How many of you folks know what an ‘arpeggio’ is? Sure, most of you could identify it immediately as something related to music, but the real definition is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously. This word comes from the Italian word “arpeggiare”, which means “to play on a harp.” An alternative translation of this term is “broken chord.”

Arpeggios allow monophonic instruments to play chords and harmony and help create rhythmic interest. The title is most supportive of “Arpeggio of Blue Steel (“Aoki Hagane no Arupejio”), which looks like a mere submarine anime, but it’s more than that.

In the year 2039, it’s a mess. Humanity, via global warming, has reduced a lot of their land mass. In that year, a strange alien force came down. Known as the Fog, they manifest themselves as naval vessels and successfully blockaded the oceans, so humanity was cut off from one another. 17 years after the blockade (that’s now 2056, if you are trying to do quick math), Gunzō Chihaya, a former student of the Japanese National Marine Academy, is captaining a Fog submarine that defected and joined humanity’s plight. Technically referred to as I-401, Iona is the Mental Model for the Blue Steel submarine. Chihaya and crew are pirates or renegades, or, more to the point, blockade runners. They can deal some major hurt to the Fog fleet. (more…)

As part of this onslaught of sports animes that I have recently encountered, we now segue over to “Wanna be the Strongest in the World!” (“Sekai De Ichiban Tsoyoku Naritai!”) which is as representative of women’s pro wrestling as “Hetalia” is of world history. It’s not bad, but this is more like WWF (and that’s NOT for World Wildlife Fund) than the Olympics.

We start out with the best, the biggest, the most famous, the most beloved J-Pop group to ever grace a stage in Japan, Sweet Diva! Stadiums are sold out, CDs are hotter than flapjacks and every bit of information about them is glommed up by a hungry and caring public. The Center of the group is the dulcet-toned, flowing grace, heavy-bosom, just 17 years old, Sakura Hagiwara (black-haired up there). If she went out for the Diet (the National assembly, not something from Dr. Atkins), she would be elected by a landslide. Or a spacequake.

As part of their duties as pop idols, they do these meet-and-greets. One is with the wrestling team Berserk, an all-female pro team. One of the members of Sweet Diva, Elena Miyazawa (redhead with the mic), who is also Sakura’s on-stage rival and best friend, makes an injudicious comment about wrestling and is challenged by Rio Kazama (silver-hair, far right) to a no-holds-barred match. Sakura accepts the challenge in her stead and is soundly defeated by Rio. (more…)

Opportunity is a strange thing, as it just manifests itself and you have to decide to open the door or hide near the torchiere and peer through the curtain, to make certain they have gone away.

I had a marvelous chance to see “Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.22: You Shall (Not) Advance” with the family in tow. Now, I initially argued against seeing it, as I did not really enjoy “1.11” and since they were so behind the curve on things, I was afraid I would be spending huge amount of movie time explaining things. If you thought I was bad coming into this film, they were even worse, but they said they would take the chance.

They lost.

I had to explain about the Second Impact and what these angels were and trying to do and what the EVA units were and trying to do. Now, not a lot of time has passed between the films, so we still have Shinji Ikari, who is more determined than ever to stop being a pilot, partially aided by the fact that Rei Ayanami is back to some degree of health and can reshoulder the burden.They also are given the ‘present’ of a new pilot, Asuka Langley Soryu. Despite her heritage, she is considered American, which means she is brash and rash. Oh, and also has boobs. She takes care of EVA unit 2 and we see all three of them work together to attempt to take out an angel, trying to fight as a cohesive unit. (more…)

OK, how many people remember what happened at the end of “Senki Zesshō Symphogear”? Did anyone do the homework assignments over the break? Anyone? Fine, I want two scrolls on my desk by tomorrow morning. To recap, the Noise was defeated, but we blew a crater in the moon the size of Texas, which now makes the moon look like Saturn.

“Senki Zesshō Symphogear G” starts up about three months after that climatic battle. The good guys (or gals, in this grouping) are, from right to left:

Tsubasa Kazanari. Half of the group Zwei Wing, her partner, Kanade, died but passed her relic on.
Chris Yukine. A bit of a loose cannon, she was an enemy who became an ally.
Hibiki Tachibana. She is trying her best to be a good fighter, but she has merely a shard in her, not a full relic.

They are supposed to protect Dr. Ver (a mad scientist type) and (more…)

When is a movie not a movie? When is a series not a series? Why can’t you ever get a good answer to questions? Did you remember to turn off the iron?

I bring this up, as I am uncertain how to approach “Mardock Scramble”. If it is a movie, why isn’t it presented as such? At three hours, it is a bit long for a movie (especially an anime one), but it could have easily been broken up to be a first season of a show (a 12-episode run). I am going to call this a ‘special’, as it works best in that configuration. So, let’s get to the story, eh?

It could be the future, but it is certainly an alternate universe of Tokyo….I mean, Kamina City, Rune Balot is a 15-year old prostitute, who goes on a ‘date’ with the notorious Shell Septinous. Shell has a bit of a problem, in that he is a psychotic killer. He has sex with these underage ladies, and then murders them. Rune is no exception, as she is left to die in a burning car which explodes. However, she is rescued and transformed into a cyborg by the rather mysterious Dr. Easter. An Artificial Intelligence life form (more…)

“High School DxD – New” is the second season of this show. There were so many loose ends left at the end of the first season, the only real question was “When is season two coming out?” Now it has, and we continue on with both training and fighting.

