Denkigai no Hon’ya-san (“The Electric Town’s Bookstore“) is one strange fish of a show. Having worked at Tower Records, when both Tower Records existed as a store and you could buy records and the like, I enjoyed this series thoroughly. All of these strange and eccentric characters are not only tolerated, but wanted, as, believe it or not, they know their stuff. But, on to the show.

Welcome to Akihibara (well, I think it is, as for the caliber of insane nonsense goes on in that place) and the store Umanohone (The Horse’s Bone; that what the strange logo on their apron is). This is a most magnificent manga store, covering four or five floors. I assume there are hordes and hordes of employees, but we contend ourselves with these seven, from left to right:

Fu Girl (her real name Koharu Yatsu) is a 16-year-old high school girl who is obsessed with zombies and even has prepared if one day there’s a zombie outbreak.
Sensei is an aspiring manga artist, working under the name “Jonatarou”. She dresses haphazardly, as she is not confident with her appearance and “girl meter”.
Umio, newest employee here. Normally used as the ‘straight man’, he prefers 2D girls to 3D girls and has passionate discussions about it
Kantoku, the shift manager. He often records his employees on his video camera, thus his nickname (“Director”). He has a boob and underwear fetish.
Hiotan is a part time clerk who doesn’t know that much about manga, but is drawn to boy-boy love books, although is loath to admit it to anyone.
Sommelier is that hulking guy. He never speaks but has a profound knowledge of manga, and can match people to the suitable manga for them to read.
Kameko (means ‘turtle’) always has a camera with her and takes constant pictures, but will not let her picture be taken. Oh, and don’t take off her hat, OK? (more…)

This is a show that got me major league ticked off as well. Looks, it’s barely the start of the new year and I don’t think anything is going to match the lever of outrage I feel about this series “Alice in Borderland”, because I feel cheated, cheated, cheated!

I mean, I had not seen a show with such an interesting plot and development since “Btooom!”, as it has the same caliber of idea, but since the dang thing only goes three episodes, what a total rip! I wanted a whole run, not a mere glancing at the menu and then asked to leave.

OK, the story, as it is, begins with these three slacker friends (left to right):

Daikichi Karube
Chōuta Segawa
Ryōhei Arisu

For some odd reason, they appear to be hanging around a deserted subway stop about 2 am. They have no place to go and all day to get there, so they are just chewing the fat. Arisu makes the comment that he’d like to go somewhere far away and not have to do anything and his pals agree. He has problems with his intolerable everyday life and yearns for something more, potentially something more interesting and daring. Suddenly, there is a fireworks show, which is quite strange. The explosions appear to be coming closer and closer and then……. (more…)

When I started doing these Short Run reviews, I asked myself “When is an OVA not an OVA?” After a couple of years, I came up with an answer that I can work with. It is an OVA if there is a full show that it can be tethered to. So, when “Attack on Titan” or “Sword Art Online” have their little things, those are OVAs, as there is a show that it can be tied to. If it is something like “Eiken” or “Jungre de Ikou”, it is a short run series, as there was no show for it to be based from and is a stand-alone short run.

Now, with all that being said, I comment about this short-run item, “Holy Knight”. It comes in at a mere two episodes but leaves a lot on the table, kind of like going to an All-you-can-eat smorgasbord and then, after getting all of it to your table, you get up and get out after one bite. What? You’re leaving that all behind? What gives? What gives, indeed.

The tale starts out simple enough. An entire village is killed off, save for the child, Lilith Kishimoto. There is something odd or special about these farm folk, thus triggering their massacre. Here’s where the first problem occurs. The raid appears to have taken place during mediaeval times, as we are wielding swords and wearing armor. When Lilith grows up, in what appears to be a span of 10 years, it is certainly the modern times, with cell phones and airplanes and Justin Bieber posters. Lilith has grown into the fine woman you see before you, but she has a task. This is a three part task. I can only tell you the first part, as the other parts are major plot points. (more…)

When I say that “Orenchi no Furo Jijō” (“The Circumstances in My Home’s Bathtub“) is a real fish out of water show, I ain’t kidding!

