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toriko-review

It is hard to believe that this show is already at the two-year mark with little sign of slowing down. Nor has it encountered the malaise that sometimes beset long-format shows.

Now, we have the Main Story. This is Toriko’s special training, as he is eventually going to search for GOD (no, not the guy with the beard, but the ne plus ultra ingredient that is the cat’s meow). So, he does all this strenuous training that exercises both body and mind and promotes teamwork. And Torkio’s boss, Ichiryū (who looks like a reject from the Village People) has also managed to coerce the other Heavenly Kings (you see two others up there) to also do this specialized training. There is something more going on here than just being able to go into the Lost Forest, so one had best be prepared for it.

Then, there is a sub story that all the great chefs in the world are being kidnapped. For some odd reason, Komatsu (the REALLY wimpy one up there) has not yet cracked the Chef World Top 100 list. Odd; you would think the chef who brought back Century Soup would merit something, as EVERYONE comments about it, but it’s just not good enough and since he also works for a mere Six-Star restaurant, I might as well eat something at Barney’s Beanery.Continue reading

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Cuticle Detective Inaba

Crime has never been so odd and criminals never so odder. “Cuticle Detective Inaba” initially follows the standard crime drama trope. Our hero, Hiroshi Inaba (dead center), used to work for the police department, but got tired of being bossed around and thwarted in what he could accomplish, so he struck out on his own, as he feels he can do more without the restraints of police protocols and his annoying partner. And that’s where the standardness ends.

You have noticed the ears, right? Well, that isn’t some rockin’ hair style, our detective is a genetically-engineered werewolf and he can determine EVERYTHING about a person by tasting their hair. OK, it’s not as bad as licking drool, but still….

He will need all of his skills as a new villain has come to Tokyo, Don Valentino, a Mafia crime boss who is going to bring Japan to her knees with a daring series of bank robberies. He will amass all the money in the land…..so he can eat it. Yes, that guy IS a goat. Aiding Don is his fight is Fernando, that burlap-bagged guy who looks like a refugee from “Resident Evil”, Dr. Noah (the purple-pigtails. Yes, Woody Allen did that joke in 1967 with “Casino Royale”) and Gabriella, that scowling maiden at the far left, who is simultaneously the best and worst assassin ever. Oh, she can hit her mark….but it’s usually Don. Right between the eyes.Continue reading

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senran-kagura-review

On the surface, “Senran Kagura” is like any other kind of fighting girl show. Akin to “Maken-Ki” or “Freezing” or even “My-HiME”, it follows the tale of girls with special abilities and the training they need to go through to learn how to use their powers best to defeat the forces of darkness and evil and cruelty and icky things.

Now, the big question is “Are they Shinobi or Kunoichi?” Shinobi is a term used for a covert agent or spy ninja who engages in unorthodox warfare. Kunoichi is a term for a female ninja. Well, to be honest, it really doesn’t matter, as whatever ninja skills they might be learning is completely inundated by unrelenting fan service.

Let us run down the cast of characters. From left to right we have:

Asuka, the leader and a second year, she barely passed the promotion exam and is carrying on the ninja tradition from her grandfather
Ikaruga, a third year, very serious about being a ninja as her brother was bypassed to give leadership of the clan to her
Katsuragi, a third year and a touch of a pervert.
Yagyuu (but that spelling changes on who’s doing the subbing). A first year, she is a prodigy and uses an umbrella as her main weapon. Very protective of Hibari.
Hibari, also a first year and new to the group, she is both child-like and cutely clumsy.Continue reading

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squid-girl-anime-review

One of the hardest things is to find a good entrance anime, to get people interested in the genre, without scaring them off. I mean, you don’t open with “Elfin Lied” or “Baccano!” or “Gantz” and then be surprised when they run screaming into the sunset (or sunrise, depending on the time of day).

“Squid Girl” (or also known as “Invade! Squid Girl”) tells the story of Squid Girl (Whew! What a relief. If she had some other name…..) who is the forward force of an invasion. She is bound and determined to conquer humanity, who have polluted her waters and made life miserable for her and her kind. To this end, she comes ashore in some part of Tokyo, (I assume, no name is ever given, so I have to make a guess it is) and decides to take over the Lemon House, a yakisoba snack bar at the beach, to use as her base of operation.Continue reading

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hunter_x_hunter_by_xvrcardoso-d54co4a

So im finally up to date on Hunter x Hunter (2011), and while the series does not look like its anywhere close to an ending, I feel I’ve seen enough to give a fair review. As a remake of the 1999 original series, I knew it was going to be good and I was not disappointed. For the first 70ish episodes it followed the same arcs as the previous version (Hunter Examination arc and Greed Island Arc) and besides a few minor changes in character wordings and character expressions I’d say they were pretty much identical.

