Clannad Windows 7 Themepack

Here are some Windows 7 themepacks I made. Enjoy!

Download and installation instructions: Click on the themepack name and follow the instructions on the Hotfile page to download the themepack. Double click on the file to activate the theme. Note:

My screensize resolution is 1680 x 1050 pixels (widescreen). I’m not sure how these would look on different screen resolutions, but give them a try anyway.

Clannad Themepack – Includes 33 Clannad wallpapers that rotate randomly every so often (but not too often!) with a transparent ocean blue color scheme. A must have for the Clannad fan!

Muramasa: The Demon Blade Themepack – Includes 10 Muramasa: The Demon Blade wallpapers that rotate randomly every so often (but not too often!) with a transparent blue color scheme. A must have for the Muramasa: The Demon Blade fan!

President Maa is "dekkai kawaii"!

Here are some Aria wallpapers I made for the iPhone and iPod Touch. All images are 320 x 480 pixels. Enjoy.

GM Magnus Carlsen (2826) vs. The World

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.0-0 e5 A bold choice.

[A good alternative is 7…Bf5 8.d5 Na5 =]

8.d5 Ne7 9.e4 c6

[A stronger idea is 9.Nd7 10.Ne1 f5 +=]

10.a4 Bg4 11.a5 cxd5 12.cxd5 Qd7 Developing for development’s sake; not a good idea.

[12…b5 The World needs to be more aggressive and claim space lest he be rolled off the board 13.axb6 Qxb6 14.Qd3 +=]

13.Be3 Carlsen has an active position Rfc8

[13…Nxe4 had to be tried 14.Nxe4 f5 15.Neg5 +/-]

14.Qa4 Ne8 15.Nd2 Qd8 16.Qb4 Nc7 Hoping the world’s number 1 player will play 17.Qxb7?? Rb8.

[Better is 16…Rcb8 17.Nc4 +/-]

17.Nc4

[17.h3!? Bd7 18.Qxd6 Ne8 +- looks even better]

17…Na6 +/- 18. Qxb7 Rxc4 19.Qxa6 Rb4 20.f3 Bc8 21.Qe2 f5 22.Qd2 Ba6 23.Rfc1 Qb8 24.Na4 Rb3 25.Rc3 Rb4 26.Rca3 f4 27.Bf2 Bh6

[27…fxg3!? is better 28.hxg3 Rb3 +-]

28.Nb6 fxg3 29.Qxb4 gxf2+ 30.Kxf2 Bc8? The World crumbles from the pressure.

[30…Bf4 offers more resistance. 31.Bh3 Bc8 32.Be6+ Kg7 +-]

31.Rb3 axb6 32.Qxb6 Qa7 33.a6 Kf7 34.Qxa7 Rxa7 35.Rb6 Ke8 36.Rxd6 Bf8

[36…Bg5 does not save the day 37.Bf1 Bd7 38.Rb6 +-]

37.Rb6 Nxd5 38.Rb8 Bc5+ 39.Kg3 Ne7 40.Bh3 Kd8

[40…Bd6 the only chance to get some counter play 41.Rxc8+ Nxc8 42.Bxc8 Bc5 +-]

41.Bxc8 Nxc8 42.Rc1 Rc7

[42…Be3 is not much help 43.Rcxc8+ Kd7 44.Rd8+ Ke7 45.Re8+ Kd7 46.Rxe5 Rxa6 47.Rb7+ Kd6 48.Rd5+ Ke6 49.Rxh7 +-]

43.Rxc5! the final blow Rxc5 44.a7 Black resigns.

[44.a7 Ra5 45.a8=Q Rxa8 46.Rxa8 +-]

At the beginning of the season, Azuma is looking for one of the few people he remembers from the old Seishu team: Miki, who also displayed intense desire to win Koshien. The two superstars were separated ever since the farm team had soundly beaten Daimon’s Seishu team. We see Daimon’s arrogance back in full swing as he speaks a big game in front of Junpei and Aoba. Meanwhile, Shido, Seishu’s former manager, is back at the school to do a photo shoot. In an act of gratitude, she refuses to do the shoot in the baseball field which would only interfere with Seishu’s preparations.

