Animesou.com

Synopsis
Lately, shy Manami has been flirting outrageously and sparking vicious catfights! Afterwards, she remembers nothing. Can it be that another personality seethes beneath her own - a wild woman who’ll do anything to find trouble?

Review
I requested this title from Central Park Media a while ago, and I just could not find the time to toss it in the player, and since I am kind of on my vacation right now, what better time to enjoy this sweet title than now right? Anyways, when you hear Sprite (no not the soda) and see the DVD cover of Sprite, I cannot fault you for just passing it on and going onto something else at the video store. In reality, if I was shopping, I would most definitely not have picked this title up due to how it looked and sounded in my head. STOP!!! Newsflash, when I do that assumption thing (not sure about you), I am usually wrong, and in the case of Sprite, I was wrong.

Manami Sakumoto is smart, not to mention, the hottest girl in school, but when her distant relative Toru Takamura transfers to her school, she begins to feel weird, it is like something or someone is trying to come out from within her. As a shy and quiet spoken girl, she is the perfect target for bullies. And as expected from her school, jealous girls find their way to pick on Manami. Toru is your average perverted guy, who tries to put up a good front. This was proven on the first meeting between Manami and Toru. While this was not the first time they met, it has been a good couple of years since they last saw each other. Now they are all grown up, going to ‘college’ (I will explain the quotations around the word later), and shares a secret between each other… the fact that Manami has another personality within her; the complete polar opposite of the shy, kind and cute Manami, Nami is a cool, no nonsense, ‘will kick your ass’ chick who has her charms as well.

Before I forget to mention, let me just throw it out there that Sprite is not a title that you would like to watch with your parents. There is nudity and some sexual content. While there may not be anything too hardcore… I just had to let this point be known so that the pervs out there will bite ^_^. Throughout the show you will go between Manami and Nami. We get to see their differences and how Manami’s alter ego can help her in some situations. Sprite plays out exactly like a teen love drama, but with more flavor. The incorporating of that mature stuff really gave this title a nice touch; it makes it less boring. I was a hundred percent attentive to everything that was going on. There was never a dull moment to this gem.

The Breakdown
Sprite is truly a show that embodies all there is to embody in a show that yearns and deserves your view; especially if you are into that teenage romance genre. I have never felt such excitement (no, not down my pants, hardy har har) as I am watching a teen drama. Sprite delivers a gripping story that has you choosing between Manami, Nami… or both. But at the end, this title is nothing short of an amazing accomplishment. I will definitely make time for seconds!

My Own Little Hedgehog’s Dilemma

‘You have two hours for the final…and…BEGIN!’. With these words, I started my Biology II final on the last day of my stay in Iowa City. Now, rewind time two to three weeks before any finals even started…

It was around the end of April, near the beginning of May when I decided to check up on information regarding Fanimecon 2006. Initially, I had thought I missed the early registration and uncertain of whether I would even make it back from school to attend the convention. When I found out I did not miss early registeration my dilemma was realized: should I do early registration or consider not going due to how unsettle I would be right when I get back home? I thought about it for a bit and decided to see what happens when I get home. So I put that thought over my shoulders and began studying for my classes. Now fastfoward time two or three weeks to when I was taking my Biology II final…

‘Five more minutes. Please finish up and bring your ID to your TA’. I stood up, handed in my exam, and left the room.

Pre-Fanimecon

Back home in California, half of my time was spent outside in the sun and half of the time inside. It was during my time inside where I did my investigation on Fanimecon and the different events taking place. After a bit more searching, I got in contact with a staff member working at Fanimecon who told me a few more things which convinced me to go. It was funny because I decided on going only three days before the start of the event. Anyways, with that decided, I reached into my pocket for whatever money I had left ($60) and pulled out my debit card to withdraw $80 of my $100 I had. I remember going to Fanimecon 2004 and having at least $400 after the badge fee. This year, I had less than $150 and I am without a badge. Luckily, my dad told me he was going to give me $50 on that day for whatever. In addition, there was a bucket full of coins so I took advantage of that as well. The question of taking pictures also came up but soon solved when my dad allowed me to use his $1000 camera. With that, I was able to take a bunch of great pictures which I will show later on. The night before the convention was nerve wreaking and I was supposed to wake up at 7:00AM and get there at 8:00AM. So I told myself to get at least 6 hours of sleep. However, It turned out I got about only three.

Friday: Day One at Fanimecon

At 7:10AM, I was rudely woken up by my cell phone alarm. After I few moans and groans, I got dressed and packed my camera into my bag along with a few bottles of water. Water and food was apparently really expensive at this convention so I took the necessary precautions and brought own. At around 7:30AM, my dad came back and told me to hurry because he had to get to work soon (my car was back in Iowa). So without a minute to waste, I hopped into the car and we were off. On the way, my dad gave me the money he promised and told me to get something to eat outside. I arrived in San Jose and the convention center at around 8:30AM.

Helping Out For the Better Good

Inside the lobby, there were two lines: one for the pre-registered and one for the not. So there I stood in the line for the not and waited for almost an hour. For some reason, the line went slower than I had anticipated. But maybe it was because of my excitement. After I purchased a badge for only Friday, I took one last glace at the registration booth and went inside. But to my surprise *drum roll*… nothing was happening. No dealer room, no e-gaming room, no nothing! I ran to the counter and picked up a schedule and saw that everything except for video rooms were closed until noon or 2:00PM. Now, what on earth am I going to do for 4-5 hours before everything was opened? A few nights before Fanimecon, I was told that volunteers were needed and that people who helped for 5 hours were refunded their badge money. Since I had nothing to do for hours and figured I needed a bit more money for this event, I headed towards the volunteer room on the third floor of the Marriot where I signed up and picked up my volunteer badge. With my trusty pink sheet of paper to give to the staff in charge, I headed towards Video Room 1 for whatever awaited me for 5 none stop hours.