What completely caught me off-guard was that like its predecessor, I expected the show to come to a close at the end of the second arc. Instead of  doing so we see a third arc opening up! For those who have seen the original series if you are not the type to re-watch anime you are free to skip to episode 75 and simply think of it as a continuation…

hunter-x-hunter-2011-vs-1999

There have been alot of mixed feelings around the internet saying that one version is superior to another and to be completely honest I do prefer the original version. Why? Simply becauseContinue reading

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to-love-ru-ova

What is it about romantic comedies which bring out the berserk fan service? Now, it’s ‘bad’ enough that “To Love-Ru” is pretty berserk as it is (as evidenced by the still from one of the episodes above), but someone felt that the show didn’t go far enough (and how much farther could it go? Further? Man, I always get those two mixed up), and they decided to put together the strangest set of OVAs ever. Now, it kind of serves an odd purpose, as we meet Lala’s younger twin sisters (oh, man, my fornix is getting quickly overheated at that potential scenario) Nana and Momo, who will bring even more mayhem to Rito in the next installment of the series “Motto To Love-Ru”.

Do you really need to know what the plot is? I mean, almost all the OVAs I have seen put together have a plot that isn’t much more that a wire frame from which you can show boobs. In fact, the first episode of the OVA is a discussion about boobs and somehow….No, I can’t tell you, as it is so deliciously ridiculous at to what happens. You really have to watch them all, as they bring out every leftover thing that they felt they couldn’t put into the show, as they hardly left anything out of the shows to begin with.Continue reading

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medaka-box-abnormal-review

When the first season of “Medaka Box” came out, I really like the tales of this rather extraordinary girl believing that she could help all people, despite how craven or churlish or selfish they were to begin with. I got a bit concerned regarding the season-ending arc with Unzen (he’s the runty white-haired guy with the evil grin at the far right), but the promise of the second season seemed bright. Promises, I guess, are meant to be broken, and “Medaka Box: Abnormal” makes sure there aren’t any pieces to pick up.

At the Sandbox Academy, there is the mysterious Class 13, which is filled with Abnormals: people with very special abilities. With Unzen in hospital for a while, there is a vacancy in the class (man, what a tough school) and Abnormals who haven’t attended class since the Hiroshima Carp last won the World Series decide to show up and help push forth the Flask Plan. This is a plan to create the perfect human being (yeah, we all know where that ends up. Hasn’t succeeded before, won’t succeed now. PS, the Carp went 61-71 last season).

In order to put a stop to this, (uh, the Flask Plan, not the Carp) Medaka and Crew (the three in the lower left) seek out advice from Meguro Kurakami, Medaka’s…..older brother? Why hasn’t he made an appearance before this? (Blue hair, upper left). Aside from learning of the existence of an older brother (who is a major pervert and has a sister fixation), we also learn that he was an early administrator of the Flask Plan, but no longer believes in it, so left it all behind.Continue reading

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family_eureka_7

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.Continue reading

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Crayon Shin-Chan

A brief description of this show could be “Japan’s answer to ‘South Park’”.

“Crayon Shin-Chan” (or just “Shin-Chan”) follows the adventures of the five-year-old Shinnosuke “Shin” Nohara (the guy getting his cheek pulled) and his parents, Hiroito (Hiro), Misae (Mitsi), baby Himawari (Hima) and Whitey the dog, their neighbors, and friends and is set in Kasukabe. Not that it matters. It might as well be in “South Park”.

Shin is the kind of boy that you would fling into a pile of poodle doo…except that he might like it. He is rude, brash, crude, disgusting and perverted and lives in the realm of his tiny world, oblivious to those around him.

The art work is intentionally bad. If you tried ‘traditional’ animation with the writing that is presented (and it is some of the best writing I have heard for a show, as they have dropped all pretenses that this is a ‘cute’ show), it would not work. The art work needs to be as crude as the topics and their presentation.

This is a show where you can give a review, even if you haven’t seen the end, as it is a series of vignettes about their life together, such as it is. The arc where they have to live in a crummy apartment complex while their house is being rebuilt is pretty funny, as all their neighbors are at least as crazy as they are, if not more so.Continue reading

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naruto jinchuuriki

So as usual I’ve been watching naruto shippuden and recently I’ve noticed that I’m no longer simply bearing with each episode.  In fact I’ve found that I have actually been looking forward to each one.

I remember some time back complaining about the filler that started in the middle of the great ninja war arc, while the interruption was indeed annoying the filler was actually pretty good. It could’ve made more money as a movie though, but hey,  I’m not complaining.

As every fan knows, we are back in the ninja war arc and Naruto, along with killer bee are heading towards the front lines. To be more specific, last week was the encounter between Naruto + Killer Bee vs Itachi + Nagato. While it was a pretty cool episode I kinda dislike how soft Itachi is being portrayed at this point. He was kinda better when we all thought he was a cold, unfeeling, yet badass bastard. Sigh, but seeing as his intentions were always good (as we recently found out), I guess seeing this side of him was inevitable.Continue reading