Sunnyvale, California – (January 23, 2012) Newcomer anime publishing company Maron Media today announced the preorder availability of Anime Angels, a new 100-page original-character artbook featuring the work of 66 anime artists from 22 countries. All of the artworks are based around the book’s title, “anime angels”, with each contributing artist bringing her or his own interpretation to this overall theme.

“It’s been fantastic to see the response from the global Japanese animation fan community”, said editor and project lead Bruce Hahne. “What began as a local artbook project in the San Franciso Bay Area has taken on a life of its own, with artist participation from all over the world. We’ve got many different art styles, different approaches, and different cultures participating, but it all comes together under the anime angels theme.”

Anime Angels features commissioned cover artwork by well-known Canadian artist Shilin Huang, with cover and interior layout and design by Finni Chang. “Multi-artist anime fan projects like this one don’t come along too often,” noted Finni, whose art also features in the book. “It’s great to see an ensemble work like this put together in a way that both anime fans, and character art fans, will be able to enjoy.”

Consistent with the community spirit of the project, all art is published under a profit-sharing arrangement with the artists, who receive both an up-front payment for their contributions as well as a portion of the profits from every book sold. This approach is something of a rarity among group-created character artbook projects, which often expect artists to contribute their work for free.

Anime Angels is available now through mid-March for special preorder on kickstarter.com — see http://kck.st/xxAxVU , also linked from www.AnimeAngelsBook.com — in both softcover and hardcover releases. Kickstarter-only bonuses include art cards, prints, and a poster set. The book will officially launch at Fanimecon 2012 in San Jose, California, just prior to its general release.

—

About the Anime Angels project: From its beginnings in May 2011 with the recruiting of initial artist participants at Fanimecon San Jose (www.fanime.com), the Anime Angels artbook project has grown far beyond expectations to include both professional and emerging amateur artists from 22 countries.

Contact information:
Maron Media, LLC
Sunnyvale, California
Bruce Hahne, editor/publisher
bruce@maronmedia.com
408-915-7710

Summer Wars:

Kenji Koiso, math wiz and part time programmer for the global social network OZ,  must fight to defend his honor and conquer a new foe when a rogue super-intelligent virus steals his identity and begins to wreak havoc on the internet all while pretending to be his classmate’s fiancee at her birthday celebration. As the stakes rise to lethal levels, he must gain the cooperation of family clan to together to stop the insidious menace.

Durarara!!:

Mikado Ryūgamine is a young boy who longs for the exciting life of the big city. At the invitation of his childhood friend Masaomi Kida, he leaves home to go to a high school, Raira Academy, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Masaomi warns him about people he doesn’t want to cross in the city: a violent man dressed like a bartender, an information broker, and a mysterious gang called “Dollars.” And, to top it off, Mikado witnesses an urban legend on his first day in the city: the “Black Rider,” the supposedly headless pilot of a black motorcycle that sounds like a horse.

Occult Academy:

The Waldstein Academy is known for its instruction in the paranormal. The headmaster’s daughter, Maya, doesn’t actually believe in the paranormal, even though she knows precisely how to handle it.

Houkago no Pleiades:

Subaru is a young, clumsy girl, whose favorite hobby is to watch the stars, believing she can hear the stars’ whispers. One night she witnesses a mysterious meteor shower that apparently no one else saw. The following day, at school, she enters the observatory to find a massive garden and a boy named Minato, and later discovers her best friend Aoi’s secret, that she’s a magical girl.

Afro Samurai:

Takes place in a futuristic society where whoever holds the No. 1 headband can only be challenged by the owner of the No. 2 headband. Afro, a black ninja who possesses the No. 2 headband, is trying to avenge his father, who was killed by the current No. 1.

Supernatural the Animation:

Brothers Sam and Dean hunt down monsters and save people, while making trite comments, arguing, and seeking their absentee father.  This is the animated version, and it makes the original live action series look good.

With all these new series this semester, it looks like we’ll have a lot of Redline-less fun. See you guys at our first showing, this Saturday.