It was now almost 10:45AM and my job was to stand outside the door checking other people’s badge. Sounds fun doesn’t it? Well, as it turned out, Video Room 1 was the panel room where guest speakers came. The first guest speaker was Asami who turned out to be the voice actress of Chizuko in Mahoromatic! I had the pleasure of serving her water and listening to her impersonations of various Anime characters. Basically all morning was a blast and even the executive producer of Gainax came to speak during a Q/A. Before I knew it, it was 3:15PM and my 5 hours of service was done. I headed back to the Staff room and was told I had to come back on Monday to receive my money back. The thought of coming back for $25 is not even worth the gas money so I made a proposition to the head staff: instead of me coming back for my money, why don’t I just come back on Saturday and pay no entrance fee? He accepted. Whether I had planned it or not, I was coming back the next day for free!

Registration early in the morning. What a line.

With my badge and volunteer stuff, I was off.

See this room? Pretty boring no? It was all mine to look at for 5 hours.

Oh my God! It’s Asami and some Gainax representatives!


Exploration and the Cost of Hunger

Now with both the dealers and e-gaming room opened, I was ready to make my move. It was a tough choice but hell, I’m here for the Anime and off to the dealers room I went. The room was bigger than I had anticipated and there were dozens of dealers. And even though I was tempted to buy everything, I knew I only had $175 in my pocket. Sounds like a lot of money, but if you’ve been to an Anime convention before, you know that that amount is insignificant. A lot of the things at Anime conventions are extremely overpriced. For example, DVDs were $20 and Manga was about $8 each. I was convinced that buying DVDs and Manga was not a good idea. Soon did I realize how much I contradict myself. As I walked around the huge room, I took pictures of many cosplayers and some ‘interesting’ things being sold. In addition to dealers, there were also various company booths such as ‘Red vs Blue’, ‘Gaia’, ‘International Group Inc.’, ‘Janime’ (which is a new Anime magazine coming out), and many more. For about 2 hours, I walked around taking pictures and shifting through some of the merchandise until hunger struck me. First thing that came up in my head was ‘uh…oh’ followed by my worried fingers running through the wad of cash in my pocket. As I approached the food stand, nothing I saw was a surprise. With that said, I bought some Nachos, sat down to cool my head, and headed into the E-gaming room (Hooray!)

Look how pretty…

Manga Manga everywhere…but not a single to buy.

Look at all the good stuff there is..

Anime cels anyone? But make sure your wallet isn’t beat up.

I wish I could have spun that wheel. I had to buy something though…

Dinner time! Let’s see what’s on the menu…

$2 for milk? Those cows must be from a royal blood line…

Hahahah…*punches stomach*… you stop growling at me.

Yeah….no. But I couldn’t just starve.

Quarters of Fun at E-Gaming

The E-gaming area was also extremely huge with more room than anyone can possibily want. Even with the arcades, PCs, and consoles hooked up to about 30+ TV sets, there was still about 2/3 of empty space. They had every game you can possibily think of from GGXX to DDR to Megaman on the PS2. There was even a Naruto fighting which was quite popular among the Naruto fans. From about 6:00PM to 8:00PM, I camped out around the consoles and arcades and played both free games and arcade games. The one game which I really looked forward to playing was Marvel vs Capcom 2. Fortunately, they had it with new buttons and a huge screen. I felt like I was in heaven all except the people there were really good. So what basically happened was I spent $10 getting my ass whooped and vice-versa to everyone else. Also, I played Halo on the console against this little kid and man… it was not pretty. I almost made him cry so I decided to ‘lose’ to him because I’m just that nice of a guy..^__^..that and I’m also probably 8+ years older than him. Anywho, little did I know I was going to get some deals that happen only so rarely.

Smash Bros: Melee anyone?

Not too big of an arcade place but had all the right games.

Halo…*cracks knuckles*…maybe not today.

Me on the right with the 16 game winning streak and still going…

A picture after I lost my 17 game winning streak to the guy on the left..lol……bastard.

Cheap as Toilet Paper?

It was around 9:00PM when I noticed some activities going on around the empty space in the room. I decided to check out what all the comotion was about. If I had only read the schedule I would have realized it was a swap meet! Of all the things one can hope for, swap meet is one of them. Basically, Anime fans or just people with Anime or Manga bring their own stuff to sell. Unlike dealers, the price of items are low. Just how low you ask? How about 3 Manga for $5? Or how about DVDs for $5 each? No joke. This was what I was waiting for. As an Ebay obessionist ( I know it’s not a word), I am shocked with some cheap things I found. In the end, I bought 16 Manga for $27 and 19 DVDs for $80 to a total of $107! A little crazy I know but for all the stuff I got, it was worth it. By 10:30PM, I felt the fatigue kicking in and realized that I have not sat down for more than 14 hours so I decided to call it a day. My ride came at around 11:00PM and with even better prospects for the day to come, I left for home.

3 Manga for $5? Wait a minute? Whaaa?!?!?

$5 a DVD? Am I in a dream?

Here was all the stuff I bought…

Evangelion vols 1-6 for $10… nice deal.

Steam Detectives vols 1-6 and Nausicaa vols 1-4 for $17….heh.

