To Aru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku Anime OP ED Opening Ending

Anime Countrouble Chapter 18

2011-04-20T02:34:00.005-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/countrouble/

Audio is a mixed beast with this DVD. The English dub comes across as tinny and distant in sound. The majority of the voices simply don't fit with the setting provided, and the acting leaves a lot to be desired. Voices for Fizz and Kiss seem well suited, with the actress for Fizz doing a good job of bringing out Fizz's personalities. The real disappointment is Shibas. The Japanese actor comes off as smooth with a suggestion of mischievousness playing up how much of a wretch Shibas truly is. The English actor simply comes off as bratty. One major problem is the fact that for some reason, the dub scriptwriter decided that he didn't like major moments of silence. There is a lot of exposition that occurs that simply does not exist in the Japanese script. The actual dub of the dialogue stays rather true to the subtitled script changing mostly for timing reasons.

Extras are pretty much non-existent on this release. There is a “game” on the menu system where the viewer can hunt for the beast. It's simply a set of menus that the viewer goes through with their remote until they find the right order to get to the end. It's an interesting idea, but doesn't really add anything to the value of the DVD. The language selection menu is nice, giving 3 easy choices for language selection: English, English with song subtitles and Japanese with English subtitles. Everything is clearly marked, so no worries about what mode is selected.

live action Mysterious Girlfriend X Chapter 55

2011-04-20T02:34:00.004-07:00

Mysterious Girlfriend X 55

Sorcerer on the Rocks is a 2 episode OAV collected on one DVD set in the same world as Bakuretsu Hunters (aka Sorcerer Hunters). It's not necessary to have seen Sorcerer Hunters to follow this short series, but it helps explain some of the background details of the world. The characters involved in Sorcerer on the Rocks are new, having nothing to do with Sorcerer Hunters. Sorcerer on the Rocks is a real mixed bag of good and bad following a pretty standard plotline with no real surprises in its climax and resolution.

Being an OAV series, the animation is more detailed than a standard TV series. Character designs are strong and remain consistent throughout the animation. The transfer to DVD is done well, with a minimal amount of scratches and problems from the original source material. The colors seem a bit drained in places, but seem to be more stylistic rather than problems with the picture.

OVA Usotsuki Lily Chapter 21

2011-04-20T02:34:00.003-07:00

Usotsuki Lily 21

The Spooner Continent is a place filled with danger. Evil Sorcerers rule the land, terrorizing the populace. Only the Sorcerer Hunters stand in the way, providing a beacon of hope to the downtrodden. This story ain't about them!

Meet Shibas Scotch, a bounty hunter and all around wretch. When he's not bullying his underlings, he's looking out for himself and trying to get rich anyway he can. He takes the jobs that the Sorcerer Hunters don't and charges a pretty penny to get it done. A local Sorcerer calls Shibas in to defeat a monster that is threatening his town. Of course, its one of those towns filled with evil acts and total debauchery so Shibas feels at home. With all good tales, there is more to the story than a simple monster slaying, as Shibas finds himself in a plot that threatens to destroy him!

Anime Hareluya II Boy Chapter 295 294 293 292 291 290

2011-04-20T02:34:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/hareluya_ii_boy/

The soundtrack uses the more playful tunes and sound effects one might expect of classic American animation during episode 19, but otherwise relies heavily on the moody numbers it has used throughout the series. The opener and closer remain unchanged. In all episodes except 19 the quality of the English dub also remains unchanged: nothing to complain about in the casting decisions or performances, with Pino still generally sounding a little better in English, and the script staying relatively tight. In episode 19, though, veteran ADR director Jonathan Klein apparently decided not to bother with imitating the style of the Japanese performances and instead dubbed the Smile Land characters the way they would have sounded had the production originally been made in English. This results in a much greater differential in performances styles between the dubs and slightly greater variance in the scripting, but the English dub does fit the visuals quite well.

Geneon's release of this volume does not offer any Extras beyond company previews and a couple of pieces of insert art.

While not bad, neither does the content of this volume, when viewed as a whole, excite or shine. Pretentious use of gimmicky fillers, a dull male lead, and blasé storytelling holds back episodes whose parts do not add up to a better whole.

Anime Pastel Chapter 123

2011-04-20T02:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/pastel/

Otherwise the plot continues to lumber towards its conclusion with all the urgency of a turtle out for a stroll. It so delights in being obtuse that, even with only a handful of episodes left, it still continues to throw out more questions than it answers. Some may still find the plot about the Proxies and Vincent's lost memory worth watching, and the whole business with the possible second Re-l should raise a few eyebrows, but at this point the main reason to stick with the series is to see what cute thing Pino will do next, and to a lesser extent to watch sexy Gothish chick Re-l. With five volumes now socked way, the verdict on Vincent is final: he's just dull, and all the build-up about his search for identity and powerful alter ego can't change that.

The one place where these episodes strike new and different artistic ground is in the Smile Land content in episode 19, where Manglobe does a fair adaptation of classic footage of Walt Disney speaking and drawing the characters he made famous. The AutoReivs of Smile Land get designs and an animation style more in line with classic old-school American animation than any anime influences, which certainly distinguishes them against the dreariness of the rest of the series' look. Otherwise this volume maintains the visual strengths and weaknesses of previous volumes: excellent background art, sometimes inconsistent quality on character art. What little action these four episodes offer looks good.

Anime Cavalier of the Abyss Chapter 41

2011-04-20T02:33:00.003-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/cavalier_of_the_abyss/

At what point does overuse of a gimmick inherently breed pretentiousness?

That is a question that the penultimate volume of Ergo Proxy does not even attempt to confront, but should. More than once before in the series characters have been put into a weird dream state to convey some message or abstract bit of character development, but here the series does it for two full episodes in a row. Taken individually, both dreams tell worthy stories; Pino's excursion through the blatant Walt Disney/Disneyland rip-off in episode 19 may look fluffy on the surface, but it spins a good and hard tale about AutoReivs and a Proxy designed to make people happy who desperately attempt to maintain their purpose despite encroaching obsolescence, the impending end of humanity, and the artificiality of their efforts. Vincent's dream in episode 20, which finds his perspective trapped in Re-l's body after her return to Romdo but may (or may not) actually be a split personality case, follows the EP tradition of mucking with the viewer's mind and perceptions. Having two dream episodes back-to-back is a little too much, however. Did writer Dai Sato start to run out of ideas, or did he just become so enamored of his own vision that he lost sight of how his story structure might actually play out?

Re:Birth - The Lunatic Taker Chapter 15 14

2011-04-20T02:33:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/re_birth_the_lunatic_taker/

While Vincent, Re-l, and Pino complete their journey to Mosk, Raul temporarily finds himself on the lam in Romdo when his defiance of the Regent gets his citizenship stripped. At the same time Deadelus has his own schemes cooking beyond his examination of the Proxy, ones that involve a possible replacement for Re-l.

Meanwhile, Vincent, Re-l, and Pino find nothing more than a wrecked husk of a city at Mosk and tantalizing clues about Vincent's past and possible counterpart Proxy. Everything points to the answers they seek being back in Romdo, but on the return trip both Pino and Vincent find themselves wrapped up in strange dreams, one involving the amusement city Smile Land, the other perhaps a prophecy of what might come to pass when they all arrive back at Romdo.

Anime Blood Lad Chapter 5.6 6

2011-04-20T02:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/blood_lad/

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's can be faulted for many things—a chaotic beginning, a time-stalling middle, an overly drawn-out ending—but one thing it can never be accused of is having a generic, sneering, cackling, Big Bad villain. That's because this series does everything it can to avoid that stereotype, hiding the real enemy within a matryoshka doll of plot twists and revelations. As a sequel series, the pressure to outdo the the original must have been intense: "Actually, Fate isn't the real villain!" just would not do as a plot device anymore, and they had to go bigger and better, and throw in a couple of heart-wrenching moral dilemmas for good measure. The result is a work of raw ambition, desperately straining to break free of the clichés holding it down. To its credit, Nanoha A's comes close. Very close.

Even the title of this series belies its true nature: if anything, Nanoha A's is more of a pure action-adventure that simply uses magical-girl tropes and cuts out the filler. And so it is with the opening arc: Nanoha gets beaten to within an inch of her life in Episode 1, Fate has to fight in her place for almost all of Episode 2, and then it's another whole episode just to explain what the heck is going on. Clearly, familiarity with the original series helps a lot, because the recap ("I was an ordinary third-grader until...") barely counts as one. And don't ask what spaceships and cartridge-loading weapons and computer science mumbo-jumbo have to do with magical combat; this is one of those series where "because it looks cool" is justification enough for anything.

If this volatile stew of genre elements seems strange, though, it does become more palatable as the heart of the storyline is revealed. The knights' true motives come into the open, the Book of Darkness's background is made clear, and the true villain of the story—believe it or not—evokes a deeper sympathy than any of the heroes. (Or maybe that's just another cliché taking effect.) Where it would have been so easy to go with the cackling nutcase bent on world domination, this series actually tries to paint the good-versus-evil conflict in deep shades of gray, resulting in a far more bittersweet emotional effect than one might expect from the genre.

But a magic-infused action-adventure must, in the end, deliver action and adventure, and that's where things fall back into the realm of the predictable. The middle episodes feature a lot of sloppy stop-and-start battles, with the knights charging forward and then rearing back as they suddenly become torn between their thirst for destruction and the love of their master. And when it comes down to fighting the final battle—a longwinded four-episode affair (in a 13-episode series!)—everyone just trots out increasingly powerful attacks, usually accompanied by monologues about the strength of their heart and the force of their will. Nanoha A's may have subverted the traditional villain role, but apparently it couldn't think up anything original for the heroes.

Even the finale's attempt to visually impress the audience falls short: Nanoha and her friends' weaponry gets fancier with each transformation, but the digitally-generated effects are woefully cheap, and the artifact/creature designs just get stupid by about Episode 12 or so. But maybe the flash and fanfare of mid-air magical combat (yes, every magic-wielding person in this series can fly; it just looks cool) isn't so bad compared to what happens on the ground: blocky front-view or side-view scenery, uninspired backgrounds, and animation so cheap that there is one scene where a TV is flashing static images every two seconds. But lazy directing and cheap animation have nothing to do with the most intrinsic visual problem: the dull, bug-eyed character designs that differ only in terms of hairstyle and costume changes. And even then, everyone has that weird tuft of hair coming out the side of their heads! Is this some kind of bizarre universe where everyone wakes up with bed head in the mornings?

What a relief, then, that the music isn't quite as cheap as the visuals: sure, they still use electronic instrumentation because it's a pain to bring in real musicians, but the pretend-orchestra that pounds its way through the soundtrack is surprisingly effective. Battle scenes resound with Wagnerian pomp, while quiet moments and flashbacks are dotted with poignancy—especially in Fate's dream about her perfect alternate world. Too bad the theme songs are so dull in comparison (and this is why Nana Mizuki and Yukari Tamura have never quite broken the barrier between singing seiyuu and actual pop star).

If there's one more source of hokeyness to be rooted out in this series, it's in the dialogue, half of which seems to involve yelling out ridiculously-named attacks or trying to explain some form of magical quantum physics. Perhaps that's why the actors on the English track tend to overact, because there's just no way to say "Divine Buster Shoot" (or something similar) without sounding completely silly. Some of that can also be attributed to the dub's adherence to the direct translation, which increases accuracy but also leads to a handful of clunky phrases in the script. And while this DVD set is kind enough to offer dual audio tracks, it falls short in terms of bonus content, containing only textless credit sequences and a music video that sums up the first Nanoha season.

Following the success of the first series, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's builds upon the original in a way one would expect from most sequels: more characters, more twists, and more grandeur. Certainly, the series succeeds in those aspects, bringing in a surprising new villain to face off against Nanoha, adding a strong element of sympathy to the conflict, and finishing with a battle so epic that it takes four episodes to finish. But the limitations of the genre (and the animation studio) hold it back from truly breaking the mold; instead what we get is an ambitious dose of action-adventure that still suffers from convoluted plot-churning, cheap visual effects, and too many crazy attacks and sci-fi-magic concepts to keep track of. It comes so close to greatness, but it's just not there. So close.

Baki - Son Of Ogre Chapter 130 Anime

2011-04-13T00:00:00.007-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/558/baki-son-of-ogre.html

There's great value in having shows like Tono to Issho. Clocking in at just over three minutes an episode, these comic shorts break up the monotony of the work day, and they're great for a quick laugh. It's like getting to the end of a popsicle, and being treated to a cheesy joke.

Based on the 4-panel gag strip by Ohba-Kai, the series very loosely follows the lives of a handful of generals during Japan's Sengoku period. The anime is now starting its second season, which may or may not be impressive when you realize that each episode is essentially the same length as a commercial break. Despite its short run time, though, Tono to Issho Gantai no Yabō is actually funny. Timing is one of the hardest things to nail when it comes to comedy, but these mini-episodes get it right. In this week's gag, Uesugi Kenshin's drinking problem is the butt of all the jokes, despite his insistence that he doesn't have a problem. But it's a sudden anachronism and the prolonged silence afterwards that confirms that the writers have what it takes to translate a comic strip into visual media.

Smash Chapter 171 Anime

2011-04-13T00:00:00.006-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/432/smash.html

There are two things instantly gripping about Steins;Gate—the atmosphere, and Okabe's character, both of which go hand-in-hand. Okabe is written as almost a joke, a mad scientist who has a loft full of useless gadgets, and two employees who are mostly along for the ride. From the way he babbles about the Organization and his trinkets, he could easily just be a lovable dreamer, or a borderline lunatic. But it's the somber atmosphere that makes you wonder just how much of Okabe is comic, and how much of it is just a sugary coating on a much more sinister truth. The character is written to be funny, but the show is decidedly not, and it's that contrast that makes Steins;Gate such an intriguing must-see for this season.

The series is still in its infant stages, and the story has yet to fully unfurl, but if the first episode is any indication, this could be one of this season's biggest hits.

