Tag Archives: High School of the Dead

Bakacast Briefs – Dude, Where’s My Zombie?

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Jon was feeling sick and Chris was out of town, so it’s just Glen, Larry, Jeagle and me on this episode of Bakacast Briefs. Glen and I do most of the talking during the first half, where we review Break Blade, a suprisingly zombie-free episode of HOTD and Occult Academy. Then we turn the podcast over to Larry and Jeagle so they can talk about what is basically the finale of K-ON!!. We end the show with Twitter questions and uncontrollable laughter, just like a cheesy 80s sitcom. Far out!

This episode covers:

  • Break Blade #2
  • Highschool of the Dead #11
  • Occult Academy #11
  • K-ON!! #24

A list of our Bakacast Affiliates can be found here. Be sure to check out their blogs!

[Music used in this episode is “Game Boy Rock” by Wizwars.]

Bakacast Briefs – May The Quartz Be With You

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Despite the allure of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, I managed to get this podcast out in a somewhat timely fashion. See? Sometimes miracles really do happen.

Anyway, in this episode we skip the news in favor of two extra reviews: Chris and Larry talk about Working!!,and everyone debates the strengths and weaknesses of Broken Blade (or Break Blade, if you want to be a title purist). We keep our griping about Highschool of the Dead to a bare (Haha! Get it?) minimum so we can quickly move on to more interesting things. Like how awesome it would be to live like a Pokemon trainer.

Anime covered in this episode:

  • Working!! (entire series)
  • Broken Blade #1
  • Highschool of the Dead #10
  • Occult Academy #10
  • K-ON!! #22 and #23

A list of our Bakacast Affiliates can be found here. Be sure to check out their blogs!

[Music used in this episode is “Broken Machine” by Trace Dragon XVI K.]

Bakacast Briefs – Metroid Rage

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The last Metroid in in captivity… but the fanboys are not at peace.

On this week’s Bakacast, we delve into the world of video games and examine how the new Wii game Metroid: Other M completely destroys Samus Aran’s character. Since both Dustin and I are pretty big Metroid fans, there’s plenty of hilariously impotent fanboy rage thrown around. After that, we get around to our usual anime reviews, wherein we address whether or not protagonists such as HotD’s Takashi should have sex. Finally, we answer some decidedly serious Twitter questions as best we can.

  • Highschool of the Dead #9
  • Occult Academy #9
  • K-ON!! 22 (We didn’t review this because Jeagle was absent. Hopefully we’ll get to it next week.)

A list of our Bakacast Affiliates can be found here. Be sure to check out their blogs!

Opening music is “Menu Theme” from Metroid Prime. Ending music is “Samus’ Lonely Waltz” by blackguitar.

Review: Highschool of the Dead 9

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This is a guest post written by The Austin Critic. Check out his blog here!

I don’t get Highschool of the Dead. There are times when it’s trying to be a gritty zombie show, and other times when it’s a completely over-the-top, fanservice filled action show. For example, the previous episodes had scenes which featured realistic weapon handling and a few uses of strategy, giving me the impression that this was a realistic portrayal of the zombie apocalypse. The next minute however, the main characters suddenly gain the abilities of Schwarzenegger and start dodging bullets, using weaponry, driving CG military vehicles into hordes of zombies and plowing through countless undead with melee weapons. It also doesn’t help that the fanservice just stops any chance that anyone could take this show seriously. This episode was further proof that this series is having an identity crisis, as one minute it decides to show the mental conflicts that Saeko has gone through before and during this zombie apocalypse, only to completely discard this serious subject matter with fanservice.

Read more after the break.

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Bakacast Briefs – Chupacabra Attack!

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On this episode of Bakacast Briefs, we take an trip to Bizarro World, where the only show that manages to impress us is Highschool of the Dead. Of course, it doesn’t impress for any good reasons, but still. Weird, huh?

Anyway, in addition to the reviews, we briefly discuss a minor controversy concerning an ad for an Arizona sushi bar and answer some very strange Twitter questions from our faithful listeners.

The shows we talk about, as usual, are:

  • Highschool of the Dead #8 (sadly, the infamous supersonic boob scene video was taken down off YouTube)
  • Occult Academy #8
  • K-ON!! #21

[Music used in this episode is “S U P E R S C A R Y” by The Kiffness.]