Stellvia vols 1-8 with all the stuffings for $40.

Whatever else I got. All these DVDs cost me $40. The guy gave me Scrapped Princess and Saiyuki for free after negotiations.

There is Always Another Day…Seriously

Lying in bed the same night (actually now 2:00AM), I realized I isolated myself to only the dealer’s room and the E-gaming room. So tomorrow I was determined to dedicate myself in finding all the free stuff like posters and postcards and look into other events that I have been missing. With that, I dozed off and slept like I was in a coma.

It was pretty late at night. Sheeps are jumping over everyones’ head by now.

Saturday: Day Two at Fanimecon

At 10:30AM, my cell phone alarm once again screamed through my ears as I slowly crawled out and got dressed, half ready for the day to come. Today was somewhat of a better day because for one, I got about 8 hours of sleep. In addition to that, I was also going to be able to get a badge for free because of the volunteer hours I did. After a quick breakfast, I was on my way again and arrived at around 12:00PM where things were just getting underway.

The Mission Impossible!

As mentioned, Friday night was Swap Meet night and I picked up a load of things for an unbelievable discount. However, I took a gamble with 2 DVDs I bought. They were Koi Kaze vols 2 and 3. The guy didn’t have vol 1 so this mission (should I choose to accept), will be to look for Koi Kaze vol 1 in the DEALERS room for a cheap price. See why the mission that was so impossible? Anyways to start off, there were not too many DVD dealers to begin with. I saw maybe about 4 or 5 major DVD sellers if that. Sadly, only one of those booth had Koi Kaze vol 1 for an amazing price of…$25? I gave the guy a look and moved on with my search. About another 30 minutes, I was about to give up until I caught the color of the DVD case that looked smiliar to Koi Kaze from the corner of my eye at a $10 DVD table. I spun around and picked it up. What did you know… it was Koi Kaze vol 1, the only vol there was in that box of random DVDs!

Mission Status: Success

My precious…*hugs DVD*

Be Proud of Freeloading

After this, I thought it would be a good idea to look for some free stuff while I am here since I did pay $25 for a badge the day before. As I walked around, I snapped a few more pictures here and there. In the end, I did grab a few free postcards and posters and even a little fan for my cooling pleasures. Nearing 3:00PM, I decided to call being at the dealers room off and began exploring other sections that I missed. The first stop I made was to the Karaoke room.

Freeloading never felt any better especially when it comes to Anime.

‘American Idol’ Meets Anime Fans

The Karaoke room was a big room composed of a stage platform and a few hundred chairs. When I was nearing the entrance, I knew they were already starting as I heard voices coming through. To be honest, this was probably one of the worst part of the convention so far. You might be thinking ‘There must have been cute Japanese vocalist up there performing with speaker sounds crescendoing along the walls and flashing lights’. Now, try to imagine American Idol tryouts and there you go. There were a lot of mediocre voices, some decent voices, and few good sounding voices. But then again, people were there just having fun and despite the agony of hearing some of the off tempo notes, I still ended up enjoying and clapping along to a song or two. By now, it was about 5:30PM and hunger was creeping up on me again. However, I was prepared.

All it Takes is a Brain and $5

After learning my lesson the hard way on Friday about the expenses of food, I bought food at a Burger King before I went to the convention. The fries were cold and so was my Whopper. But at least my wallet was happy for the time being and so was I. I swallowed my last piece of cold meat and bun and headed in the direction of the fashion show.

Lady in Red….and White…and Green

The fashion show was spectacular with people dressed up in enough colors and variety to make even the most conceited looking peacocks jealous. For about an hour, people walked along the stage and showed off their thing. I don’t know what real fashion shows look like but this was pretty interesting to see happen. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures.

Video Rooms and Beyond…

As I left the fashion show room, Akira was just beginning to show in Video Room 2 so I decided to just watch the movie for the time being and see if there was another Swap Meet at 9:00PM. Suprisingly, there were quite a number of people watching too since I assumed every Anime fan had seen it at one time or another. But when I began to watch, I found myself drawn to finish watching it even though I’ve seen it before. I didn’t think too much of the movie when I watched it 6 years ago. I guess maybe nostalgia was a factor.

Before the movie finished, I realized it was 9:00Pm so I rushed back to see if Swap Meet was going on again. As it turned out, Swap Meet was only Thursday and Friday. With the dissapointing news, I headed back to the arcades to finish off my night at around 10:00PM

Lastly, cosplay pictures!!

I hope those swords weren’t too sharp.

Question: Guy or Girl? Answer: We will never know.

Bat boy…errr…make it girl..

I actually have no idea who she is supposed to be. Still great cosplayer nevertheless.

Here we have a picture of the mascot of Janime, a new Anime magazine coming out in Japan. I approve!

So cute… and I’m a guy saying this. *Slaps self in the face*..

In case anyone is wondering what that says: ‘ Will hack for beer: fear 807′…lol

Pocky never looked any better…

Funny little Excel Saga cosplayer. Poor Menchi...*eats a Menchi dog*...Grade A.

Vash on the left looks like he stuck his head out during the plane ride to Fanimecon.

At this rate, Kingdom Hearts will be the new Anime with fans like these.