Taboo-Tattoo Chapter 11 Anime

2011-04-13T00:00:00.005-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/1266/taboo-tattoo.html

There's something eerie about the buzzing of cicadas, overlaid on images of power lines. And although Steins;Gate tames its eeriness with a walloping dose of goofiness, it still has the sort of prickly atmosphere that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. By the end of the episode, there's already a dead body, constant paranoia, and the nagging sense that something isn't quite right.

The lead character Okabe is a DIY scientist who specializes in slipshod futuristic inventions. His most prized innovation is a time travel-controlling microwave that can be operated by a phone, except for the time being, all it does is turn bananas into goop. Unbeknownst to him, the microwave is functioning in a different way—by letting him send text messages to the past. While the chronology of events is still unclear in the first episode, by the time the closing credits roll, viewers already have an idea of how events might come together in the future, and it is a fascinating hook. Add to the mix a secret Organization that may or may not be interfering with Okabe's research, and you have the ingredients of either a really great show, or a really mad man.

Dear My Girls Chapter 22 anime Kim, Hee Eun

2011-04-13T00:00:00.004-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/1231/dear-my-girls.html

Like most feel-good comedies, SKET Dance has its requisite moments of self-reflection and life lesson-learning, but the characters make it feel genuine. Even the slapstick moments don't stick out too badly. That's when you know you have a decent panel of characters, when neither the serious nor the silly moments seem out of the ordinary. It's just effortless entertainment. And for that reason, SKET Dance is definitely worth watching.

Become Habituated to Kiss Volume 4 Chapter 4 eng

2011-04-13T00:00:00.003-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/1529/become-habituated-to-kiss.html

SKET Dance is good, solid, wholesome fun. It's like the Boxcar Children, if the Aldens were just a group of ordinary high school students, and Jessie was a loud blonde who carried around a field hockey stick to beat up hooligans. It's energetic, it has a fun cast of characters, and by the end of the first episode, it's already established the value of friendship.

The series starts, as many anime do, with the arrival of a new transfer student. His plan on getting through high school is just laying low, but within hours, he's found himself hanging out with SKET Dan, a club whose sole purpose is to help people out with whatever they need. They don't have any clients yet, but they're right on the verge of cracking a graffiti case… maybe. Missions aside, what makes the adventures of this club so entertaining is not so much what they do with their afterschool time, but the way they interact with one another. This whole series is basically a show about three friends who goof around, hang out, and maybe help some people every now and again. It's great. They're like surrogate friends for the half hour you're just holed up in your bedroom watching anime.

Shaman King Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 OVA

2011-04-13T00:00:00.002-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/138/shaman-king.html

Even though the predestined romance between the two is supposed to be the focal point of the series (or at least daydream fodder for women all around the world), I actually found the behind-the-scenes glimpse into the manga industry to be infinitely more fascinating. From the series’ analogy of a radish's 20-day life cycle to the manga production cycle, to its explanation of how artists use close-up shots to convey emotion, the manga bits really steal the show. I don't even care if the two guys get together—I'd much rather stare at scenes of Ritsu pasting dialogue into word bubbles. It's riveting stuff.

Of course, the wink-nudge parallel of the series unfolding in the same manner as one of the shoujo manga being worked on in the office is not lost on me, but any triteness is forgiven because the show is ardently self-aware. It knows that it's peddling romance, emotions, and glittery stars, and it proves it by saying, “See, this is just how it's done in the manga world.” And that's completely fine. Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi is a fun and unique take on the first-love-rekindled story, and I'm eager to see where it goes—even if just for more insight into manga publishing.

OVA Kanokon Chapter 36

2011-04-13T00:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/727/kanokon.html

In the fast-paced world of shoujo manga, anything goes, even if it means getting kissed by your boss on the first day of work, just because an artist needs a reference shot. That's the breakneck pace of high-stakes comics, folks, so sexual harassment be damned! Luckily, with a series title that translates to “World's Greatest First Love,” all can be assured that it's not really harassment—it's just a delicate blossom waiting to bloom into something beautiful and pink.

Aside from that one giant eyebrow raiser, and let's be honest, who wouldn't raise a logical brow at such a socially maligned plot point, Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi is a pleasant show, and one that has its heart in the right place. The series starts with the sweet piano tinklings of first love, when high school student Onodera Ritsu blurts out his feelings for a fellow classmate. But, as life works, he grows up to be a jaded, career-minded adult who doesn't even remember the face of the boy he pined after for four years. As the title would lead you to suspect, the two are (presumably) reunited when Ritsu starts a new job as a shoujo manga editor, where his past flame is the editor-in-chief.

Ane Comi Chapter 5 4 3 2 1 Anime

2011-04-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangareader.net/897/ane-comi.html

Yeah, this works great if the squiggle is still in the shape of a penis or a boob, but it doesn't work if one of the characters is drawing something on the chalkboard and the entire board is blocked. Even more heinously, whoever did the censoring was so lazy and half-assed about it that they didn't bother drawing the squiggles so that they at least went around foreground objects. No, they just drew over whatever was there. So now you have scenes of a guy standing in bed, with half his arm scrawled out, just because it had the misfortune of being in front of what may or may not be a nude woman.

This could easily turn into a moral debate about censorship, but instead, I'll just say that this show looks like it used to be funny. It looks like it used to have quirky visual gags about washing your genitals, and the importance of not man-handling a lady's breasts, but I'm just guessing. I can't really see what's going on. I bet whatever's on the chalkboards is funny, too.

Moral or no, there's no use in watching a show that can't even be seen. At that point it's no different than staring at colored bars racing up a broken television. It's a waste of time, and it's a slap in the face of everyone who worked on this show, and all the fans who wanted to watch it.

Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu Chapter 53 eng

2011-04-08T00:19:00.005-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/boku_no_hatsukoi_wo_kimi_ni_sasagu/

As boring and unoriginal as this may sound, this is actually a wonderful, low-key story which simply and frankly follows Ohana as she deals with the most difficult transition of her young life. It does not use gimmicks or exaggeratedly colorful characters, nor does it try to impress with Ohana's resilient, take-charge spirit; it doesn't need to, as viewers will naturally be won over by Ohana and her circumstances. A surprisingly high level of technical achievement for a series like this certainly doesn't hurt, but this was made by P.A. Works, the same studio which brought us last spring's Angel Beats!, so it comes from a fine pedigree. The way the episode uses - or, rather, does not feel a need to use - music also impresses.

Even if slice-of-life series don't normally appeal to you, give this one a look. It may surprise you.

Slow Step Chapter 26 cartoon young

2011-04-08T00:19:00.004-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/slow_step/

Superior writing and execution can take even the most bland-sounding concepts and turn them into something special. Such is the case with the first episode of this manga adaptation. If the anime version can hold onto the quality seen in this first episode, it has the very real potential to be one of the season's best.

The story is simple. Pragmatic 16-year-old Ohana is saddled with an irresponsible mother who sends her to live with the grandmother she's never met (the mother was disowned, and it's not hard to see why) when the mother decides to take off with her boyfriend. She has to leave behind a friend who's just confessed to her, but that ultimately isn't as troubling as adjusting to her grandmother treating her as nothing more than a live-in employee at the Taisho-era inn she operates. Ohana immediately gets off on the wrong foot with another girl her age who also boards at the inn while struggling to adjust to life at the inn.

Flower Ring Chapter 8 manga

2011-04-08T00:19:00.002-07:00

So the first episode has already borrowed from InuYasha, The Wizard of Oz, and Koihime†Musō, creating an odd little character-out-of-time series which feels precisely like what it seems to be: an uncomfortable mishmash that takes itself too seriously. KM showed that this kind of concept can work well if played as a cutesy, fan service-laden gag reel, but the first episode here gives little sense that it intends to go in that or any other direction. What it does deliver isn't necessarily bad, but it just does not do anything to merit attention; the artistry is nothing special, the music is uninspired, it has only minimal (and cheesy) action, and Hideyoshi is hardly a girl who will intrigue viewers on her own. She isn't even that interesting as a fish-out-of-water character.

Last season's Rio - Rainbow Gate! suggested that basing anime on themed pachinko games isn't a wise idea, and this first episode only further reinforces that impression.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/flower_ring/

Yureka Chapter 198 cartoon hot

2011-04-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/yureka/

Pig-tailed Hideyoshi struggles with misfortune and poor grade but is about as typical as modern middle school girls get. Thus she doesn't handle it well at all when stumbling into someone's magical ritual at a temple accidentally gets her transported back to the Warring States era of Japan - only in this version key figures like Nobunaga Oda are women who somewhat resemble people that Hideyoshi knows in modern-day Japan. Faced with deadly danger and totally out of her element (she can't get any bars on her cell phone, you see) Hideyoshi freaks and must rely on the good graces of the female Nobunaga. Still not accepting of her circumstances, Hideyoshi nonetheless agrees to help Nobunaga assemble the legendary Crimson Armor - because, you know, she knows about getting bonuses from completing sets.

Crepuscule Chapter 6 Yamchi

2011-04-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

Based on the advertising blurb for this series, this newest effort from WHITE FOX (Tears to Tiara, Katanagatari) really does involve time travel and a secret organization trying to track down the apparently loony main character and his associates, who have stumbled across something momentous without realizing it, but only the first hints of that come out in the first episode. What transpires here, beyond character introductions, is more an exercise in setting mood and plot elements for the main bulk of the story, which will apparently begin next episode. (The episode isn't titled, “Prologue to the Beginning and End” for nothing.) Will the foundations being laid here be strong enough to support a full-blown mystery/suspense series? At least the writers are trying on this one, and the production values, as seen in Crunchyroll's official stream, are actually pretty good, so I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for now. It will likely need another full episode or two to truly hook people, though.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/crepuscule_yamchi/

Dark Seed Chapter 8 cartoon boys

2011-04-08T00:15:00.001-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/dark_seed/

The latest take on the total-mind-trip series, this oddball focuses on the trio of denizens of the Future Gadget Lab, a group led by the self-proclaimed “mad scientist” Kyouma Houoin (aka Rintaro “Okarin” Okabe) which is dedicated to developing and using futuristic gadgets to combat the “Organization” which controls the world (or at least that's Rintaro's take on things, anyway). While attending a conference on a time machine that he discovers is based on fraudulent theories, Rintaro gets pulled aside by a young woman he doesn't recognize who claims that, a few minutes earlier, he was trying to tell her something. The mystery deepens when, a few minutes later, she turns up dead, a satellite strikes the building that he was in, and his cohorts seem to have divergent memories on what's going on. The mystery deepens further when a text message seems to have been sent into the past and Rintaro encounters the woman he had seen murdered standing around as if nothing had happened... yet.

Sidooh Chapter 68 cartoon girls

2011-04-08T00:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/sidooh/

Kaiji 2 is produced by Madhouse Studios, which uses a very old-school artistic style featuring noses that are either huge or lethally sharp, extra-heavy lines in the character designs, and limited animation. In fact, only the high level of artistic technical merit belies this as 35+ year old series. The main attractions of this dramatically-narrated work are watching Kaiji make a progression of bad decisions which draw him even deeper into a hole and seeing how others around him use his poor decision-making to manipulate him. This can be interesting in a perverse way and it is certainly a different kind of entertainment than anything else that has come out so far this season. The first episode wars between being a psychological character study and just clinically depressing, though, and that could easily be a turn-off. It is a title clearly aimed at an older male audience, too; all of the characters are adults (and generally not young ones, either) and not a single female character appears in it beyond crowd scenes. If you prefer teen-centric fare then this one is definitely not up your alley.

Kanojo wo Mamoru 51 no Houhou Chapter 36 cartoon kids

2011-04-08T00:14:00.001-07:00

The first Kaiji anime adaptation ran in the Fall 2007 and Winter 2008 seasons, but the first couple of minutes of this sequel's first episode recaps the original sufficiently enough for this series to be fully accessible to newcomers. The title character is a a two-bit crook who originally got into trouble with some shady individuals when a loan that he had co-signed on defaulted, leaving Kaiji liable for the original plus an enormous amount of interest. Though Kaiji survived the perils he faced in the first series in a desperate attempt to pay off the loan, he is even worse off now after needing to use a lot of money to fix some health problems. Thus he practically jumps at an offer from an individual he shouldn't have trusted and finds himself working deep underground along with other men who have been unable to pay off their debts. He determinedly makes a plan to work his way out of there by carefully saving up the necessary money, but once again temptation threatens to get the better of him.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kanojo_wo_mamoru_51_no_houhou/

G-School Chapter 18 cartoon adult

2011-04-08T00:14:00.000-07:00

This concept has certainly been done before; last summer's Okamisan had a very similar premise, including a tough-minded girl who served as the team's striker, a timid guy who makes a connection with the support group in the first episode, and a generally high level of oddness amongst the team members. This version makes a better first impression because it finds just the right balance of enthusiasm, oddness, and mystery, doesn't depend as heavily on silly sight gags, and features considerably better artistry and technical merits. The final few minutes throw in a couple of surprising twists, including the suggestion that the business with Teppei may be more a one-off mission than a recruiting drive, and the wordplay involved in the series’ name, which actually mostly carries over into English (“SKET-dan-su,” as the principles say at one point), is rather clever, too. The challenge here will, of course, be to keep coming up with concepts as functional as Teppei's predicament, but the sharp byplay between characters already shows a lot of promise and the closer suggests that we will see quite a few more oddball characters in upcoming episodes.

