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K:

When it comes to K, there is something oddly familiar, but yet different. While watching it, I felt I have seen something like this before, but this piece manages to change my perspective fairly quickly. K starts out with our main protagonist, Yashiro Isano just at school bumming other students for food. Surprisingly, every student seems accepting and offers him pieces from their bento. After a few calming scenes, where I started to wonder, “If this was all there is to this anime?” A member (Kukuri Yukizome) of the student council and secret admirer of Shiro, sends him off to run some errands for the council. Now this is where this ordinary, peaceful day becomes a nightmare for Shiro.

All of a sudden he finds himself being chased by members of the Red clan. When Shiro is finally cornered in an alley, a character by the name of Kuro Yatogami comes out of nowhere and “saves” Shiro. In the following scenes, it is shown to the viewers why Shiro is being targeted, as a video of someone resembling him maniacally claims himself to be the colorless king and proceeds to shoot the person (a Red clan member) holding the recorder, is displayed everywhere in the city.

K is a strange anime. There are different aspects of the show that I like, such as, the psychic abilities, the setting, and the animation. But I am having some reservations while I was watching this show and it is certainly not due to the fact that there are a lot of pretty boys featured here… okay maybe it is lol. Anyways, if you like action and supernatural powers anime based in a somewhat present looking setting, you should enjoy it. K runs 13 episodes long and is simulcasted on VizAnime.com; there is no excuse to not at least check out a few episodes.

Zetsuen no Tempest:

This anime is the first of this season that really got me excited. Could it be the homage paid to the works of William Shakespeare by this show’s characters? Or could it be the magic and plot behind this piece? Whatever it is, I definitely enjoyed what I saw. While Zetsuen no Tempest begins like a regular high school life anime, it progressively lets you know that it is far from it. The show had a Guilty Crown kind of feel, where people are being infected by a disease that turns them into metal statues. This illness if we could call it that, is caused by the Kusaribe clan’s plan to resurrect the Tree of Zetsuen.

After some dramatic scenes from the introduction, our main character Yoshino Takigawa is paired back up with his friend Mahiro Fuwa and from that point on, Yoshino is briefed on what is happening to their world. Mahiro is the brash character of the two and he is put into place by his sister Aika. Aika along with his parents were killed, which then lead Mahiro to set out and find the murderer himself, as the police were inadequate.

On one fateful day, Mahiro finds a message and a wooden doll in a bottle and proceeds to follow the instructions written on the message. It is there where he is connected to Hakaze Kusaribe, the magician of beginnings and the ex-leader of the Kusaribe clan, it is also there where he gains his magic power to help him on his quest to stop the resurrection of the Tree of Zetsuen and ultimately find his sister’s killer. Zetsuen no Tempest has the potential to be great. The action scenes were good and the plot certain twists and turns to give you a surprise. You really should not miss it.

Girls und Panzer:

Girls und Panzer runs a little like Upotte. While the girls here are not actual guns, they are weapons in a sense. In a world where sensha-do (art of battle vehicles) is accepted as a traditional art form for girls, our main character Miho Nishizumi is not particularly fond of it. That is the reason why she enrolled in Oarai Girl’s high school, where sensha-do does not exist in its school curriculum… Or so she thought.

On the day that she finally made some friends, the student council drops a bomb on the school by proclaiming that sensha-do is back and they are gunning for the national championship. After taking some time to deliberate whether she should participate in the class, her decision to ultimately join was influenced by her friends. And so the revival of sensha-do at Oarai high school begins!

While this anime is just starting out, I cannot envision where it will ultimately end up. The formula that makes up this show just feels awkward. I do not know how girls in tanks can be exciting or entertaining. Let alone making the whole show about tanks in a competition style environment. One thing is for certain though, do not mistake Girls und Panzer with Pumpkin Scissors as far as tank battles are concerned.

Little Busters:

Little Busters is one of those anime derived from a romance visual novel and is about a group of childhood friends whom are about to finally go their separate ways as their leader of the group, Kyousuke Natsume will graduate high school next year. Our main character is Riki Naoe. His childhood was tough, his parents past away and he was left by himself, until a group of kids calling themselves Little Busters came along and made him the fifth member. Ever since that day, all of them have been together; going on adventures and doing things that might seem stupid to some, but righteous in their eyes.

This series will span 26 episodes and I fail to see how the fun can last that long. Little Busters feel like the typical high school life anime where a group of friends are going for their last hoorah before everything is over… it just really is not all that interesting to me. There is some comedic relief, you will get a few chuckles here and there, but overall it is an average anime at best. You will not miss much by skipping this.

To-Love Ru ~ Darkness:

Ecchi humor fans rejoice, one of the best of this genre is back again and it is not shy to go even further than the bar its predecessors have set. Since the series was left off at Motto To-Love Ru back in 2010, nothing much has changed. Yuuki Rito is still the main character, he is still in love with Sairenji Haruna, and yes, he still has not confessed his love to her. On the other side, there is Lala Deviluke, the alien princess whom he has confessed his love for.

Now things are not that simple this time around. Not when Lala’s sister Momo has taken a liking to Rito and she is also set on creating a harem for Rito; with her included of course. There is an actual story that this show is trying to convey… but honestly? Anyone watching this show really is not in it for the serious stuff. I am just saying. Anyways, Sentai-Filmworks has licensed this show for the States and is due for a release sometime in 2013. Be sure to check it out if you are a fan of the show and genre.

Hayate no Gotoku: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You:

Hayate no Gotoku: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is the sequel to the long original series. It has been several years since that series came to an end, but not much time has passed inside the anime’s world; only nine months. For those who are not familiar with the series, Hayate has never had much luck in life; the final straw was when his parents left him with a load of debt to pay off. One evening he meets Sanzenin Nagi and his life changed from then on as he accepts her offer to be her butler, as he pays off his debt to her.

For those who are familiar with the series, nothing much has changed. Nagi is still as NEET as ever. When every part of her life felt boring, she suddenly catches a documentary pertaining to aliens on the television and begins to fantasize about visiting Nevada the site of Area 51. When Maria and Hayate both try to persuade Nagi to not go to Nevada, she runs out of the house and similar to the first series, she is kidnapped and saved later by Hayate. But to end the show with a surprise, a girl by the name of Tsugumi Ruri claims to be Nagi’s little sister!

Sometimes I wonder, why I continued to watch this anime all through its first season. It was not great, matter of fact it was an average anime with the same old theme episode to episode. Now with this series, there is not much of a change to the tune. It is still about Hayate serving Nagi and saving her whenever she is in trouble, as well as, Nagi acting all tsundere. Sure, there are new characters to cause some drama, but overall the show moves at the same pace. It gets kind of boring.

Ixion Saga: Dimension Transfer:

Ixion Saga is an anime that is based on the video game by Capcom. The show revolves around Kon Hokaze an avid gamer. One night as he is playing the game, he is approached by a female player. If a character is a gamer in an anime, we can assume the stereotypical attributes for him. He is still a virgin and he rarely comes into contact with the opposite sex. In this case, he falls in line with all those attributes.

The female player proceeds to asks him for help and promises that if he agrees to assist her, she will give something to him that she holds very dear. With his mind in the gutter already, he jumps on the request without knowing what exactly she is asking him to do and is immediately transported to another world known as Mira.

When he arrives at Mira he makes an impact of a situation and joins Princess Ecarlate and her crew; Mariandale a cross dresser and Sainglain a well reputable swordsman. I do not want to ruin the things that will occur in the show. All you have to know is Ixion Saga is a cannot miss title; it is hilarious and a pleasure to watch. I liked the fantasy aspect and the fact that it is a sword play styled anime. I am definitely sold on this show and cannot wait to see what else this piece has to offer.

Magi: The Labyrinth Of Magic:

Honestly, I did not know much about Magi. I took a look at the show and saw the setting of it and was kind of turned off by it. An anime with an Arabian theme? What is this Aladdin from Disney? Of course, whenever I make quick assumptions, I end up eating my words at the end. Magi is an anime interpretation of “One Thousand and One Nights,” also known as “Arabian Nights.”

The show’s protagonist is Alibaba, a young man who is striving to be rich, by exploring a dungeon called Amon. These dungeons have been popping out of the ground randomly and is said to hold unimaginable treasures. Now when there are treasures, there are risks as well. There are dangers inside these dungeons and some adventurers do not make it back out at all.

In comes Aladdin, a kid with a special flute. When Aladdin is introduced in the story, he has the happy go lucky personality. Immediately he gets Alibaba in trouble with Alibaba’s job. It is also at that point we see the fake life that Alibaba lives. In order to survive and not make any enemies, he turns the other eye and acts like a cowardly dog. This act of Alibaba continues to persist until finally he was fed up with himself, and could not place human lives before some wine that was being offered to some other lord. His defiance was much to the delight of Aladdin, which then leads Aladdin to summon his djinn friend, Ugo, to save Alibaba.

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic was quite entertaining throughout. The story tugs on the viewers emotions, and incite anger, and joy, amongst others. From the looks of it, there will be a deep story and it should be a good show to catch this Fall. Also, Magi has been licensed by Aniplex USA for release in North America.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanajo:

Sorata Kanda is a normal student who lived in the normal dorm with other normal students. This life of normalcy is changed when he picks up a stray white cat and decides to take care of it. Since pets are not allowed in the normal dorms, his only other option was to move to the other dorm for special “troubled” students. The first thought that runs into any viewers mind is, “troubled students, meaning delinquents?” That idea is far from the reality. Sakurasou has a bad rap, because the people who live there are not normal; they have some kind of skill that separates them apart. Take Misaki Kamiigusa for an example. She is creative and creates her own anime shows in this series.

Anyways, Sorata is not happy about his life at the Sakurasou. Ever since he started to dorm there, his goal was to get back to the normal dorm as soon as Hikari (the cat), gets adopted or something… but his luck with stray cats never ceases to amaze as his collection of stray cats borderlines hoarding. One day Chihiro Sengoku, the teacher and resident of Sakurasou tells Sorata to pick up her cousin from the train station and this is the point where he meets, Mashiro Shiina.

Shiina looked quite normal at first, but there is more that meets the eye. When the next morning came, Sengoku told Sorata that he is now responsible for Shiina. Wondering if there was any extra meaning he proceeds to wake up Shiina for school. In the next scenes we get to see what the real deal is with Shiina. She has the talent for art and draws manga, but she has total lack of self care. She is unable to do anything without being told; she is like a child in that regards and now Sorata has a new “pet” to care for in a sense.

I enjoyed watching Sakurasou no Pet na Kanajo, it was amusing. I liked the romance and comedic aspects of this show. As I was watching this anime, I cannot help but think about the other “sou,” Hinatasou to be exact. While nothing can replace Love Hina as one of the top romantic comedies, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanajo will fill in nicely. I am all in on this one.

Code:Breaker:

Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) is that you? Wait no? This is some other guy that plays with blue fire? Is this some kind of cheap rip off? Hopefully not. Code:Breaker is a manga by Akimine Kamijyo and is adapted into anime by Kinema Citrus, it is also licensed by FUNimation for release in North America. The show begins with Sakurakouji Sakura riding on a bus and as she is gazing out the window she sees a guy surrounded by a group of people lit up in blue flames. Immediately she alerts the police only to see no evidence of the burnt bodies as they arrived at the scene. The only thing left from the incident she witnessed was the charred ground, which the police casually put off as fire that was created and left by the homeless folks in the area.