Captain Planet! He’s Our Hero!…

Afterthoughts and Prospects for Next Year

While I did enjoy this year’s Fanimecon, there were a few things missing and problems I felt I should point out. First of all, there were no Anime companies representing themselves this year. I remember Fanimecon 2004 had Central Park Media, FUNImation, and ADV handing out posters and doing raffles and taking comments from Anime fan. As Anime is becoming increasingly popular in America, one would imagine the companies licensing those Anime would do what they can to promote them and reach out to people who are interested but just need a push in the right direction. My hopes for next year would be for more Anime company representatives to be present and promote their products. When I think about it, there was a booth handing out America movie posters such as ‘Silent Hill’ and ‘Da Vinci Code’. Not saying was not a considerate thing to do but this is an Anime convention. So where are the Anime representatives? We have representatives promoting Hollywood movies but not Anime? Kind of pathetic if you think about it. Beside the lack of Anime company reps was also the lack of organization which I noticed.

When I was a volunteer on Friday, I remember the first hour or two going really smoothly with not too many problems at hand. However, things started to change as the day progressed starting with the cancelation of the band ‘Up Hold’ due to problems with their equipment. So I ended up just sitting in the empty room for about 30 minutes doing nothing. As if things can not get any worse, another band called ‘Goofy Style’ came in with only ONE person waiting to meet them. How sad was it to see the number of band members out number the number of fans? They were shortly excused and so I sat there for another hour chatting with a tech staff member. He told me a few things about how corrupted some of the staff members were and how some just sign up for staff in order to get in for free were they never take care of the responsiblities given to them. Also, the dealers room was supposed to be opened at noon but got held back to 2:00PM and Saturday when I came back, no one had any information on the Swap Meet.. Not even the information booth! It was pretty suprising but I am not trying to point fingers here and but the blame on anyone. I’m more of just trying to see what can be done to make things go as smoothly as possible to accommodate the people coming since they are paying a lot of money for this once in a year event. On the contrary, all of the staffs I met and talked to displayed a sense of duty and responsibility. For example, the tech staff of Video Room one told me how he worked from 8:00AM to 9:00PM none stop helping set up equipments. Also, the person in charge of the volunteer room was extremely courteous towards me as I see him go back and forth trying to organize everything. As of now, I am thinking of either applying for staff next year or a media reporter for animesou.com. Only time will tell I guess. With that said, there is also a few things I want to comment about the Anime fans at the convention.

When you go to an event as big as Fanimecon where over 10,000 people show up, you expect a little bit of diversity in the types of cosplayers you would see. For the most part, I saw One Piece, FMA, Trigun, and a lot of Naruto cosplayers. So where was the Gankutsou cosplayer? The Stellvia cosplayer? The Infinite Ryvius cosplayer? Of course I’m not saying the only cosplayers I saw was One Piece and Naruto. I’m trying to say why can’t one of those Naruto cosplayers decide to cosplay as something else and something different that can make another wonder who he is supposed to be? What I like doing most is seeing cosplayers which I have no idea who they are then asking them which character they are supposed to be. When you can be unique and make someone wonder about your identity, you are successful in making yourself ‘original’ and unique. But people can dress up whatever way they want because obviously they have a passion for whatever it may be. But don’t forget you are an Anime fan. If you choose to isolate yourself to a single Anime then where is the diversity? The meaning of Anime should not hold in one show. So even though Naruto might be your favorite show, cosplaying as something new and unique to diversify Anime can be benefical to future fans. I may sound ignorant saying all of this because I myself have never cosplayed so I don’t know the mind set of a cosplayer. But as a Anime fan, I feel like I can relate to this subject and talk about it. Last but not least, I want to talk about the Anime they showed in the screening room.

This year, half of the Anime that was shown was licensed and half fansubs. I didn’t have a problem with that. However, I wish they would have squeezed Monster or Gankutsou in the fansub screening part. I was extremely happy to see a Honey and Clover marathon. You have no idea how much deciding to show that made my day. All in all, I was pleased with what they decided to screen this year. I just hope next year those Anime which deserves attention would get some. For example Princess Tutu, Junkers Come Here, The Cat Returns, Voices of a Distant Star, The Promised Place Beyond the Cloud, and even She and Her Cat. These last three works mentioned are all by Makoto Shinkai who is working his way up in the food chain in the Anime industry. I wanted to take this time to acknowledge his success and works up to now.

Overall though, I had a great time. I met some people which I knew in high school and some other interesting people to talk to. So yeah, I would say Fanimecon 2006 was a huge success besides the little minor things that happened. I looked forward to next year where I hope to see even more Anime fans turn out. Next time if you know of an Anime con coming up, be sure to check it out if not the the merchandise then for the experience of just being there. It’s a feeling you don’t feel anywhere else. Till next year~

Synopsis
An amazing downhill specialist appeared in the mountain passes of Akina. For five years beginning in the 7th grade at the age of 11 Takumi Fujiwara has been delivering tofu to a hotel via Akina everyday at 4 o’clock in the morning be it rain or snow. His method of training: a cup of water. If he spilt some water that would mean that he disrupted the integrity of the tofu. Bunta, his dad, told Takumi to rotate the water in the cup by shifting the weight of the car. Unknowingly, Takumi acquired and perfected his incredible driving technique. He became Akina’s hero overnight, and many strong rivals came to challenge him. Takumi continued to learn race after race.    

Review
Initial D fourth stage is 24 episodes long similar to first stage. 2 episodes were aired at a time every other month starting in April 2004 to February 2006. Not quite as bad as Macross Zero’s schedule. Fourth stage naturally comes after the Initial D movie, third stage not the live action Chinese one, where Takumi has decided to join Ryosuke’s exclusive racing team called Project D. Takumi and Keisuke are the double aces challenging the top opponents outside of the Gunma prefecture.            
  
The official Japanese Initial D website can be found at http://avexmode.jp/animation/initial/initial.html.   
  