Love is painful, eh?

The Seishu players then take their turns trying failing to make a deal with Aoba that if they do so-and-so, they could go on a date with her. Even Azuma offers “Two homeruns”. In flirty fashion, Kou makes an offer that if he pitches double digit strikeouts, Aoba would “spare” him from a date. This prompts Aoba to give him a look of confusion attraction and chases him around the field with a bat. On the day of the match, Seishu rolls past Matsunami behind Kou’s impressive 10 strikeouts. Aoba then unknowingly blurts out “that bastard,” under her breath as Kou get’s his 10^th strikeout (aww she likes him).

After the match, there is a rare scene between them where Kou asks vaguely if she likes the clever types. It is vague because he could be talking about baseball or clever as in she fancies clever guys. I think it’s the latter ahem… Daimon’s team faces Sena (Miki’s team). Playing exactly the way he did against the farm team, Daimon refuses to play his best players. Miki ends up punishing him by hitting amazing an infield homerun and pitching/fielding flawlessly on defense to win the game. Now that Daimon is probably out for good (karma lmao), Seishu will face Miki and Sena in the next match. Miki appears to be a great offensive and defensive option for Sena. Will Seishu be able to advance to the next round? [/end tension building question]

Review

Overall, episode 43 is yet another great episode of Cross Game. It is funny, charming, and displayed the baseball and romantic developments that we have been waiting for, for weeks now. Hopefully this sets the tone on future episodes.

***½ out of 4 stars (Excellent)

Story – 9

Lovely Complex or LoveCom’s story is a really funny love story. It demonstrates the immense joy and pain one usually feels when falling for someone, confessing, getting rejected, and getting back up again to live another day. In addition, all the awkward and hilarious moments are done in excellent fashion. Not to mention, it tackles an oddity: tall girl falls for a short guy and is actually making the moves towards the relationship. My only qualm about the story is the small fillers near the end of the show which kept it from getting a 10. Nevertheless, I was truly impressed with the story and direction.

Animation – 9

The animation fit in really well with the series. I really like the character designs, especially for Koizumi. As the main character, her facial expressions displayed the emotions needed for each scene. The same could be said for the other characters to a lesser extent, but Koizumi’s art style stood out the most and brought this show to another level in terms of emotion and comedy. It was the driving force that meshed well with whatever the situation was at hand.

Characters – 9

The two main characters, Koizumi and Otani, are extremely fun to watch. There is not much in terms of back story for either character, but what they do during the story add to their great personalities. With the characters going back and forth, there is never a dull moment. The other characters are great too and add to the humor and emotion of the show.

Sound – 9

The first OP and ED are much better than the 2^nd ones. Tegomass’ “Kimi + Boku = Love?” (OP) manages to create the charming atmosphere of the show while “Kiss ~Kaerimichi no Love Song~” (ED) is a great song in and of itself, with its soft melodies and easy listening feel. In addition, the background music did a great job in reinforcing and portraying emotions and funny situations throughout the show. Koizumi and Otani’s voice actors were perfect for the job and had amazing chemistry.

Enjoyment – 10

I was really impressed with the show overall and it was a lot of fun to watch. I’m glad I picked this series as I was searching for something different to watch from what I normally do. Every episode is genuinely funny, and charmingly non-cliché (fresh, to me anyways – with the tall girl liking the short guy and doing something about it, completely opposite of what we think today!) Definitely a must watch for those who like a natural good comedy, and those who like love stories.

Average Series Rating – 9.2 – Excellent

Story – 9

Kino’s Journey is an episodic drama that chronicles Kino’s visit to each country. Along the way, you discover peoples’ outward appearances clashing with their inner characters. Some will shock you and disturb you, others will leave you in disbelief, but all will touch your heart. Pacing wise, Kino’s Journey is a slow moving anime in a good way.