G-School http://www.mangafox.com/manga/g_school/

Take Over Zone Chapter 7 japan cartoon

2011-04-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

Teppei is a new, timid transfer student to Kaimei Academy when he encounters three odd individuals: Onihime, a former Yankee who carries around a field hockey stick; Switch, a guy who uses a laptop-based voice synthesizer to talk for as-yet-unexplained reasons; and Bossun, a guy who wears a horned cap and goggles, the latter of which allows him to enter a “super-concentration mode.” They form the student support club SKET-dan (an acronym for Support Kindness Encouragement Troubleshoot) and their self-appointed task is to do whatever they can to aid their fellow students. Teppei quickly needs their aid, too, when a mysterious figure dumps paint on him. As SKET-dan gets to the bottom of that mystery, they gradually earn themselves a new friend.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/take_over_zone/

Kaikan Phrase Chapter 82 81 80 79 78 77 76 75 74

2011-04-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

The game is about two years old, however, and was in development for a long time before the Japanese release. It should be said that the graphics are fairly primitive for a recent Playstation 2 game. Textures are fairly low-res and the game's characters don't have many polygons. The World, as a result, is somewhat ugly and pretty outdated. If graphics are an important factor in gaming for you, you may want to try something else. The music is fairly well done and complementary to the game, although it isn't as remarkable as it was in the .hack TV series. Then again, it doesn't overpower the plot or dialogue as it did in .hack://SIGN. The game does give you the rather pleasant option of playing in either Japanese or English. Since the dubbing is a little below par for Bandai, I'd suggest playing the subtitled version, but the English isn't completely unbearable.

The game is also very short. Experienced gamers will be able to blast through .hack://INFECTION in a mere 10-15 hours, which is almost unacceptably short for an RPG. It seems like they took one average-length RPG and cut it in to four smaller parts. The ending cliffhangs pretty badly, so if you're in to serious resolution, you may want to wait for the remaining three volumes to be released. If you do all the side-quests and minigames, .hack will last you a while longer, although not by much. I can't see anyone getting more than 30 hours out of this game. Considering that most other RPGs have at least 80 hours worth of stuff to do in them, .hack falls very short in this category. Novice players, on the other hand, will find a lot to like about .hack's length. It might be a great introductory RPG for newbies to the genre. Keep in mind, though, it'll cost you two hundred dollars to play the entire game, which isn't any longer than your average RPG in the end, assuming the remaining chapters have an equal amount of playtime.

Categories: Drama Romance Shoujo Mature Smut
Author: Shinjo Mayu
Status: Complated
Summary
Sakuya, the lead singer for the hard-rocking band Lucifer, is the unattainable object of desire for millions of hopeful women. Aine is the demure high school student who suddenly finds herself in the middle of a raucous rock'n'roll circus. Together they're writing the book of love — one hit song at a time!

http://www.tenmanga.com/book/Kaikan+Phrase.html

My Boyfriend is a Vampire Chapter 25 Bạn trai tôi là ma cà rồng

2011-03-20T16:16:00.002-07:00

When his sharp fangs touched the nape of my neck, I felt shocking senses arouse inside of me. The destined meeting between Yoo Da-in, a guy often mistaken as a girl because of his beauty and Seo Kang-hoo, a handsome hunk that even guys would fall for. Yoo Da-in is b.i.t.t.e.n. by Seo Kang-hoo, causing his heart to stop. I definitely died- but how did I become a girl?

http://www.mangareader.net/1699/my-boyfriend-is-a-vampire.html

Even the way the characters address each other has a certain poetic beauty to it—Heine's words of encouragement to Naoto, Mihai's gruff nonchalance when he steps in to help Badou—but again, the tone of the dialogue is mostly surface polish, and there's nothing particularly deep about what anyone has to say. After all, everyone's just trying to win a gunfight, so tactical communication, explanations of one's motives, and taunts to the opponent are about as complex as the script gets. Far more impressive is the level of re-touch in converting sound effects from Japanese text to English: Miwa's florid visual style, where even the littlest detail is an essential design element, is one of those things that letterers might deem "untranslatable." Yet the translated sound effects in this edition, presented in many dramatic fonts and sizes, match the mood of Miwa's art and add a particular feel to the visuals.

As Dogs: Bullets and Carnage draws closer to its earth-shattering ending, the lack of substance has never been more evident. With the heroes gearing up for one last great shootout against the villains, the fate of each character ought to be the biggest thing on everyone's minds—but instead it's the mechanics of each fight scene, and seeing who has the slickest moves, that emerge as the driving force in the climax. No wonder, then, that some may find it hard to care about the characters. Far easier to care about who can dodge the most bullets, or who can land the most critical hits, or who has the coolest finishing move, because those are the parts that are illustrated in lavish, eye-popping detail. And the parts with actual heart, soul, and meaning? Those are all drowned out by the gunfire.

My Boyfriend is a Vampire Chapter 24 Bạn trai tôi là ma cà rồng

2011-03-20T16:16:00.001-07:00

My Boyfriend is a Vampire Chapter 23 Bạn trai tôi là ma cà rồng

2011-03-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

When his sharp fangs touched the nape of my neck, I felt shocking senses arouse inside of me. The destined meeting between Yoo Da-in, a guy often mistaken as a girl because of his beauty and Seo Kang-hoo, a handsome hunk that even guys would fall for. Yoo Da-in is b.i.t.t.e.n. by Seo Kang-hoo, causing his heart to stop. I definitely died- but how did I become a girl?

http://www.mangareader.net/1699/my-boyfriend-is-a-vampire.html

Well, it was only a matter of time. After a sweeping origin story, a time-skip, some escapades in the wilderness, and a few training runs for our young hero, Tegami Bachi has decided to buckle down and get serious. Of course, that was already clear from the intensely revealing flashback in Volume 3—but now the drama surrounding the disappearance of Gauche Suede has been pushed into the present day, with Lag facing his greatest perils yet. Separated from his trusty traveling companion? Overpowered by Gaichuu? Face to face with mobs who consider Letter Bees enemies to be vanquished?! Hey, whatever happened to the nice heartwarming stories about delivering letters to people and making them happy?

For those who still prefer the sweet, poignant side of Tegami Bachi, here's your last chance to enjoy it before the storyline takes that deep plunge. The early part of this volume is mostly episodic, with the first chapter telling the tale of a struggling son, his doting mother, and Lag learning that even misleading letters can be all right if one has good intentions. It's a weak, fluffy story, but one that at least leaves a pleasant aftertaste. For those who have more of a palate for humor, the second chapter is practically slapstick in nature, with Lag and his pals bumbling about as they try to figure out the eccentric, corpse-collecting scientist Thunderland Jr. It turns out he's a nice guy after all (aren't they always?), but then Lag—or more correctly, Lag's special ability—dredges up the subject of Gauche Suede ... and you can say goodbye to these episodic, happy-go-lucky times.

My Boyfriend is a Vampire Chapter 22 Bạn trai tôi là ma cà rồng

2011-03-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

When his sharp fangs touched the nape of my neck, I felt shocking senses arouse inside of me. The destined meeting between Yoo Da-in, a guy often mistaken as a girl because of his beauty and Seo Kang-hoo, a handsome hunk that even guys would fall for. Yoo Da-in is b.i.t.t.e.n. by Seo Kang-hoo, causing his heart to stop. I definitely died- but how did I become a girl?

http://www.mangareader.net/1699/my-boyfriend-is-a-vampire.html

From the halfway point onward, this volume switches to full-on Search For Gauche mode, with all the attendant ups and downs. On the upside, the action and adventure reach new levels of excitement, as Lag's trek into the rebel town of Honey Waters is essentially his first mission without a safety net (no saccharine moral-lesson endings here), and another intriguing subplot emerges when Lag meets a townsperson who doesn't instantly want to kill him. The rebels' paranoid rantings also hint at a possible government conspiracy that is surely worth keeping in the back of one's mind. On the downside, however, Hiroyuki Asada seems to be consciously struggling to keep track of all the characters in the story arc, to the point where he has to "save" one of them by deus ex machina—or, more properly, dog ex machina. And if one can barely keep the good guys straight, what hope is there for the villains? These chapters try to gradually expose the antagonists' true motives, but the process is clumsy; it also doesn't help that the entire volume ends on a cliffhanger, thus guaranteeing plenty of unsatisfied readers waiting to see what becomes of this shootout.

Hidan no Aria chapter 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

2011-02-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

Hidan no Aria chapter 19 English

2011-02-26T07:47:00.006-08:00

Hidan no Aria Manga
Name:
Hidan no Aria
Alternate Name: Aria The Scarlet Ammo
Summary

Tokyo Butei High school--- It was a special school where armed detectives, also known as "Butei" are being brought up. Tohyama Kinji is a sophomore student who has the unique body which activates a "super mode" when it was stimulated by "something". He tries to hide it to others in order to live a peaceful life. But trouble came to find him when he became a victim of a bombing incident, where he met the Butei high "Assault" department elite, Aria H. Kanzaki.

http://www.mangareader.net/1299/hidan-no-aria.html

What does Magikano bring to the harem comedy genre? Absolutely nothing, of course. This is a collection of gags in search of a plotline, and when it finally does find a story to tell, the change in tone is so abrupt that you end up wishing it had stayed pointless and stupid. As a slapstick comedy, it runs out of ideas too soon and gets mired in clichés; as a showcase of bishoujo fanservice, the characters stop being interesting after the first couple of girls; finally, as a fantasy tale of witchcraft and wizardry, it starts out with too thin of a backstory and becomes needlessly complex at the end. In other words, the series is unable to excuse itself with the "it gets better" clause, because it starts out mediocre and only gets worse.

On the other hand, some might actually say it starts out promising. That's because the premise of the story sets the bar so low that any improvement on this formula could be considered an accomplishment. In that regard, the early episodes actually accomplish quite a bit, with screwball comedy at every turn: mallets to the head (a convenient device for wiping Haruo's memory), inappropriate sexual advances, and plenty of double-takes and wacky facial expressions. The real show-stealer, though, is the "Shop Magikano" infomercial segment that usually pops up once an episode to advertise some hilariously useless gadget. It's one of the fundamental principles of comedy: if you can't be clever, just be fast, and pepper the audience with enough dumb jokes that they'll forget how awful the show is.

Hidan no Aria chapter 18 English

2011-02-26T07:47:00.005-08:00

Hidan no Aria Manga
Name:
Hidan no Aria
Alternate Name: Aria The Scarlet Ammo
Summary

Tokyo Butei High school--- It was a special school where armed detectives, also known as "Butei" are being brought up. Tohyama Kinji is a sophomore student who has the unique body which activates a "super mode" when it was stimulated by "something". He tries to hide it to others in order to live a peaceful life. But trouble came to find him when he became a victim of a bombing incident, where he met the Butei high "Assault" department elite, Aria H. Kanzaki.

http://www.mangareader.net/1299/hidan-no-aria.html

About halfway through the series, though, the dumb jokes start running out. The fake infomercials stop coming. The episodes shift from the magically ridiculous—getting stuck in Haruo's dreams, traveling through time—to plain old stuff that happens during the calendar year: sports festival, cultural festival, Christmas, New Year's. The magical elements are still there, but they take a back seat to the banal antics of various girls fighting over Haruo. And that's the other area where the show goes from average to worse—by adding more characters, it actually loses its focus on energetic screwball comedy and becomes more and more like every other generic harem series.(One could make an exception for the Cat Panties episode, however, which goes so far beyond the boundaries of taste that it could almost be considered creatively daring.)

The final dagger that kills Magikano, however, is the moment when it stops being a harem series and tries to pull out this convoluted fantasy twist that's been hinted at throughout the show. Of course, all the hints are about as subtle as a brick to the head, and the final victory is a hollow one that makes it feel like nothing has been accomplished. If this is what it takes to achieve a serious ending, then no ending at all would have been better. The girls should've just chased Haruo into the sunset.

Hidan no Aria chapter 17 English

2011-02-26T07:47:00.004-08:00

Hidan no Aria Manga
Name:
Hidan no Aria
Alternate Name: Aria The Scarlet Ammo
Summary

Tokyo Butei High school--- It was a special school where armed detectives, also known as "Butei" are being brought up. Tohyama Kinji is a sophomore student who has the unique body which activates a "super mode" when it was stimulated by "something". He tries to hide it to others in order to live a peaceful life. But trouble came to find him when he became a victim of a bombing incident, where he met the Butei high "Assault" department elite, Aria H. Kanzaki.

http://www.mangareader.net/1299/hidan-no-aria.html

Although the story travels along a downhill curve, at least the visuals remain consistently bad: every episode is rife with animation shortcuts, static images, and various technical gimmicks (soft filters are great for hiding mistakes while also adding texture, it seems). The sheer energy and visual gags of the early episodes help to mask these shortcomings, but when the jokes start running low, the cheapness starts running high, especially in the bombastic finale where third-rate CGI becomes the crutch of choice. Even the character designs, which ought to be the selling point of the show—hey look, cute girls!—fall back on the same old bishoujo templates that we've seen everywhere. To make matters worse, the characters aren't even drawn consistently from scene to scene.

The soundtrack is just as inconsequential as the rest of the series, with bubblegum theme songs and synthesized musical cues occupying each episode (plus a mildly amusing parody of the Harry Potter theme that accompanies any mention of the magical world). If anything, the sound effects are more creative, with all manner of zany noises accompanying the more absurd moments in the series. Similarly, the English dub takes an over-the-top approach, with hammy overacting and stereotypical accents adding entertainment value for fans of lowbrow comedy. After all, the show has no intellectual or artistic aspirations, so why not have some fun, ad-lib a few lines, and forget about "proper" acting and "accurate" translation. It's not like the script was a sacred text in the first place anyway.