In the next morning, Sakura, a popular student amongst the student body is put into a peculiar situation. The guy that she saw from the bus window is the new transfer student! Rei Ogami is an immediate hit amongst the female students and when Sakura takes interest in Ogami, because of the incident… the students gets the wrong idea. This is an example of the light moments that this show contains.

On the darker side, Rei Ogami serves the government by being a Code Breaker or in another term, an assassin. In this world that is overrun by corruption and the police turns a blind eye towards a gang known as G-Falcon, Ogami is a member of a secret organization that specializes in “taking out the trash.” Code:Breaker was decent. It was not anything out of this world extraordinary, but it is adequate enough to pass the time with. I did enjoy watching this show, and it looks like this would be a good one as well. I just hope each episode will not turn out to be a Rei Ogami barbeque special, in which, he just grabs people’s heads and torches them.

PSYCHO-PASS:

Well well, if it is not an anime from Production I.G. I did not have to prepare for this show ahead of time to realize they were behind PSYCHO-PASS, just by looking at the setting. PSYCHO-PASS is based on a world that resembles that of Ghost in the Shell. And in this futuristic world, you do not have to commit a crime to be prosecuted. You just need to have the criminal intent. Technology has advanced so much that the system that oversees the world is able to now quantify an individual’s mental state in separate scores. If that criminal coefficient gets to a certain level, an individual can be taken out by any means necessary as constituted by the system.

Right from the get go, we get put into the controversy of such a system as rookie Akane Tsunemori is immediately tossed into the fire having to work with a group of enforcers. Enforcers are people who have high criminal coefficients, but they use their skills to take out other criminals. Each group of enforcer is lead by an inspector to ensure everything goes smoothly. Each person of the task force is equipped with a “Dominator,” a weapon that will scan criminal intent and unlock certain features as the numbers change. For an example, a normal civilian will not be harmed by the Dominator as the weapon will be locked. If this civilian’s level rises, the weapon will release and open up paralyze mode and if the level rises even more, the weapon will unlock the eliminate mode… you can guess what that mode will do.

Back to the controversy, Akane Tsunemori is a newbie and because she is fresh from the academy her views on the situation are by the book. In the case that they are working on, they are tasked with stopping a kidnapper who has taken a hostage. When the opportunity arises, the enforcers tried to paralyze the criminal. When this did not work, it leads to a chase. As the kidnapper is dragging his hostage around, her mental stress state rises and she too becomes open for judgment by the Dominator. And this is where Akane comes in. She did not agree with eliminating the hostage even though the hostage did nothing wrong, other than being put through all the torture by the kidnapper. But the psycho-pass system did not see it that way. In the end, Akane stops Shinya Kogami, the main enforcer that this story follows, by firing her Dominator at him, to paralyze him of course.

PSYCHO-PASS is great. It is a dark themed anime with blood and gore just at the right levels. Egoist is also back with a new theme song as well, for those who have seen Guilty Crown, you know what I am talking about. This anime is definitely a must see for any anime fan. The characters are intriguing, the action is remarkable, the plot is awesome and the concept is superb. FUNimation has licensed PSYCHO-PASS and is available for streaming as well.

Robotics;Notes:

Seems like FUNimation is on a roll. Robotics;Notes is another series licensed by them for release in North America. It is also another Production I.G work and it feels like they can never go wrong right? I have a dilemma here. This show seriously put me to sleep. After being wide awake for PSYCHO-PASS, by the half way mark of Robotics;Notes I was out. Is this a sign of bad things to come for this anime? I do not know, but I wanted to give it a fair shot and re-watched it again next morning.

I have always had an issue with these “;” shows. The same happened with Chaos;Head, and Steins;Gate. Robotics;Notes starts out very slow. We are dropped into the world of Akiho Senomiya and Kaito Yashio the only members left of the robotics club of their school. Kaito is an avid gamer and it feels like nothing in the world inspires him much anymore. All he does is play on his tablet. Akiho on the other hand is an overly optimistic girl who envisions the revival and success of the robotics club. Her goal is to finish what the club started years ago, the giant robot, Gunvarrel.

With a robotics tournament and the club’s budget allocation talks coming up, Kaito and Akiho are given one last chance to prove the robotics club is worth it to continue to exist in the school. If they fail to place first in the tournament, the club will disband. That is the gist of the story here and it does not sound all too exciting. Even after re-watching it, I was bored. The dialogues are strenuous and feel like it is the same tune playing over and over a la Akiho’s overly excited voice and Kaito’s “I don’t really care” attitude. Hopefully it gets better once new characters are introduced and the club finally gets down and dirty to get their giant robot project going.

Suki-tte Ii na yo (Say, “I Love You”):

When she was a young child, Mei Tachibana was betrayed by her friends; framed as the person who caused the class rabbit’s death, Mei became a loner. Her group of friends abandoned her, which led her to follow a school life without seeking friendship. One fateful day, Mei bumps into the school’s popular male student, Yamato Kurosawa. While Yamato’s friend told him to leave her, Yamato became particularly interested in Mei because of her personality.

Let us be honest, we all know how this anime will play out. Guy breaks girl’s leave me alone barrier. Girl starts changing her perspective. Guy and girl start dating, etc. The formula does not change much in these romance anime, there may be some variations, but the gist is the same. That in no way means this show is not good, because I did have a great time watching it. This anime has a nice group of characters and you will enjoy their interaction throughout; I also liked the way the show is animated. If you are looking for a romance anime this fall, this is one you need to have a look at.

Tonari no Kaibutsu:

While we are at it, here is another high school romance anime. Tonari no Kaibutsu follows the life of Shizuku Mizutani and Haru Yoshida. Shizuku is a girl who has no interest in anything else besides school and studying, while Haru is a delinquent and has the ability to attain top grades with no effort put towards studying. These two characters are like oil and water; they do not mix.

When Haru is suspended from school after an incident involving seniors of the school, he continues to not attend even after his suspension period was over. This was when their class teacher stepped in and tasked Shizuku to go over to Haru’s and give him some class handouts. Upon seeing Shizuku, Haru immediately pronounces her his friend and sticks to her like glue.

This show will most likely be about the way Haru will influence Shizuku down the line to care about other things in life and not just to study. This friendship between them will also cause Haru to act less out of control and be more obedient towards high school life. After watching this, I was surprised that there are two romance titles that are truly entertaining this season.

Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai:

Eighth Grade Syndrome, that is what some kids are infected with in this anime’s world. The Eighth Grade Syndrome is not a deadly disease or anything. It is just a condition where the person affected believes they are living in another world, having magical powers and on an adventurous mission to accomplish whatever they have to in their own fantasy land.

Yuuta Togashi recovered from chuunibyou, those days are the most embarrassing of his life and he wanted to leave it all behind by attending a high school that was far away from his middle school; so that chances of people who might have known him in middle school are slim to none. Everything in his life was fine, until he meets Rikka Takanashi, a classmate who is suffering from chuunibyou. She believes she has magical powers and tries to get Yuuta to come back as the dark warlord that he claimed to be.

I thought this show was cute, and you know those eye patch girls are serious business in the anime world. I would not recommend this as something everyone should watch. Personally I will not be pursuing this show as it is just not enticing enough for me. Chunnibyou is just weird. Not the show, but the syndrome. Well, thinking about it, I guess this show could be considered weird as well for having characters that act “out of their own character.”

Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne!:

This show is for those who are into the onii-chan complex. Akiko Himenokoji is the “twin sister” of Akito Himenokoji, after living apart from each other for many years due to certain circumstances, she finally moves back to live with Akito for school. Things start getting awkward when Akiko, on their first night together, waits impatiently in the bath hoping that her brother will come in to have a look. In a shock of disappointment, she demands that he peek when she goes back into the bath again. Now Akito does not have any interest in that kind of thing. He views his sister Akiko, as his sister and obviously does not listen to Akiko at all.

Akiko does not have any qualms about her brother complex and takes pride in trying to seduce Akito any chance she gets. There is a twist in the story that will get revealed later on, but as of right now, Oniai is just about a devoted little sister who has a serious brother complex, trying to seduce him and block other girls from advancing on him.

Aside from the brother complex aspect of this anime, this show is just another romantic comedy with a harem of girls fighting for one guy. I am not sure why we continue to see types of onii-chan love anime. It is awkward and the thought of it is plain disturbing. Anyways, FUNimation has licensed this piece and is currently streaming it from their website.

May’n (real name Mei Nakabayashi) is most well known as the singing voice of Macross Frontier’s Sheryl Nome and in recent years has provided songs for various anime series as well as releasing a few solo studio albums. Her ROCK YOUR BEATS world tour started in May and spans most of the year. It ends on October 20, one day shy of her 23rd birthday.

It has been my opinion that if a guest comes to the U.S. and you want to see them, you’d better find a way to get there. You have no idea when is the next time they’ll come from Japan, if ever. This was what drove me to Anime Expo in 2010 to see May’n the first time. For American fans who weren’t able to make their way to Los Angeles two years ago, this and the Key Club show in LA were a second and third chance to rectify their mistakes.

I arrived at the venue at approximately 1PM, not really sure what to expect. How big would the crowd be? Would HoriPro’s gamble for the U.S. fanbase pay off? The line going out the door gave a clear answer. It wrapped around the building and continued to the corner on the next street. Today’s tour stop in San Francisco, it was a special Saturday afternoon show and the sun was shining. Given the weather in days previous that were cold with wind and occasional bouts of rain, it was a great change of pace. I ran into familiar faces who came not only from California but as far as the east coast. May’n had clearly brought her fans out.

The venue of choice, Yoshi’s, is normally a combination jazz club and restaurant. The primary performance area is composed of two floors (two and a half if you want to call it that) with tables and booths ringing the stage. On the ground floor the tables going back are slightly raised to allow for clear angles and this is also true for the upper floor. As soon as the doors opened excited fans rushed the stage and packed themselves as close as possible. Others preferring a more laid-back experience chose a table to get comfortable in the back. The venue itself contrasts with those May’n has played in before; it’s a much smaller, closer, more intimate experience where you get the feeling that you can reach out and touch her. You have the sense that she is really in front of you in the same room. If you’ve seen some of her other concert footage they have taken place in large arenas that hold thousands like the Budokan or Nokia Theater. For me this is a much better experience.

The show started a few minutes past 2:30PM with “HEAT of the moment” and went on for almost two hours.  The set list included a mixture of songs primarily from her anime offerings as well as from her newest album, HEAT, and previous albums “If you…” and “Styles.” Eien and Lion helped represented Macross Frontier (no Universal Bunny, sadly. Color me jealous of the other concerts which did include it!) with Aria the Scarlet Ammo’s Scarlet Ballet also coming into play. Besides the titular “HEAT of the moment,” “GET TOUGH,” “DOLCE,” and “Giant Step” were some of the songs from HEAT. “Ready Go!,” “HERO,” and “Kimi Shini Tamou Koto Nakare” were from her earlier albums. May’n mentioned that she had been contemplating song selection up until the very start of her tour. The resulting set has high-speed songs to get the crowd going and slower-paced songs to bring them back down to earth.

One thing of note is that May’n has really been practicing her English. She did most of her MCing in English and was even able to converse with the crowd. This definitely came in handy for the call/response explanation of “Smile:D” (the second song on the Scarlet Ballet single) in which May’n got the crowd involved with a variety of fun motions during the song. During one MC section May’n explained that she wanted to see some of the locations featured in Macross Frontier like Powell Street as well as ride a cable car. I don’t know if that had any contribution to the decision to hold a show in San Francisco but if it did, I’m grateful for it.