  
For an in depth explanation about TOKYOPOP’s botching of the previous stages I suggest you check out ViperMask’s PS2 Initial D Special Stage guide at Gamefaqs
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/game/589379.html. F*** TOKYOPOP!

The Breakdown
Someone please teach me how to drift.

Synopsis
Kuromi is back, and more determined than ever to make it in the anime business. But all hell breaks loose when the boss quits smoking just when the workload bursts out of control. Can Kuromi overcome this almost insurmountable obstacle?  

Review
Those who are fans of the first Animation Runner Kuromi will find that this sequel is a nice little touch to a neat title that gives anime fans a peek at how anime is… or at least the processes that it goes through in order for it to be released. In the first installment of Animation Runner, Kuromi had to lead her unique, slacking team to create an episode of anime. If putting together one episode was that difficult of a task, then you would definitely want to see what kind of havoc would develop when the crew has been given the assignment to create one episode for three different series; that is three episodes by the way for those who are bad at math.  

How is Kuromi going to motivate her lazy staff? Well, she almost does not, because a hot shot animation runner comes barging in their studio and starts demanding things to be done by using strict methods… that works. Of course, since this hot shot animation runner is all about making the dead line, at the expense of the quality of the anime; we got a dilemma here. While Shihonmatsu is on the edge, going cold turkey from cigarettes, and the staff’s motivation runs low, it is time for Kuromi to take back Studio Petit, for the sake of her staff and for the sake of producing great anime.  

Animation Runner Kuromi 2, pretty much sticks with the same formula as the first installment. Nothing much changed, and nothing much added. As I was watching it, it felt like it was a good bridge between the two OAVs, but that is about it. Certainly this show is about delivering fun to the audience and at times it does. However, the fun is not always there, there are some tense moments that make you wonder if this really is what you wanted to bargain for.

Synopsis
A young man named Monkey D. Luffy dreams of becoming King of the Pirates. When he’s captured by a band of pirates, Luffy escapes to a naval base ruled by an evil captain. Luffy saves the famous swordsman, Zolo from execution in exchange for joining his crew, and the real adventure begins!

Review
One Piece is an example of a show where my stupidity led me to assume that a certain anime is bad because of the way it looked. Man I so deserve a beating from Nami. Not only did this show, proved me wrong, but it surpassed anything that I could have expected from it. The beef that I did have with One Piece is the version I received. It was the TV edited version, which means, some of the show was edited so that it would be appropriate to be shown on cartoon Saturdays or something. The addition of fade in and fade outs made for commercial breaks were annoying, but I guess I should stop with the ranting, I mean, it did warn me on the front and back cover that it was the TV version.

Okay, moving away from the being edited topic, because that can be a whole Rant-ON article in itself. The show is very enjoyable, and the characters are likable. Coby is one funny dude due to the way he reacts to the crazy decisions of Luffy’s. Obviously, our main character is the fellow with the straw hat, yes, that guy named Monkey D. Luffy.

From the start we are introduced to a few of the characters who will have some sort of significance in the show later on. You have heard two names already. Luffy, and Coby (somehow even though he does not become a pirate), the other names you will hear are Roronoa Zoro (Zolo), the pirate hunter and later on Nami, the pirate thieve. At first glance, you already know One Piece will be a fun adventure due to its animation style. It is not serious, although it could be. One thing I liked from the animation is the use of colors. The colors define the emotion a certain character is feeling and it is weird how I just like the utilization of that method in anime.

The plot of One Piece is kept to the basics. This whole adventure was sparked by a little boy’s dream; to be the Pirate King. That little boy has now grown and is now beginning to chase his dream by rounding up a crew of pirates. Of course, this task will not be easy, and if it was not for Luffy’s forbidden fruit abilities he would have been dead by the first volume. The show constantly hangs itself on the cliff. And that is how it gets you addicted to want to continue watching it. The way they did that certainly has me hooked and reeled in. Now if only an unedited version was released. Now that would be cool. I am sure a lot of us are yearning for it.

The Breakdown
Overall, One Piece is great. The story keeps the viewers entertained at all times, while everything else is consistent at providing a good experience. I have fallen in love with One Piece and I hope you do too, because if you do not, you will be missing out on some serious fun.

Rx-78 2 Gundam Ver 1.5
Designer/Modeler: Ray

Manufacture: Bandai
Scale: 1/100 Master Grade

Release date: June 2000

Status: Finished on March 27, 2006

  

  

Review:

Skill Level: 4/10 - For a Master Grade model this was pretty easy, mainly because the engineering of it isn’t as advance as the current MGs. You can complete this model without any glue, but since it’s a MG and is more complex then a 1/144 model, I give it a 4.

Painting: 2/10 - Master Grades are usually molded in color, sometimes even their tiny parts are molded in color. So if you’re fine with not painting you model, then this is for you! But, I like to paint my models and this was very easy to paint, no masking was required. Just paint the color the part was molded in, it’s very straight forward.
Quality: 8/10 - The Quality on this model is great, no flaws or problems, but could be better, since it is a Master Grade.
Design: 8/10 - No problems here either, the design of the model was great, everything is proportional. It even comes with it’s full armor! and looks very cool in it.

Engineering: 8/10 - This MG is a new version release of the Rx-78, thus the Ver. 1.5, The engineering of the legs on this is just like the perfect grade Rx-78! it’s amazing!

Overall: 8/10 - You can’t go wrong with a Master Grade model, they’re just amazing.