The first up was Asura’s Wrath, a beat-’em-up developed by CyberConnect2 (known for their work on the .hack franchise) for the XBox 360 and PS3. There were two different demos set up at the booth detailing what appeared to be two different boss battles from the game. As I waited in line to play, I examined the two different scenarios, one on the moon, and the other against what appeared to be a large flying beast. My turn finally came; it was time to kick some demigod ass.

One of the first things you notice about the demo is how quickly it loads on the 360. Within only a couple of seconds I was given the option to start the demo. I was immediately thrown into a conversation between Asura and his master. The character designs, while a bit jagged around the edges, really stand out because of the “carvings” on their bodies. As the two begin their pre-battle dialogue, the music starts to play, and I knew right then and there that this was a game I needed immediately. If there’s one thing I noticed about the game, it’s that CyberConnect2 created an extremely unsubtle game. Instead of some original composition, Asura’s Wrath starts playing Dvorak’s New World Symphony 4th Movement. I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it play during Legend of the Galactic Heroes, so hearing it once again brought a grin to my face.

Once you can actually start the battle, the game’s actual combat is broken up by a series of Quick Time Events that take the battle from one phase to the next. As Asura starts beating his enemies with his six fists and a combination of light and heavy attacks, you feel the intensity of each blow and how brutal the game wants to be. Each blow is punishing to watch, and the combat system, while incredibly simplistic in the demo, works rather well. Once you have dealt enough blows to fill your burst gage, you get to the next QTE, and another cutscene plays out. I felt it was novel to have cut-ins similar to commercial break screens in animes in the battle. Rinse and repeat the combat, and you’ve beaten the demo.

Asura’s Wrath felt like it followed only one rule through the entirety of the demo: try to be awesome. From the musical choice, to the striking character designs, to the ridiculous attacks (swords that extend from the earth to the moon) and the intense blows, all it wants to do is appeal to that inner child that wants everything to be done because it’s cool. My only problem with what I played was that the game felt too easy. Never did I feel challenged during the length of the demo, but that’s fine. It was a thrill to play and experience first-hand. This is definitely a game to check out when it is released.

On the exact opposite side of the spectrum, several hours later, I revisited the booth to try Dragon’s Dogma, developed by Capcom for the same systems. Again, a two level, four console set-up, and upon visiting the booth, only two of the four setups were being used. It felt like a gift to be able to try the game right away without waiting in line for people. Unfortunately, what I experienced fit exactly with the empty booths

I decided to try the griffin quest, as I figured that nearly everyone would try the dragon quest instead. As the demo booted up, I noticed a significantly longer load time before I could start the demo. Upon starting, the player assumed the role of an archer as he and his team set off to slay a griffin. While visually the game looked rather nice, I could not get into it the same way I could Asura’s Wrath. Walking the short distance before starting the quest, the party encountered a band of goblin things and had to kill them to attract the griffin. Within a few minutes, our party had slain the griffin and finished the quest.

As an archer the controls just never felt right. Aiming always felt a bit off, and controlling where exactly you would fire seemed too jerky for my tastes, so I switched to the twin dagger melee attacks. While not the intended weapon for this class, they felt much more natural to me. The party AI seemed rather competent, as they easily dispatched both the goblins  and the griffin, but again, it felt too simple. The goblins never noticed me, or attacked me, and I only took damage when I tried to jump and attack the griffin with my daggers. My disappointment grew when I noticed that the players who were doing the dragon quest had significantly more room to move, enemies to fight, difficulty, and quest length.

While I shouldn’t pass judgment on a game because of a poor demo selection, I felt that both should have been similar in length and difficulty. Or even usability. That archer class just never seemed to work naturally. Perhaps this is due to my lack of console FPS aptitude, but I felt that the system it uses is too unnatural to play with. While the game itself looked nice, it just never felt like it worked.

If I were to go back in time, but limit myself to playing only one of the two demos, I would definitely have chose Asura’s Wrath over Dragon’s Dogma. While both are welcome original IPs from Capcom, I feel that only Asura is capable of making a splash over here.