Review: Highschool of the Dead 7

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lol BOOBIES!!!!!!

Let me tell you something about myself that you may not know: I don’t like living in a bubble. I tend to browse other anime forums and blogs, because I like seeing what other critics have to say about the shows I’m watching. Often times I’ll find at least one intelligently-stated point that I didn’t think of, which is always a fun experience for me. However, as I was looking over comments about Highschool of the Dead, I noticed that there tends to be a pattern in the backlash toward negative reviews. Some fans believe reviewers like me aren’t being fair to the show.

“Why are you judging it so harshly?” they ask. “It’s not supposed to be deep or meaningful or smart. It’s trying to be silly, flashy fun!”

And you know what? Maybe they have a point. Maybe I’m approaching the show all wrong. I mean, if its goal is to be shallow, pandering, inconsistent and misogynistic, then why should I criticize it for hitting the mark?

Truly, I have seen the light; and to celebrate my epiphany, I’m making this review an extra-special one. I’ve decided to put as much effort into it as the writers of Highschool of the Dead put into their show.

*ahem*

It’s stupid, it sucks, and I hate it.

…

What? You want to know why I don’t like HotD #7? You think what I wrote is far too brief and vague to be of any use at all as a review?

Well of course my review is shallow, boring and worthless. It’s supposed to be! Since I’ve clearly met my goals perfectly, it wouldn’t be fair to post negative opinions about it.

Suck it, critics!

Bakacast Briefs – Bang Bang! Boobies!

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Have we mentioned breasts yet? We have? Okay, just making sure. It seems like a pretty good way to get a bunch of listeners.

Anyway, we start of this week’s podcast by talking about the most popular anime and video game names Japanese parents give their kids. Though we each had different favorites, we all agreed that it would be super awkward to name your daughter after a character you own a wallscroll of.

After that, we take on:

There’s no Sengoku Basara 2 review today, because I’m an idiot and forgot to watch the most recent episode. GO ME!

[The music used in this episode is “TV Games” by The Kiffness.]

Review: Highschool of the Dead 6

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"Hold on, Takashi. I think I see a quarter."

So, remember when I said last week’s episode of Highschool of the Dead was the worst one yet? Allow me to amend that statement.

Episode 6 is even worse, by a large margin. It’s misogynistic, insulting, stupid, and some of it doesn’t even make sense. In was a complete and utter waste of my time, and I probably lost a few hundred brain cells just watching it. I kid you not, it’s quite possibly one of the worst episodes of any anime I’ve ever seen. And that’s counting Angel Cop.

So if you really want to know why HotD has inspired such rage in me, click the jump.

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Bakacast Briefs – Put Ya Guns On!

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ARE YOU READY GUYS?

Now that I’m back from my vacation, I can finally inject some much-needed silliness (and bromance) into the podcast with Sengoku Basara 2. There’s no news for this week, so you might notice that all that pent up discussion energy causes us to GET SERIOUS about…well…every show we talk about. So if you decide to listen, I hope you like arguments about world-building theory. Otherwise, you’ll need LOTS OF LUCK to make it through.

We take on:

You may notice I’m more forgiving of HotD #5 in the podcast than I am in my review. Funny how time makes the heart hate stronger, isn’t it?

Anyway, we like hearing from you, so feel free to leave a comment or two. Just don’t get SO CRAZY that the mods have to BREAK IT UP.

…okay, I’m done now.

[The opening and ending music is “Boy Walks Girl to Work and is Followed by a Ghost” by .hnz]

Review: Highschool of the Dead 5

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DRAMATIC TEAM POSE!

The fifth episode of Highschool of the Dead is a perfect example of how to kill your momentum. Even though I may not have liked all of the previous episodes, I think they did a good job of slowly building the tension and scope of the zombie epidemic. By contrast, this week’s episode meanders toward the resolutions of problems that were brought up last week. It doesn’t help that the writing is a mixed bag of good, mediocre and terrible characterizations. These problems combine to create what is arguably the worst episode of the series so far.

I’ll explain why after the jump.

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