During another MC section she explained her desire to deliver songs to every person in each place and country she goes. The “Phonic Nation,” if you would (one of the songs from her second album, “If you…”). Through music we are all brought together. English, Japanese, it matters not. Melody and emotion are all universal. That is what ROCK YOUR BEATS is about at its core.

The final song of the main set proved to be Diamond Crevasse. At Anime Expo, May’n had answered that this was her favorite song out of all of those she recorded for Macross Frontier. It is a song about love, goodbyes, and hope. May’n’s voice filled the room and commanded a sense of calm. The previously energetic crowd was universally quiet as they listened in awe.

After a short break and many calls for an encore May’n returned. She brought the show backed to its high-tempo pace with “Brain Diver” (from Phi Brain), “Number One,” and ended with her newest, “Chase the World” (from Accel World). May’n then introduced her backing band and went as far as waving good bye and saying thank you to everyone in the audience one by one. It’s a simple gesture that can mean so much to fans that more artists should partake in. We were also officially inducted as “buin” (club members) as counterpart to May’n’s position as “Buchou” (club leader - her nickname).

VIP ticket holders lined up for the post-concert meet and greet. May’n greeted smiling fans with handshakes and her stylistic autograph. The line cycled quite quickly. Perhaps next time May’n’s ever-growing knowledge of English will allow her to fluently speak with her American fans. Or perhaps next time more of us will have a working knowledge of Japanese, haha. For those unable to attend Anime Expo in 2010 (or were unable to secure an autograph there) this was a valuable opportunity and in a way makes that $100 ticket all worthwhile. As someone who went through the war that was Anime Expo’s autograph sessions that year, let me tell you, the premium today is a small price to pay for a guaranteed autograph.

All in all, it was a great day. I even saw a few Sheryl cosplayers (did I mention she’s one of my favorite characters?). The one negative I can say is the merchandise prices. $67 for a tour shirt (originally priced at 3500 yen). Ouch. I still bought it, but it hurt a little.

In a few days May’n will continue her international tour in Beijing. This will be her third show of the tour in China and after this and the Shanghai stop a couple of days later will close out the international leg for July. Her next international stops will be in Germany and France followed by South Korea and Hong Kong in September. For reference, here’s the list of overseas stops both past, present, and future.

June 21 - Key Club (Los Angeles)
June 23 - Yoshi’s (San Francisco)
July 6 - Huamei Zixin International Theater Chengdu (China)
July 8 - Hangzhou Redstar Theater (China)
July 27 - Beijing MasterCard Center (China)
July 29 - Shanghai Luwan Stadium (China)
September 7 - Zeche Bochum (Germany)
September 8 - Le Divan du Monde Paris (France)
September 16 - Mapo Art Center Seoul (South Korea)
September 23 - Kowloon International Exhibition Center (Hong Kong)

May’n closed out the show by saying she would definitely be returning to San Francisco. I’ll be waiting. HoriPro: I hope you got America’s message. We want more.

A big thanks to HoriPro and RESONANCE for this opportunity.

In a few weeks California will be lucky enough to have one of HoriPro’s hottest singers, May’n, live in concert for her ROCK YOUR BEATS World Tour. If you’re a fan of anime you should know her as Sheryl Nome’s singing voice from Macross Frontier and for her OP and ED songs for series like Aria the Scarlet Ammo, Phi Brain, and most recently, Accel World. Her last American appearance was at Anime Expo 2010 in Los Angeles. This is your chance to see her again and this time, up close and personal.

First up, the dates:

June 21 (Thursday) 7:30pm (doors 6:30pm), at Key Club in West Hollywood [link]
June 23 (Saturday) 2:30pm (doors 1:30pm), at Yoshi’s in San Francisco [link]

Tickets are $40 presale, $50 at the door, and $100 for a special VIP ticket that includes early entry and meet and greet. The VIP tickets are limited in number and as of writing at least a few are still available for both San Francisco and Los Angeles.

May’n, born Mei Nakabayashi, started her career after being scouted by HoriPro’s Talent Scout Caravan. In 2008 she changed her artist name to May’n as an expression of her desire for her music to be the main theme to everyone’s lives. Her first breakout role was the singing voice of Macross Frontier’s Sheryl Nome. Since then she has done numerous sold-out concerts in Japan and the rest of Asia and has provided songs for numerous anime series, films, and games. In March of this year she released her third solo studio album, HEAT.

Fanime this past Memorial Day weekend was lucky enough to have Nobu Yamamoto, executive VP of HoriPro’s US offices and David Cirone of Resonance Media in attendance to give fans more information and answer any questions. A special video message from May’n herself was included and can be seen here:

If I had to guess a few songs what we hear… Diamond Crevasse (Macross Frontier, stated to be her favorite of the series), Brain Diver (Phi Brain), Chase the world (Accel World), and HEAT of the moment. I’m going to hold out for Universal Bunny, which happens to be my favorite.

In addition we have a couple more slightly hidden messages for Los Angeles and San Francisco fans:

No subtitles but the gist of things is that after receiving so many warm feelings from her fans she wants to share hot-blooded rock with everyone around the world. As it is her first time traveling to San Francisco, May’n is incredibly excited! The only rules are to listen to her songs a lot so you can dance and sing together with her at the concert!

To get a head start on things you may want to check out iTunes [link] where all of her solo albums as well as the May’n Street EP and Chase the World single are available (although HEAT is missing a couple of songs). You’re also on your own for the Macross Frontier songs but let’s just say where there’s a will there’s a way.

HoriPro is putting these two concerts as their foray into the hard-to-crack American market. Success here opens the door for future tours and other talent from HoriPro (and possibly other artists from Victor Entertainment who currently act as May’n’s record label) coming over from Japan.

We’re looking at an approximately two hour show with full band accompaniment. The size of these venues means you’ll be in close quarters, something that a lot of previous concerts have not been able to replicate so these two shows are very special. Even at AX in 2010 you could only get so close and that’s only if you were press or very fortunate in your ticket placement. After the show is a one hour meet and greet where you can say a few words of appreciation, give gifts if you have any, and have one item of your choice autographed.

A short exchange between Nobu and David:

“You’ll be able to see and touch her.”
“You might want to be more specific.”
“Uh… shake hands.”

A video detailing the tour goods that would be available was recently released on youtube. Items range from a photo-filled pamphlet, a long towel for those times you get really pumped, or a suitcase belt to help keep your stuff secure because you bought too much.

Here’s a full(?) list with the yen prices (availability and price subject to change; some items may not appear on the American tour stops) as well as the poster that is behind May’n:

Photo pamphlet (2000 yen)
Long towel (”muffler towel”) (2000)
T-shirt (2 designs, 3500 each)
Suitcase belt (3000)
Umbrella (2500)
Folding fan (1500)
Mascot Coin Case (”Chikyuu-kun”) (Earth-kun) (1500)
Giant badge (1000)
Clear file (800)
Cover stickers for ID cards (600 for the set)
Vinyl Bag (800)
Bracelet light (like a glowstick) (300)
Tray (for things like chocolate, coins, etc) (price unavailable)

Not presented:

Carabiner Pouch (2500)
Cellphone strap (1200)
Tote bag (1500)

My personal staple and proof of existence has always been the ubiquitous tour shirt. There are two colors, black and orange, and each has its own unique front and back design. I have to admit, I’m kind of tempted to buy both. Hopefully at a price point like $30 more in line with American tours (hint, hint).

For more information please visit the official tour site [link] and check out May’n’s twitter feed at @Mayn_USA.

The current list of overseas (non-Japan) tour stops for the ROCK YOUR BEATS tour include:

June 21 - Key Club (Los Angeles)
June 23 - Yoshi’s (San Francisco)
July 6 - Huamei Zixin International Theater Chengdu (China)
July 8 - Hangzhou Redstar Theater (China)
July 27 - Beijing MasterCard Center (China)
July 29 - Shanghai Luwan Stadium (China)
September 7 - Zeche Bochum (Germany)
September 8 - Le Divan du Monde Paris (France)
September 16 - Mapo Art Center Seoul (South Korea)
September 23 - Kowloon International Exhibition Center (Hong Kong)

I’ll see you in San Francisco. Make sure to bring a glowstick or two (perhaps a couple of superbright Ultra Orange glowsticks to go with the rest of your glowsticks as it’s one of the tour’s primary colors) and study up on the songs!

Anime fans might be familiar with the Japanese band Steropony who have contributed opening and ending songs for series such as Gundam 00, Tegami Bachi, and the second season of Darker than Black. Formed in 2007, Stereopony has quickly gained popularity and currently consists of vocalist and guitarist Aimi Haraguni, bassist Nohana Kitajima, and drummer Shiho Yamanoha. They were joined by supporting guitarist Mao for the tour. Stereopony is no stranger to the United States with appearances at SXSW in 2009, AnimeNEXT in 2010 and Anime Boston in 2011. Their third album, More! More!! More!!!, was released in December and the two Limited Edition versions include a DVD with footage at either AnimeNEXT or Anime Boston.

Stereopony stormed the west coast starting off in Seattle for Sakuracon and then heading south to California for shows in San Francisco, West Hollywood, and Santa Ana before heading back to Japan. The Sakuracon concert was simulcast via Nico Nico and both free and premium members were able to watch them no matter where in the world they might live.

Unable to make the trip to Seattle, I was elated to learn that they would be heading to San Francisco and made sure to clear my schedule. In fact, San Francisco received a Stereopony double shot with an in-store show at Amoeba Records on a Monday followed by a full concert at mainstay venue Slim’s on the following Tuesday.

I got to Amoeba Records just as the sound check was going on and pushed to my spot just in front of the stage. People were strewn about the CD racks and in the aisles. The set lasted about an hour and I enjoyed it as short as it might be. Consider it a teaser for tomorrow night. A meet-and-greet occurred after the show with anyone who purchased the Limited Edition of their newest album, More! More!! More!!! guaranteed autographs and a bit of time with the band.

Left to right: Shiho, Nohana, Aimi

Tuesday presented on and off rain throughout the day. At around 7pm I filed in with the rest of the attendees after picking up my photo pass from the ticket booth. The night would start with opening act All Ages, a San Francisco punk band who have opened for Japanese veterans like The Pillows and Noodles. They had fun out there, adding balloons to the mix as well as having bassist Tom Yamashita jumping among the crowd and even onto the bartop. For tonight their album A New Kind of Citizen was free and they had plenty to go around.

Tom Yamashita of All Ages

A minute past nine marked Stereopony’s entrance onto the stage to a full crowd and rousing applause. They started off with the familiar “effective line” before launching into the rest of the set. This was roughly twice the length of the Amoeba set and included a mix of both old and new songs and included all of their anime-related songs to date. Fans would constantly jockey for position to be as close as possible to their favorite members but it never felt like I was in a mosh pit. A few of the attendees I was near had forgone earplugs and while they could barely hear, they declared it was worth it. I had made sure to bring mine, especially important since I was right next to one of the speaker stacks.

With any luck they’ll be coming back to the United States again and a venue near you. The girls returned to Japan to finish off the More! More!! More!!! tour which bookended their U.S. tour dates.