Hidan no Aria chapter 16 English

2011-02-26T07:47:00.003-08:00

Hidan no Aria chapter 15 English

2011-02-26T07:47:00.002-08:00

Hidan no Aria Manga
Name:
Hidan no Aria
Alternate Name: Aria The Scarlet Ammo
Summary

Tokyo Butei High school--- It was a special school where armed detectives, also known as "Butei" are being brought up. Tohyama Kinji is a sophomore student who has the unique body which activates a "super mode" when it was stimulated by "something". He tries to hide it to others in order to live a peaceful life. But trouble came to find him when he became a victim of a bombing incident, where he met the Butei high "Assault" department elite, Aria H. Kanzaki.

http://www.mangareader.net/1299/hidan-no-aria.html

Every teenager, in some respect, has to deal with meddling parents. But Yawara is a special case. Her grandfather Jigoro, whom she lives with, has been training her since childhood to be the guiding star of women's judo. A former judo prodigy, he works her relentlessly, planning for the day when his young protégé will make her spectacular debut on the judo stage. His goal is the Olympic Gold in women's judo (even though the category doesn't yet exist) and eventually the coveted National Merit Award. And he'll do anything to achieve it, be it sneaking into her room to purge it of girly, non-judo distractions, creating a rival, intimidating potential suitors, or scheming to force her into judo matches. Yawara, like any good teenager, is rebelling; all she wants is to be a normal girl. She skips practice, wears makeup (the horror!), practices cooking, and most of all, goes looking for love. But being normal isn't easy when it seems the cosmos themselves are plotting against you. Her manufactured rival, one of Japan's richest socialites, won't leave her alone, a nosy reporter becomes obsessed with her potential after witnessing her takedown of a purse snatcher, and even the guy she's attracted to turns out to be a judo coach. It seems Yawara is destined to be a judo girl whether she likes it or not.

Hidan no Aria chapter 14 English

2011-02-26T07:47:00.001-08:00

Hidan no Aria Manga
Name:
Hidan no Aria
Alternate Name: Aria The Scarlet Ammo
Summary

Tokyo Butei High school--- It was a special school where armed detectives, also known as "Butei" are being brought up. Tohyama Kinji is a sophomore student who has the unique body which activates a "super mode" when it was stimulated by "something". He tries to hide it to others in order to live a peaceful life. But trouble came to find him when he became a victim of a bombing incident, where he met the Butei high "Assault" department elite, Aria H. Kanzaki.

http://www.mangareader.net/1299/hidan-no-aria.html

Somewhere at AnimEigo there's a little demon that delights in torturing their staff. It's the demon that drove them to finish Urusei Yatsura and then to cement their reputation as the anime industry's main distributor of lengthy older series by licensing this almost equally massive sports comedy/drama. That their licensing decision may have been influenced by the forces of evil doesn't shake AnimEigo's confidence in their product however. Such is their faith in the winning power of Yawara that this sample of the series' first four episodes is being offered free (minus a somewhat excessive shipping charge) to all comers. Their confidence, it turns out, is not misplaced.

Originally written by Naoki Urasawa, it can be difficult to see the man who would eventually craft the exquisitely dark Monster in this bright, highly entertaining series. These first four episodes take a slice-of-life tack, detailing Yawara and Jigoro!'s (admittedly odd) daily routines, building their personalities, piling on the amusing situations, and radiating charm and a simple desire to entertain. It floats viewers from smile to smile with deceptive ease (and the occasional push from the crotchety, scheming Jigoro!). If Yawara were a person, it would eat charm for breakfast, sleep in a pool of it at night, and breath and sweat it all day long. It would have a sunny disposition, an essential reserve and surprising determination. In other words, if Yawara the show were a person, it would be Yawara the character. She's all that and more: she's a character tailored to soak up audience sympathy like a sponge. The show may bear precious little resemblance to the fierce Monster or the indulgent Master Keaton, but it does bear Urasawa's mark, most obviously in the visuals—his distinctive character designs and love of discontinuous editing emerge surprisingly intact—but most importantly in his ability to craft main characters of perfectly realistic kindness and decency.

Hidan no Aria chapter 13 English

2011-02-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

Hidan no Aria Manga
Name:
Hidan no Aria
Alternate Name: Aria The Scarlet Ammo
Summary

Tokyo Butei High school--- It was a special school where armed detectives, also known as "Butei" are being brought up. Tohyama Kinji is a sophomore student who has the unique body which activates a "super mode" when it was stimulated by "something". He tries to hide it to others in order to live a peaceful life. But trouble came to find him when he became a victim of a bombing incident, where he met the Butei high "Assault" department elite, Aria H. Kanzaki.

http://www.mangareader.net/1299/hidan-no-aria.html

The series is helmed by Hiroko Tokita (who got his start in the masterfully subdued Touch and obviously learned his lessons well), and while the humor can be quite broad and he's not above the occasional surreptitious panty-shot, his light but sure touch is one of the major reasons why Yawara is much more than a mere judo-based sitcom. He knows the importance of balancing physical appearance (he makes potent use of Yawara's formidably realistic cuteness), vocal performance (nearly everyone is cast to perfection), and telling little moments (the sideways dart of an eye, a downcast glance) in building characters. He keeps the visuals spare but realistically detailed, and makes the most of the warmth and human quality of traditional cel animation while keeping the action confined to a few properly active displays such that the limitations of its television-sized budget never become obvious. His use of the score is restricted to the point of non-existence; only emerging occasionally (a chase here, an action scene there), the stretches of silence occupied with bird song, incidental urban noise, and background chatter. The cumulative effect is a quiet realism that persists no matter how outrageous Jigoro!'s behavior gets. And it is that realism, along with an accompanying mild psychological realism (especially in the naiveté of Yawara's convictions about "normal" romance) and a few beautifully honed introspective sequences, which promise that the series won't always be all comic comeuppance and missing-tooth jokes.

Hidan no Aria chapter 12 English

2011-02-26T07:46:00.000-08:00

Hidan no Aria Manga
Name:
Hidan no Aria
Alternate Name: Aria The Scarlet Ammo
Summary

Tokyo Butei High school--- It was a special school where armed detectives, also known as "Butei" are being brought up. Tohyama Kinji is a sophomore student who has the unique body which activates a "super mode" when it was stimulated by "something". He tries to hide it to others in order to live a peaceful life. But trouble came to find him when he became a victim of a bombing incident, where he met the Butei high "Assault" department elite, Aria H. Kanzaki.

http://www.mangareader.net/1299/hidan-no-aria.html

Though it's their stated intent that more will be included on the box set, the only extras on this disc are AnimEigo's usual liner notes. They hardly need anything more. As usual the notes are eclectic, informative, and well-researched. On top of explaining translation problems (puns, as always, present the trickiest challenges), the notes delve into cultural references, judo terminology, trivia, and even a brief history of the panty-shot (would you believe that Osamu Tezuka is credited with its introduction to anime?). Comparing the careful descriptions of various judo moves in the notes with the scenes to which they refer gives some indication of the care and research that went into the show's martial-arts sequences, something that bodes quite well for future sports-action. As with Urusei Yatsura, for obvious reasons Yawara is not dubbed. AnimEigo's multi-colored subtitles are unfortunately more distracting than helpful.

Though it would be naive to assume that the series' sports angle might be a selling point, because of it Yawara is far better suited to AnimEigo's box-set releasing style than say Urusei Yatsura (which causes headaches in large doses). Whether by accident or devilish design, this disc ends just as Yawara's first real judo match begins, and that prospect, along with the countless dramatic and comedic possibilities raised in these four meager episodes, whets an appetite that is more than enough to devour AnimEigo's proposed 40-episode box-set. This is feel-good entertainment without all of the treacly baggage, and things simply don't get much better than that.

Mardock Scramble Movie English

2011-02-15T01:47:00.000-08:00

Premiere date:
2010-11-06 (Japan)
Ending Theme:
"Amazing Grace" (Japanese version) by Minako Honda

Alternative title:
マルドゥック・スクランブル (Japanese)

Why me? It was to be the last thought a young prostitute, Balot, would ever have…as a human anyway. Taken in by a devious gambler named Shell, she became a slave to his cruel desires and would have been killed by his hand if not for a private investigator and his self-aware Universal Tool, Oefcoque. Now a cyborg, Balot has not only physical powers, but the ability to disrupt social environments. She chases after Shell, his partner-in-crime Boiled, and faces down a variety of insane villains in this pulse-pounding cyberpunk noir adventure.

Just looking at the description, there may not be much to get excited about in this volume of Eureka 7. The high-flying intensity of the previous installment is a tough act to follow, and now we're stuck with a block of episodes that boils down to "Gekkostate gets stuck in a cave." Taking a break from the action opens up new possibilities, though; suddenly the crew's got a whole lot more time to think. Maybe too much time. Young hero Renton has another one of his weird dreams, crusty old commander Holland is being even more crusty than usual, and Eureka—well, whatever's going on with Eureka is anyone's guess. This is a time to look inward and ask where the characters are headed, and the answers could be more complex than anyone might expect.

Before things get all gloomy, however, there's still time for a little comedy and action. The health craze in Episode 15 brings its share of laughs: the entire crew performing Tai Chi, a sudden shortage of junk food, and misadventures in search of the nutritious puncha nut. (If that's not a pun, I don't know what is.) Even as the episode turns towards battle, the spirit of triumph still wins out—Renton piloting the Nirvash by himself and taking out the enemy is pure exhilaration in visual form. But Episode 16 inverts everything and becomes pure introspection in visual form: Renton, lost in the cave and mentally drained, succumbs to a dream sequence that sums up his conflicted feelings for Eureka. Of course, he wants to fly and develop his skills—but is it worth Eureka getting jealous over "her" machine? The story continues to develop on multiple levels, becoming even more mysterious when Eureka "takes a nap" and somehow enters Renton's dream.

Bleach Movie 4 download

2011-02-15T01:35:00.000-08:00

sequel of Bleach: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na o Yobu (movie 3)

Alternative title:
BLEACH 地獄篇 (Japanese)
Bleach: Jigoku-hen (movie 4)

Genres: action, fantasy

Ending Theme:
"Save The One, Save The All" by T.M. Revolution

… Except she doesn't die. Rather, she finds herself a few feet away, a few seconds earlier, and more or less, safe. Freaked out, she consults her aunt, who tells her she's simply time-slipped, and that it happens all the time. Soon, she finds she can control her time slipping by taking a flying leap.

Of course, this power is way too much fun not to abuse. When the time in the karaoke room runs out, she leaps back a couple hours earlier and starts all over again. When she knows what's on a test, she leaps back and takes it over again. If she wants to oversleep, all she has to do is jump and she's right on time. Soon, she's fixing up friends, correcting her mistakes, and gleefully going back and forth trying to make life better. It almost goes without saying that she unintentionally makes things worse, and in repeated moments, manages to dig herself into deeper and deeper trouble.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has more in common with some of the best shoujo manga than Tsutsui's other recently-animated work Paprika. The maturity, the gravity, and the deep symbolism of the latter has been replaced here with the wistful buoyancy that only the Japanese seem to be able to associate with high school. The winding, narrow streets of suburban Tokyo haven't looked this gorgeous since Whisper of the Heart.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Movie 2 eng

2011-02-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

sequel of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st

Alternative title:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: 2nd A's The Movie
Mahou Shojo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's (Japanese)
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's (Japanese)
魔法少女リリカルなのは The MOVIE 2nd A's (Japanese)

Genres: action, comedy, drama
Themes: magical girl, Super power

release date 2012

Mai is adjusting to life at Fuka Academy, working at Linden Baum's, and being a HiME, but the weight of all her responsibilities, and the way they restrict her social life, starts to get to her. Although Yuichi seems to want to comfort her, the jealous Shiho sees Mai as competition. Meanwhile the Founder's Day Festival preparations proceed apace, the occasional Orphan pops up and needs to be put down, Nagi continues to be thoroughly enigmatic, and the identities and powers of three more HiME are revealed, one of whom has a sadistic streak. Other forces are at work in the school, however, one of which has a nasty surprise for one of the HiME, which makes the potential cost of being a HiME devastatingly clear.

Resident Evil: Damnation eng

2011-02-15T01:03:00.000-08:00

Alternative title:
Biohazard: Damnation (Japanese)
Genres: action, horror, science fiction

release: 2012

Original Creator: CAPCOM

Biohazard: Degeneration sequel to open in 2012 in stereoscopic 3D theaters

The American television network G4TV began streaming a 91-second trailer for Resident Evil: Damnation (Biohazard: Damnation) film on Monday. The game company CAPCOM and the production company Sony Pictures Entertainment is making the project as a sequel to the 3D computer-animated Biohazard: Degeneration (Resident Evil: Degeneration) feature film.

The trailer will be included with the live-action Resident Evil: Afterlife film on 3D Blue-ray Disc and DVD in North America on December 28. The Resident Evil: Degeneration film itself is slated to open in 2012 in theaters with stereoscopic 3D equipment.

In case you missed it somehow during the first half, part two of Initial D's Fourth Stage broadcasts its message loud and clear: If you aren't here for the racing, then you may as well not be here at all. Though marginally less competition-focused than the first half, the season's final half is still, to put it a little fancifully, more machine than man. It consists almost exclusively of finely-tuned racing action, shedding most any human softness not specifically required to make its races gripping. The end result is undeniably exciting, but also more than a little cold.

There is still a little humanity left in Frontline's steel Valentine to fast cars and the men who love them. Witness the between-race lulls during which the oft-sad love lives of Itsuki and Keisuke play out. Echoes of the romantic fatalism that marked Takumi and Mogi's relationship—the first two seasons' main fount of teen drama—can be found, and in their own unhappy way they're kind of sweet. During such respites the series treats its cast with something that almost approaches warmth. There's even a little humor mixed in. But for all their real-life pessimism and welcome restfulness, Initial D's stabs at non-racing drama are ultimately pretty awful. It creepily conflates wannabe girlfriend Kyoko's car with her chastity ("if it's my darling driving it, it's okay"), paints Itsuki's crush as something of a fickle wench, and never quite shakes the sense that affection, heartbreak and even friendship are outside of its comfort zone.

Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki watch

2011-02-15T00:54:00.000-08:00

Live-action Yamato/Returner's Takashi Yamazaki to write/direct December 2011 film

The next film that Takashi Yamazaki (Returner, Always: Sunset on Third Street, Ballad) will direct after this month's live-action Space Battleship Yamato film is Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki, a 3D computer anime film set to open in Japan next December.

Yamazaki is basing his screenplay on Naita Aka-Oni, a tear-jerker fairy tale by Hirosuke Hamada (Kuroi Kikori to Shiroi Kikori). However, the film will be an original story. Naki and Gunjō are friends who live on Mononoke Shima, and they cross paths with a human child.

