Luke's Anime Reviews #1: Soul Eater NOT!

Prequels are an interesting case in any medium. Usually, they're released after an original series has had success. Sometimes they're focused on the same characters before the events of the main story, or the leads are completely different characters. Things like The Kill Order by James Dashner, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, or The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare (with more stuff from her on the way, much to everyone's joy and anger) are examples in the book world, and Fate/Zero sticks out as a primary example in anime. They seem to only attract people who have read the stuff that came before it, which seems strange to me. Wouldn't some people prefer to go into the work that takes place before the main book or series starts?

Soul Eater NOT! is another one of those special cases. First published as a spin-off to Soul Eater in January 2011, the series took place prior to the events in the first series and with different characters as the leads. The minute I saw the manga at Barnes & Noble, I knew it would eventually be adapted into an anime series, and when the announcement arrived, I wasn't surprised in the slightest. I managed to watch a couple of episodes as it was airing in the spring of 2014, but I wasn't able to finish the series until as of recently, when I got the chipboard box set for my birthday.

For some reason, people love to hate on this series, mostly because of its animation and because it's the complete opposite of Soul Eater in pretty much every aspect. I've only been able to watch 25 episodes of the original series in the past 3 years, which is really unfortunate (I mean, I got the series for Christmas 2 years ago, you would think that I would be caught up now). Alas, I still wanted to experience Soul Eater NOT!, and I knew I would be in for a fun ride.

So what happened? Did Soul Eater NOT! turn out to be fun? Or was it disappointing?

Luke's Music Reviews #3: Delirium by Ellie Goulding

Sometimes, people stumble upon a new artist that they immediately like randomly. It could be through a song that plays on the radio, a scroll through iTunes to look at the New Artists section (or Single of the Week, back in the day), or an ad that pops up on YouTube or on TV. No matter the case, anything can happen, and it allows people to acquire a new favorite singer or group.

My brother first stumbled upon Ellie Goulding on a random trip through the UK Amazon to see new Rainbow Magic books (we were very weird children). I immediately found her pretty (I had a blonde obsession as a child; again, I was weird) and I was interested in listening to her. I took the first step in searching up her music, found "Lights" in April 2011, and was immediately hooked. That song stuck in my memory for a while, and when it began to grace mainstream radio airwaves in early 2012, I was surprised. At the time, Goulding gaining success here in the US boggled my mind, but now, three years later, we have her third album, Delirium, and the successes of "Lights", "Anything Could Happen", "Burn", and the surprise hit in "Love Me Like You Do."

When this new album was announced, I became really excited, and the first single "On My Mind" was great. However, I felt it lacked some of Goulding's identity on the first couple of listens. Since those first listens, the song has grown on me massively, and with every pre-order single that came out, my hopes grew and grew.

Plus, Goulding herself stated that she wanted to take this record in a grandiose pop direction, and judging from all of the songs that came out before hand, she had succeeded that goal. But would a full length album deliver? And would I enjoy it as much as I had enjoyed Lights, Halcyon, and Halcyon Days?