Animation – 8

The animation is rather simple, yet it is not without its charm. With a few faults here or there (minor nitpicking), the character designs and backgrounds are done well enough. Further, Kino’s childlike stature is part of a bigger purpose: to have you guessing about Kino’s gender.

Characters – 9

Kino and Hermes: a human and a motorrad; the show revolves around these two characters. The characters neither change nor grow for the better after each struggle, but they are still nonetheless worthwhile characters in the show. Perhaps as you watch each episode, you will begin to understand why Kino’s demeanor never changes.

Sound – 9

The OP and ED of this show are great. I would highly recommend watching this one with the Japanese voice actors and English subs; if anything to avoid getting spoilt on Kino’s gender. Kino’s English voice actor gives it away too easily. Anyway, the voice acting is good for both characters.

Enjoyment – 9

Overall this show is excellent and I enjoyed it. With just 13 episodes, the show manages to depict a lot of the characteristics in the world (happiness, sadness, pain, violence – including some disturbing things, beauty, wisdom, etc.). If you like or don’t mind the slow moving paced animes, I recommend you watch Kino’s Journey. Like the world that the show is portraying is beautiful, the anime manages to hold itself in a similar regard.

Average Series Rating: 8.8/10 – Very, Very Good

Summer Koshien is almost here. With that, Seishu is getting more pumped up for the upcoming baseball matches. This episode displays pieces of music that really stick out from the rest of the show. The easy going and nostalgic melodies of the background music add to the soothing pace of this episode. The romantic pace is picking up too.

Momiji playing catch with Kou

The baseball players confirm their attraction to Aoba, and so does her cousin. Akaishi walks Akane home without waking Kou, Junpei introduces Ichiyo to his family, Nakanishi and his girlfriend are getting along quite well, and so is Momiji and her boyfriend. Senda and Azuma do batting practice while everyone is out and about. During the batting practice, Azuma gives Senda advice on how to improve his role as the 1^st batter of Seishu.

Ozaki drops by to practice with Aoba, while Kou and Akaishi practice in their usual spot in the forest. The intense match-up between Aoba and Ozaki ends up with 2 strikes and 3 balls. Aoba’s last pitch is her fastest fast ball yet, causing Ozaki to swing and miss. It seems Seishu is ready for their first baseball game.

Review

Overall it is a great episode. It develops the slice of life side of the show and prepares us for what’s next. I’m looking forward to the baseball matches to see how much everyone has improved. Hopefully the romantic developments continue to progress amidst the games. Closer and closer we get to the end of the show (9 more episodes perhaps) and to realizing Wakaba’s dream.

***½ out of 4 stars (Excellent)

Cross Game’s latest episode has lots of development crammed into its 23 minute time frame. Several major plot developments were made. First, Seishu and Kurokoma (Daimon) are in the same side of the tournament bracket. This means that only one of them can advance and meet up with Ryuou in the finals. That said, Seishu’s practice is going well. Junpei is pushing everyone very hard in training. Rain or sunshine, they are out in the field honing their abilities. The lowerclassmen reveal that they approve of an Aoba and Azuma pairing, although Kou restrains himself from showing any reaction to that.

Aoba wishing a surprised Kou a very happy 18th day of birth.

Another interesting development comes from when Kou and Akaishi attend one of Akane’s art galleries. Kou says it was like an art explosion just to be nice. However, Akaishi seems to have appreciated Akane’s art more and tells her that her art is quite good.

This episode also contains lots of birthdays. Kou misjudges Azuma’s birthday a week early while Akane’s is revealed to be June 25^th. Kou and Wakaba’s 18^th birthday starts off with Kou visiting Wakaba’s and her mother’s grave, and soon meets up with Mr. Tsukishima. Kou tells him that he is no longer buying Wakaba gifts that she requested (but he IS keeping it- he buys her “slightly expensive earrings” for her 18^th birthday). Mr. Tsukishima tells him that it’s for the best and that Wakaba would have wanted everyone to find happiness. Finally, he tells Kou that when he meets someone else, he should introduce her to Wakaba. At the end of the day, Kou gets a cake from his guy friends, but settles for a beautiful cake made by Akane and a slice of cake possibly made by Aoba. If it was in fact made by Aoba, then this would have to be the first time a character ate something she made safely.