Alternative title:
friends -フレンズ- もののけ島のナキ (Japanese)
Aired release : 2011-12

Newbie mangaka Izumi Tsubaki explains the genesis of the The Magic Touch shoujo series in a talkback strip at the end of the first volume: Under the pressure of an impending deadline, she came up with a massage themed short story “half as a joke,” and to her utter surprise, her editor accepted it. Needless to say, this reviewer is even more surprised than Tsubaki herself—because The Magic Touch is the single worst concept and the single worst execution of a shoujo manga serial that this reviewer can recall seeing since the start of her reviewing career.

Of course, that short story, called “Teach Me Prince,” found smack dab in the middle of volume one, became the basis of an ongoing storyline—as reasonably successful short stories are wont to do in Japan. And all that does is attenuate the agony. Where be the agony, you ask? Well, let's start with the premise. A high school massage club? The very idea is, and even the mangaka herself acknowledges it, incredibly schlocky, and the development of a heroine whose reason for existence is to rub the tension out of other peoples'—and especially her boyfriend's—bodies is bound to offend the sensibilities of a large number of readers in the West. The links to prostitution are awfully hard to ignore, and lest you be inclined to read the Massage Research Society as mere escapist fantasy, the manga always jolts you back to reality by reminding you in footnotes that high school students are not allowed to become licensed masseuses. (Incidentally, this mandated professionalization of the massage industry itself in Japan is in part reaction to the conflation of legitimate shiatsu and other traditions of massage with sex work.)

Pokemon Best Wishes! Victini and the Black Hero Movie

2011-02-15T00:42:00.000-08:00

related to Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! (TV) ]

Alternative title:
Gekijōban Pocket Monster Best Wishes! Victini to Kuroki Eiyū Zekrom (movie)
Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! Victini and the Black Hero
劇場版ポケットモンスターベストウイッシュビクティニと黒き英雄ゼクロム (Japanese)
Genres: adventure, science fiction

Premiere date:
2011-07-16 (Japan)

Preview video streamed; TV series, Pokémon Black & White games launched last month

The official website for the Pokémon anime films has announced that the first Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! film will open in Japan next summer. The website is already streaming a 20-second announcement video. The Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! television anime series premiered on September 23; this latest Pokémon anime series ties into Nintendo's Pokémon: Black and Pokémon: White games, which also launched on Japanese Nintendo DS portable game consoles last month. http://www.pokemon-movie.jp/

The personalities of the girls are a cross-section of archetypes common to fan service shows, and most are executed in a simple, straightforward way. A nicely summarized breakdown, complete with character reference pictures, can be found here. While other characters come and go, including standards like the arrogant rich girl, the cool and confident lesbian authority figure, the motherly figure (who, in this case, actually is a mother), the hard-drinking girl, the quiet warrior who's secretly an animal freak, the twin idol singer wannabes, the announcer girl, and the rebellious princess type, the focus remains on the central duo of Aisha/Kan'u and her adopted sister Rin Rin/Chōhi. The latter fills the role of the plucky, rambunctious kid who wears her heart on her sleeve (or, in this case, her remarkably expressive tiger-shaped hair clip), while the former is the kind-hearted, stalwart warrior who easily gets flustered by romantic advances from both men and women. Aisha is also something of the straight woman in the series, as most of the series' running jokes – including her being mistakenly regarded as the mother of some of the younger characters and the way her actual appearance doesn't seem to live up to her reputation – involve her. Other commonly recurring characters include Shuri/Komei as the shy herbalist and master strategist, quietly competitive Sei/Chōun, and thick-headed but boisterous and good-natured Sui/Bachō. While this lot may lack any degree of originality, they make up for it with the light-hearted and entertaining way that they interact. Between that and all of the situational gags, the series rarely has a dull moment.

Onigamiden Movie English

2011-02-15T00:35:00.000-08:00

Alternative title:
鬼神伝 (Japanese)

Premiere date:
2011-04-29 (Japan)

Animation Production: Studio Pierrot

TV Tokyo co-produces film about war in Kyoto between demon, humans

The animation company Studio Pierrot and the television network TV Tokyo are promoting their Fall 2010 film Onigamiden at Tokyo International Anime Fair this week. The film's story revolves around the war between oni (demons) and humans in the former Japanese capital of Kyoto, 1,200 years ago during the Heian period. The anime adapts a 2004 two-volume novel by the same name from author Takafumi Takada. The official website of the film has already launched. The film will open in Japan on October 9.

Strained humor, however, is still a positive when compared to this series' true weakness: the artwork. Too many times, a punchline or action scene is ruined when an awkward character pose or poor staging makes the moment all but incomprehensible. Worse yet is when we're expected to read the expressions on the characters' faces and guess whether they're shocked, or angry, or amused—good luck with that one, because every expression looks the same. Even the rectangular-paneled layouts have a stilted feel to them: some scenes pack too much action into too small a space, while others leave the page too wide open, resulting in an awkward narrative pace. Only at the end of the Satanic Emperor arc do the visuals truly shine: Krauser in full demonic rampage, the crowd going completely wild, and the stage collapsing in flames. Truly, a chaotic climax is the only thing that befits the chaotic art style.

Then there's the chaotic language, which is far more bearable than the art and often times the most amusing part of the series. The entire script is translated with wild, gleeful abandon, but in a good way: swear words left and right, plus countless references to bodily functions and genitalia, just the way the hard-rock scene likes it. In fact, the only thing more hilarious than hyperbolic sentiments of death metal are the sickly-sweet indie pop lyrics Negishi loves to croon; how ironic that two ends of the musical spectrum are evenly matched in emotional vapidity. If there's one area where the translation trips up, however, it's in the sound effects, which are typically big, brash, and too widely spread out across the page to be readable. It may have worked in Japanese, but in English it's just random letters scattered over the scenery.

Fullmetal Alchemist Movie 2

2011-02-15T00:20:00.000-08:00

Synopsis
Second Fullmetal Alchemist movie.

Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Fullmetal Alchemist Movie 2, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Movie 2, FMA Movie 2
Japanese: 劇場版鋼の錬金術師嘆きの丘(ミロス)の聖なる星
Fullmetal Alchemist: the Sacred Stars of Milos

related to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV)

Genres: action, drama, fantasy, mystery
Themes: alchemy, chimera, demons, steampunk

Premiere date:
2011-07-02 (Japan)

Of course, there are plenty of other works with fine art that fall flat on their cliché-laden rears, but Air Gear succeeds where these fail due to the skill with which Oh! great! combines his art with his narrative. On its own the narrative has all the appeal of the aforementioned pro-wrestling match, and likewise the art alone is little more than pretty pictures. You can go to a museum if that's all you want. But put them together, and you get something entirely different: a visceral, involving story. The book is peppered with moments where the two elements combine to startling effect. A two page illustration of Itsuki when he is first confronted by the Skull Saders gang pauses the action long enough to convey his shock and fear. Itsuki's insecurities take on physical form while flying high with Ringo as she transforms into an airborne grim reaper complete with skeletal air treks. Itsuki's ingenuity is demonstrated as a battle climaxes in a series of five vertically oriented panels. In an absolutely beautifully composed two-page illustration, Itsuki's buddies regain their faith in "Babyface" as they watch him save a nest of baby birds. The list goes on. Whether this will be enough to sustain the series in the long run is an open question, but in the first volume it's more than enough.

Del Rey goes the extra mile to preserve the artwork for this title, presenting the introduction on six glossy pages in all its untranslated, color glory, with the translated pages—in black and white—following. The binding and printing are all fine. Extras for this volume include the standard Del Rey untranslated preview of the next volume as well as extensive translator's notes and some conceptual sketches with accompanying character descriptions.

Pokemon Best Wishes! Episode 25 Stream

2011-02-04T03:54:00.007-08:00

Pokemon Best Wishes

2011-03-17 23.
2011-03-24 24.
2011-03-31 25.
The Hiun Gym Battle, the Pure Hearted Bug Pokemon Battle!
2011-04-07 26.

Plot Summary:
Ash, Delia and Professor Oak went to new region of Isshu. After they arrive, Team Rocket again stole Pikachu from Ash. In the midst of the battle, Zekrom appears, and its huge lightning bolt zapped Pikachu, freeing him. Professor Araragi shows up and escorts them to her lab, where Ash meets his rival named Shooty. After a losing battle against him, Ash noticed that Pikachu is unable to use its electricity due to Zekrom's thunderbolt. Zekrom appears once again and he gave Pikachu back his electricity. Now seeing a Legendary Pokemon again, Ash decides to go on a journey and compete in the Isshu Pokemon League. Later on, he met a Jungle girl named Iris and one of the leaders of the Sanyou Gym named Dent. Now...the three of them travel together in a world filled with mysterious creatures known as Pokemon.

Pokemon Best Wishes video Stream

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone is the first six episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion with better animation, a slightly truncated storyline and a handful of slight changes. It isn't anything new at all to Evangelion veterans; this is a stroll down memory lane, except they moved some of the lampposts around and like any nostalgic journey to the past, maybe it's not really as good as you might remember. Newcomers to the franchise (provided they actually exist) will have a good time but would probably be better served by just watching the original TV series and then waiting along with the rest of us for Rebuild of Evangelion 4.0: Now We're Finally At The Good Part.

Everything you remember about the first handful of Evangelion episodes is here; Shinji stares at the ceiling, Misato gets drunk, Rei speaks in a monotone and Gendo goes about his day being a giant douchebag. The battle between EVA-001 and Sachiel, the third Angel, is appropriately brutal and epic, and pretty much everything is exactly how you remembered it, except it's shinier this time and the action scenes are much more fluid. They didn't even change the character designs; the mouths look a little different, and all the sliding buildings are now clearly done using CG, but other than that, everything looks identical.

Pokemon Best Wishes! Episode 24 Stream

2011-02-04T03:54:00.006-08:00

Pokemon Best Wishes

2011-03-17 23.
2011-03-24 24.
2011-03-31 25.
The Hiun Gym Battle, the Pure Hearted Bug Pokemon Battle!
2011-04-07 26.

Plot Summary:
Ash, Delia and Professor Oak went to new region of Isshu. After they arrive, Team Rocket again stole Pikachu from Ash. In the midst of the battle, Zekrom appears, and its huge lightning bolt zapped Pikachu, freeing him. Professor Araragi shows up and escorts them to her lab, where Ash meets his rival named Shooty. After a losing battle against him, Ash noticed that Pikachu is unable to use its electricity due to Zekrom's thunderbolt. Zekrom appears once again and he gave Pikachu back his electricity. Now seeing a Legendary Pokemon again, Ash decides to go on a journey and compete in the Isshu Pokemon League. Later on, he met a Jungle girl named Iris and one of the leaders of the Sanyou Gym named Dent. Now...the three of them travel together in a world filled with mysterious creatures known as Pokemon.

Pokemon Best Wishes video Stream

That's not to say this is an exact carbon copy of the first quarter of the Evangelion TV series – some things have been changed. The script is different in that the dialogue has been made a lot less confusing; they're very upfront with anything related to the Third Impact, disposing of all the cryptic non-clues and vague hints the TV series dabbled in. When Ramiel, the sixth angel, attacks, Misato takes Shinji right on down to the NERV basement and shows him Lilith, who now has a cool new abdomen made up of hundreds of pairs of human legs, and tells him that it's his job to prevent the Angels from making contact with Lilith or else the world will end, which isn't something we learn in the TV series until later on and even then it's pretty vague. It's a clear attempt to make this material more accessible and less confusing to an Evangelion newcomer, which isn't a bad thing. EVA-01 now has an awesome new roar that sounds like it's being fed through a vocoder, and Ramiel has a chilling feminine scream when it gets sniped. There's also a nifty surprise at the very end that will delight EVA fans and hints at some big and potentially very cool changes to the story in the next film, but ultimately it's a tease.

Pokemon Best Wishes! Episode 26 Stream

2011-02-04T03:54:00.004-08:00

Pokemon Best Wishes! Episode 23 Stream

2011-02-04T03:54:00.003-08:00

Pokemon Best Wishes

2011-03-17 23.
2011-03-24 24.
2011-03-31 25.
The Hiun Gym Battle, the Pure Hearted Bug Pokemon Battle!
2011-04-07 26.

Plot Summary:
Ash, Delia and Professor Oak went to new region of Isshu. After they arrive, Team Rocket again stole Pikachu from Ash. In the midst of the battle, Zekrom appears, and its huge lightning bolt zapped Pikachu, freeing him. Professor Araragi shows up and escorts them to her lab, where Ash meets his rival named Shooty. After a losing battle against him, Ash noticed that Pikachu is unable to use its electricity due to Zekrom's thunderbolt. Zekrom appears once again and he gave Pikachu back his electricity. Now seeing a Legendary Pokemon again, Ash decides to go on a journey and compete in the Isshu Pokemon League. Later on, he met a Jungle girl named Iris and one of the leaders of the Sanyou Gym named Dent. Now...the three of them travel together in a world filled with mysterious creatures known as Pokemon.

Pokemon Best Wishes video Stream

Unfortunately, some of the changes they've made don't work. It's not clear why they decided to tinker with the show's ragingly screwed up emotional underbelly, but it's as if they've removed all the subtlety from the TV series. They're not properly building these characters this time; the only hint we have that Shinji and his terminally walled-off pops Gendo don't get along is a single flash of that famous picture of toddler Shinji crying next to his luggage, and yet in his very first reunion with his dad, who promptly tells him he's going to pilot the EVA-01, he immediately reacts by crying about it and pitching a fit about how he can't and won't and why me and all that blistering angst that generally took a little longer to get to in the TV series.

