up, Monsters Inc.). Young Riley was perfectly content with her life when her father landed a new job in San Francisco, and the family moved across the country. Now, as Riley prepares to navigate a new city and attend a new school, her emotional headquarters becomes a hot bed of activity. As Joy (voice of Amy Poehler) attempts to keep Riley feeling happy and positive about the move, other emotions like Fear (voice of Bill Hader), Anger (voice of Lewis Black), Disgust (voice of Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) make the transition a bit more complicated. I've been looking forward to seeing Inside Out for a while, so, this weekend, Mom and I went to see it in the theater. We left over an hour early, but, there was a lot of traffic on Columbus Bouleva...