Let us recap the cast, for those who may have forgotten:

Issea Hyodo is a demon, smack dab in the middle.
To his right is the president of the Occult Research Club, Rias Gremory
The three lovelies above are Akeno Himejima, Koneko Toujou and Asia Argento.
(There is another guy, Yuto Kiba, that’s him to the far right, with his marvelous new sword).

Now, with the battle between demons, fallen angels and angels still raging, the Church decides to send out its own minions, those two spandex-clad femme fatales, Irina Shido and Xenovia. (more…)

Another horror offering, this one approaches it with a different angle. Is there blood? Not as much as you may think, but there is still a large caliber of terror and destruction.

The proper title for this show is “Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge” or “The Severing Crime Edge”. Let’s talk about Kiri Haimura. If there is anything he loves most in the entire world, it’s cutting hair. He will cut anyone’s hair and he does a fabulous, fabulous job with it. He then sees this girl, Iwai Mushanokoji. She has hair down to the ground, because it is cursed. It cannot be cut by any means (chain saw, blow torch, laser beam). Yet, somehow, Kiri can do it with his simple scissors. But we learn these are no ordinary scissors.

These are “Killing Goods”. People in and of themselves are not killers, but when they come across the implement that will allow them to become killers, they are possessed by their tool of choice. That pair of scissors (and why is it a ‘pair of scissor’ when there is just the one? Is it odd to call it scissor?) belonged to an ancestor of his, Norma Grayland, who owned this pair of scissors which could cut flesh and bone and he purportedly killed over 200 lost souls in the 1860s. (more…)

Now, I haven’t been actively watching anime for too long (at a mere 10 years, I am a youngling compared to others), but I have to say that 2013 has been a very exciting year. Sure, there have been a few duds, but the standout shows really stand out, like this one, “Psycho-Pass”.

It is the real future, as it is now 2116 (most ‘future’ shows are like 2040 or 2051, years that I have an outside chance of getting to see, only to discover there are STILL no flying cars). Don’t let the open throw you. Aside from it trying to look like “Blade Runner”, the opening fight is something that will occur about two-thirds into the series run, so just let it wash over you until you get into the actual story.

Tokyo is a utopia of harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding; the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Crime is almost non-existent, owing to this Sibyl System. You can kind of think of this world as ‘Minority Report’, but without Tom Cruise. People’s emotional state is measured by their Hue. Stress certainly plays into this assessment, done by the multiplicity of tracking cameras and Drones that patrol the streets. (more…)

This is a different kind of spy series, in more that they are secret agents, but certainly act like spies. Also, it is set in an alternative universe, but you are not certain what the year should be. I mean, they have zeppelins and wide screen HDTVs. Also, they speak with an English accent, drive what appears to be an MG, have tea at 4 pm, but we are not in England. We are in Ishtar (no, not that horrid movie with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty), but it might as well be Jolly Olde England.

Our two heroes up there, Rowe Rickenbacker and Jack Hofner are L/R. The running joke is “Which one of you is ‘L’ and which one is ‘R’?” (Personal opinion, most of the time we see them left to right with Jack as the left and Rowe as the right, so I feel that is the real designation. Not that it REALLY matters).

Some of their tasks include the protection of royal artifacts and treasures from greedy individuals and stopping crimes against the Crown, although the main thrust of the story is to find the 15-Year Princess. It seems that the previous rulers of Ishtar came to a bad end, and the very young princess went missing in the ensuing scandal. The Crown wishes to find her and let her be the true ruler of England Ishtar. I will also not draw any conclusions that with Ishtar representing England, then the land of Ivory is to be Ireland, but that is open for you to determine. Personally, I am not a fan of symbolism or political commentary in my shows; I prefer to let them tell a good story. (more…)

Ritsuka (dark hair) and Sobei (light hair.. but this rave isn’t really about him)

Loveless is just one of those anime I could watch/read a thousand times and never get tired of it; I absolutely adore it. I have spent hours of my time (which I don’t have a lot of anymore since school started) watching and reading this particular anime/manga combo. Loveless has slowly but surely taken over my heart. I suppose one could say that is a normal reaction for me seeing as I have I have said same with multiple anime but I am insisting still, that Loveless is a special case. It has secured its spot in my list of addictions (which includes One Piece, Naruto, Ouran High School Host Club, and a bazillion others) because it has taken the word “neko” to an entirely different level, it speaks the importance of keeping memories, and its characters left me spellbound.

Now you may be wondering what I mean’t by ‘it has taken the word “neko” to an entirely different level’. In the anime/manga all of the younger characters are cat people. Now I suppose you’re wondering why only ‘younger characters’… well it’s because they haven’t been in a “serious” relationship yet. In other words, they haven’t done anything promiscuous. (Thank God, seeing how the main young characters are twelve!). Most people don’t necessarily think of stuff like that when they decide to create a new manga. Normally it’s based off of one of the more popular topics like Giant fighting robots or zombies. It’s quite unique that they would put so much detail into such a topic. (more…)