Here’s the setlists for both the Amoeba Records and Slim’s show:

Amoeba (4/9/2012):

1. effective line (Hydrangea ga Saiteiru)
2. I do it (Hydrangea ga Saiteiru)
3. Stand By Me (new single, not yet released)
4. Tsukiakari no Michitsurube (OVER THE BORDER) (from Darker than Black)
5. Viva La Viva La (More! More!! More!!!)
6. Hoshikuzu Kantera (OVER THE BORDER)
7. Hitohira no Hanabira (Hydrangea ga Saiteiru) (from Bleach)

Count by album:

Hydrangea ga Saiteiru: 3
OVER THE BORDER: 2
More! More!! More!!!: 1
single: 1

Slim’s (4/10/2012):

1. effective line (Hydrangea ga Saiteiru)
2. Sweet Blue (Hydrangea ga Saiteiru)
3. Hana Hiraku Oka (More! More!! More!!!)
4. Chiisana Mahou (More! More!! More!!!) (from Tegami Bachi Reverse)
5. Super Girl (More! More!! More!!!)
6. fuzz (Darker than Black - Tsukiakari no Michitsurube single)
7. Never Look Back (OVER THE BORDER)
8. Namida no Mukou (Hydrangea ga Saiteru) (from Gundam 00)
9. It’s a wild world (Tegami Bachi Reverse - Chiisana Mahou single)
10. Hanbunko (OVER THE BORDER)
11. stand by me (new single)
12. Tsukiakari no Michitsurube (OVER THE BORDER) (from Darker than Black)
13. I do it (Hydrangea ga Saiteiru)
14. Viva La Viva La (More! More!! More!!!)
15. Hoshikuzu Kantera (OVER THE BORDER)
encore. Hitohira no Hanabira (Hydrangea ga Saiteiru) (from Bleach)

Count by album:

Hydrangea ga Saiteiru: 5
OVER THE BORDER: 4
More! More!! More!!!: 4
single: 3

A very special thanks to Sony Music’s Ryu Nakamura for giving Animesou this opportunity.

Fanime, now in its 19th year, is one of northern California’s biggest anime conventions and has served as the traditional Memorial Day weekend trip of choice for many con-goers. It has been held in a variety of locations but for the last nine years has called the McEnery Convention Center in downtown San Jose home.

There were two things very noticeable for this year’s convention. The first is the construction happening to the McEnery Convention Center that included removal of the trademark fountains out front. The second were the registration lines. Fanime started inauspiciously with a blackout that consumed most of Thursday’s preregistered badge pickup time, meaning Friday’s lines were forced to absorb the bulk of pickups. Saturday’s onsite registration lines seemed to stretch for more than half of the downstairs lobby and multiple hour wait times were not uncommon going into the late afternoon.

Feels like we’re missing something important.

This year marked the return of printed schedules in a pocket format, which was missing last year. Granted I used my smartphone 90% of the time because it was more conveniently sized, but since this isn’t an option for a lot of attendees it is very appreciated. 2012 also included a new event hosted by Fanime, the Clockwork Alchemy steampunk convention, in the nearby DoubleTree hotel but in my two days I did not have the opportunity to take a look.

Guests

Kia Asamiya

The guest list for 2012 included names like artist Kia Asamiya, the man behind series like Martian Successor Nadesico and Silent Mobius, seiyuu Mai Aizawa, martial arts expert Ric Meyers, and English voice actor David Vincent. Hiroyuki Yamaga, now on his 15th visit, brought along fellow GAINAX employees Shigeto Koyama and Mamoru Yokota. Yamaga’s trademark “Yamaga Party” allows Fanime attendees to get up close and personal with the guests and this time around had a tea ceremony theme.

Autographs were a little different this year and were held at the nearby Fairmont Hotel, a 5-10 minute walk from the convention center. This year I elected for only two autographs, one from the lovely Mai Aizawa and the other from the veteran artist Kia Asamiya.

Mai Aizawa

One thing of note is that Kia Asamiya was doing full-blown drawings for attendees, which meant that his turnover rate suffered immensely. Only the first ten or so people in line would be able to walk away with one of his illustrations in their hands. I opted for an autograph only which was still met by a significant wait. For those who were lucky enough (or dedicated enough to show up more than an hour ahead of time) to be part of that small number, it was worth it.

Musicfest
Musicfest is the other name for Fanime’s free concert for attendees. Before the show there were video messages from NIGHTMARE, Megumi Nakajima, and Kamiya Hiroshi. Mai Aizawa opened with two songs including her newest release, Kimi ni Todoke. She has had quite the career as a seiyuu, but her singing career is just beginning to take off which explains the short set.

She was followed by Igaguri Chiba, alter-ego of Yomi, vocalist for Japanese visual kei band NIGHTMARE. Compared to NIGHTMARE, Chiba’s music is much more upbeat and regardless of the occasional intrusion of heavy metal riffs and bass drumming, the music always felt fun. It can be summed up best by a comment I heard directly behind me: “What am I watching?” You didn’t know what was going on half the time but you were having an infectious sort of fun. I’m not sure it is possible to have anything but fun watching someone sing and dance as a half-naked Pikachu accompanied by two large muscular men in speedos.

The night was rounded out by recorded footage from the Niconico Cho-kaigi concert from the end of April. The segment was titled “Vocaloid Allstars” and included fan-favorites like Luka Luka Night Fever, Popipo, and Alice in Musicland. While we’re on the topic of music and concerts, May’n has an upcoming pair of events later this month on the 21st in LA and 23rd in San Francisco. Check out more info here.

Stage Zero

Centrally positioned in the second-floor lobby right at the top of the central stairs, Stage Zero had an eclectic array of events for the con-goer to observe or participate in. There were Jeopardy-style game shows, dance contests among attendees, showings of popular internet videos, and live singing and dancing performances by the Fanimaids. Sunday’s Fanimaid performance ended with their own informal dance-off. If you had some extra time with nothing to do, Stage Zero was there to help you. For the night owls among us this includes round the clock, 24 hour entertainment.

Fanimaid Maid Cafe

Fanime’s maid cafe is a place for con-goers to take a load off and have a little fun by being doted on by their very own maid. Food and drinks are served and attendees have the chance to play a few lighthearted games with their maids. Photo opportunities are a given and all smiles were had by guests. If you’ve ever wanted to be called “Goshujin-sama” or “Ojou-sama,” this is where you go.

Cosplay

One of the mainstays of the anime convention is cosplay and compared to other types of conventions where attendees dress up, it seems that anime conventions have the highest attendee to costume ratio. Dressing up as your favorite characters is an extension of your love for them or for a series. With this in mind you can use the number of people cosplaying a certain series to judge the popularity of a series.

It is also interesting in that trends rise and fall very quickly in cosplay; a series with many cosplayers one year can have few the next as another series takes its place. Others just continue to grow like some sort of unstoppable juggernaut. One thing I did notice was the growing popularity of Tiger and Bunny. About a year ago it was largely unknown in America, but this quickly changed.

Mami and Sayaka from Madoka, still going strong

Iron man.

Alien with working tongue

A shot from cosplay battles

Godoka

Abe Lincoln takes a break next to Jin.

Not cosplay, but it’s a Blastoise made out of pipe cleaners.

Usually held on Sunday evenings, Fanime’s Masquerade is where enterprising groups can take their cosplay a little further. With a little help from the black-clad stage ninjas, you will see dancing and comedic skits. Free for attendees, the Masquerade never fails to attract a huge crowd and the San Jose Civic Auditorium was packed to the rafters to watch fans dressed as characters from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sailor Moon, Code Geass, and others perform onstage.

Cherry from the Angel Hearts Idolm@ster group

Not even in the masquerade can Mami get a break

Our dear departed Soul Calibur characters sing Hakuna Matata

Dealer’s Hall / Artist Alley

Fanime’s Dealer’s Hall is where you go to pick up some official goods. Be it a doujinshi, a bottle of Ramune, the newest anime on Blu-ray, or maybe a PVC figure to display in your room, this hall had it all. Longtime vendors like Hobby Fan and Offworld Designs were joined by new groups like Necomimi. Fellow conventions like Sac Anime up in Sacramento and Yaoi-con (formerly of the bay area, now moved to southern California) also had booths. Of note was the chance to purchase tickets for May’n’s upcoming California concert in San Francisco later this month. Attendees who opted to buy their tickets at-con were given the special gift of a poster normally not available to the public.

Cat ears that move via brain waves

Artist Alley has your usual array of prints and craft goods. Booths here have a more personal touch to them and you can go as far as commissioning many of the artists here for a unique piece of art. You can find some more esoteric items like handmade lolita headbands and dry-erase board speech bubbles. I’m always impressed by the quality of some of the booths here. A lot of these artists have really put the time into perfecting their craft and you can’t go wrong with a purchase here.

No, they are not for sale.

Gaming

Gaming at Fanime is an around the clock affair open 24 hours a day. No matter what time it might be, if you’re looking to play a game or two, you’ve found the right place. There are a variety of arcade games ranging from Para Para Max to Time Crisis to Initial D. Console games include modern fighters like Skullgirls on PS3 to old classics like Tetris on the NES. Practically every generation and system from 8-bit onward is represented here. A few computers were also available to play games like Melty Blood and Touhou. The late-night DDR freestyle sessions were quite popular and had a crowd ringing the area.

Those favoring a non-electronic format will be happy to know that tabletop games are in abundance and even a few 3D puzzles. There were even a few purikura booths to take photos with your friends in.

The face of a man on a mission

On a side note I don’t think I’ve seen so many CRT TVs in one place in quite a while.

Parting shots

This year I was only able to attend Saturday and Sunday, but it was still a good time. I met up with friends I hadn’t seen in a while and caught up with some of the faces I see at almost every California convention. In a way that’s what Fanime is about. It is not just the convention and its guests of honor that make up Fanime. It’s your friends, the acquaintances you know, and having a good time together.

The one thing I can ask is “Please get more computers for onsite registration.” Fanime has been growing year after year and with its spot as the lone major northern California convention this year (as Wondercon had moved to Anaheim, hopefully just for 2012) it was inevitable that attendance would grow. Things definitely felt more crowded this year. Last year I was able to waltz up to the onsite registration on Friday with about a ten minute wait but this year was definitely brutal for new attendees, especially on Saturday. I counted a dozen or less computers available to handle hundreds of attendees. It feels remiss to mention another convention but San Diego Comic Con, while many magnitudes bigger and better funded, know they have to field a veritable army of computers to handle the huge line of preregistered attendees.

May 24-27 are the dates for Fanime 2013. We’ll see you there.

Zetman:

Jin Kanzaki is not your average boy. From what you see in the show, he was a test tube baby who was “kidnapped” from the lab that was experimenting on him. From that point forward he has been raised as a humble young boy. Jin often plays with his friends, Kouga and Konoha Amagi. Their relationship is one that raises some eyebrows. You see, Jin lives with his grandfather on the banks of a river (Arakawa Under The Bridge style), while Kouga and Konoha Amagi are the children of the Amagi Corporation.

While their living conditions are complete opposites, their sense of justice is on par with each other. The kids formed a small team that went around helping people in the name of justice. During one of these seeking justice missions, Jin witnesses a woman about to be raped and killed by a group of men. Jin kicks their asses all over the place and left. The woman that he saved is Akemi Kawakami, who later plays a role in Jin’s life.

Right off the bat, this anime does not hide the fact that it is dark. Throughout the show I was expecting anyone who was on screen had a fair shot at getting killed, it was a matter of when. When you have these crazed monster beings known as Players roaming around the streets, no one is really safe. Who are these Players? Players are monsters created by the Amagi Corporation. They were created as a sporting event for the wealthy and powerful to view. These Players later developed their own sense of self and broke loose into the world. And in an effort to clean up their mess, the Amagi Corporation created ZET, a being that will hunt and destroy those escaped Players.