  

  

Background Information:   

       The Gundam is one of three prototype mobile suits secretly developed by the embattled Earth Federation. After suffering tremendous losses to Zeon’s mobile suits earlier in the war, the Federation set out to create its own, using the very latest advanced technology. The Gundam is the most successful of these prototypes, a close-combat mobile suit protected by tough Luna Titanium armor, and armed with both lethal beam sabers and a devastating beam rifle as powerful as a battleship cannon. It’s also equipped with an advanced computer which learns from its pilot, ultimately enabling it to operate the Gundam automatically. In the hands of accidental pilot Amuro Ray, this one prototype mobile suit proves to be the equal of any Zeon weapon.
Source: Gundam Official
  

Specs:

Pilot: Amuro Ray

Head height: 18.0 meters

Base weight: 43.4 tons

Full weight: 60.0 tons

Generator: 1380 kW

Thrusters: 55,500 kg

180 ° turn: 1.5 seconds

Sensor radius: 5700 meters

Armor materials: Luna Titanium alloy

Armament:

60mm vulcan gun x 2
Beam saber x 2
Beam rifle
Hyper bazooka
beam javelin
Gundam hammer
Hyper hammer

  

Production Notes:

       I got this model when I was in Hong Kong, in 2000. I was bored as hell at my Grandmother’s place and since there was no internet, I had nothing to do. The cartoons weren’t even on yet either. So I went down to the mall to pick up some models for myself. Then I ran into this! I looked at the side of the box, and I was amazed, I was like “WOW! this comes with mad weapons!” It came with the javelin, Bazooka and the chain and ball thing (Hyper hammer). The last time I check on the Rx-78 MG, I don’t remember it having so many weapons, but one thing I didn’t know was, they released a Ver 1.5. Since I had no access to the internet, I had no idea what was going on.

       The only problem I had with the model, was it’s shield. the only way for it to hold the shield up was by making it’s hand hold the shield handle. Over time, the hands would get loose and the shield would get loose. So I made a little mod for the shield.

  

- This is how it looked before I painted it. Ok, I know it’s a bad picture, but it’s all I have for a before pic.

  

- The Internals of the legs.

  

- Flexing the sexy legs.

  

- Showing off the legs again.

  

- The Base colors full painted.

  

- A picture of how I sometimes mask my parts. I used Play-dough.

  

- Everything’s finished, Ready for decals.

  

- I like to use scotch tape for my decals, because they’re clear and it allows me to position my decals better.

- They’re also easy to peel off without damaging the paint and don’t leave a sticky residue.

  

- Don’t put tape over already decaled area, because the tape will rip them right off.

  

- All decals complete.

  

  

  

Finalized pictures:

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

- The model is now placed on my desk at work

  

Synopsis
Growing up can be painful - especially when you fall down a flight of stairs, suffer severe head trauma, and wake up with the mental capacity of a kindergartener. Ouch! Now 17-year-old Nanaka Kirisato has to grow up all over again. You see, Nanaka thinks she’s been through a magical transformation, and she just can’t wrap her head around the head trauma. But if she thought fitting in as an unpopular bookworm was hard, subtracting eleven years certainly won’t help. Throw in a mullet-headed boy bully, a karate-chopping girl bully, a bullheaded best friend, and a barrage of schoolyard battles, and Nanaka’s problems multiply exponentially! It all adds up to mayhem and mass hysteria in the first hysterical volume of Nanaka 6/17.

Review
Imagine yourself being seventeen years old one day and then after a freak accident, turning six the other. Of course, you most likely would not be able to remember that you have mentally gone back eleven years, but the thought of it is something that intrigues some people. I mean, you lose (forget) all that has happened in between those eleven years gap. Do you or can you imagine how painful it would be for those who care for you, that you forget? You probably cannot. And in Nanaka’s case, such grief was not necessary. The serious, Nanaka, who only cared about the future and exams did not have much friends… except a childhood one. And she did not have anybody else to care for her in her family other than a daughter obsessed father who depends on Nanaka’s childhood friend, Nenji.

“Raging Hair” Nenji Nagihara, as stated above is Nanaka’s only childhood friend of any significance shown at this point of the anime. The dude is like a version of Seiji ‘Maddog’ Sawamura from Midori Days. He fights not because he picks them, but because people just want to spar with him… on a daily routine. And on one rainy day as Nenji beats his opponents to a pulp, Nanaka questions if he would ever stop fighting, and if he would ever grow up for a change. Oh boy. What a turn of events eh? After one killer line from Nenji to Nanaka, Nanaka runs off on her own, only to wake up eleven years younger in her mind.

Is it a bad thing or a good thing? That was a thought that has gone through Nenji’s head. Thinking about it. Nanaka who was too mature for her age turns immature, and the usually immature Nenji who would punch first, talk never, now has to learn a bit of responsibility by taking care of the six year old Nanaka, who also thinks that she has grown physically because of some magic spell. Things seem fine at the moment right? You are following all this right? Now let us get down a little further. Add these elements to the story. Jealous classmates, a love rival and the fact that this whole debacle has to be kept secret. How do you keep a six year old from not acting like one? Answer. You cannot. And Nenji learns that when the school becomes suspicious of them going out, as Nanaka is always with Nenji and vice versa. Sigh… I sure feel for him.

Anyways, Nanaka 6/17 is a loose title. It does not require you to put your thinking caps on in order to comprehend the plot. Its simplicity is what really appealed to me. Sure you like the good animation, the nice soundtrack and a dose of interest factor in it. But I believe that actually understanding the whole situation with those added features is better than being lost with those same added features. This title certainly delivers when it comes to that department. It is also a joy to watch this show after Nanaka’s accident as cruel as that may sound. Why? Because the mature seventeen year old Nanaka is one boring bookworm :). I know, she will recover from amnesia and turn back to Nanaka 17, but I can only hope that there are a lot of cool and fun things that happen as we deal with Nanaka 6 hehe.

