This is another of those ‘move-in’ animes, but done with a lot more interest and characters. “Invaders of the Rokujyōma!?” (“Rokujōma no Shinryakusha!?”, “Invaders of the Six-Tatami Mat Room!?”) starts off with Kōtarō Satomi (can you find the studly stud?). He decided that he wanted to live on his own when he began high school, and chose Room 106 of Corona House because it was cheap. (Dude, beware of room rents that are way too low. He’s paying 5000 yen a month! Look what happened!) Unfortunately, Kōtarō soon discovers that numerous otherworldly and supernatural girls also want his room for various reasons of their own. Well, he isn’t going to give it up ($50 a month? You can’t even get a storage shed for that!), and the ladies equally aren’t about to back down. As a result, Kōtarō and the girls find themselves forced to live together as they try to settle just who ends up with the room.
Let us meet all of the players, eh? From left to right:
Theiamillis Gre Fortorthe. Called Theia or Tulip, she is an intergalactic alien princess from planet Fortorthe. She must capture the room and subdue Kōtarō to prove her worthiness as a successor to the throne. Shizuka Kasagi. She is the landlady of Corona house and had all the participants sign a contract regarding the room competition. Yurika Nijino. She is a genuine magical girl, but a bit clumsy. The room contains high levels of magical power that she needs. Kotaro. (more…)
Art is funny, in that you look at something and have absolutely no idea what it means or is supposed to say. Sure, it may look cute or beautiful or intriguing, but, eventually, it does nothing for you and you walk away from the whole thing. “Glasslip” is an anime like that for me. It purported to be something else, but dissolved into a rather convoluted mess and I gave up on the story.
Let us go back to the beginning, as you start at the start. Although, for this show, you could start at the end and it would make the same caliber of sense.
Tōko Fukami‘s family runs a glass-working business in a small seaside town named Hinodehama (that’s in the Fukui Prefecture, if you are keeping notes). She (that’s her in the seven o’clock position) hangs out with her four best friends:
This is an entry in the ever-increasing popularity of the school-magic show. You have seen it with “The Familiar of Zero”, “Blade Dance”, Magic Craft Works” and “A Certain Magical Index”. So, what makes “The Irregular at Magic High School” that different? Well in one aspect, it isn’t that different, as we cannot decide on the title (Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei, “The Poor Performing Student of a Magic High School”), but ‘poor’ is a very poor choice of words, but this is revealed during the run of the show. Also, rather than being a magic show with a school setting, it is a school show with a magic background.
It is the future (almost the end of this century). Magic is an established fact, has been for about 100 years and many countries train those with magical ability to, eventually, become soldiers to defend the country. In Japan, there are nine Magic High Schools. I do not know if the numbers mean anything, but we focus on First High School. Ah, but we use magic differently, in that we don’t going around, proclaiming “Accio!” or “Deletrius” or “Hakuna Matata!” Rather than casting spells with chants or other traditional forms of spell casting, mages use a Casting Assistant Device, better known as a CAD. The bad thing is the device looks like an iPhone6. (more…)
This is another of those shows like “Infinite Stratos” or even “Unbreakable Machine Doll”, whereas only maidens who are pure of heart and come from a noble family can pilot a body ship, or, in this case, make contracts with the spirit world and become elementalers. In order to achieve the finest education in all these matters, they attend the Areishia Spirit Academy, where they are trained and given an Elite’s education in order to qualify to become an elementalist. Well, all of this is knocked into a cocked hat when Kamito Kazehaya (find the dude up there, dude) somehow manages to make a contract with a spirit, making him the ONLY male elementaler in the world and only the second since the Norman Conquest (the real one, not the series).
“Blade Dance of the Elementalers” relates the tale of how Kamito tries to fit in with all of these girls, but four in particular, who are, left to right:
Claire Rouge Rinslet Laurenfrost Ellis Fahrengart Fianna Ray Ordesia
The fifth, Terminus Est, is actually the contracted spirit for Kamito. This is her ‘human’ form; her regular form is some fabulous sword. (more…)
We have the third season of “Black Butler: Book of Circus”, which gives a complete story approach (much like the second season), but is far more entertaining, and far more heartless.
It is February 1886 and Ciel has been asked by the Queen to help her again. It seems that there is an epidemic of children disappearing, and not just one or two, but lots of them, as if they have been Pied Pipered away. The only link is the Noah’s Ark Circus, which has been to the towns that have missing children and it just happens to be coming to London in the next few days. The Queen wants Ciel and Sebastian to investigate and at least prove or refute the charges.
To this end, they infiltrate the circus, pretending to be commoners and apply for a job. The series details their adventures to crack this mystery. (more…)
“Nanana’s Buried Treasure” (“Ryūgajō Nanana no Maizōkin”) is a good action-adventure-ghost show, as there are layers upon layers and everyone has a hidden agenda. Oh, and this also is a “move-in” show.
Our hero, Juugo Yama, (fourth from left) comes to the “Special Student Zone” on the artificial island Nanaejima. Strapped for funds, he moves into an apartment, with the strange proviso of all the rent for a year up front. The reason? It is haunted by a previous tenant who was murdered there. This is Nanana (the one in the trunk) and she spent her living days hunting down strange and unusual treasures.
It has been 10 years since she was killed and the cops are no closer to finding her murderer today than when it happened. Juugo is determined to find her killer, but also unlock the hidden treasures that are about the island. Part of this is to help her move on. Another is the lure of treasure. Now, for a ghost, Nanana is both lively (playing video games all the time) and hungry (devouring pudding, but preferring a rather expensive brand). And when she wishes it, can physically manifest herself (as she wrestles Juugo often for apartment supremacy). (more…)
The title for this show is a tad misleading, in that “Blue Exorcist” does not approach exorcism as you think it should. Sure, these folks get rid of demons, but they do not necessarily possess people as much as they are free-form rovers that cross over and need to be sent off to the afterlife.
We start off the show with Rin and Yukio Okumura (second from left and far right, both in front row) and their overseer Father Shiro Fujimoto (the guy with the cross eyeglass danglers). They learn that they are both the son of Satan, but it appears that Rin inherited all the power. Father is an exorcist and has been taking care of them since they were born. Well, since they are both now teens, they get those yearnings and itches…..to be on their own! What did you think I meant, pervert? However, Rin rebels against Father at a bad time and Father gets possessed by Satan, who is looking for an earthly vessel. Father takes care of that matter, but not in the best way for everyone involved.
It is determined that Rin and Yukio should go to True Cross Academy, to learn how to become a real exorcist. The school is taken care of by Chairman Mephisto Pheles (that really happy dude in the back row), but he’s a bit of a jerk. That’s the biggest problem with the series: everyone is a caliber of jerk. In any case, he takes a special exorcist course, where he meets other people who want to become exorcists. The rest of the classmates, from left to right are (more…)
This is one fabulous show. “No Game, No Life” is a variant on the ‘stranger in a strange land’ approach, but does with far more intelligence and viewer involvement than you normally get or see in most animes.
You are an MMORPG player. You have a pretty good guild and you do well in your game. Then, you come up against Blank. You are dead. Sign out now and avoid the humiliation.
Blank is a team that has NEVER lost a game. They speed, their skill, their dexterity is phenomenal. How these four people work this well as a team lead some to think that they employ some kind of cheat. Well, it doesn’t matter; you are rabbit pellets when they are done with you.
Here’s what you don’t know: it’s only two people! The brother-and-sister team of Sora & Shiro, are classic NEETs. The only time they see the sun is if they are playing on the Sunny Field level. This is how good they are: not only can they play two characters at a time, they even have the ability to have one member play all four characters, using hands and feet with amazing deftness. Me? I can’t even cross the room without stubbing my toe on the table. (And why is it ALWAYS the baby toe?) (more…)
Part of the problem with magic shows is that everything is eventually going to link back to ‘Harry Potter’, and “Witch Craft Works” does have some touch-and-go moments to Harry, but it can’t fully commit to what it wants to be.
Takamiya Honoka is a regular student at Tōgetsu High School. He is a standard, typical anime male, in the fact that not only is he clueless, he pines on endlessly for the Most Popular Girl in the School. He also lacks the spunk or the desire or the lead in his pencil to speak with her. The person in question is Kagari Ayaka, the school’s “Princess”. She is everything you want your girlfriend to be: she’s pretty, she’s smart, she’s adored, she’s tall and (although you can’t see it in this shot), build like a brick chicken house. They have never spoken to each other and any small interaction between them immediately results in her fan club beating him for his insolence.
One day he is attacked by a quintet of oddly-dressed girls called the Tower Witches, who had been covertly making attempts on him. However, the attack is thwarted by Ayaka, who turns out to be a Workshop Witch and has been protecting Honoka for quite some time. No longer having to hide her mission, Ayaka decides to become friendlier with him, though their relationship earns Honoka the ire of a lot of his class mates. She also decides that he needs to become her apprentice so he can at least learn how to defend himself from these almost daily assaults. (more…)
OK, this particular ‘romantic comedy’ is a real workout, redefining what is meant by ‘comedy’ and how much perversity you are willing to except.
The initial concept for “Recently, My Sister is Unusual” (“Saikin, Imōto no Yōsu ga Chotto Okashiin Da Ga.” “Lately, My Little Sister’s Been Acting A Bit Strange, But.”) is simple enough.
Yūuya Kanzaki (guy at the end) lives with his father, as Mom has been dead for many a year. Suddenly, Dad meets widow Kyoko and before you can say ‘yakisoba’, they get married. Kyoko brings to the family her daughter, Mitsuki (short black hair), who is potentially 16 (they both possibly are. They never say an age, but that’s a usual age for this stuff) and is upset at the recent turn of events. She is cold, stiff and stand-offish from Yuuya. Well, too much is happening too fast for her.
One day, on their way back from school, as they cross a pedestrian bridge, Mitsuki suddenly faints. When she awakes, she discovers she has been possessed by a ghost, the flirtatious Hiyori Kotobuki (can you find the wings? Good!). Here’s the trick: Hiyori was killed near this bridge (and isn’t that always nice to have in a romantic comedy) without professing her love for her ‘big brother’ Yuuya. She has to get to heaven, so she needs to construct these golden steps to get to the gate (no, those wings are as useless as a politician in winter). (more…)