I am definitely looking forward to watching more of this show. It has the action and a story that is good thus far. I want to see how Jin develops with his powers and how the anime will play out. All signs are pointing in a good direction. You can watch the show on VizAnime.com. They are simulcasting the show on the same day as the Japanese broadcasts.

Saint Seiya Omega:

Saint Seiya, the anime that has deeply affected my childhood days. It was an awesome experience to watch this show every night. And as a kid I would go and reenact my own version of the Pegasus meteor fist. You see, Saint Seiya ended long ago for me and I felt it was good where it was left off. Upon seeing the Saint Seiya Omega title, I had my doubts. I questioned the seriousness of the show. In my opinion, some anime are better off left alone, rather than brought back. This is the case here.

I want to preface what I am about to say by saying that I did not have any rose colored glasses of nostalgia for this piece. I am looking at Omega by itself. Honestly from what I saw, I am disappointed. The show starts off rushed, you see Saori, also known as, Athena playing with a baby who is later revealed as Kouga, who will become the future Pegasus saint. An evil being known as Mars reveals himself and Gold Saint Seiya fends him off. After that event you are fast forward many years later when Kouga is going through the training to become a saint, much like Seiya did back in the day. Kouga is trained by Shaina and his motivation is just not the same. In a world of peace, he did not see the point of being a saint. That of course, takes a quick turn as several scenes later, Mars comes back and is after Saori again. In the state of panic, Kouga finds it in his cosmos to unleash his version of the Pegasus meteor fist.

I tried very hard to like this show. But I cannot and here are the reasons why. The pace of this show is fast. It moves from one scene to the next with little to no transition. It felt like the producers just wanted to get the episode over with rather than easing viewers back into the whole Saint Seiya franchise. I understand that Omega is meant to be different from the original and because it is based in the future, the technology has changed… but why would you mess with the armor? The new look armor looks like actual cloth. What made Saint Seiya awesome were the different types of armor and the way they looked. Now it looks like these skin tight suits instead of actual armor.

I really do not want to sound like I am bashing this show because of my feelings towards the original, but one more thing I noticed about Omega was how stereotypical of an anime it was. It looked like a new show, but they went old school with how it played out. The dialogue felt so, Gekiganger-ish, it was pretty amusing. If you are like me who feel that Saint Seiya ended years ago, do not ruin the view of the franchise by watching this. Unless you are dying to see more from the Saint Seiya universe, I would not go near this show again.

Ozma:

The last desert themed anime I saw was Desert Punk and let me just say I did not finish the show after watching a few episodes of it. Ozma follows our protagonist, Sam Coyne. As he rode through the lands searching for Ozma (the sand whale) he witnesses a chase that is happening. Sam rides in and helps the person being chased and it was revealed that this person is actually a girl named Maya.

When you take a closer look of Ozma, you can tell that this anime is a Leiji Matsumoto work, the person behind Galaxy Express 999. The character designs look the same and it was a disappointment in this day in age. When I saw GONZO in the introduction credits, I was expecting some very nice animation, but when you have two different contrasts between 70s-80s styled anime and new age it just looks weird. It might be a blessing in disguise that Ozma is a short show, six episodes. I do not have much to say about Ozma as it really did not leave much of a lasting impression.

Kuroko’s Basketball:

Teikou middle school had an amazing basketball team. They were so good that they were coined the “Generation of Miracles.” And now that they have graduated to high school, each of the starting five of Teikou moved onto different schools. But little do people realize, there is a sixth member of the “Generation of Miracles” and that member is Tetsuya Kuroko. Kuroko’s Basketball starts off with a relatively new school (Seirin high school), recruiting for new members at the clubs recruitment event. I am not going to bore you with the details of the events that happened, all you have to know is that at the end of the day, the basketball club of Seirin gained two extraordinary players, Kuroko and Kagami. Kagami played most of his basketball in America, so automatically he believes the basketball in Japan is not on par.

The show drills certain ideas into your head. Okay I get it that Kuroko has little to no presence; you do not have to constantly focus on it like its “Oh my god!” “Where’s Carl?” kind of deal. Kuroko does not look like a strong player, but his skills are not scoring. His strongest skill is his ability to pass. He is the Steve Nash of the team. From the first scrimmage you are able to see his ability to change the game, just by using the pass. For the first few scenes, I was impressed a bit, but when I looked long and hard, will a basketball anime really be based off of passing? There is only so much one can do with passing animations. Look, Kuroko’s Basketball is no Slam Dunk. I have my doubts about this show and do not feel it is all that great. I will look forward for it to prove me wrong though.

Fate Zero Season 2:

After leaving season one off of that cliff hanger, Fate Zero finally comes back in season two to continue this great show. I was not a fan in the beginning, but it has grown on me over the episodes. Here is what I thought of Fate/Zero last fall.

Kimi to Boku Season 2:

Was this show that good to have a season two? The slice of life anime of guys in their school days. Previewing season two is kind of pointless for Kimi to Boku, here is my view of it for season one.

Accel World:

Haruyuki Arita is your typical bully target. He is short and chubby with a low self-esteem. Based in the year 2040, neuro-technology has advanced so much that everyone uses a device over their neck called the neuro-link. The neuro-link allows users to access information on demand and allows the user to experience a virtual environment. If you have ever seen the Google glasses project, think of that, but even more advanced. Haru hates himself for being weak, and his only escape is to log into the school’s virtual network and attain the highest scores in the game. With his high scores, he catches the attention of the school’s student council vice president, Kuroyukihime (Black Snow Princess). After some commotion, the vice president introduces a game called Brain Burst to Haru.

In Brain Burst, the world feels like it is in a stand still. But in actuality, it only appears that way for the users, because their senses are being accelerated in the real world. At the end of Kuro-hime and Haru’s meeting, she warns him to turn off his neuro-link from the global net when he is out of school, but of course things happen and he eventually forgets about it. At the end of the first episode, Haru is thrust into the accelerated world as Silver Crow and will have to fight in order to stay in the game!

From what I have seen so far, Accel World looks good. The virtual game world and neuro-link are cool concepts. I am sure similar things have been used in other anime, but the characters and the way the story is told is interesting. The protagonist is not your usual male lead. I am kind of stumped in thinking of another short and chubby main character in an anime… not an easy task. If you liked shows like C: Control, this series is something you should check out. Like Zetman, VizAnime.com is streaming Accel World on the same day as it debuts in Japan.

Medaka Box:

Medaka Box is another one of those anime that focuses on the student council. Medaka Kurokami is a first year. She was elected as the student council president and her message to the students that earned her a 98% overall vote is that she will listen and fix any suggestions that are put into her suggestions box, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Medaka is the prototypical female protagonist; smart, large breasts (yes, the anime makes sure you notice), strong willed and a personality that affects others positively. And what would an anime like this be if she did not have a childhood friend who is also secretly in love with her? That is where Zenkichi Hitoyoshi comes in. He acts like Medaka is a bother and is always dragging him along, but deep down, he enjoys her company.

This is an average show at best. I was expecting something better, but was left with disappointment. What could be Medaka Box’s attractive points? It is not funny, Medaka’s personality could get irritating as the piece moves forward, Zenkichi’s secret crush on Medaka can get annoying, and will this show really just be about Medaka running around the school acting on the suggestions of her box? If it is, I do not see how this anime will make any mark this Spring.

Sengoku Collection:

Another anime dedicated to the generals of the Warring States period. The last time I saw an anime that relates to Sengoku Collection is Sengoku Otome… and that was a complete failure. Seriously, why do these anime even exist? It would be better off if new and original characters were created, rather than designing a character and then slapping on a historical name on the character. Really, it gets old, and unoriginal and honestly, stupid.

Anyways, as expected, there is nothing special with Sengoku Collection. Each episode is dedicated to a general and their interaction in the present world. Oda Nobunaga is the first batter up and as I was watching this show, I was embarrassed at how bad it was. Nobunaga dives off a building and gets transported to present time and she spears a poor guy in the gut while he was minding his own business on his moped. After that encounter, she follows him around, and the audience is supposed to be entertained by her reactions to the new world. Supposed. By the end, I was elated. Not because the show was any good, but because I do not have to deal with it anymore.

Kore wa Zombie Desuka? Of the Dead:

If you have seen the first season of Kore wa Zombie Desuka?, you can expect much of the same in the second season, but with the addition of new characters. From what I saw, things are wilder in this season, but I expect it to get serious towards the midpoint onto the end.

If you have never watched Kore wa Zombie Desuka?, our main character Ayumu Aikawa was killed, but later resurrected by a powerful necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe. She is a silent character, because any words that she utters can hold serious consequences. A whole mix of different characters come in as the show features a vampire ninja, a maho-shoujo (magical girl) and more.

One thing I have always disliked about this anime is that Ayumu dons the maho-shoujo garb. UGH! On a serious note, unless you are a fan of this series, or have absolutely nothing else to do… I would not watch this. Kore wa Zombie Desuka? Of the Dead is subpar at best.

Sankarea:

Chihiro Furuya is a zombie freak. He loves zombies so much that he would rather be with a zombie girl, rather than a living one. When his cat, Babu, dies after an accident, he was grief stricken and decided to try and revive Babu. Using an old manuscript that he had, he did various experiments at an abandoned building. That is where he meets Sanka Rea.

Rea is a girl from a strict family. She would scream out her frustrations of her life at the well of this building. Scenes later, Chihiro meets Rea and he tells her what he is trying to do with Babu. Fascinated by the idea, Rea decides to assist Chihiro with his work. By the first episode’s end, you find out what Sanka Rea has become and it is up to the next episodes to explain why she end up the way she did.

Sankarea sounds like it would be a fun ride, and I am looking forward to see how Chihiro deals with Rea after she becomes a zombie. I liked the character design and interactions of this show. It certainly gave the show a personality. Studio DEEN did a nice job in bringing Mitsuru Hattori’s manga to life… no pun intended.

Acchi Kocchi:

If you have ever seen Nichijou, Acchi Kocchi feels pretty much like it. It is a comedy that is based on the lives of Io Otohashi and her crush Tsumiki Miniwa. Io and Tsumiki are close friends and everyone in their circle knows how Io feels about him, yet Tsumiki does not realize that fact. So the base of the plot is the interactions between Io and Tsumiki along with their friends sprinkled in. Acchi Kocchi is a light hearted romantic comedy; if you like this genre, definitely check it out.

Space Brothers:

Space Brothers is about the lives of Mutta and Hibito Nanba. As kids they would venture into the woods and explore. One night, while they were exploring, they witnessed a UFO hovering and then blazed to the moon. It was at that point where both of them promised each other that they would become astronauts when they grow up.

Years later, Hibito has realized his dream, while Mutta was just fired from his job in the auto industry. It was not like Mutta was not successful at his work, but obviously, that job was not what he really wanted to do. After living the unemployed free loading life at his parents’ home, he begins looking for other opportunities. It is at that point, where he realizes that all he wanted to do in his life was to become an astronaut himself.

Chasing dreams and the cold hard reality, that is what made Space Brothers unique. As I was watching this anime, I thought about what my dreams were and what I really wanted to do. There are people out there in the world that is in the same boat as Mutta. Working for a living, rather than working for their dreams. Not many people get to do what they love as an occupation and in Space Brothers we get to see how Mutta will struggle to become an astronaut.