The Breakdown
Nanaka 6/17 feels like a Midori Days like title. The concepts are very similar. One guy fighting character, one female character and one love rival. Midori was a shy serious girl before she became Seiji’s right hand… the same happens to Nanaka when she turns six. So it is easy to say that if you enjoyed a title like Midori Days, you will most definitely enjoy Nanaka 6/17.

Synopsis
When do children stop believing in Santa Claus? When they’re four? Five? Kids begin to take a closer look at reality during elementary school. But for one individual his version of reality was different. He has never celebrated Christmas with anyone. Presents were always mailed to him. In his loneliness, the boy decided that there was no Santa and that he didn’t need him.   
  
But this Christmas, perhaps his streak of unhappiness might end. A girl appears out from nowhere and asks him, ‘Would you like to spend the night with me?’      

Review
Itsudatte My Santa is a 2 episode OVA holiday series released last year on December 12th by none other than Ken Akamatsu whose most famous works include Love Hina and Maho Sensei Negima/Magister Negi Magi. Modern day Christmas shopping where department stores hold sales date back to the 1930s coinciding with the end of the year bonuses. Christmas Day is not a national holiday although it is common for people to exchange gifts, have parties, and eat cake on Christmas Eve.       
  
The official Japanese website for Itsudatte My Santa can be found at http://www.threefatsamurai.com/mysanta/. On the right hand side in pink are four options: story, characters, DVDs and CDs, and special trading cards.                    

Likes: Maimai’s appetite

Dislikes: In less than a few frames of animation in episode 2, time skips from winter, to summer, to fall, and back to winter again.        

The Breakdown
Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!          

  

Synopsis
The worlds of humans and demons have overlapped since time immemorial, and a young woman named Yurine and her servant, the Karas, have long maintained order and balance between the worlds. But humans have finally lost their fears of the denizens of darkness.

Disgusted by human arrogance, the Karas turns his back on the laws he helped uphold for so long, taking the name Eko and leading a group of mechanized demons in an attack against the human race.

Meanwhile, a detective named Kure who works at the police division in charge of demon-related incidents opens a case involving a series of bizarre murders that look like the work of a water demon. Elsewhere, the demon Nue, who came to town to fight Eko, spots a water demon disguised as a famous warrior… and then Yuri shows up with another Karas.

This new guardian of the city is determined to stop Eko’s evil ambitions, but he has a fierce fight ahead of him.

Review
After reading the package that I have received along with watching the DVD sampler, I can say that what I have seen so far from Karas is too good, way too freaken good. The blending of 2D and 3D animation is amazing. The action makes it even sweeter as it is quick and hard hitting. This show has some sort of magic to it that attracts the viewer. I was mesmerized by the details and the way the show flows so seamlessly together (animation-wise) at times. But I am sure you have heard enough about the animation and how good it is. Let us go into what Karas is really about.

We commence with an exciting chase scene that will get anybody’s heart racing. During the sequence, there are some things that one could pick up about the show, such as, characters that will have a significant role later on, the transforming ability of Karas, and the sometimes confusing flow of the feature. Why would I say that it is confusing? Well, Karas feels like it just pieces together scenes one after another, whether they connect or not, it is up to whether you have the ability to think fast and connect it yourself. I actually watched the first twenty some odd minutes of the show three times to finally realize why this part happened and why that part occurred. Maybe it is because it is only six episodes long and things might have to be skipped over to fit all there is to fit. It certainly does not make it fun to feel like you are always catching up and just when you do make sense of what is happening, the show blazes away again. It is a marathon, so stay strong people!

Okay, what is Karas about? The story goes something like this. The previous Karas dies in battle fighting Eko (the ex-Karas). With Eko and his crew of blood consuming mechanical demon monsters running around Tokyo, a new Karas has to arise, and that leads us to, Otoha. There is not much detail about how or why he was chosen, but his side job is a demon doctor and of course, his main job is to be the protector of Tokyo, the Karas (it translates into crow, by the way). Anyways that is pretty much how the show starts out. It builds up from there. We follow Nue (a mechanical demon), who left Eko’s Mikura group in order to follow his own path. What that path is, is still to be determined, but he does help Karas. But then we also follow other characters of the show as well; Kure, Sagisaka and even Hinaru (the girl who seems to be everywhere). When you go further, other characters will appear, such as, a female Karas and a Yurine twin. But just when things begin to reach a high point and get extremely exciting, the first DVD ends :(.

The music score of Karas drags you into the show. The main theme is beautifully composed and is sweet to the ears. Every time it came on, I could not resist from sitting up straight and direct all my attention to the show. The dub was not bad either, having three big names in the project: Jay Hernandez, Matthew Lillard, and Piper Perabo (Because of this, you know Manga Entertainment was serious about this release). The voices of the characters were pretty sweet. I liked how Karas sounded in both English dialogue and Japanese dialogue. Of course, I am more on the subtitles side though :).

The Breakdown
Certainly, Karas has the looks and sounds of a killer hit, that is something we cannot deny. From the get-go you get your monies worth of action, animation and audio. Although, the way the plot flowed, has gotten me a little skeptical about whether some of the audience would like it. As I have stated above. At times, the anime, would seems like scenes are just being pieced together without any sort of transition or development. But other than that complaint, from the time you play the feature initially to the time the run time has fully elapsed. In the end, when the smoke clears, Karas is entertaining. Manga Entertainment deserves a lot of props for delivering this top notch OAV to the fans of the States. You must see it to realize what I am talking about!