Paprika:

Summary- We started off our first week of showing with this trippy film by the late Satoshi Kon.  Anyone that watched Paranoia Agent with us back in Spring 2010 should immediately notice the similarities in animation, music, and tone, as well as some familiar themes.  It’s a story about a device to connect people within their dreams, and what happens when that causes dreams and reality to collide.

Plot- I’m not going to summarize the plot for a movie here.  If you think you might be interested, watch the movie – the purpose of plot summaries here is only for catch-up.

Opinions- I was really very impressed with this movie.  Like I mentioned earlier, it was very reminiscent of Paranoia Agent, with some incredible music and stunningly complex visuals.  I can’t say that it was perfectly easy to follow, but I think that this was a more intentional feature of the movie.  It comes highly recommended for anyone interested in a fun and mysterious romp through dreamland.

Black Lagoon:

Summary- A Japanese salaryman gets into trouble when he is taken by pirates after a disk he is transporting for his company.  Forced to throw his lot in with his kidnappers to survive, he quickly realizes that his life had been thoroughly unfulfilling up to that point, and at the end of the day decides to join up with his former captors.  We’re watching this in English, as the dub is top-notch.

Plot- You really don’t need to know anything else to enjoy this series.  The female fighter Revi is a total badass, our newbie Rock goes into badass mode when necessary, and every other character sits comfortably at a decent level of badassery.  There seems to be little or no overarching plot, with stories lasting for 2 or 3 episodes each.  And our CURRENT arc has Nazis!  Who knows why.

Opinions- I love watching this show, it’s as simple as that.  Every now and then the writers decide to be dramatic, with a moment of “Rock’s perspective is different than everyone else’s!” but then they return to fun action scenes.  Not for people looking for drama or anything super serious, but a great (almost) realistic action show.

Gungrave:

Summary- Harry and Brandon are just a couple of punk kids in their own gang.  Harry dreams of making it big one day, while Brandon is quiet and seems content to simply be around Harry and his girlfriend Maria.  When they get in a fight with another local gang, they realize that they might just be in over their heads…

Plot- …when that gang leader’s mafia brother begins killing off their other friends.  Soon, it’s only Harry, Brandon, and Maria left.  With little direction remaining, Harry and Brandon aimlessly run about town until Harry becomes resolved to join Millenion, the organized crime organization.  With Maria adopted by the organization’s leader, Brandon sees his best chance at happiness also lies within Millenion.  After going to a Millenion social with Maria, he gets shot defending Maria’s new father, while Harry is working hard to make his way up the organization’s social ladder.

Opinions- Gungrave isn’t particularly flashy, or extremely exciting, but the mix of action and intrigue with some very real characters makes this a very solid series.  I’m excited to get to the second half of the series (the ‘grave’ in Gungrave), but I won’t spoil what that entails – you can look it up on your own if you feel so inclined.  I would definitely recommend watching this series, and I strongly suggest starting at the beginning, so that you can truly understand Harry and Brandon.

Basilisk:

Summary- The Iga and Kouga ninja clans have bitter enemies for generations, only held back recently by a treaty forcing an uneasy peace.  However, when the shogunate needs to decide between two prospective next rulers, the treaty is annulled, and each ninja clan comes to represent one of the potential rulers in the ensuing fight.  This comes at an inopportune time for the youngest members of the two clans, who were soon to be married…

Plot- …only, OOPS!, the Iga “neglected” to inform the Kouga that this battle was taking place!  Meanwhile the two getting married are kept uninformed, while battles between the rival clans taking place with only one group understanding their right to kill.