I was certainly hooked by this show right from the get-go. Maybe it was because of Mutta’s weird hairdo or because of the Zidane maneuver. Whatever it was, I was truly entertained. The story is great; it brings up an issue that people are experiencing today. The comedy is to the point and does not go overboard. By the episode’s end you get a feel of what will happen down the line and want to see what happens next.

Jormungand:

Jormungand is an adaptation of the manga by Keitaro Takahashi. The manga is available in the States, published by Viz Media and the anime has been licensed by FUNimation. A second season of the anime has already been announced and that is scheduled to be released on October 2012.

The gist of the story is this. Koko Hekmatyar is an arms dealer. She sells weapons to other countries and uses various tactics to ensure that her plans all go through. Jonah is a child who lost his parents as a result of a weapons dealer. It is the reason why he has a dislike towards arms dealers and weapons in general. The pairing of Koko and Jonah is a strange one, as they are both opposites of each other. Jonah does not talk much; his personality has been altered by his early life experiences. Koko on the other hand is cheery and does not always act like things are serious.

As Koko is recruiting Jonah, it is revealed that Koko believes that she is achieving world peace with her actions and Jonah will help her along the way. I thought Jormungard was entertaining. The plot moves fairly quickly, yet I did not feel like I was lost at any point in time. The action was constant and the character interactions felt natural. This is definitely a good shooter anime to kill some time with.

Queen’s Blade Rebellion:

Queen’s Blade has been around for a while, and there is not much that changes from series to series. There are a bunch of fine looking girls, and they fight. During the battle they lose pieces of clothing and armor to reveal certain body parts that male viewers like. It is really as simple as that. Fine, I will dig in deeper. Queen’s Blade Rebellion is set after the first Queen’s Blade series. Claudette, the winner of the last Queen’s Blade tournament has become a tyrannical ruler. That is when Annelotte Kreutz, an exiled princess knight gathers up her own army to free the people from Claudette’s rule.

I have to admit, I like Queen’s Blade for its character design, not for the periodic boobs that might be on the screen. Can anyone take the fighting seriously when it is always about stripping down the combatants? I really cannot. If you like anime that feature sexy girls fighting with armor and weapons, that get naked as the fight goes on, Queen’s Blade Rebellion is for you. For the rest of you who do not care, you might want to chill out with something else.

Nazo no Kanojo X:

The concept of Nazo no Kanojo X has to be one of the worse anime concepts that I have ever seen over the years that I have been watching anime. Akira Tsubaki is a virgin, he dreams about who will be his first sex partner and it just so happens that the next day, a transfer student transfers to his class; that student is Mikoto Urabe. Mikoto is weird. Her hair covers her eyes, she sleeps during lunch, she laughs out loud in class and she is just anti-social in every way.

One day after school, Akira heads back to the classroom to retrieve something and sees that Mikoto is still sleeping. After he woke her up and she left the room, he notices that Mikoto left a small puddle of drool on her desk. Being as desperate for a girl as he was, he gathers up the drool with his finger and puts it in his mouth!!!!! That has to be one of the most disgusting things I have witnessed… ever. After a few weeks pass, Akira gets sick and it is shown that his sickness is really just a withdrawal effect from tasting Mikoto’s saliva. By the end of the episode, they become a couple.

Guys and gals, do I really have to express how awful this show was? The characters are not interesting, the story is dull and overall, this show is just painfully bad. Can I get a refund on the time that I spent watching this show? Please?

Upotte!!:

Upotte!! reminded me of Himawari; an anime that features a school that features a teacher who transfers to the school to teach a class of girls who are weapons. No, literally. The girls are weapons. They are anthropomorphized guns. The main protagonist of the show is FNC, also known as Funko. The anime will be about the awkward situations these guns get into and how ecchi the terms that are used for guns can be when it is acted out by these school girls.

Upotte!! is a simple anime with some aspects of ecchi humor. There really is not much story to dive into, you just have to watch it and accept it for what it is. There is no deeper meaning to the plot. Comparing Upotte to Nazo no Kanojo X, this is several times better.

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia / Dusk Maiden of Amnesia:

Private Seikyo Academy has a horrifying legend. 60 years ago, a female student was left to die in the old abandoned school building. It is said that her spirit lives on, haunting the school grounds after her death… Tasogare Otome x Amnesia’s whole back story sure sounds a bit scary, but in actuality, this show is quite amusing. Teiichi Niiya is a normal school boy, one day he gets lost in school and ventures into the abandoned school building. Getting even more lost as he is finding the exit, he comes into contact with Yuuko Kanoe, the female student who died 60 years ago in that very building. After some interaction, Teiichi realizes that Yuuko has no bad intentions; she just aimlessly wanders the school halls, as she has no recollection of how she died.

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia has ecchi humor in the right amount. It is not overly excessive and I enjoyed that aspect of this show. It is fun to see Teiichi get teased by Yuuko intentionally or unintentionally. Who knows what kind of awkward situations the characters will get themselves into as they try to find the cause of Yuuko’s death? But one thing is for sure, this anime is definitely one of the brighter shining releases this Spring. I enjoyed it tremendously. Also, Sentai-Filmworks has licensed this anime for those who want to own discs rather than watching from Crunchyroll.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san:

An anime that pulls out some inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san is a show that features aliens, weird girls and some foul fighting styles. Haiyore! Nyaruko-san started out bland. It was kind of boring. Then as the show played out, I was having a very good time watching it. Nyaruko is the deity of chaos known as Nyarlathotep, she was sent to Earth to protect Mahiro Yasaka from alien attacks. Often, Nyaruko would use cheap fighting tactics to defeat aliens. Guys will cringe a little seeing how she fights.

In this early stage of the anime, all that is known is that Nyaruko is protecting Mahiro and begins to fall in love with him or at first sight, according to her. Obviously, other characters will be brought in and spice things up even more. Haiyore! Nyaruko-san is a comedy and it has lived up to its genre thus far. It has been a while since I had a good laugh with an anime and I cannot wait to see what comes next!

Hiiro no Kakera:

This one is for the shojo crowd. Hiiro no Kakera is about a girl named Tamaki Kasuga. She moves to her grandmother’s home after Tamaki’s parents are relocated on business. Little did Tamaki know, the actual reason for her move was to be her grandmother’s successor and become the Tamayori Princess and reseal the weakened seal on Onikirimaru. In come five pretty boys to become her body guard and assist her as she works towards the goal. This looks like a solid title with mysticism involved. Shojo fans have something to celebrate this Spring anime season.

Sakamichi no Apollon / Kids on the Slope:

Sakamichi no Apollon or Kids on the Slope is an anime show that is influenced by jazz, but you really cannot tell until the moment Sentaro Kawabuchi starts drumming off with tree branches on his way to class. What would an anime about music be if the best of the best were not brought together to collaborate on it? Here is where director Shinichiro Watanabe and composer Yoko Kanno come in. Their most notable works together include Cowboy Bebop and Macross Plus. Both titles had amazing music to accommodate the greatness of the shows. And with Kids on the Slope it is looking pretty good.

The story follows Kaoru Nishimi, a student who has transferred from school to school throughout his whole life. This time around he finds himself living with his relatives in Kyushu. From what I have seen of his relatives, they are not very nice people, and view Kaoru as extra baggage. By chance Kaoru meets Sentaro a delinquent type character of the show. Sentaro is brash, but one person that can keep him in line is Ritsuko Mukae, his childhood friend. Ritsuko’s family owns a record shop and after some dialogue, Kaoru visits her shop to purchase some classical music. A few scenes later, Kaoru ends up buying a jazz piece instead, and falls in love with the drum beats that Sentaro performed at the basement of the shop.

I would really like to see where this anime takes me. The element of jazz music along with school life and various life issues that may arise makes this piece quite interesting. This really is an intriguing anime, one you should keep an eye out for.

Synopsis:
Redline is about the biggest and most deadly racing tournament in the universe. Only held once every five years, everyone wants to stake their claim to fame, including JP, a reckless dare-devil driver oblivious to speed limits with his ultra-customized car – all the while, organized crime and militaristic governments want to leverage the race to their own ends. Amongst the other elite rival drivers in the tournament, JP falls for the alluring Sonoshee – but will she prove his undoing, or can a high speed romance survive a mass destruction race?

Review:
In a world where wheels on cars are a thing of the past and hover cars are the present, there are still those people who cannot let go of the past. And in Redline you will see why there is still an undying support for these vehicles. The movie begins with a race called the Yellowline. It is a pre-qualifier race for the main event known as the Redline. Our protagonist, JP is a racer who believes winning with pure skills and not by how many weapons he can use to destroy the chances of the opposition is the true definition of how a race should be. With that state of mind, it is the reason why he has no “weapons” in his car, other than his crazy nitrous boost. When JP was about to cross the victory line, an “accident” happens and he loses the race.

While it was disappointing to the viewers and the crowd in the show, it certainly was not disappointing for the mob boss who has arranged for this set up. You see, JP and his life-long friend Frisbee are known for fixing up races just to boost the bottom line for the mob. The return for fixing races is having the financial back up to build the car to race with in the first place. JP had no idea that Frisbee had implanted an explosive device in the racecar and did not suspect anything from his friend Frisebee.

Lady Luck comes to JP’s side, as he is recovering at the hospital from the injuries suffered at the Yellowline, with news that several participants had withdrew from the Redline race after learning that the event will take place at the dangerous Roboworld; a planet where the government’s race opposition is strong and lethal force was said to be enforced at the day of the race. When JP was selected as a replacement he jumped on the chance.

The plot of Redline is focused. While there is a love interest with JP and Sonoshee, it really never takes over the screen. The story moves from race, to getting ready for the race, to some character development and tie ups, to the final race. It moves from point A to point B smoothly and I must credit Takeshi Koike for his directing, his directorial debut at that!

It is even more astonishing to learn that Redline took seven years to complete and used a hundred thousand hand drawings to create. Madhouse did an extraordinary job in bringing the animation to life. The racing was captivating and the music was gripping. When I heard the speakers thump I felt I was in the race. The character designs and their vehicle designs were unique. And for some reason it felt a little like that old Playstation game, Twisted Metal or if you do not like Twisted Metal, we could go with a Nintendo game like Mario Kart. You know… where the goal is to interfere or destroy your opponents with all sorts of tools, as much as it is to win the race itself.

The Breakdown:
Look if you are here expecting a serious racing anime with full characters and plot developments you might want to check out something like Capeta or Initial D. If you just want to see a show that is about pure racing and mayhem, Redline is truly a delight. Its combination of fast paced racing with interesting characters and a simple yet engaging story makes this show an absolute must watch.

Amagami SS Plus:

Amagami SS Plus is the sequel to the first series of the dating simulation adaptation from the Playstation 2 console, Amagami SS. The series focused on Tachibana Junichi and his individual love interest of the different arcs. In the first season each girl had four episodes to shine, in the sequel; they will have two episodes to further develop where it was left off in the first season.

To start if off, Ayatsuji Tsukasa graces us with a bath scene with Junichi and I was wondering at this point, whether the series took a crazy turn for fan service that I did not know about. It did not, I was relieved. Anyways, because there is a continuing change of the story as the heroines change, it is hard to gauge what I really feel about the show. I am going by what I experienced in the first season, there will be some arcs that you like more than others, and some that you would hope, would hurry up and end.

If you are a fan of the high school drama anime and interested in watching one guy going on a mission to go out with different girls, with different story lines, Amagami SS Plus is for you. Heck, to be honest, this series had a weird grip on me the first season. I kept telling myself it was not that good, but continued to watch it to the end anyways. Judging from what I have seen thus far, I genuinely liked what I saw.

Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki:

I have never understood these short anime flicks. And I have never met any five minutes or less anime flick that has given me a good surprise until this Winter season. Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki is short and sweet. It is cute and at the same time gets a laugh from the audience. I went into this show expecting a desire for a refund of my time, but after it was said and done, I really enjoyed this short piece.

Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki is an adaptation from the manga by Ru Tatsuki and it will also be made into a game on the Nintendo 3DS in February 2012, where the player raises Poyo. The anime starts off with Moe Sato stumbling on a soft and round object on the ground. After falling asleep on it for a night she realizes that this soft thing is really a cat. Moe brings the cat into her family and raises it as a family member. In this show you will see how the family and the other people of the show react to Poyo. It is funny and silly and since it is also short, that makes it even better.

Nisenmonogatari:

Nisenmonogatari is the sequel to the series, Bakemonogatari, which is a light novel adaptation by Nisio Isin. If you liked Bakemonogatari, you will like Nisenmonogatari. The series is more of the same formula that viewers have experienced in the previous series. The anime is dialogue driven. There are a lot of face to face interactions and the background is often neglected… or should I say simplified.

While there is action here and there, it is very sporadic. The animation style is unique as it is a compilation of cut scenes. Because of how this show plays out, I always wondered what other people thought of it. Personally I got annoyed with all this talking. I started to feel it was reading me a visual audio book. Nisenmonogatari is not for everyone and unless you are prepared to listen to constant conversations with nothing much in between, you might want to stay away.

Recorder to Randoseru / Recorder & Randsell:

Remember what I said earlier in the Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki view? Recorder to Randoseru (manga by Meme Higashiya) is one of the other five minutes or less anime that has surprised me this season. This is unheard of! I always go into these kinds of shows with no expectation.

The plot of this anime follows Atsushi Miyagawa and Atsumi Miyagawa. They seem normal until you find out that they are not what they look they are. Atsushi is an elementary school boy in an adult male body and Atsumi is a high school girl in an elementary school girl body. The utilization of this confusion is hilarious. Judging from what I have seen thus far, this show will be quite a joy to watch. Give it a try, if you do not like it, it only cost you five minutes of your life, right?

Zero no Tsukaima F:

It has been a while since I last saw Zero no Tsukaima and if you have never seen this series before you can expect magic, comedy, fan service and action. The characters are nicely designed and grow on the viewers. That is particularly the reason why I have been sticking around this series for so long. Zero no Tsukaima F is the fourth and final of the series and will continue from where the story left off in the last series; Princess no Rondo.

In F, the producers have introduced a twist to the master and familiar relationship. After certain events in the show occurred, Tiffania decides it is time for her to summon her own familiar so that she can contribute more to the cause. This is also after finding out that she too is a void mage.

The episode ends as Tiffiania summons and Saito falls off a building and right through the portal created by Tiffania’s summon. How did I know something like this was going to happen? Anyways, I definitely will continue to support this series. It has been a fun ride every season of this show that I have seen.

Brave 10:

Brave 10, like other anime, such as, Sengoku Basara and Samurai Deeper Kyo, get its inspiration from the group of ninjas known as the Ten Heroes of Sanada during the late Sengoku period and early Edo period of Japan. In Brave 10, our main character Saizo Kirigakure is a skilled samurai who does not trust lords. As he was traveling, he runs into a shrine maiden, Nami Isa, who is being chased by a bunch of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s ninjas. Nami pleads to Saizo for help.

When the ninjas decide that Saizo needs to die since he witnessed this event, Saizo takes action. When it was over, Nami convinces Saizo to be her bodyguard until she reaches Sanada Yukimura, a lord that her shrine sided with. It has been a while since I last saw a good slice ‘em up anime and so far, Brave 10 is quite good. The pace of the show moves very fast. It feels like there is a rush to get from scene to scene. The action is very nice and the plot is intriguing.

The producers reveal to the audience that Nami has a hidden power that other lords would want to have at their disposal, and the fact that Sanada Yukimura is collecting his group of ten heroes for a samurai showdown adds to that excitement. This title has also been licensed by NIS America, be sure to follow the release details in the coming months.

Kill Me Baby / Baby, Please Kill Me:

From the moment I heard the opening theme, I was already expecting the worse. Kill Me Baby is an anime about the everyday life of Yasuna Oribe, the typical airhead and Sonya, the typical serious opposite of what her counterpart is. Add the fact that Sonya is an assassin and you get the comedic base for the majority of the show.

Kill Me Baby starts out okay. It was funny for a short moment. Then the comedy just got stupid, boring and repetitive. The kiddy styled animation contributed to its downfall as well. At the midpoint of the show, I was saying to myself how ironic the anime’s title was. I wanted someone to kill me, it was that bad of a train wreck of a show. Stay away if you want to keep your sanity.

Moretsu Pirates / Bodacious Space Pirates:

Marika Kato is a normal first year high school girl. She had lived her life with her mother without knowing anything about her father. One day, two mysterious travelers decides to visit Marika at her part time job at a maid café and when this incident was brought to her mother’s attention, everything else just falls into place.

You see, Ririka Kato (the mother) has not told Marika anything about her own past or who Marika’s father was. It was until the two mysterious travelers came to pay another visit to Marika’s house… that was when Marika was told about her father, Gonzaemon Kato who was the captain of the space pirate ship Bentenmaru. Since Marika’s father had passed away, the only rightful heir to the captaincy is the direct descendant of the previous captain, which means Marika is now thrust with the responsibility of Bentenmaru.

Morestu Pirates feels like it would be a very good adventure. The story thus far has been quite entertaining and with great character design and nice animations, I am excited at what the future holds for this series. Sentai Filmworks has licensed Moretsu Pirates, and digital and television releases will begin this February. Be on the look out!

High School DxD:

When the first line of the main character, Issei Hyodo, is that he wanted to fondle some boobs… you kind of know where this anime is going to go. High School DxD is this season’s ecchi humor, harem anime; there is no lack of boobs or girls on screen. Our protagonist is a pervert, and along with his friends, transferred to Komaou Private Academy, because it had recently been converted into a co-ed. With the number of females trumping over the number of males… Issei figured that he would have a chance at getting with a girl.

The problem is, his perverted ways has given him a bad rap in the school. One day as he walks home, a girl named Yuuma, approaches Issei and asked him to go out with her. Obviously he jumps at the chance and at the end of a date that they had, Yuuma asks Issei if he could die for her. Not knowing if it was a joke, Yuuma transforms into a fallen angel and kills Issei, yet Issei only thought about catching a glimpse of her naked boobs for a second or two.

As his life dwindles away, he wishes for a chance with Rias Gremory, a senpai who he had admired from the first time he laid eyes on her. Some more things happen and we end up learning that Rias Gremory is a demon and she had “revived” Issei to serve her. I think the story is not overly deep. The focus of High School DxD is obviously the fan service. If you like bouncing breasts in anime, then this piece here will satisfy your appetite. If you are looking for some spice of life drama, you will not find it here. I just hope this anime is not like Manyuu Hikenchou, where it gets excessive and to a point of disgust.

New Prince of Tennis:

I was never a fan of the original Prince of Tennis, although I have heard many good things about it from friends, my attitude towards this franchise might change after watching this new series. From what I have read this series is a manga adaptation and continues from where the original series left off. Ryoma Echizen starts off at the Grand Central Terminal in New York City and receives an invitation to the Under 17 tennis boot camp in Japan.

This boot camp consists entirely of high school tennis players from Japan but this time around, the U-17 decided to allow fifty middle school players to participate. Only the best will survive this vigorous training camp. The format is simple. The participants will have random matches to gauge which court or level a player will play on. The best players go to the lower numbered courts and the scrubs… you know, go to the high numbered courts.

The show is somewhat newbie friendly. I say that because even though I have not watched Prince of Tennis before, it felt like I have after they showed and featured the specialties of each middle school player in the Seigaku Academy tennis club during a challenge from some of the high school players. Of course, this does not mean that I am all of a sudden a Prince of Tennis guru; it just makes me feel less lost within the series. When it was all said and done, I enjoyed the time I had with this show, the drama, and the competition aspect of it were a real treat. It is no wonder why Prince of Tennis is one of the most favorite anime of the Japanese.

Area no Kishi / The Knight in the Area:

Football or soccer to some is the most popular sport in the world. In Area no Kishi or The Knight in the Area, we are shown what soccer means to a boy named, Kakeru Aizawa. Kakeru’s older brother, Suguru is a soccer prodigy. Kakeru is the manager of his brother’s soccer team. It is revealed that while Kakeru tells people that he is happy with his choice to be the team’s manager and has no urge to play soccer, he secretly practices in the evening at the park.

At this time it is also shown the reason for why Kakeru is hesitant to play soccer again. He had an injury to his left leg and does not want to embarrass himself or his brother. A gray alien challenges Kakeru at the park. Through their small match, Kakeru realizes that he does want to play soccer again.

Area no Kishi is one of those sports shows where the viewer will experience the good and the bad times of the character; the drama and the struggle with his love for the sport and dealing with his brother’s stardom. While I think this show has some good points, I do not believe I will follow it. The reason being that I feel the main character’s personality will get on my nerves and honestly, I am not a big fan of soccer.

Senki Zesshou Symphogear:

Anime that are based on singing are always a hit or miss for me. The successful cases are Macross Frontier and Guilty Crown, the not so successful cases are Uta no Prince-sama and The iDOLM@STER. Hopefully this anime will end up a success in my book. In Senki Zesshou Symphogear, Tsubasa Kazanari and Kanade Amo are idols known as ZweiWing and during a concert performance, aliens known as Noise, attack the venue. Tsubasa and Kanade bursts into action with their Symphogear armor to try and stop the Noise. When Hibiki Tachibana was wounded as a result of Kanade’s fighting, she decided to sacrifice herself to save Hibiki and put an end to the assault.

Two years pass , Tsubasa continued her ways as an idol by going solo and Hibiki was back to living a normal life. That is until she once again encounters the Noise. Her will to survive was influenced by Kanade’s last words telling her to not accept death. When she is finally cornered with nowhere to run, Hibiki sings the song that Kanade sung when she sacrificed herself. Suddenly Hibiki is engulfed in the power that Kanade had and the episode comes to an end there.

Senki Zesshou Symphogear is somewhat confusing at the beginning. The show brings us to present time where Hibiki’s best friend arrives at Hibiki’s grave, then we go back two years and witness what we did at the concert, then we go back to “present” time where Hibiki is alive and kicking with said friend! I did a double take when I saw that. The story will probably explain the gaps later on, so I am not worried. As for the action of Senki Zesshou Symphogear, I really disliked the screen shots of a special move followed by the move’s name. It is just super lame in my opinion. Other than that gripe though, this anime shows promise. The music was not bad and the story is quite intriguing.

Another:

Horror mystery anime… you do not see this genre often, last one I can remember is Ghost Hunt and that was years ago. Anyways, Another is an anime that is based on Koichi Sakakibara and his experience after he had transferred from a private school in Tokyo to a public school called Yomiyama North middle school out in the middle of nowhere. On the day that he was supposed to introduce himself to his class, he suddenly fell ill and had to be hospitalized.