Shinji was reluctant there, but here he's crying about it right off the bat. Other characters suffer from the same problem; some of the conversations are almost hilariously blunt, with Misato just outright discussing her mountain of personal issues as though she's explaining herself to the audience. They're not coming by all this tortured angst honestly; it feels largely out of context, and for many Evangelion fans, the fact that the entire cast was slowly revealed to be a pack of selfish, emotionally mangled mental patients was half the fun. Here they may as well be wearing tee-shirts that say “Hey guys, I'm pretty screwed up in the head!”. A return to some form of subtlety in the next three films would be nice.

Pokemon Best Wishes! Episode 22 Stream

2011-02-04T03:54:00.002-08:00

Pokemon Best Wishes

2011-03-17 23.
2011-03-24 24.
2011-03-31 25.
The Hiun Gym Battle, the Pure Hearted Bug Pokemon Battle!
2011-04-07 26.

Plot Summary:
Ash, Delia and Professor Oak went to new region of Isshu. After they arrive, Team Rocket again stole Pikachu from Ash. In the midst of the battle, Zekrom appears, and its huge lightning bolt zapped Pikachu, freeing him. Professor Araragi shows up and escorts them to her lab, where Ash meets his rival named Shooty. After a losing battle against him, Ash noticed that Pikachu is unable to use its electricity due to Zekrom's thunderbolt. Zekrom appears once again and he gave Pikachu back his electricity. Now seeing a Legendary Pokemon again, Ash decides to go on a journey and compete in the Isshu Pokemon League. Later on, he met a Jungle girl named Iris and one of the leaders of the Sanyou Gym named Dent. Now...the three of them travel together in a world filled with mysterious creatures known as Pokemon.

Pokemon Best Wishes video Stream

While it's way too early to judge Rebuild of Evangelion as an adaptation, aside from a few hints at some changes to come, this is a pretty slavish “rebuild” of the first six episodes. They're even recycling the soundtrack from the TV series, with a few melodramatic chorus songs inserted into the more intense battle scenes. In spite of the potential fan backlash, it'd have been nice if Gainax had shown some cojones and really mixed things up, swapped around some personalities, maybe redesigned the characters and fiddled with the storyline.

Hell, they could've at least given Shinji an iPod to listen to, but this is such a faithful retelling that they even kept his now-obsolete little tape recorder. This isn't “new Evangelion”, it's old Evangelion spit-shined and mildly re-arranged, and the result is not particularly arresting. Ultimately it all feels fairly pointless and basically serves as a big expensive teaser for the really interesting stuff that happens later in the story. Once they really start digging into the psychological, philosophical and religious gobbledygook that made the second half of the TV series a timeless (and endlessly argued about) classic, things will get better, but for the time being, even in spite of all the cool fight sequences and beautiful new animation, what we basically have is Evangelion: The Boring Parts Movie. Hurry up with the sequels, Gainax.

Pokemon Best Wishes! Episode 21 Stream

2011-02-04T03:54:00.001-08:00

Pokemon Best Wishes

2011-03-17 23.
2011-03-24 24.
2011-03-31 25.
The Hiun Gym Battle, the Pure Hearted Bug Pokemon Battle!
2011-04-07 26.

Plot Summary:
Ash, Delia and Professor Oak went to new region of Isshu. After they arrive, Team Rocket again stole Pikachu from Ash. In the midst of the battle, Zekrom appears, and its huge lightning bolt zapped Pikachu, freeing him. Professor Araragi shows up and escorts them to her lab, where Ash meets his rival named Shooty. After a losing battle against him, Ash noticed that Pikachu is unable to use its electricity due to Zekrom's thunderbolt. Zekrom appears once again and he gave Pikachu back his electricity. Now seeing a Legendary Pokemon again, Ash decides to go on a journey and compete in the Isshu Pokemon League. Later on, he met a Jungle girl named Iris and one of the leaders of the Sanyou Gym named Dent. Now...the three of them travel together in a world filled with mysterious creatures known as Pokemon.

Pokemon Best Wishes video Stream

Centuries ago, the great wolf Holo journeyed south from her northern birthplace and became the goddess of the wheat harvest after striking a bargain with a young man in the village of Pasloe. For ages she insured rich harvests in most years and traditions built up around her, but as time passed and a new local noble developed more advanced farming techniques, lonely Holo came to feel that her commitment was no longer needed. Taking human form as a teenage girl with wolf ears and tail, she hooks up with Lawrence, a traveling merchant who regularly does business in Pasloe, and convinces him to allow her to accompany him on a journey as much about companionship for both as it is about providing a convenient means for her to return north.

Along the way she helps the enterprising Lawrence as he gets involved first in a complex (and ultimately dangerous) scheme involving currency devaluation and later when, after getting caught by surprise by price fluctuations, he must struggle to find a way to save his career, an effort which brings him into association with the shepherdess Nora – the one type of person Holo hates more than any other. When a spice-transporting merchant and a wolf come together, things are never dull.

Pokemon Best Wishes! Episode 20 Stream

2011-02-04T03:54:00.000-08:00

Pokemon Best Wishes

2011-03-17 23.
2011-03-24 24.
2011-03-31 25.
The Hiun Gym Battle, the Pure Hearted Bug Pokemon Battle!
2011-04-07 26.

Plot Summary:
Ash, Delia and Professor Oak went to new region of Isshu. After they arrive, Team Rocket again stole Pikachu from Ash. In the midst of the battle, Zekrom appears, and its huge lightning bolt zapped Pikachu, freeing him. Professor Araragi shows up and escorts them to her lab, where Ash meets his rival named Shooty. After a losing battle against him, Ash noticed that Pikachu is unable to use its electricity due to Zekrom's thunderbolt. Zekrom appears once again and he gave Pikachu back his electricity. Now seeing a Legendary Pokemon again, Ash decides to go on a journey and compete in the Isshu Pokemon League. Later on, he met a Jungle girl named Iris and one of the leaders of the Sanyou Gym named Dent. Now...the three of them travel together in a world filled with mysterious creatures known as Pokemon.

Pokemon Best Wishes video Stream

The notion of a sexy, playful wolf girl who thinks nothing of showing nudity (she only dons clothes because “this form gets cold easily”) might seem like classic otaku bait, but the soulful opener provides the first clue that this may be something entirely different. By the end of the second episode – and possibly even by the end of the first – viewers should realize that Spice and Wolf has no close kin amongst anime series in general, much less fantasy ones, and that is a Good Thing. Based on a series of novels by Isuna Hasekura, this is a surprisingly mature tale which has a certain playful spirit and does involve some action, fan service, and supernatural elements but ultimately depends far more on the strength of its characters and on plots heavily ground in economics to keeps its viewers involved. And that it does wonderfully well.

Pokemon Best Wishes! Episode 19 Stream

2011-02-04T03:52:00.000-08:00

Pokemon Best Wishes

2011-03-17 23.
2011-03-24 24.
2011-03-31 25.
The Hiun Gym Battle, the Pure Hearted Bug Pokemon Battle!
2011-04-07 26.

Plot Summary:
Ash, Delia and Professor Oak went to new region of Isshu. After they arrive, Team Rocket again stole Pikachu from Ash. In the midst of the battle, Zekrom appears, and its huge lightning bolt zapped Pikachu, freeing him. Professor Araragi shows up and escorts them to her lab, where Ash meets his rival named Shooty. After a losing battle against him, Ash noticed that Pikachu is unable to use its electricity due to Zekrom's thunderbolt.

Zekrom appears once again and he gave Pikachu back his electricity. Now seeing a Legendary Pokemon again, Ash decides to go on a journey and compete in the Isshu Pokemon League. Later on, he met a Jungle girl named Iris and one of the leaders of the Sanyou Gym named Dent. Now...the three of them travel together in a world filled with mysterious creatures known as Pokemon.

Pokemon Best Wishes video Stream

Ever watch a series where an entire episode can pass with little more happening than the two leads just talking to each other, and yet at the end of the episode you wonder where the time has gone? Spice and Wolf can do precisely that. The chemistry which quickly develops between Holo and Lawrence is an ideal example of the correct way to portray progressing character dynamics: let it happen naturally within the boundaries of the personalities of each character and without being forced by outside stimuli.

Through the lengthy (but never tedious) conversations, Holo and Lawrence each show their distinct viewpoints and how they mesh or contrast with each other: he is a merchant who looks at things not necessarily from a silver-and-gold-coins point of view, but from one ground in the ebb and flow of trade; she is an extremely long-lived and temperamental wolf goddess who may have taken humanoid form, and delights in human pleasures, but is still very much a wolf. Within that confluence a thoroughly enjoyable anime duo is forged, with each one gradually learning how to (and not to) play off of the other. By the end of this first series they have not quite become a proper couple but are certainly headed in that direction.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Episode 49 Video

2011-01-27T00:52:00.005-08:00

Alternative title:
SDガンダム三国伝 Brave Battle Warriors (Japanese)
Genres: adventure
Themes: historical, mecha, parody, war

A manga called BB Senshi Sangokuden ~Senshin Kettō-hen~ has been running in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace magazine. Hobby Net lists 14 new SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors model kits which will be released between February and May.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Watch online

The Japanese dub uses a different seiyuu for Akari between Parts 1 and 3, while the English dub uses Hilary Haag passably well at both ages. David Matranga, as Takaki, strains a bit when attempting to voice a very young version of his character but otherwise does a fine job, and Serena Varghese hits the mark just right as Kanae. Because so much of the dialog is narration, the English script varies very little from the subtitles, although in many places the English spoken lines and Japanese spoken lines have somewhat different timing. (This is not easily noticeable unless you listen to the English dub with the subtitles on, however.)

Amongst the Extras on the disc are a photo montage of setting scouting for the movie that can make a viewer appreciate exactly how accurately detailed some of the background animation really is. Also included are two interviews: one with Shinkai and the other with members of the Japanese cast. Although ADV's production lists the three parts as if they were episodes on the menu, it uses no chapter breaks within a part.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Episode 48 Video

2011-01-27T00:52:00.004-08:00

Alternative title:
SDガンダム三国伝 Brave Battle Warriors (Japanese)
Genres: adventure
Themes: historical, mecha, parody, war

A manga called BB Senshi Sangokuden ~Senshin Kettō-hen~ has been running in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace magazine. Hobby Net lists 14 new SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors model kits which will be released between February and May.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Watch online

The question that will inevitably get asked is where this work stands compared to Shinkai's previous efforts. It is his best effort to date, or his worst? The answer depends heavily on what you are expecting to get out of it. Evaluated purely on technical merits, the overall artistry is a very slight step down from Place Promised, but the timing and pacing of its storytelling is better. It has better character designs and more complexity than Voices, but not as broad an appeal nor as poignant and heartfelt an ending. It achieves the same degree of elegance and eloquence in storytelling, so the decision largely comes down to a matter of personal preference. From this reviewer's perspective, Voices is the true masterpiece of the lot, but this one works just fine, as long as you can come to terms with the ending.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Episode 47 Video

2011-01-27T00:52:00.003-08:00

SD Gundam Sangokuden Episode 46 Video

2011-01-27T00:52:00.002-08:00

SD Gundam Sangokuden Episode 45 Video

2011-01-27T00:52:00.001-08:00

Alternative title:
SDガンダム三国伝 Brave Battle Warriors (Japanese)
Genres: adventure
Themes: historical, mecha, parody, war

A manga called BB Senshi Sangokuden ~Senshin Kettō-hen~ has been running in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace magazine. Hobby Net lists 14 new SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors model kits which will be released between February and May.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Watch online

Steamboy is a quality production from almost every angle, but it's important to take those angles one at a time to fully appreciate what Otomo and his staff have accomplished here. Firstly and most importantly, Steamboy excels in the storytelling department. Gone are the confusingly labyrinthine plot machinations of Otomo's other films; Steamboy is a straight-shooting, easy-to-follow adventure tale. It's never confusing; characters' motives are almost always laid out for the audience. It's a very successful experiment in Western-style storytelling, something that hasn't been done (outside of, say, Studio Ghibli's various successes, but even those films suffer from esoteric references and somewhat alienating storylines) in Japan in recent memory. The film gives you someone to root for, someone to hate, someone to laugh at and a simple philosophical question to ponder about the nature of progress; it's a complete package.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Episode 44 Video

2011-01-27T00:52:00.000-08:00

Alternative title:
SDガンダム三国伝 Brave Battle Warriors (Japanese)
Genres: adventure
Themes: historical, mecha, parody, war

A manga called BB Senshi Sangokuden ~Senshin Kettō-hen~ has been running in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace magazine. Hobby Net lists 14 new SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors model kits which will be released between February and May.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Watch online

While clearly trying to emulate Western-style blockbuster plot structures, Steamboy still retains enough of a Japanese sensibility to imbue itself with a simple philosophical question that drives the film's narrative. Ray is torn between two sides. His grandfather Lloyd, whose valiant struggle to keep the Steam ball out of the hands of the O'Hara foundation symbolizes his (often speechified) “science for the good of man” philosophy. The head of the O'Hara foundation (whose identity would be unfair to reveal) clashes with Lloyd, his “science for science's sake” manta driving the film's villainy, which is, in typical Japanese-bad-guy fashion, well-meaning but misguided and ultimately destructive. Ray has to reconcile these two all while putting to rest the O'Hara Foundation's Steam Castle, a Laputa-like structure made entirely of cogs and monstrous machines that excites the imagination and helps Otomo's philosophical argument. It's like the best of both worlds: thought-provoking, intelligent Japanese-style themes combined with exciting, Western-style action set pieces and pacing, minus all the problems that usually accompany these two filmic forms. Simply put, it's a masterpiece.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Episode 43 Video

2011-01-27T00:51:00.001-08:00

Alternative title:
SDガンダム三国伝 Brave Battle Warriors (Japanese)
Genres: adventure
Themes: historical, mecha, parody, war

A manga called BB Senshi Sangokuden ~Senshin Kettō-hen~ has been running in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace magazine. Hobby Net lists 14 new SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors model kits which will be released between February and May.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Watch online

Visually, the film is a banquet. They've successfully combined 2D and 3D here in a technique reminiscent of Mamoru Oshii's visually striking Ghost in the Shell: Innocence. The lushly-detailed Victorian setting is a brilliant backdrop for an action movie, and the crew spared no expense bringing it to life. The film uses CG sparingly, relying mostly on highly advanced and beautifully animated traditional animation. There's nary an animation misstep to be found in this film; the raging combat sequence during the film's first climax is proof that they set out to make a breathtaking film, and have succeeded. The fact that the film has another climax after the first and continues to pull out new tricks to surprise the viewer is simply icing on the cake. Most importantly, the visuals serve the story; too often in big-budget action films like this we see the storyline concoct a series of disappointing contrivances in order to ratchet up the action. Steamboy carefully avoids this pitfall and forces the visuals to tell the story rather than guide it.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Episode 42 Video

2011-01-27T00:51:00.000-08:00

Alternative title:
SDガンダム三国伝 Brave Battle Warriors (Japanese)
Genres: adventure
Themes: historical, mecha, parody, war

A manga called BB Senshi Sangokuden ~Senshin Kettō-hen~ has been running in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace magazine. Hobby Net lists 14 new SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors model kits which will be released between February and May.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Watch online

The film isn't flawless, but it's close. By the time the two-hour mark hits, you'll be about ready to say goodbye to Ray's world, but the film trundles on for a while longer. That's not to say the film is dull, but the pacing does feel a little stretched towards the end, and a few things are restated that didn't necessarily need to be. Steamboy could easily lose 10 minutes or so off the end, but those 10 minutes don't cripple the film in any significant way; the fact that this is the film's lone flaw says more in its favor than against it.

Otomo has really accomplished something here; he's the first Japanese auteur outside of Studio Ghibli to successfully bridge the culture gap between American and Japanese film, creating something that's a successful hybrid of both mediums and will entertain the pants off of both audiences. Steamboy is a masterpiece, something that should be celebrated in theaters, loved by anime fans, non-fans and families alike; don't miss this, not for the world.

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 48 English sub

2011-01-14T02:41:00.002-08:00

Plot Summary: Fairyland is suffering, the worlds of Kaguya-hime, Snow White, and Cinderella are slowly disappearing. Natsuki, Ringo, and Layla are three young girls have been asked to transform into the respective princesses and spread happiness amongst humankind in order to restore Fairyland. Once they transform they become a three girl idol pop group 'Lilpri' (Little Princess) which spreads happiness through song.

Opening Theme:
"Little Princess" (リトルぷりんせす) by Lilpri
#2: "Idolulu" by Lilpri
Ending Theme:
"Otona ni Narutte Muzukashii!!!" by S/mileage

Watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

In addition to trailers, extras on this volume include character profiles (“Dossiers”) and clean opener and closers (“Songs”). The most distinctive extra is the “Building Henrietta” piece, which goes through a step-by-step process for creating a digital picture of Henrietta in one of her action poses. The DVD case also includes some nice interior artwork featuring Henrietta, Triela, and Rico and a pamphlet containing extensive additional company previews and “coming soon” notices. FUNimation continues its favorable practice of using more chapter breaks than the norm for anime episodes, but this is balanced by some oddly inconsistent behavior in the English voice credits, where only the girls' roles have a character name matched to a voice actor even though some of the male parts have just as many lines in certain episodes—and Caitlin Glass, Triela's English VA, isn't credited at all in the episode which features Triela! As with FUNimation's past releases, viewers get the opening and closing credits in English with the dub on and in Japanese with the sub on, though a viewer can switch back and forth using the Angle button.

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 47 English sub

2011-01-14T02:41:00.001-08:00

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 46 English sub

2011-01-14T02:41:00.000-08:00

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 45 English sub

2011-01-14T02:40:00.003-08:00

Plot Summary: Fairyland is suffering, the worlds of Kaguya-hime, Snow White, and Cinderella are slowly disappearing. Natsuki, Ringo, and Layla are three young girls have been asked to transform into the respective princesses and spread happiness amongst humankind in order to restore Fairyland. Once they transform they become a three girl idol pop group 'Lilpri' (Little Princess) which spreads happiness through song.

Opening Theme:
"Little Princess" (リトルぷりんせす) by Lilpri
#2: "Idolulu" by Lilpri
Ending Theme:
"Otona ni Narutte Muzukashii!!!" by S/mileage

Watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

Suoh breaks out and finds his new friend, realizing that this is the person he wants to spend his life protecting. (His clan apparently are legendary bodyguards that always pick their own clients.) Finally, we get some character development in this otherwise 2-D series, as we see just how deep the platonic love is between these two characters.

...But then it's back to the same old crap. A ghost haunts the Kindergarten division's art class and the Detectives bust it Scooby Doo style (without an ending where someone is a clear-cut bad guy), and a mysterious girl that Nokoru sees by a lake ends up being the person hijacking the Elementary School ball. In volume three, Suoh falls for a kindergarten fluteist (A kindergartener and a 5th grader?! Isn't this kind of... wrong?) and has to save her from disaster that somehow always strikes around her, Suoh challenges Nokoru to a nine-on-one baseball game, and we find out the secret life of Akira: Dressing up like Tuxedo Mask and stealing stuff Cat's Eye-style.

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 44 English sub

2011-01-14T02:40:00.002-08:00

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 43 English sub

2011-01-14T02:40:00.001-08:00

Plot Summary: Fairyland is suffering, the worlds of Kaguya-hime, Snow White, and Cinderella are slowly disappearing. Natsuki, Ringo, and Layla are three young girls have been asked to transform into the respective princesses and spread happiness amongst humankind in order to restore Fairyland. Once they transform they become a three girl idol pop group 'Lilpri' (Little Princess) which spreads happiness through song.

Opening Theme:
"Little Princess" (リトルぷりんせす) by Lilpri
#2: "Idolulu" by Lilpri
Ending Theme:
"Otona ni Narutte Muzukashii!!!" by S/mileage

Watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

After world-wide hurricanes devastated the population of Earth, sealing Europe and North America in ice and flooding much of the rest of the world, Japan recovered relatively quickly from the catastrophe, with the help of a pre-existing powered-suit technology. It isn't long before the sociopolitical lines are redrawn, resulting in a strict segregation of the haves and have-nots (called Logos and Revinus respectively). After external threats have been neutralized, Logos turns its murderous resources on the forces of internal rebellion, resulting in a brutal police state. It is through this blasted post-apocalyptic landscape of violence and social strife that two young men, Jin and Joe, escort a young girl named Sana, dodging the dogged and inevitably vicious attempts of the military to capture the innocent girl. Fortunately for her and unfortunately for their pursuers, Jin and Joe are far more skilled in the arts of combat than anyone could guess. It's a good thing too; they'll have to contend not only with police and soldiers, but also pirates and the military's monstrous special attack unit Phantom.

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 42 English sub

2011-01-14T02:40:00.000-08:00

Plot Summary: Fairyland is suffering, the worlds of Kaguya-hime, Snow White, and Cinderella are slowly disappearing. Natsuki, Ringo, and Layla are three young girls have been asked to transform into the respective princesses and spread happiness amongst humankind in order to restore Fairyland. Once they transform they become a three girl idol pop group 'Lilpri' (Little Princess) which spreads happiness through song.

Opening Theme:
"Little Princess" (リトルぷりんせす) by Lilpri
#2: "Idolulu" by Lilpri
Ending Theme:
"Otona ni Narutte Muzukashii!!!" by S/mileage

Watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

Let's play a game. For each of the following, name one show where they occur. A post-apocalyptic future in which geography and humanity have been reduced by some cataclysmic event. Brutal futuristic police states that put down the poor with mecha. Violent forces in pursuit of a young girl of unknown but obviously immense importance. A future with the strict segregation of the poor. A spunky young street urchin who helps the heroes. Not exactly hard, is it? There isn't much in Innocent Venus that hasn't been done already elsewhere, and multiple times. Even the way that Jin and Joe's mecha move strongly recalls Armored Trooper Votoms. The characters are all stereotypes, slicked and streamlined by intense use. Jin is a smooth operator whose warmth and soft-spoken kindness cover a heart of purest ice. Joe is taciturn death-machine whose antisocial exterior shields his fundamental decency and a caramel-taffy heart. Phantom is a hodgepodge of combat clichés, from the cold, tough female commander to the squinty-eyed Chinese psychopath who kills people with cards. Heck, even that skinny guy with the long arms and tongue who's always licking his knives is there. Funny about how he gets around; he can be found in combat units all throughout time and even in parallel universes. Maybe it's a genetic strain of some sort. If we lived in a time of chaos, would Gene Simmons have slimmed down and started licking knives? The pirates aren't much better. There's a gruff-but-kind muscle-bound lady, and the captain is only the latest in a long line of eccentric, deceptively skilled leader-types.

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Episode 41 English sub

2011-01-14T02:33:00.000-08:00

Plot Summary: Fairyland is suffering, the worlds of Kaguya-hime, Snow White, and Cinderella are slowly disappearing. Natsuki, Ringo, and Layla are three young girls have been asked to transform into the respective princesses and spread happiness amongst humankind in order to restore Fairyland. Once they transform they become a three girl idol pop group 'Lilpri' (Little Princess) which spreads happiness through song.

Opening Theme:
"Little Princess" (リトルぷりんせす) by Lilpri
#2: "Idolulu" by Lilpri
Ending Theme:
"Otona ni Narutte Muzukashii!!!" by S/mileage

Watch Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

And yet there's something about the show that makes it rather compulsively watchable. There's an uncertainty about whether or not Joe and Jin are exploiting Sana to their own ends that lends a moral ambiguity to the "let's protect the innocent girl!" tone of some scenes. Gora, the street urchin, isn't all he seems, and is also an unbearable brat whose presence is made tolerable by the mountains of abuse heaped upon him. Sana, besides providing a moe hook, is clueless, a tad incurious, more than a bit bratty and selfish, with a dash of the moon-eyed romantic thrown in for good measure. Her relationship with Joe, a mix of fear and fascination, rings especially true. From the breathless chase that opens the series to the sudden explosions of mecha mayhem, the pace is unrelenting, pushing swiftly from one violent encounter to the next, never letting up or sagging. There's a well-balanced tension to these first four episodes that owes much to the mix of the on-the-lam thrills of Jin and Joe's cross-country mission, the unforgiving gut-crunching violence, and the lack of any concrete information about the motives and reasons behind their flight and the government's pursuit. Series Writer Shinsuke Onishi plays his cards close to his chest, without ever noticeably obfuscating; tidbits of information are worked naturally into events and conversations in a way that avoids outright explanatory dialogue and allows the audience to figure things out at their own pace. Not everything works perfectly—there's nothing to be done about Phantom's motley assortment of cringe-inducing stereotypes but to hope that they die quickly and very, very painfully—but the end result is still solid entertainment.

Stream Fractale Episode 13

2011-01-04T20:06:00.004-08:00

Stream Fractale Episode 12

2011-01-04T20:06:00.003-08:00

Plot Summary: The story takes place in an island, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Crane finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff. She disappears leaving a pendant. Crane sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.

Related anime:
Fractale (manga)

Alternative title:
フラクタル (Japanese)

Official website:
http://www.square-enix.com/jp/magazine/ganganonline/comic/fractale/
http://fractale.noitamina.tv/

Fractale Watch video Stream

Renegade sorcerer Orphen, his apprentice Majic, and the tag-along Cleao continue their quest for the magical means to restore the dragon Bloody August to her human self. Orphen has pinned his hopes on a mystical bracelet hidden by his beloved superior Azalie long ago, but it seems it will not be enough to subdue the demonic dragon. In his despair, Orphen finally tells his companions the story of his apprenticeship at the Tower of Fang, his relationship to Azalie, and her tragic transformation into the Bloody August. Later, the trouble-making trolls Volcan and Dortin uncover a nest of golems and unleash them on Orphen and company. Fortunately Orphen's old partner-in-sorcery Stephanie is on hand to help our heroes combat this new menace.

Stream Fractale Episode 11

2011-01-04T20:06:00.002-08:00

Plot Summary: The story takes place in an island, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Crane finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff. She disappears leaving a pendant. Crane sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.

Related anime:
Fractale (manga)

Alternative title:
フラクタル (Japanese)

Official website:
http://www.square-enix.com/jp/magazine/ganganonline/comic/fractale/
http://fractale.noitamina.tv/

Fractale Watch video Stream

Things begin to pick up in "Orphen Volume 3: Ruins and Relics", which contains episodes 7 through 9 of this fairly enjoyable fantasy adventure series. Details are finally brought to light concerning Orphen's past, and the tale of the ill-fated Azalie is told in an extended flashback which makes up the bulk of episode 8. Azalie turns out to be a far more interesting character than any of Orphen's current companions, and one hopes there is more of her tale to be told before the series' end. The final episode on the disc ends on a cliffhanger, but is mostly filler in spite of introducing another character from Orphen's past, the ex-sorcerer Stephanie. "Orphen's" main draw is it's unique plot, and when the story deviates from it the show suffers. While Orphen himself is a well-realized personality, meek sidekick Majic, the spoilt rich-girl Cleao, and comedy relief Volcan and Dortin have so far proven to be little more than tired anime stereotypes. As such these filler episodes are much less enjoyable than they might be with more rounded characters.

Stream Fractale Episode 10

2011-01-04T20:06:00.001-08:00

Plot Summary: The story takes place in an island, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Crane finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff. She disappears leaving a pendant. Crane sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.

Related anime:
Fractale (manga)

Alternative title:
フラクタル (Japanese)

Official website:
http://www.square-enix.com/jp/magazine/ganganonline/comic/fractale/
http://fractale.noitamina.tv/

Fractale Watch video Stream

When "Orphen" sticks to it's overriding story arc it makes for a much more entertaining show. A sort of Harry Potter gone wrong, Orphen is hunted by his former classmates at the Tower of Fang, the leading magic school in the land where he and Azalie studied. Rather than seeking a way to return Azalie to her old self, they wish to destroy her, and when Orphen defies their decision and leaves the Tower to search for a cure he joins their hit list. A refreshingly different plot for a genre in which treasure-hunting and fighting evil warlords is the standard fare, Orphen has an edge over other medieval fantasy anime in the story department. It is both a help and a hindrance to the show that it's most intriguing character is Azalie. Power-hungry yet seemingly well-meaning, the beautiful wizardess is a sympathetic character which helps make the audience more involved in Orphen's quest. However, since she spends the bulk of the series as a hulking dragon we don't see nearly as much of her character as we'd like to. As noted earlier, the one-sided Majic and Cleao are insufficient stand-ins for Orphen's company.

Stream Fractale Episode 9

2011-01-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

Plot Summary: The story takes place in an island, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Crane finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff. She disappears leaving a pendant. Crane sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.

Related anime:
Fractale (manga)

Alternative title:
フラクタル (Japanese)

Official website:
http://www.square-enix.com/jp/magazine/ganganonline/comic/fractale/
http://fractale.noitamina.tv/

Fractale Watch video Stream

Unfortunately the show falls into a pitfall common for anime sword-and-sorcery series. Seldom does an anime's production design accurately capture the look and feel of a European medieval fantasy. One cannot place too much blame on the Japanese creators, for they are dealing with folklore that is not their own....if a Western studio tried to produce Ninja Scroll or Rurouni Kenshin they would no doubt face the same problems. Yet it must be admitted that it is hard to accept a medieval village in which the local tavern serves ice-cream sundaes, castle rooms are furnished with modern-looking couches, and one of the main characters sports a wardrobe that looks like she purchased it from the Gap. This problem plagues not only "Orphen" but virtually every other fantasy anime series....only "Lodoss War" and "Berserk" seem to have captured the right "feel" for the genre.

Sub Gosick Episode 13

2010-12-31T06:29:00.000-08:00

Sub Gosick Episode 12

2010-12-31T06:28:00.003-08:00

Sub Gosick Episode 11

2010-12-31T06:28:00.002-08:00

The Japanese company Kadokawa Shoten began streaming 101 seconds of early promotional footage from the Gosick anime on the YouTube website on Tuesday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMFLC-SKtFs

The anime adapts Kazuki Sakuraba's Gosick mystery novel series, in which Kazuya Kujo studies abroad at the Saint Marguerite Academy in a small European country in 1924.

Kazuya joins forces with Victorique, a girl with deductive powers that rival Sherlock Holmes', to solve mysteries. The anime will premiere in Japan on January 7, 2011.

Watch Download Gosick Episode subbed

Tamala 2010 follows something of a storyline. Basically, we follow Tamala, a sort of Hello Kitty-alike who swears like a sailor and flies around in her retro spaceship. Engine trouble pops up, and she's mistakenly rerouted to Planet Q, a place inhabited almost enitely by dogs. There's a mild terrorism problem; dogs attack cats at random. Meeting up with a cat named Michelangelo, Tamala evades a perverted canine policeman and uncovers a whole load of mysteries and secrets surrounding Catty & Company, the gigantic corporation that controls nearly everything in the Feline Galaxy. That description, of course, makes the film sound fairly straightforward and simple, which is, unfortunately, not the case. The movie goes off on a series of hallucinogenic tangents that have almost nothing to do with the main storyline and will confuse anyone who isn't paying strict attention. The irony is that the film seems to have been designed to make the viewer tune out, so paying strict attention might be missing the point.

Sub Gosick Episode 10

2010-12-31T06:28:00.001-08:00

The Japanese company Kadokawa Shoten began streaming 101 seconds of early promotional footage from the Gosick anime on the YouTube website on Tuesday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMFLC-SKtFs

The anime adapts Kazuki Sakuraba's Gosick mystery novel series, in which Kazuya Kujo studies abroad at the Saint Marguerite Academy in a small European country in 1924.

Kazuya joins forces with Victorique, a girl with deductive powers that rival Sherlock Holmes', to solve mysteries. The anime will premiere in Japan on January 7, 2011.

Watch Download Gosick Episode subbed

Deciphering Tamala 2010's message is fairly difficult. A single viewing of the film won't reveal much of anything, except a warped sort of anti-capitalist message that doesn't really assert itself due to the totally detached and apathetic main character. Catty & Company winds up being connected to a bizarre religious cult and supposedly has the ability to make and remake the universe in its own image; this all connects to Tamala, who doesn't seem to really care about anything that's happening around her. A visit to the t.o.L website reveals that the purpose of Tamala is to create a worldwide merchandising franchise, something that will basically do what Sanrio's wretched saccharine creations have already done. Great. So what's the point?

Sub Gosick Episode 9

2010-12-31T06:28:00.000-08:00

The Japanese company Kadokawa Shoten began streaming 101 seconds of early promotional footage from the Gosick anime on the YouTube website on Tuesday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMFLC-SKtFs

The anime adapts Kazuki Sakuraba's Gosick mystery novel series, in which Kazuya Kujo studies abroad at the Saint Marguerite Academy in a small European country in 1924.

Kazuya joins forces with Victorique, a girl with deductive powers that rival Sherlock Holmes', to solve mysteries. The anime will premiere in Japan on January 7, 2011.

Watch Download Gosick Episode subbed

Well, for most people, the point is that this film is something to watch while stoned, created by artists who were also stoned. This conclusion is a little unfair; these days we have a tendency to attribute anything even slightly surreal or abstract to the abuse of narcotics, which undermines the entire concept of creativity. Tamala 2010, while certainly as tangential and nonsensical as your favorite addict's acid trip stories, seems to be the concentrated effort of a group of artists to create something more than just entertainment. Whether or not they were successful is another matter entirely; if this really was an attempt at sparking a worldwide phenomenon, then why did they produce a cultish, R-rated animated movie with which to promote their concept? Only t.o.L really knows what the purpose of this film was, and we, as viewers, are asked simply to consume and draw our own conclusions.

Ocha Nigosu Chapter 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Read online

2010-12-10T04:32:00.000-08:00

Summary

The story follows the high school delinquent Masaya Funebashi, better known as "Devil Ma-kun" who is trying to reform his image by joining the tea ceremony club.

Author(s) Nishimori Hiroyuki
Artist(s) Nishimori Hiroyuki
Genre(s) Comedy, Romance, School Life, Shounen

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/ocha_nigosu/v04/c033/

Taisho Baseball Girls DVD
This series about middle school girls in 1925 Japan forming their own baseball team does offer some period social commentary, but that is incidental to its focus on being a light, cute, and often humorous fish-out-of-water piece. While hardly meaty, it is a pleasant, palate-cleansing diversion.

Kaitai Shinsho 0 Chapter 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Read

2010-12-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

Summary

A Byouma is a medical weapon created by ancient sorcerers to kill the infected or those around the infected and make it look like an illness. Even centuries after the sorcerers have died, these weapons still wander the world, infecting and killing people. Narutaki Soutaro and Izumo Momo are Shadow Doctors, trained to combat these Byouma through unorthodox means. Using magically created anti-Byouma medical equipment, they perform “operations” on the medical weapons to separate them from their hosts and destroy them. Will their special weapons and brilliant teamwork be enough to get rid of all the Byouma in the world?

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kaitai_shinsho_0/c018/

Uzumaki GN 1
Some horror fans will undoubtedly find this collection of tales about a town seemingly cursed by spirals to be to their taste, but its lack of a consistent compelling edge prevents it from being a great work.

Needless chapter 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 Read

2010-12-10T04:21:00.000-08:00

Summary

In the near future, mankind has suffered from a Third World War, leaving extreme damage all over and forced mankind to become even more distinct from their species. The world was at chaos and from this chaos comes a new species: "Needless." The Needless are humans who have contracted a "disease" as humans may call them, and allow them to wield extraordinary powers far superior to any mankind. Their abilities include Telekinesis, elemental powers, gravity control, adaptation, radioactive release and all manners of scientific impossibility.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/needless/v12/c085/

Dragon Ball Z Movie 8 (edited)
The story follows the same exact story as nearly every other incarnation of DragonBall Z... In other DragonBall they do a little story and character development, they seem to have just tossed aside that principle for this movie.

Toaru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku Movie Sub English Anime

2010-05-20T06:24:00.000-07:00

To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku's story revolves around Charles Karino, a Revaamu Empire mercenary aerial pilot who mans the twin-seater reconnaissance seaplane Santa Cruz. One day, he receives a preposterous assignment: to fly solo over 12,000 kilometers of enemy waters to protect a girl named Fana del Moral. Fana happens to be the next in line to the empire's throne and a girl possessing beauty "equal to 5,000 beams of light."

Original creator: Koroku Inumura
Original Character Design: Haruyuki Morisawa

Animation Production: Madhouse Studios
Production: TMS Entertainment

Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~, Working!! Trailers Streamed (Updated)
posted on 2010-04-01 16:36 EDT
Sekirei TV sequel to premiere in July; Working!! to premiere on April 4

The official website of the Sekirei television anime adaptation has begun streaming a 189-second trailer for the new anime sequel, Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~, on Thursday. The trailer had debuted at Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) this past week. The second season was officially announced last August on the same website and at Square Enix's Young Gangan Fes. Anime no Okage Summer 2009 event.

Director Keizou Kusakawa, writer Takao Yoshioka, character designer Shinpei Tomooka, musical composer Hiroaki Sano, and the Seven Arcs anime studio are all returning from the first anime adaptation of Sakurako Gokurakuin's manga. Shinnosuke Tachibana (Minato), Saori Hayami (Musubi), Marina Inoue (Tsukiumi), and Kana Hanazawa (Kusano) lead the main cast in reprising their respective roles.

The official website for the television anime adaptation of Karino Takatsu's Working!! four-panel manga has also posted a 131-second promotional video that had debuted at TAF 2010. The previous promotional videos, character trailers, and commercials are still available from the same page. In the story, a high school freshman named Sōta Takanashi (Jun Fukuyama) works part-time among the restaurant's high-spirited, eccentric, yet cool staffers. The Working!! television anime will officially premiere on April 4.

Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō, Moon Phase

Update: The release date of Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~ has been corrected. The anime will premiere in July, not in April. Thanks, ManSlayer07.

Toaru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku Movie Sub English Anime

2010-05-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

Flashbacks to a Certain Aerial Pilot Movie Free!

2010-03-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

plot blog review story
Flashbacks to a Certain Aerial Pilot's story revolves around Charles Karino, a Revaamu Empire mercenary aerial pilot who mans the twin-seater reconnaissance seaplane Santa Cruz. One day, he receives a preposterous assignment: to fly solo over 12,000 kilometers of enemy waters to protect a girl named Fana del Moral. Fana happens to be the next in line to the empire's throne and a girl possessing beauty "equal to 5,000 beams of light."

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Snow cone eating is the easiest way to become cool within ten minutes in hot summer days, and it is also true in Kyoto, Japan.

In Kyoto, as you know, we have very hot and humidified weather in summer season. So we have a lot of amusement for becoming cool during summer season. One of the most well known cooling amusement is the Kawayuka open restaurant or bar held along the Kamogawa river only from May to September. Actually, it is not so cool enough to be sweatless in hot Kyoto summer, it is fun to have foods and drink with talking with your friends just under the cool wind blowing along the river, and it is also interesting to watch Japanese couples are dating along the river side wearing Yukata, Japanese traditional summer evening dress.

One more amusement I recommend you to enjoy Kyoto summer cool is to have a cup of Kakigori, Japanese traditional style snow cone. One of the most popular Kakigori shop is Gyokuen, found along the Kamogawa river. Although the small shop is crowded with many tourists all through the day, it is valuable to visit the shop and try Black sugar taste snow cone with white rice dumpling.

I eat a cup of Kakigori there at least once in a summer. Because it is made bay hands, not by an electric machine, the ice tips will melt in your mouse as if it is a snow flake. Of course, you will find many snow cone restaurant in Kyoto, but a few other shops are comparable to be valuable enough to wait in front of the shop more than a half hour.

Actually, however, the best season I recommend you to try those cool amusement in Kyoto is not summer, but in early autumn. Because even in late September, you will sometimes find yourself in very hot temperature in the afternoon, so you will be happy to taste a cup of ice in hot temperature without waiting in a line.

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To Aru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku Episode 1

2010-01-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

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To Aru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku Wallpaper

2010-01-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

とある飛空士への追憶 - To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku - Flashbacks to a Certain Aerial Pilot

To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku different To Aru other | To Aru is "The War of..."

2010-01-06T04:57:00.000-08:00

To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku Just similar title. different writers all together, Koroku Inumura and Kazuma Kamachi. this does sound pretty good. Kinda reminds me in part of Allison & Lillia just based on.

To Aru is "The War of..."

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2009-12-29T21:38:00.001-08:00

とある飛空士への追憶
To Aru Hikushi e no Tsuioku
Toaru Hikushi e no Tsuioku
Toaru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku

To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku light Novel to Anime

2009-12-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

An advertisement for the latest book by the author Koroku Inumura reportedly announced a movie adaptation of) Roman Inumura's To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku (flashbacks to a pilot air Some terms have been green. The announcement did not specify whether The film will be animated or live-action.

In the history of Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku revolves around Charles Karino, an airline pilot Revaamu Empire mercenary who mans the two-seat reconnaissance seaplane Santa Cruz. One day he receives a bizarre assignment: to fly solo over 12,000 miles of enemy waters to protect a young girl named Fana del Moral. Fana's going to be next in line for the throne of the empire and a young girl with beauty "equal to 5,000 beams of light."

Advertising is shown to the third volume of To Aru Hikūshi e no Koiuta (love songs with a certain airline pilot) light novel, the second in Aru e Hikūshi no draft Inumura. This volume will be available on December 18. Haruyuki Morisawa illustrates both Tsuioku and Koiuta. Tsuioku has already been adapted into a soap opera and a manga Maiko Ogawa Shogakukan Sunday in Monthly Shonen Magazine.