The worlds of humans and demons have overlapped since time immemorial, and a young woman named Yurine and her servant, Karas, have long maintained order and balance between the worlds. But humans have finally lost their fears of the denizens of darkness. Disgusted by human arrogance, Karas turns his back on the laws he helped uphold for so long, taking the name Eko and leading a group of mechanized demons in an attack against the human race.

Meanwhile, a detective named Kure who works at the police division in charge of demon-related incidents opens a case involving a series of bizarre murders that look like the work of a water demon. Elsewhere, the demon Nue, who came to town to fight Eko, spots a water demon disguised as a famous warrior and then Yurine shows up with a new Karas. This new guardian of the city is determined to stop Eko’s evil ambitions, but he has a fierce fight ahead of him.

http://karas-movie.com/ - U.S. Official Site
http://www.thekaras.net/ - Japanese Official Site

Licensed by Manga Entertainment

DVD release date April 25, 2006

Staff
Director: Keiichi Satou
Script:
Masaya Honda
Shin Yoshida
Storyboard: Kenji Nakamura
Music: Yoshihiro Ike (Composer)
Original Concept: Keiichi Satou
Character Design: Kenji Hayama
Art director: Hajime Satou
Animation director: Kenji Hayama
Mechanical design: Kenji Andou (Monster & Mecha)
Chief Writer: Shin Yoshida
Editing: Hirofumi Okuda
Executive producer: Keiichi Satou
Monster Design: Kenji Andou
Planning: Keiichi Satou
Sound director: Jin Aketagawa
Sound Effects: Yasuyuki Konno

Credit to ANN for the staff list.

Thoughts:

Stikz: I can see why Karas is one of this years most anticipated titles. Manga Entertainment presents, Tatsunoko Productions (The creators of Speed Racer) 40th anniversary feature animation. Having viewed the promo DVD containing only a sneak peek of the feature, I can tell you this, the production and presentation are stellar! I’ve seen 2D and CG together but there was almost always a sense that the two never meshed together completely seamless. That’s where Karas comes in. It looks amazing!

I think the reason it succeeds while others don’t is because the 3D scenes are still animated by hand. Motion capture was not used. So since the same style of movement is used, you’re never taken out of the film. The fights are a kinetically energized spectacle! With the epic soundtrack and the comic book superhero feel, comparisons to ‘Batman’ and ‘The Crow’ aren’t far off at all. From what I’ve seen, Karas deserves all the hype it’s been getting.

I do hope that in the full length feature, they kick up the character development. If that comes to be then this will be in every anime fans top five this year. April 25th is when Karas: The Prophecy hits the stores. I’ll be right there picking up my copy. The second feature, Karas: The Revelation hits this fall on DVD. (A fun side note: Tatsunoko Productions also made the anime ‘Zillion’. That was the first anime that I bought and it’s what got me hooked. Thanks guys!)

Kefkasou: From my experience with opinions regarding Karas, I’ve discovered that some people see it as an Anime revolutionize by its spectacular CG animation overshadowing all over aspects to what makes an Anime, Anime. With that said, there are others who harshly criticize it as having a dull plot and generic characters so horribly constructed that no CG graphics on earth can save this. So what is there to check out about Karas you ask? Well, regardless to what anyone says, every Anime excels in some area and indulges in a certain spotlight. In Karas case, we are talking about the animation. If certain people think characters are too dull and undeveloped, why is Azumanga Daioh liked so much? If Karas excels in CG animation, then watch it for the CG animation if that is what interests you. Who knows, maybe Karas could set up an example of what certain animation should evolve into? Anyways, I would definitely check out Karas for an experience. I don’t see why the negatives should negate the good qualities (whatever these “negatives” may be). Look forward to this piece of work. Who knows, maybe you will see the qualities of Karas that others can’t.

Dark Wind: Let’s get the formalities out of the way. Karas is a 6-episode OVA, a 40th anniversary title by the famous Tatsunoko Productions. Anniversary titles, if nothing else, have immense animation budgets and a lot of time to make and create. Last Exile, a 10th anniversary Gonzo title, is an example of this. So hearing it’s an anniversary title is promising. For the US, the release is being handled by the almost inconsequential Manga Entertainment, who have released almost nothing in the last few years and somehow still manage to screw up their DVD’s. In this case, they are releasing Karas over 2 DVD’s, 3 episode’s on each. Hopefully they won’t muck up the menus or anything this time around, as they have in the past. As for the actual show…well, it certainly looks nice. The two trailers I’ve seen indicate the animation, quality and fluidity alike, look really really nice. The story seems simple, which is perfect considering the length of the OVA, and the action looks to get the heart-pumping, just as it should. It should be a real blast to watch, I think. Let’s hope so.

Alpha:
I knew there was something about Karas that is different from the other shows that have been coming out lately. Its awesome action sequences can make any mouth water. Just watching the sneak peek DVD was enough to make me sweat profusely in the palms of my hands and when the full feature DVD came to my front door, you cannot imagine my reaction after watching the whole first volume. The blending of 2D and 3D animation is jaw dropping and when you take that and combine it with the sword fights, and other sequences you get a show that is going to be the next big feature. A super hero for Japan huh? It is certainly looking as bright as the moon shots in the show. Look forward to the release! Both manga and anime!

Karas Screen Caps: