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…)

When I heard that this show had reached its coupler point, I line-jumped eight other reviews I had in front of it to get the news to you:

“Attack on Titan” is the MUST-SEE anime of 2013.

Now, I do not allow myself to be overtaken with hyperbole and CAPITAL LETTERS to get your attention on what is out there. Many shows come out every year that are worthy of your attention, but “Titan” is head and shoulders above the rest (no pun intended). The last time I was this jazzed about an anime was “Death Note”, and they both share similarities, the biggest being that it cannot be pigeon-holed into what it is and must be experienced to see what the buzz is all about.

OK, enough of my drooling, mouth-panting excitement, let’s get down to brass tacks.

It is the year 845. For the past hundred years, giant humanoid creatures called Titans have forced humanity to retreat into a system of concentric walls known as Wall Maria (outermost), Wall Rosé, (middle), and Wall Sina (innermost). Inside these walls, humanity has lived in peace. These are massive walls, at least 50 meters tall and potentially 10 meters thick, maybe more. Mankind survives, but at what real cost? One day, they are attacked by a 60-meter Titan (as he can look over the wall to see what’s happening) and some armored-skinned Titan who breaches the wall and allows the other Titans to enter and attack. (more…)

This is a very black or white series. You will either love it or hate it, but you will never be uncertain about it.

“Flowers of Evil” (or, as they call it, “Aku No Hana”) is doing things I rarely see in animation and I have never seen in anime. First, it is rotoscoped. For those who do not know what that is, you film live action, then animate it. “Through a Glass Darkly” was the last time you may have seen it (or not; it was a stinky film). What this means is that you have a more natural look, but the movements may come off as stiff or stilted, as you are not employing squash-and-stretch techniques of normal animation.

Second, because of the more natural look, standard anime tropes are gone. With the exception of one fantasy sequence, there is no turning to stone and crumbling away or sliding into chibi style or anger bars flashing at one’s forehead when things go wrong.

Third, the more natural look means the world is dirty and grimy and depressing, so there are chipped concrete blocks and cracked roads and torn posters and rusting signs and stained walls and weed growth. Certainly not crisp and clean, no caffeine, as you see in even the most action-adventure animes. (more…)

This is part of what I call the ‘Semi-Colon Series”, as there are three shows with the same caliber of title and the same grammatically annoying way of presenting it. They are “Chaos;Head”, “Stein’s;Gate” and “Robotic;Notes”. Of the three series, the last one is the most accessible. The other two are beset with shifting realities and uncertainty as to what is truly going on. Now, they are fine shows and I would suggest you do check them out, but they do require more in the way of attention and commitment than a lot of people are willing and able to give, especially when they play the ‘What is Reality?” card.

“Robotic;Notes” is not as demanding, but you has best pay attention, especially since it has the jump-back. The Jump-Back (another of my annoying made-up terms), is when a particular episode ends on a cliff hanger. The next episode begins in beyond the point where the last stopped, setting up something, and THEN we jump back to see the cliff hanger and the results. It can get a bit aggravating when you want things to be a bit more linear.

Let’s start at the beginning: we are in the future (oh, really? Again with the ‘in the future’?) It is 2019 and we are on the island of Tanegashima. The school here has a robotics club with fitful membership. Yashio Kaito spends most of his time playing an on-line game called Kill-Ballad, where it is giant fighting robots (they have some marvelous tablet-pads to do this on). The other club member is Senomiya Akiho. Her older sister was in the club and left behind a giant robot that could not be finished in time, so it sits and sits and sits. And technology has so changed, it might be better to scrap it, get some cash for the metal and try again. (more…)

A caliber of post-apocalyptic, much of what we learn about the new world order is done in retrospect. All you need to know is that our story takes places about 1000 years after the collapse of society, when people with ‘special abilities’ tried to take over the world.

In this utopian society, everyone is born with special abilities and they learn how to use their ‘cantus’ (their term for it), to best help people. The village, Kamisu’s 66th District, (which looks a bit silly to have on a t-shirt), is the kind of place we all dream of. But dreams can always go sour. We follow the five people in Group One, who are:

Shun Aonuma, Satoru Asahina, Saki Watanabe, Maria Akizuki and Mamoru Ito. They go to these schools and academies to learn how to channel and focus their telekinetic powers and learn about the world they live in. (more…)

We’re back at school. Again. Again. Man, I have been in school longer, via these animes, than I was when I really went to school. OK, this one is “Kokoro Connect”. The story involves five high school students, from left to right, Yoshifumi Aoki, Himeko Inaba, Taichi Yaegashi, Iori Nagase and Yui Kiriyama, who are all members of the Cultural Research Club. One day, they begin experiencing a phenomenon in which they randomly swap bodies amongst themselves…for starters.  As these five friends face many different phenomena at the whims of a mysterious being known as Heartseed, their friendship is put to the ultimate test.

Initially, it involved what it is like for a girl to be a boy and vice versa, but they also learn secrets about each other they never knew, despite all their time together. To make matters worse, Heartseed (whom you never see; all it has done is taken over another person’s body when he has to communicate with them) lets them know this, and a bunch of other stuff will be happening. This includes not being able to control one’s actions and reactions, as well as deep-seated desires coming to the surface at inappropriate times. The third incident has to remain hidden, as it reveals some plot-changers.

OK, body-shifting is not new. In fact, not only is it a mainstay of science fiction, hentai also seems to like it as well. But for our purposes here, these tests are meant to do two things: allow Heartseed to see how people react to changes in their environment and to determine how strong these friends really are. (more…)

“Eureka Seven AO: Astral Ocean”, takes place about 14 or so years after the conclusion of the first part of it. Ao Fukai (our hero, dead center) is a 13-year-old boy living in the year 2025 in Okinawa, on the island of Iwato Jima with Dr. Toshio Fukai, ever since Ao’s mother disappeared 10 years ago. When a mysterious organization attacks the local Scub Coral, Ao somehow gets mixed up in the battle and manages to activate an enigmatic robot called the Nirvash while it is being transported by the Self-Defense Forces. Later, Ao finds out that the Nirvash belonged to Eureka, his mother, and embarks on a journey to find his mother and learn the truth about his origins.

Or so we hoped.

Because he is able to pilot this ship, he is conscripted by Generation Bleu, an organization dedicated to fighting Secrets, and joins Pied Piper. OK, let me explain. Every time there is a Scub Burst, these transforming robots/ships called ‘secrets’ come down to destroy the Scub. But they also take out the surrounding area, so there is a huge amount of collateral damage by them. Ao joins Bleu to get to the bottom of it all, but runs into more misconceptions and deceptions than ever before. A lifelong friend, Naru (the lovely lady in the upper right) suffers from a condition caused by the Scub but eventually has to turn against Ao. (more…)

I had a friend tell me that “Eureka Seven” (or, as it’s pronounced in the show, “Erika Seven”) is a really good sci-fi anime. I mean, even the Sci-Fi Channel (now known as Syfy) showed it, and it was really worth watching.

I decided to watch it with him and, quite frankly, I was disappointed with the effort.

The series focuses on Renton Thurston (that rather grumpy one dead center), the fourteen-year-old son of Adrock Thurston, a military researcher who died saving the world. He lives what he considers a boring life with his grandfather in a boring town. He loves lifting, a sport similar to surfing but with trapars, a substance abundant throughout the air, as the medium. He dreams of joining the renegade group Gekkostate. It is led by his idol Holland Novak (the jerk just off his left shoulder), a legendary lifter.

An opportunity to do so literally falls into his lap when a large mecha, called the Nirvash typeZERO, and Eureka (the smiling one off his right shoulder), its pilot and a member of Gekkostate, crash into Renton’s room. Renton’s grandfather orders him to deliver a special part to the Nirvash called the “Amita Drive”, which releases the immense power dormant within the typeZERO called the “Seven Swell Phenomenon”. Afterwards, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate, where he quickly discovers that the behind-the-scenes life of Gekkostate is hardly as glamorous or as interesting as printed in the glossy pages of their magazine, ray=out. Only one thing makes it all worthwhile for him: the presence of Eureka, the mysterious pilot of the Nirvash. Renton, Eureka, and the Gekkostate embark on an adventure that will shape their future as well as the world. (more…)

“Binbo-gami Ga” (“God of Poverty”) is a goofy show about goofy people in goofy situations. Everyone is missing a few necessary enzymes, so all bets are off and anything goes.

We follow the life of Ichiko Sakura. She has everything: piles of money, fabulous looks, great brains, nice headlights and good fortune beyond compare. And that is her problem. She is a kind of Good Luck sponge, so she slowly siphons it off from everyone else. If your fortune was a house, she is the Empire State Building. This puts the universe out of whack, as the imbalance prevents thousands of other people from being happy.

To this end, Yamabuki, the Head Honchess in the Gods Realm, sends down Momiji (the ragged-looking one) along with her familiar (whom you don’t see. It’s Teddy and he looks like a ragged Teddy bear) to take away some of her fortune and give it to those who need it…but not without a fight. Each has met their match in the other, as both are tough customers that will not give up in what they want.

The series follows the personal growth of both of them. For Ichiko, what it means to have a friend and to be a friend. For Momiji, it’s the same thing, but her path is slightly different.

Adding to the confusion and mayhem are:

Momoo Inugami. He is a dog in human form, but is a bit S&M. If, in his dog form, you beat him too hard, he transforms. He is rather useless. (more…)

One thing I have noticed lately are ‘informational’ animes. If we were to call them ‘educational’, you would run away screaming into the night. One is “Spice and Wolf”, which tells, in a rather oblique manner, the laws of supply and demand and how economics work. Another would be “Upotte!”, which gives a history of modern weaponry and the history behind some more popular arms.

“Koi to Senyko to Chocolate” (also known as “Love, Elections and Chocolate”) is another of these, which gives an inside view into how the election process works in general, and school elections for our tale.

Welcome to school! We are at Takafuji Private Academy, a large school with over 6,000 students. Yuki Oojima (the focus of everyone’s attention above) is a member of the Food Research Club, along with seven others, including his childhood friend Chisato Sumiyoshi (the buxom number in the 1 o’clock position). Let’s run down the rest of the crew:

Nozomi Edagawa, 3 o’clock. She is younger than everyone, but was skipped grades as she is a girl genius (or mad scientist).

Mifuyu Kiba, 5 o’clock. Although she is a year older than everyone, an ailment held her back a year. (more…)