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Leading North American anime publisher Central Park Media will be attending the February 24-26, 2006 New York Comic-Con, pop culture event on the East Coast.   In addition to hosting numerous panels, offering show specials, screenings and premieres, CPM is bringing four guests to the convention whose works are representative of the diverse catalog of anime, graphic novel and live action releases that make up the world of Central Park Media.   (more…)

Anime Network is now available as a SVOD service in nine Cox Communications markets following the most recent launches in the company’s Northern Virginia, Las Vegas and Oklahoma City operations. Anime Network SVOD launched earlier this year to Cox subscribers in: Hampton Roads, VA; Orange County, CA; San Diego, CA; Omaha, NE; New England; and New Orleans. (more…)

VIZ Media, LLC. (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive manga and animation licensing and publishing companies, announced today the release of NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER, an award-winning, critically acclaimed, new 18-volume manga series. Filled with suspense, political intrigue and the emotional rollercoaster a talented doctor must undergo when faced with a tragic past that unfolds when he makes a moral choice that changes his life forever, NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER makes it’s highly anticipated debut in the United States after sales breaking records in Japan. NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER, rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens, will be in stores February 21, 2006 and will retail for $9.99. (more…)

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Synopsis
‘The twentieth century gave birth to a great war. It was a full-blown war that raged between the humans and the monsters. At the end of this gruesome war, indescribable with words alone, the monsters were the ones left standing. Time passed and the dawn of a new century came. And people started to forget that melody…’

Bocca, who just discovered this identity as being a Meros warrior, abandons everything except for his skills, goes in search for The Melody of Oblivion: the only hope left in the fight against the Monsters.

Review
After being pestered by many people to watch this anime and random ‘moooo-ing’ at me during conversations, I realized two things: one, that I should have watched this earlier, and two, what the ‘moo’ was all about.

Gainax has done it again with The Melody of Oblivion attempting to bring to viewers a fresh and original (not to mention insane) anime going through leap and bounds with it’s action packed fighting and adventure setting that would make even role playing games envious. But of course, this is Gainax we are talking about so it’s common to expect girls who super charge arrows by rubbing it against their thighs and face followed by heart shaped things shooting out. Well… that’s only half the fun because things get even more crazy especially near the end. Seriously, what anime can get you teary one episode then have you ‘wtf-ing’ the episode after…*tumbleweed floats by’… exactly. Aside from the sexual innuendos and insane fan-service, The Melody of Oblivion still manages to deliver an adventure greatly worth watching.

The plot for The Melody of Oblivion is Bocca who leaves on a journey in search for The Melody of Oblivion after he discovers his identity as a Meros warriors ( a person with a born tattoo that can charge arrows to make them explode if rubbed against). Here are a few things to note to make things more clear. Monsters have already won the war against humans. There is now a Monster Union Agency of some sort which is almost like a social controlling mechanism along with a Monster Union Agent, chosen by ‘Monster-sama’ to rule a certain area. Every three or four episodes, a new arc begins as Bocca continues his travels in search of The Melody of Oblivion while fighting against new and unique Monster Agents. Though the ending of the anime does leave a few questions unanswered like what the **** is up with the girls and the moo-ing song, I was pleased with how it ended and the double irony involved (considering this is Gainax we are talking about).

For characters, I want to talk about everyone but it is apparent the focus is on Bocca and his relationship with Sayoko. In case it wasn’t brought up, Sayoko is a runaway girl who stumbled upon Bocca in search for Kurofune, another Meros warrior who saved her life in the past. As the anime progressed, I noticed two very interesting conflicts in both Bocca and Sayoko. For Bocca, he is a Meros warrior and does not want to involve Sayoko in his own fight. Of course Bocca likes Sayoko and he saved her life many times showing that he wants to protect her. However, Bocca is a warrior and it conflicts with his feelings for Sayoko. Sayoko is traveling with Bocca only to find Kurofune because she is certain he is the one for her. Here, her feelings for Kurofune conflicts with her feelings that are developing for Bocca. Near the end, we see enormous character developments within both Bocca and Sayoko that gives meaning to the title and over all meaning to the name ‘The Melody of Oblivion’

As far as the animation goes, I thought it was original and nicely done. To start, the coloring of the sky, clouds, mountains, trees, and everything that served as a background had a pastel look which I really enjoyed. The consistency with colors, especially the color red, was plain and simple yet effective almost like what you would see in Dick Tracy or Sin City giving a surreal feeling in some of the scenes. But while I do appreciate the originality of the animation as a whole, there were some scenes where I didn’t know whether I should feel sorry or laugh at someone who got hit with an enemy attack because of how silly and absurd it is. I mean… a person in a giant pig robot with the ability to use little piglet robots as a slingshot while screaming ‘ Viva viva viva viva viva viva viva..’?…uhhh… I prefer to stay sane thank you.