Aoba invites Akane to a sleepover where they talk about Kou the whole time. Aoba can’t really see what Wakaba saw in Kou, so Akane suggests that it is hard to see your positive qualities yourself. She notes that the two are very similar, and are both very charming. As she praises them both, Aoba calls for an end to the conversation (or else Aoba herself may realize that she likes him). Later, Azuma tells Aoba to give Kou a massage since he has been training very hard and could use it. During the massage, Aoba tells Kou that Akane loves them both just like Wakaba once did. Despite that, both of them know best that Akane isn’t Wakaba (as seen from an earlier game of catch between Aoba and Akane).

Review

Overall the only downside for this episode was its pacing. There is a lot of story told in this one episode that I would have liked to have been spread out into at least 2 episodes. Nevertheless, the episode is very entertaining, funny, and charming with all of the romantic and baseball developments.

**** (Perfect)

In this episode, there is apparently a guy stalking Akane, promptly making Kou walk her home after work. Turns out the guy turned to stalking Akane after getting scared of stalking Aoba. Who wouldn’t be scared of Aoba? Anyways, we get Aoba’s thoughts on playing for the women’s team or sticking with Seishu to get to Koshien. Also as expected, Aoba and Akane are getting closer than ever since Akane started working at Coffee Clover.

Junpei was awesome in this episode. He is so fired up during Seishu’s training, forcing them to work harder than ever. Junpei was a star player in his day, so it is definitely beneficial for Seishu to get a trainer as enthusiastic as him, even if he is just being played by Ichiyou. I especially loved the scene with Junpei and Aoba driving to watch Ryuou practice. Junpei was singing shamelessly about what he was thinking and Aoba telling him to shut it. ‘Twas a great scene.

Towards the end, Junpei asks what Aoba thinks of Yuhei. Aoba has some decisions she is going to need to make soon. I hope they don’t keep the triangle unsolved (unlike a certain anime I know).

**½ stars (Above Average)

Story – 10/10

Hajime no Ippo is a sports/boxing anime. The story itself is very captivating and exciting. In addition, there is plenty of comedy to go around and also lots of great boxing stories/matches. It is quite realistic and displays the hard work of the cast to overcome many of the obstacles that present themselves in the story. Further, there is very few filler (if any) episodes; thus, the story flows rather smoothly from one to the next.

Animation – 9/10

Instead of comparing and grading the animation with the standards today, I am going to compare it with a popular anime at or around the time of its release (2000). Great Teacher Onizuka (1999) is a very similar inspiring anime that was released prior to Hajime no Ippo. Ippo’s animation is actually fairly good in its time. It does the job well and the character designs grow on you as you watch the series.

Characters – 10/10

Hajime no Ippo features a great cast of Makunochi, Kimura, Takamura, Aoki, and a few others. Each character is developed quite well throughout the series, thus creating lots of great personalities to embellish the setting with. I felt compassion and sympathy with the characters as they dealt with hardships, which is a testament to how unforgettable these characters will be.

Sound – 9/10

I found the OP and ED quite good to pump you up for the boxing battles. The Trigun-like similarity works well here as the scenes were also quite intense (especially the matches and training). Voice acting is top notch and did its job quite well.

Enjoyment – 10/10

I was never bored and went through 76 episodes in a flash (around 2 weeks). I highly enjoyed this boxing anime even though I am not a boxer. I do watch boxing sometimes, but I found myself throwing a jab or two while watching this show. So in addition to be a great show in itself, I also learned a little bit about the sport. I highly recommend this show for people looking for an inspiring anime who doesn’t mind boxing/sports. This show is a classic and one of my favorite shows of all time.

Average Series Rating – 9.6/10 – Classic