It tells the story of Tatsumi, who is a high school boy living by himself. One day, something happened to him in the ocean and he went under, rescued by Wakasa, who pulled him to safety. Yup, he’s a merman (and one problem that I had; the incident just mentioned is alluded to in the credits, but no specifics). Tatsumi brought him home to recover in his bath tub and that was that. Wakasa is not moving out. To make things worse, some of Wakasa’s friends come a-calling and also sit a spell. They include Takasu, or Octopus Boy; Mikuni, the jelly fish; and Maki, a sea snail (Maki is much smaller than that; otherwise, you’d never see him).

The tales revolve around how Tatsumi puts up with all of these moochers (and, yes, they are a caliber of mooch), as he figures out what to do with them and his life. The problem I had is that the guys (with the exception of Mikuni) are really good looking. I mean REALLY good looking, with wispy eyes and strong jaw lines and that metrosexual ideal. The staff tried to make this a caliber of Yaoi, as they are all in firm shape and have devastatingly fabulous looks and are potentially hunkalicious. (more…)

“Karen Senki” is a show that has a good story to tell, but perhaps the way it was done was not the best approach. You see, it’s all CG and there are still a few bugs in the system with regards to that. OK, on to the plot. Karen kills robots. It is the world of the future and robots have become sentient. They also decided that the Robot’s Three Rules were for sissies and they have decided to eliminate humans once and for all. But it’s just that they do it so badly.

I mean, you just march in and start killing everyone, right? Or maybe a well-coordinate air strike (there are flying robot craft). Well, no, as there are whole communities of humans, eking out a living, rarely under attack. Now, since Karen is a fugitive and Public Enemy Number One and a Justin Bieber fan, she MUST be eliminated! But the robot forces just can’t seem to do it. Between her enhanced powers and a pair of 45s she sports (hey, I’m talking about her pistols. What DID you think I was talking about?), she is formidable as she wipes out the enemy forces like an errant catsup stain from her cheek.

She has been asked by a shadow group, Eleven, to join in their cause, as they feel rather than having individual rogue elements, as a cohesive whole, they can do things better to stop the menace. (more…)

This show, “Gurure! Kokkuri-san”, is strange in that it tries to pull in from many genres and almost succeeds, but got too cute for its own good. The term “Gugure” is a corrupted term, meaning ‘go figure it out’ or ‘go Google it’ (depending on who is doing the translating for you).

Kokkuri-san is that fox spirit front and center. But Kokkuri-san is also a game, much like ouija boards, where you can summon spirits. You see that girl atop the noodle cup? That is Kohina Ichimatsu, an almost-expressionless elementary school girl who lives alone, proclaims herself to be a doll, and eats nothing but instant noodles. One day, she plays the game by herself and summons the fox spirit Kokkuri-san who, upon seeing her unhealthy lifestyle, takes it upon himself to become her guardian and raise her properly. Thus starts Kohina’s new life of being haunted by various unique spirits.

You see, he feels that she is not really worthy enough to be haunted by him and wants to bring her up a notch or two to really make it worth his time. Now, as to why she lives along is ever made clear, except for her catch-phrase “I’m only a doll”. And certainly the square eyes add to this (although there are rare circumstances when she becomes a real person). As if Kokkuri didn’t have enough on his plate, along come two moochers. (more…)

I’m not really certain how to take Le Fruit de la Grisaia (“Gurizaia no Kajitsu” or “The Fruit of the Grisaia”), as it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, as much is kept hidden from you and you must take a kind of voyage of discovery to understand it all.

Yūji Kazami (the only guy) transfers to Mihama Academy, a school with only five female students and prison-like features. Every student in the school have their own “circumstances” for being there, but Yūji is not required to do anything about their situation, as he asked for a normal student life. This is funny, as there is nothing ‘normal’ about him or the school. He has a questionable and/or unsavory past, which he tries to forget, but not even a zebra can change its stripes.

