"I'm the strongest man alive!"

Rokka no Yuusha (or Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers) was an anime that was recommended to me by a friend who knows me well enough to know what I like in an anime and that's characters, characters, characters.

When the Majin awakes from the depths of darkness, the deity of fate selects six heroes and bequeaths them with the power to save the world. Adlet, a boy who proclaims himself the strongest man in the world, has been selected among "The Heroes of the Six Flowers". However, as the heroes gather, they soon begin to suspect that someone amongst them is an imposter. (source)

Early on in the series, I was unsure as to what the actual genre of the anime was going to be. I couldn't tell if it was an adventure series, a shounen, etc. Surprisingly, it began to lean toward being a fantasy based mystery series which made the entire week I spent binge watching it an utter joy. I love shows that make you think alongside the characters, trying to figure out the solution to a problem or figuring out 'whodunnit' (it's why I liked Danganronpa so much). While the entire season was primarily focused on, "Who is the seventh, and therefore fake, brave?" and not at all on the ultimate problem of the Demon God, the intrigue of the mystery and the wonderfully diverse cast of characters  made that unimportant.

The characters in this show are the best part of this show. It's fairly difficult to ensure characters in a fantasy anime don't fall into the same overused tropes but Rokka no Yuusha manages to create interesting and colorful characters that keep you invested in the story. Not to mention the designs of these characters (pictured above) are the best I've seen in quite some time. They're just nice to look at.  They each have they're own individual powers and specialties as well which made them even more complex. Nachetania's ability in particular was something I always looked forward to seeing since her ability to use and direct blades was pretty cool looking.

There were a couple of times toward the beginning where I noticed animation errors but nothing too crazy and the CGI was a little jarring in comparison the the rest of the animation. For me, the art itself was visually pleasing enough (and the story interesting enough) to compensate for such little things.

All in all, it's been a long while since I've watched an anime that had me as hyped as Death Parade back in January and while this particular anime doesn't quite live up to the masterpiece that is Death Parade, it is certainly high on my list and I recommend that you give it a watch if you're ever looking for something enjoyable.

xx Anna

Rock Out With Your Socks Out | 5 Seconds of Summer

On September 9th 2015, a friend and I embarked on a spontaneous 11 hour journey to Raleigh, North Carolina in order to see one of our favorite bands play in their first ever headline tour. 5 Seconds of Summer played their aptly named 'Rock Out With Your Socks Out' show with the kind of energy and talent that you wouldn't necessarily expect from a band so young and made the entire travel ordeal worth every second.

Arriving at the Walnut Creek Amphitheater around 2pm, VIP lanyards in tow, the sun high in the sky beating down on us like it was trying to make a point that it was the bigger man, we stood in line for 2 more hours before being led like sheep into the venue. A stroke of good luck landed us sat directly center in front of the stage extension in the second row so when the boys trotted out for the Q&A session, it was intimate enough to feel like sitting with friends at dinner.

Questions were asked and they questions were (mostly) answered and they played Jet Black Heart and She's Kinda Hot for us. They looked understandably exhausted, this being the 63rd show of their first tour and having just had a regrettable hotel stalking experience the previous night in Charlotte, but still managed to make jokes and appear grateful for fan support. Ashton told us an amazing story about Michael dipping his balls in Ash's ice bucket after the Charlotte show, during which Michael turned a bright red and attempted to hide his face in his hands while yelling, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TOLD THEM THIS STORY. I WAS IN A VULNERABLE STATE". Luke was barefoot, bare-armed, and sipping what looked like tea, casually kicking his feet to and fro against the stage. Calum remained mostly quiet but still egregiously friendly despite the obnoxious 14 year old girls screaming at him about the hole in his pants.

The show itself was such a banger. The energy was high, the lights were bright, the music was loud and rocking. 5 Seconds of Summer delivered a show that was everything I expected it to be and the talent exemplified was of musicians far beyond their individual years (Ashton Irwin, in particular, is one of the most talented drummers I've ever seen perform live). The show had enough personality to fill the entire venue and then some despite the 30-40 minute delay halfway through for the bad weather ("I wanna say thanks to the weather for being an asshole. So fuck you, sky." - Michael Clifford).

All in all, I'm really glad we decided to drop everything and splurge a little to see this show. It was worth the money spent 100 percent and if you're a fan of 5 Seconds of Summer I highly suggest you invest in going to see a show sometime in your life. They're genuinely cool guys and are supremely talented.