While I usually skip the opening theme songs of most anime I’ve seen, the opening and especially ending of The Melody of Oblivion was just too attractive to resist. But even though I thought the ending theme was more pleasant to the ears, both are considered equally good. However, the OST of The Melody of Oblivion is surprisingly good and contributes greatly to the anime as a whole.

If you love fan-service, adventure, great ending and interesting characters. STOP! This is it.

The Breakdown
Yet another great 25 episodes.

Synopsis
Takemoto is a second year college student living in a run down apartment with a few other college students. What lies ahead for Takemoto and the people around him as they try and discover their identities being this far already in life?

Review
Ok, I know my synopsis doesn’t really say much. But to be honest, I don’t know what else to say. Honey and Clover introduces people to none else than college life of a few people and their daily life. It sounds extremely simple in description yet indescribably complex regarding character motivations and the struggles each have with themselves and with the people around him.

College is a time of hardships, tough decisions, and conflicting emotions. However, it is also a time of independency, discovery of oneself, friendship, and hope. But what does what I say have anything to do with Honey and Clover? Everything. Before I even finished watching Honey and Clover, I knew this was something special. The way each character enters into the anime and the delicate feelings carefully weaved between each person showed me how much emphasis is placed on character developments.

For one, I found that the characters are more easy to understand and relate to as the anime progresses. Not only do we see the characters open up more and more but we can understand their motives. In order to better understand any character in an anime, manga, book, movie, and anything else, it is not only important to see what someone feels for someone else on the outside but also what that person feels on the inside, what he does not show superficially. This is exactly what we see in Honey and Clover. A careful blend of change in point of view between first person to third person omniscient allows the viewer to gain great insight to each character. For example, the complicated relationship between Mayama, Yamada, and Rika can be difficult to understand by the viewers if Mayama did not open himself up to a first person point of view and Rika’s feelings can not be understood consequently. In addition to all of this, the characters emotions seems real and reasonable. What I mean by that no one seems to be a drama queen. This isn’t like Saikano where the whole goal of the anime is to get you feeling sorry for someone through extreme fabricated events. The emotions we see in Honey and Clover seem authentic. And what we see are not sudden but developed and changed through time, shaped by the people associated with that specific person. It is truly unique to witness characters such as the ones in this anime.

While the plot and theme of Honey and Clover seems confusing and weak in the beginning with only a spinning bike wheel to go on, a question is posed by Takemoto, one of the first characters to be introduced. What is interesting, however, is how constantly this spinning wheel is brought up and even stopping spinning at times, never allowing it to leave the back of the mind of the audience. It is a reminder that whatever the theme is, it is constantly being strengthened and surprisingly enough, by non other than the characters. And even though the theme is not revealed until later near the end by Takemoto, it does not mean it has remained stoic throughout the anime. For example, we see how Morita leaves for his secret jobs but still always return to Takemoto and his gang. And even though he is able to graduate, he continues to remain a student at the art college. Why else would he do that? Now, think about Takemoto near the end and what he does. Doesn’t it resemble what Morita does in a way? So therefore whether you were aware of the development of the theme, it is constantly happening and being strengthened by the characters.

In addition to strengthening the theme of Honey and Clover, I feel that the animation of the background and scenario somehow seem more brilliant and alive with the descriptions by the characters. Yamada outside in the dark during winter describing the sharp coldness of the air, Mayama on the tour boat describing the sun set made me feel like I was almost there with them, feeling the same coldness and seeing the same sunset that they were able to see. From the animation of the Urban life to the vast fields of Japan, the animation does not fail short of being masterful. And though I have heard that character drawings could have been better, I also feel that there is nothing wrong with any of the character animation and outfits. Thumbs up for me.

For the music, what we hear goes beyond just the opening theme Dramatic and the ending theme Waltz (then later Mistake). Throughout the anime, we hear numerous great songs by various artists, some of which include Tamagawa and Hachimitsu by Spitz. So the OST is definitely something to check out.

If you are looking for something inspiring, go watch Honey and Clover. And if you are looking for something in life and haven’t found it, keep searching, because the answer won’t come to you.

The Breakdown
24 episodes to Honey and Clover. And if you aren’t satisfied with just the Anime, there is always the Manga that goes beyond.

Synopsis
Sagi, the creator of a famous dog plushy is suddenly attacked one night on her way back home by an unknown person. That person was later described by her to be a boy on roller blades carrying a bent baseball bat. All of a sudden, cases of being attack by this shonen bat pops up all around Japan as days passes. Who is this mysterious boy with the bat? Why is he attacking all these people so randomly?

Review
After watching 6 episodes of Fafner and god knows how many episodes of Princess Tutu, I needed a change. Turns out that Paranoia Agent was exactly what I was looking for.

So what makes this anime so unique you ask? Well, other than trying to bring the audience examples of farce and satire, Paranoia Agent also brings with it an analysis of the conditions of people in Japan and how a simple incident evolved into an idea that personified itself into something much more.

Who exactly is this bat boy that has been terrorizing the people around Japan? What started as an isolated incident with Sagi turned into national news as the number of victims claimed by this bat boy grows exponentially. I want to go into the plot of this anime but I feel like it is necessary for me to analyze a few things and clear some stuff up ( some of which I can’t even explain)

In the beginning, a number of people are introduced to the audience, most of them with some kind of personal problem. We have Yuiichi who gets his reputation ruined because of bat boy. Also, we have Hamuri is a personal tutor of Yuiichi who struggles everyday with her MPD (mutiple personality disorder). These people and many more were victims to boy bat. But the question is why are these people targeted? As explained later on, boy bat is only fabricated. He is nothing more than an idea summoned by the human mind: escapism.

The plot and the theme is a little difficult to explain but I’ll try. But keep in mind, you have to look at the whole picture in trying to understand this. What I love most about this anime is how well reality is blended in with the fiction surrounding the boy bat. For up until the middle of the anime, the viewers are tricked into thinking that he is some petty hit and run person attacking random people. But just when you think boy bat is caught and questions are resolved, more questions are brought up as the culprit himself is killed by …the boy bat? But how is that possible? I mean, he attacked Ushiyama and a police with his bat right? Now, this is where it really got me interested. The person caught, himself, is incorporating his imaginary world with reality. He thinks his bat is a holy sword and he is only attacking demons or something and denies his involvement with the other people attacked by the boy bat.

As explained later on, boy bat seeks out those who are pushed to the edge. He attacks people as a favor and provides them with a feeling of vindication of whatever is happening with their life. The second half of the anime delivers nothing less than interpretations. We witness people who suffer from their own struggles in life and how they are brutally attacked by this boy bat unwanted. He is nothing more than an idea/feeling. But somehow, he is uncontrollable. One episode I want to mention is the episode where three people over the internet meet up to find ways to commit suicide. This bizarre yet comical episode is a great example of farce. Maybe I’m crazy, but I believe this episode is an attempt to show human folly and making seem acceptable. I mean, look at how reserved the people in that episode was. Other episodes satire the problems with Japanese society and how people seek relief from their everyday life. The ending… well.. I don’t want to spoil it but it ties many things together. But I do want to comment that a few things were thrown together just to end it. Nevertheless, nothing short of being great.

Surprisingly, the characters were really well developed. In only 13 episodes, it is amazing what Paranoia Agent tries to do. I think there were more number of characters resolution than the number of episodes. But what’s important is how each character contributes to the theme of the anime. In a sense, the characters develops as the story develops. And while it seems at first none of the characters have anything to do with each other, many of these characters are linked directly and indirectly like Hamuri and Yuiichi. Pieces of a puzzle don’t look like anything but put them together and you get a picture. I feel like I’m watching Boogiepop Phantom again.

The animation is also unique. The colors stress more on making the characters realistic much like what you would see in Perfect Blue or Tokyo Godfathers. I especially like this type of animation and the environment these colors present to the viewers. In addition to the animation, the music was also well done. The opening theme is incredibly addicting to listen to. And knowing the person that I am, I usually skip the opening theme. Other than that, sorry to say I don’t remember much of the music in the anime itself.

One last thing I want to point out is the opening theme which I took great interest in. Here is what it says

‘Ah, The lost children are a spectacular mushroom cloud in the sky…
Ah, The lost children are comrades to the little birds that have infiltrated these lands…’

In addition, if you look at one of the animation scenes of the opening, you see a mushroom cloud in the background. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the anime but it’s something to notice.

I have to get me a Mamori…>__>..

The Breakdown
13 episodes to top off a wall-o-text I typed. Enjoy it!

Synopsis
It’s a blast from the past as the Fool reveals Sora’s journey to becoming a Kaliedo Star. But Sora’s glory is short lived as two new rivals appear at Kaleido Stage and steal the spotlight.

As her stage time is usurped by the dashing Leon Oswald, an Asian beauty named May Wong appears and proclaims herself the next Layla Hamilton. She is certain to win a leading role, and if she’s lucky, Leon’s attention. But they are not the only unexpected newcomers to Kaleido Stage. One little runaway will find herself in some very hot water thanks to Sora’s never-ending eagerness to help!

Review
I have always been intrigued by what Kaleido Star has to offer. Its’ unique look grabbed my attention from the get go. There are some series where you can just pick it out and say this is going to be special, and for me, this is one of them. The second season commences with Fool narrating the events that had taken place in the first season to lead to where they are now. For a fresh Kaleido Star viewer, it helped me a ton in grasping some aspects of the show. Although the experienced viewers whom have watched the first season might not like the recap episodes; well buddy let me break it to you, deal with it.

After all the drama that occurred in the prior season, the crew of Kaleido Stage try everything they could to begin a new Kaleido stage. If you are new to the show, it might not make sense to you what I just said, but the Kaleido stage was screwed over by Yuri as he forcefully takes over and disbanded the whole Kaleido performance team. With Sora’s un-withering spirit she looks for other ways where she could deliver her abilities. One of it was to perform at an amusement park… a lot of trials are put in front her and as she attempts to tackle them one after another the viewers benefit from the quite hilarious experience.

Kaleido Stars’ fault has to be the English dub, I feel like sometimes the voice actors had to slow their dialogue down, just so the lip movements are in-sync. It sounds horrible when that happens, yet it is bearable. If anything, refer to the Japanese dialogue and subtitles, your life will definitely be better.

The Breakdown
Season two seems to be getting off the right foot. With rivals arriving and drama and comedy to be recognized. We are in for a real treat.

Synopsis
Legends tell of an underground kingdom hidden deep within the mountains where a utopian society exists without disease, hatred, and suffering. To be a citizen there promises eternal peace. Shambala. Those who rule Shambala posses the power to rule the world. Is what is said true or are they merely myths?

Review
There is such a place. It’s called heaven. But I digress. In Japanese, Full Metal Alchemist - The Conqueror of Shambala translates to Hagane no Renkinjutsushi - Shanbara wo Yuku Mono. First, some background historical information to put the movie in perspective. In September 1918, General Ludendorff of Germany urged the government to call for immediate peace negotiations thereby leading to the end of World War I. During the war, the government controlled the spread of ideas through propaganda and censorship. To the populace, the surrender was a stab in the back by the newly found Weimar Republic who agreed to the unfair and harsh reparations of the Versailles Treaty. People thought that their army had not yet been defeated (only General Ludendorff and his closest military associates knew that the German cause was hopeless).Anti-Semitic sentiment was growing, as the Jews who occupied distinguished positions in business, law, medicine, and journalism were enviable. Gypsies, the mentally and physically disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as homosexuals were labeled as undesirables. There were those who took satisfaction in thinking of themselves as of pure Arian blood. Secret societies were on the rise. In 1920, a group of discontented army officers staged a Putsch, or armed revolt in an attempt to seat Dr. Kapp as head of state. The Berlin workers, by turning off all public utilities, stopped the revolt. That same year the National Socialist German Workers’ party, Nazis, was born to keep alive the patriotic and military spirit. In 1923, they staged a ‘beer hall Putsch’ in Munich. Hitler fired a revolver at the ceiling and shouted, ‘National revolution has broken out!’ However, the police suppressed the disturbance, and Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison (A History of the Modern World, 1984). This event takes place in the movie. The movie also does an excellent job in showing the attitudes of hate along with the ethnocentrism of the German race, those with blue eyes and blond hair.

Secondly, at the beginning of the movie there is a physicist who claims to have discovered uranium. The year is 1914. In actuality, Martin Klaproth discovered a uranium oxide from pitchblende mineral samples in the Joachimsal silver mines in Bohemia (present day Czech Republic) in 1789. He named it uranium after the planet Uranus. That physicist in Full Metal Alchemist I would like to say is probably Klaproth in Ed and Al’s world since it was noted that he relied upon mine workers. Then again, the problem is that uranium’s potential as an energy source through nuclear fission, hence a nuclear weapon, wasn’t discovered until 1938 by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman. The physicist Ed and Al encountered knew full well of its capabilities. Somehow the uranium bomb got warped into our world before 1923 (the photograph in the movie).

Lastly, Ed meets an Austrian film director by the name of Fritz Lang who he mistakes as the Homunculus Pride (Fuher King Bradrey) in his world. In the movie his monocle is on the left eye while in real life it’s on the right (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d0/FritzLang.jpg/180px-FritzLang.jpg). Lang’s mother was Jewish. He studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Vienna, but unsatisfied he switched to art in 1908. In 1910 he traveled to Africa and Asia. After World War I he joined Germany’s Ufa studio. His most famous silent work was Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (or Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler) in 1922, the story describing the conflict between the master criminal Mabuse and detective Von Wenk. Lang left Germany in 1934 and had his sights on America. His wife Thea von Harbou was sympathetic with the Nazis and stayed behind. She herself joined the Nazi Party 1932 and divorced Lang in 1933.

The official Japanese website can be found at http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Animation/hagaren/hagaren-movie/index.html where you’ll find trailers, character profiles, a summary of the storyline, key terms, the cast list, two wallpapers, an interview, and plenty of screenshots scattered about.

The Breakdown
Who is really the conquer of Shambala? Is it Dietlinde Eckart, Ed, or no one at all? Watch the movie to find out.

Synopsis
On her first visit to one of the refugee areas, the Prime Minister receives a bouquet of flowers with a death threat in it. Section 9 is called in to provide round-the-clock security for her as they work to catch the would-be assassin. As they do their legwork, more and more links to the mysterious ‘Individual Eleven’ are uncovered.

Meanwhile, Togusa is trying to unravel the reason for a man’s suspicious death, and it leads him into the bowels of Tokyo and a government cover-up. Then, Section 9 is ordered to transport some dangerous plutonium out of one of the refugee districts, and the creepy Gohda is once again given command of the operation.

When it’s all over, the Major and the rest of Section 9 try to figure out exactly how all of these things are linked together. These strange happenings can’t all be coincidence.

Review
Eureka. Finally, I have figured out the way Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG flows. Every episode that is available is a building block to create one whole gigantic bang. No wonder I felt strange when watching this show right after every episode’s end. In volume two, the show continues right where if left off in volume one… boring. But slowly, it gathers itself up as the plot is revealed right before your eyes… or part of it. The unique thing was how during the dialogues, the characters would cite various events that had happened earlier, which as a result, led me to my overall understanding of Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG and refreshes the viewers’ minds of earlier events, that would otherwise be forgotten.

I was pretty down on volume one of this series as it was pretty disappointing. But volume two was an improvement over it. It was more action and less blabbering. Kind of like let the action do the talking instead of the characters being stationary and conversing on the issues at hand. In this volume, it surrounds a grouped called the ‘Individual Eleven.’ As a member of the group carries out an assassination attempt on the prime minister, Section 9 is put in charge of her safety. As that episode comes to an end, we begin with another episode that just kind of continues going on with the overall story, but taking on another mission, which will act as a stepping stone to bring the viewers closer to the true message that 2nd Gig is trying to deliver.

By the time I was done with this volume, I thought it was an enjoyable volume. It was not out of the world by any stretch of the imagination, but it was adequate in a sense that it brings what it has to, to the table and manages to stay interesting and intriguing throughout.

The Breakdown
I wonder why Gohda does not fix his face up :). Anyways, this was a good volume, but my expectations are a bit higher for a title like Ghost in the Shell :/. Maybe it is just me? Hmm…