The five ladies, whom he shares an almost empty classroom with, are (left to right):

Sachi Komine. The maid. She always wears the maid outfit as a sense of duty.
Amane Suou. She is kind of the house mother and wants to seduce Yuji
Makina Irisu. Although innocent and carefree, she suffered a deep emotional shock
Michiru Matsushima. She is standing atop that thing and has a split personality, so you never know who you are talking to.
Yumiko Sakaki (far right). Don’t mess with her, as she wields a box cutter with devastating results. (more…)

This was a show that took me over a year to watch. I had it on disc and I would pop in two episodes when I couldn’t access anime by any other means. It was another show with a great deal of initial promise that lost it along the way.

“Princess Resurrection” starts out simply enough: Sawawa Hiyorimi (the maid at the far right) has gotten a job working for a benefactor in Sasanaki City. Sawawa has asked her younger brother, Hiro, (that hopeless dude in the center) to come over. As he is walking the streets, he sees a long cool woman in a black dress and a short servant carrying a huge pile of purchases. Overhead is a hoist of I-beams that manages to break free. Hiro pushes her out of the way, but dies in the process. In the morgue, this woman bestows the Flame of Life on Hiro, but there are conditions.

The woman is Hime (the princess; her real name is Lillianne von Phoenix, but she detests being called that) and the servant is Flandre, a caliber of robot. Flan, as she is called, suffers from the Pikachu Syndrome, in that she can only say one word (“Huga”), but it manages to explain a plethora of thoughts and ideas. Now, Sawawa is completely oblivious to all the supernatural events at the house, hired more for her gigantic cups….of tea! Hime enjoys what she can brew up. (more…)

When the first season of “Psycho-Pass” came out, I enjoyed it, as it was a crime drama with a hinting of horror. When the second season came out, it was now a horror show, with a hinting of a crime drama. That changed the pitch of the show…..and badly.

I think it’s been about two years since the incidents of the last season (can’t tell for certain) and the cast has changed and been added to. The new line up, from left to right, consists of:
Nobuchika Ginoza (was an Inspector, now an Enforcer), Sho Hinakawa (new this year, Enforcer), Joji Saiga (seen last year, now being ‘rehabilitated’), Akane Tsunemori (now head of Division One), Shion Karanomori (another holdover, she is Data Analysis), Mika Shimotsuki (was a student last season, now an Inspector), Yayoi Kunizuka (another Enforcer holdover from last season) and Sakuya Togane (new Enforcer and very cloistered).

The show came in with a great premise: What if you could keep you hue clear? You see, the Sibyl System rates a person by the color of their hue (or stress level). If it goes over 100, you are to be taken in to custody for ‘rehabilitation’. If it goes over 200, the only cure for that is death, as you are a real latent criminal. The Dominator, that gun they possess, can rate a person’s hue and will allow you to shoot it. If the hue is below 100, it will not let you fire it. But you, as an Inspector, can override the gun’s setting and allow you to stun the person, not kill them. For some odd reason, that aspect is absent, so we are treated to a lot of people being killed. (more…)

Sanshu Middle School has a Hero Club, students (girls) who are dedicating themselves to helping those that request it. One day, they are suddenly caught in a ray of light and transported to a strange forest, where evil monsters known as Vertex are seeking to destroy the Shinju (Divine Tree), which would, in turn, destroy the world. Using a special app to transform into heroes imbued with magical powers (App? Yes, they have to use cell phones to transform, kind of like “The Irregular”), these girls must now become genuine heroes in order to protect their world. That is the premise behind “Yuuki Yuuna Wa Yuusha De Aru” (“Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero”).

This is another in the “Girls Who Save the World” genre, as they do battle with these Vertexes (and I though the plural was ‘vertices’. Splitting hairs?) The original staffing was four, but one got added later, and the line-up for the Home Team is, left to right:

Karin Miyoshi
Mimori Tōgō
Yūna Yūki
Fū Inubōzaki
Itsuki Inubōzaki

Now, in this ‘strange forest’ (so called, as it defies any other caliber of description), Togo has the use of her legs. She is messed up, owing to a car accident that took her ability to walk and some of her memories, so she is ported about in her wheelchair. (more…)