The scenes that occur after his hospitalization will make a viewer question what the heck is exactly going on. I know it is early and I should not expect the anime to tell me all the details, but at the end of the episode, I do not know what was going on. To simplify it, Koichi meets Misaki Mei (mysterious eye patch girl) in the elevator, and his interest in her sparked from that encounter. When he was healthy enough to attend school, you can see that the atmosphere of the class is not very lively.

It feels like they are reserved and hiding something even when they are casually having a conversation. It is then revealed that no one else can see Misaki Mei. In one scene her desk was clean when Mei was in the scene, in another scene it is shown that her desk is worn down and empty. At the end of the episode, Mei tells Koichi that the class associates his name with death… and that is it. So from what I have seen thus far, this show is complicated and the plot is dull. The characters are not great, but I will give credit to the animation for giving this show the mysterious and creepy feel. Personally, I would not waste my time with this anime.

Aquarion EVOL:

What kind of anime fan would I be if I did not love giant robots? A total fraud of an anime fan! Aquarion EVOL is the sequel to the series Genesis of Aquarion and to be honest, I have never seen it, although I have heard about it. Right from the start, I can tell this title will be very detailed. I loved the setting, the atmosphere of the world that they are in, the mecha designs are awesome and the scenery is quite beautiful.

Amata Sora is the protagonist of the story and our female lead is Mikono Suzushiro. Their meeting in the movie theatre that Amata works at is awkward, but works. I thought it was funny that Amata needs to put weights in his boots so that he does not fly away. Yes, he has the power to fly when he is excited. While on their mini date, the Abductors attack the town and in the chaos of it all, Amata decides to unleash his power of flight.

Several scenes later he ends up in Aquarion with Mikono. The Aquarion combination scene was exciting and the interesting twist to the combination was that it is forbidden for males and females to combine… or sync. So to see this vast display of power from Aquarion, it was an eye opener for all of the pilots. Aquarion EVOL is truly an astonishing piece visually, and the plot so far is very engaging. Giant robot anime fans, we have been waiting for this for way too long!

Daily Lives of High School Boys:

The title pretty much explains what you will see from the piece; it is the Daily Lives of High School Boys. Often times we get anime that are geared towards the females for the slice of high school life genre, in this anime we get to see what the guys do… and it is somewhat accurate, emphasis on somewhat. Daily Lives of High School Boys focuses on comedy, and it is a hit or miss.

This show tries too hard to get a laugh, going to various extremes. Dressing up in your sister’s underwear and skirt to get inspiration for what it feels like? Not sure how many guys actually do that on their chill time. Anyways, Daily Lives of High School Boys is an okay comedy, it is split into chapters and does not have a main story that it follows… other than acting a fool in school and out of school.

Rinne no Lagrange / The Flower of Rin-ne:

Madoka Kyouno is a member of the Jersey Club. The club’s activity focuses on helping others. As the only member of the club, she has her hands full with helping other clubs, and other classmates. One day she is approached by a girl in a strange outfit. Being the easy go lucky kind of person Madoka is, she immediately accepts her as her comrade, since Lan, the girl, helped Madoka by returning her clothes that she took off to save a drowning person earlier on.

Lan asks Madoka to help her by piloting a robot called Vox. Without any knowledge to how to pilot it, Madoka jumps in and wings it, all the while, trying to fight off an enemy robot that came from outer space. From my early view of this show, I thought it was entertaining. Madoka’s personality was attractive and a joy to see. Rinne no Lagrange seems to be a fun ride and I suggest you go over to VizAnime.com and watch the simulcasts! Also, if you are a fan of Megumi Nakagima you will enjoy the opening and closing themes.

Ano Natsu de Matteru / Waiting in the Summer:

Ano Natsu de Matteru or Waiting in the Summer felt familiar. I felt like I have seen these characters before and have seen something like this before. Not to my surprise, I found out that this anime was produced by the same folks that were involved with the Onegai Teacher, and Onegai Twins franchises. That to me, my friends, is very good news. I loved Onegai Teacher, although not so enthralled with Onegai Twins.

Ichika Takatsuki is an alien (Mizuho Kazami look-alike, anyone?) and Kaito Kirishima is an average student who lives with his sister due to the passing of their parents. One thing that he remembered that his father always did was take a camcorder to film everything. Kaito decides to go out during the night to scout for some nice scenes to film. All of a sudden a bright light engulfs him and he dies.

Okay no he did not die, maybe he did, but whatever. He wakes up perfectly fine in his house. When he got to school, he notices that a new student had transferred in, that student was Ichika. Kaito immediately had an interest in Ichika and begins to film her. When his friend helps him out by asking whether Ichika would like to join Kaito’s movie project, she accepts. And that is the base of the show.

Ano Natsu de Matteru started off slow, the protagonist was boring, the show did not pick up until towards the end of the episode where Kaito is “talking” to himself, but really he had been talking aloud to Ichika. During the conversation, he suggests Ichika live in his house and she took on his offer. As she gets out of the bath, Kaito faints and is affected by some kind of virus. When Ichika heard him collapse she rushed out of the bath and proceeds to save him. This involved her giving him CPR. At the same time, his sister returns home to witness a naked girl making out with her brother. This confusion felt very familiar with the Onegai series and that is what makes the franchise so great.

The smart mix of fan service and comedy is truly entertaining and definitely worth my time. This is ecchi humor at its best. Sentai Filmworks has licensed this series for U.S. release and it is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai / Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father:

Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai or Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father was a light novel adaptation to manga adaptation to now an anime. The story focuses on Yuuta Segawa, a college student. His sister has remarried with another guy and Yuuta decided to move out and live on his own, kind of keeping his distance from the newly formed family, which consisted of a total of three children.

His college life was going smoothly until he gets kidnapped by the Street Observation Research Society. In the club, he was first tricked into believing that he got drunk and did something bad to Oda Raika, the sexy character of the show. Raika is the kind of character who has the body, but a lack of personality. She does not show her emotions easily and does not connect with many people. But somehow, a friendship formed between Raika and Yuuta and Yuuta began to fall for her.

The way the anime was going, I was wondering what the deal was with the title. It does not sound anything like it. Then it is shown that Yuuta’s sister has asked Yuuta to come over to her house to take care of her kids while she and her husband go attend to some matters. What happens after that is not shown yet, but you can figure out what happens if you just piece everything together.

Yuuta ends up having to take care of his sister’s kids and how will that turn out? How will this twist affect his progress with Raika? There will certainly be some amusing times with Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai. From what I have seen thus far, I am definitely hooked to this. The twist is appealing and the characters are attractive. The Street Observation Research Society kind of felt like Genshiken. The combination of this weird club in Yuuta’s college and his situation with his family is entertaining. I can just envision all those weird situations he is going to get himself into.

First off, I want to thank Erik Jansen of MediaLab PR, for giving me the chance to go to this event as press, because if he did not do that, I would probably be standing or sitting on the theatre steps; it was that long of a line, that big of a crowd. Next, I would like to thank Live Viewing Japan, for bringing the Hatsune Miku Live in Sapporo concert event to other parts of the world, especially to New York City! Before I go on, I want to let everyone know that I was not a fan of vocaloids. I did not see the point in an anime styled idol, singing songs. So I wanted to give a chance for Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin and Len and Megurine Luka to impress me. I want to see why vocaloids are getting the attention they are getting. Anyways, onward with my Hatsune Miku Live in Sapporo concert event experience!

It was a normal autumn day in New York, and as my friend and I were commuting to AMC Empire 25 in Time Square for the event, we chatted a bit about what we should expect, and how we should cover this. On the topic of what to expect, I said, “that it was either going to be crazy with fans in lines or a normal day at the theatre.” As we walked down to the theatre from the subway station, I was looking ahead to which extreme we were dealing with. We did not have to get to the door step to see the line of fans waiting to get into this event. That is where Erik Jansen of MediaLab PR came in, because I just waltzed into the front of the line, checked off Ray and my name on the guest list and went on ahead. When I saw the size of the crowd, I got scared. And now Live Viewing Japan is doing a L’Arc~en~Ciel 20th anniversary concert event on November 29th? I can just imagine how crazy it will be!

So we got to theatre 17 and picked out some nice seats, it did not take long for the fans to start filing in. You got fans with green, pink, blonde, blue wigs attending, and I have to give it to the people who showed up even though not knowing a thing about vocaloids; they stayed through the entire show! How did I know? The person asked Ray and I what this event was about… so pretty much, that sums it up. Before the concert began, the audience was already yelling things out, gasping at the movement of the screen saver anticipating the beginning. A young girl, who could not possibly be older than 13-14 years of age, urged on a Hatsune Miku chant and a Vocaloid chant from the audience, and that was quite impressive for someone her age.

When the event finally began, the audience was loud, screaming for their vocaloid idol, Hatsune Miku. The glow stick section lit up and started to do whatever they do with the glow sticks at the concert. Now I do not want to sound harsh, I have heard Miku sing some songs, and they were slow songs. But when she came blasting on with a quick paced song, I could not understand a thing she was saying. Her voice was a bit too high pitched to make out words, when she is speeding through lyrics. I told Ray, Miku reminded me of the Chipmunks with the way she sounded. This will later change as she progresses to the slower paced songs.

Hatsune Miku is projected on a clear screen, for those who did not know, so her movements are limited to the size of the screen on stage and on the top of the stage. Also, while her dancing movements are fluid, they do get repetitive. I know there is a limit to what animation can do to bring out the life of a vocaloid idol, but because Miku was the main attraction, and her on screen time was the longest, her repetitive motion can be picked out compared to the other vocaloids. Aside from that small beef I had, the music was quite good, I have to say.

When it was time for Hatsune Miku to “rest,” Kagamine Rin crashed in and the crowd again goes loud, as they welcome in their second vocaloid idol. Kagamine Rin probably got the lowest cheer in terms of decibels. The reason I say this, is because the roof almost gets blown off and the females of the audience went ballistic as soon as Kagamine Len shows up. To be honest, I do not feel Len’s vocaloid voice that much, it was very hard to hear the lyrics as his voice often merged with his music beats. It sounded a lot like mumble jumble for the songs that he “performed.”

For a while after Len’s performance, Miku came back, did a few wardrobe changes, which were awesome and finally, finally, finally. Even though I was not a fan of vocaloids, I do not know why I felt I was attached to this one from the sight of her in the poster. Megurine Luka lights up the stage and the audience is going insane, I would say, Luka got the loudest cheer, because everyone was just pondering when she was going to come up. When she was on stage, she did two songs and they were both very good. I had no problem hearing her, her voice was just right; not too high and not too low.

After Luka, Miku came back and the closing was near, because the slow songs started. This is also the point in time where I said to myself that, Miku’s voice is not that bad, when she is singing slowly. My mind had changed about her at that instant. When the event was all over, people filed out and grabbed some Hatsune Miku goodies, such as, poster, bookmark and a bio card. Elderberry, a model / cosplay singer also greeted people outside as Hatsune Miku. Ray and I took the chance to snap a photo with her.

The concert has come and gone and overall I thought it was quite successful. It brought fans of these vocaloids some happiness, to be able to see a show that they normally would not be able to. I was eavesdropping on what people had to say about the experience and from what I can hear, they were excited, and loved every bit of it. Crypton Future Media is doing a wonderful job in doing what they are doing, and hopefully one day, Miku and friends will be holograms, instead of projections on a screen. On a side note, I want to thank the girl who kept screaming in my ear, my ear drums love you dearly for that. Also to the guy sitting behind me, I do not know what the heck happened, but when you placed your hands on my shoulders simulating a shoulder massage… that felt really uncomfortable, please do not touch strangers. That is all.