Opinions- If anyone heard it described in this way, this series is NOT “Romeo and Juliet with ninjas.”  There are two rival factions with young members getting married, and the similarities end there.  This might be unfortunate, since, despite plenty of fights between powerful ninjas, the series so far has been BORING.  Sure, it looks very nice, and the ninjas are strong, but none of the characters are interesting and somehow the fights just aren’t the slightest bit engaging.  From what I’ve seen so far, I can’t recommend this series – it doesn’t stand up against some of our other shows.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo:

Summary- This is The Count of Monte Cristo, but in space.  You either know exactly what that means, or (like me) you’ve never read the story, and this is a fresh experience.  The visuals exclusively employ fancy patterns instead of flat colors, which is a plus or a minus – it looks incredible, but I’ve observed some people getting headaches trying to watch it.  It’s a story of intrigue and revenge, which is surprisingly well brought into relevance from a story set in the 1800s.

Plot- This is The Count of Monte Cristo, but in space.  That either gives away the entire plot, or tells you nothing.  If you still don’t know what the plot is, I strongly advise simply watching the series (or reading the book), as it’s the plot that drives the story forward, and trying to compress the plot here would be committing a massive disservice.

Opinions- I think Gankutsuo is AMAZING.  There is a lot going on, and the Count manages to steal the show at all times, even when he is offscreen.  He’s got some scheme already in motion, and I am not going to stop watching until I see it, and its consequences, through to the end.  You should definitely give this series a chance if you’re at all interested in a plot-based show.

BREAK

And now back to the article at hand.

Angel Beats!:

Summary- Everyone is dead!  Wait, should that have been a spoiler… nope!  Angel Beats follows a group of high-schoolers in the afterlife trying to fight against God for giving them cruel fates.  They do battle primarily with a girl they call “Angel”, who seeks to stop their actions at all times.  Otonashi has just entered this world with amnesia (yes, it’s cliché but vital) and joins the Aferlife Battlefront, hoping that he will be able to regain his memories while working with them.

Plot- Many episodes of random escapades against Angel don’t have any real significance.  However, we are right now in the middle of a plot arc.  The Battlefront has stripped Angel of her position of Student Council President, by messing with her test grades, thinking that it might prevent her from opposing them.  Though initially effective, this allows the corrupt Vice President to take power and begin actively opposing the Battlefront.  Otonashi takes Angel with him to stop the former Vice President, and manages to make the Vice President realize the error of his ways.

Opinions- I thought this series was good enough to watch on my own, so I am pretty excited that we’re seeing this in showing.  It’s fairly well balanced between genres, with some nice visuals and excellent music.  It doesn’t end up having the huge impact on me that I thought it might, but it is, nevertheless, a worthwhile series to watch.

Shiki:

Summary- A small, secluded town is afflicted by an apparent epidemic of residents suddenly passing away.  Meanwhile, a new family has moved into the castle-like residence sitting atop a hill.  There appears to be a connection between the new people in town and this illness, but very few of the townsfolk realize it, or suspect anything.

Plot- VAMPIRES! That’s hardly a spoiler, though – you should figure it out on your own by episode 2 or so.  The family has slowly been feeding on and converting the former residents – though, it appears that whether a person will rise again is somewhat random.  Yuuki has been aware of the vampires, ever since death failed to put a stop to his stalker’s actions.  The doctor and the priest, two of the major town leaders, have also managed to figure out what was going on – though their attempts to impede the vampires have so far been foiled.  At present, Yuuki is nearly/already dead, due to feeding his former friend, and the doctor and priest are still attempting to stop the vampires from continuing their killings.

Opinions- Love this show!  It might have something to do with showing two episodes a week, but I’ve really felt that the plot has moved forwards at a good pace, and few character actions have forced me to ask, “Why would he DO that?” as is common in horror series.  This is an engrossing series and I would highly recommend it.

Shigofumi:

Summary- When a person passes on, they are allowed to write a single letter to be delivered to someone in the living world.  This letter is known as a Shigofumi (which is literally translated as “death letter” – real creative there) and is delivered by special couriers.  The story follows Fumika, one of these couriers.

Plot- The format here is pretty consistently “letter of the week”, with each episode or two focusing on a different set of characters and how a death, and the resulting Shigofumi, affects them.  So you can usually expect at least one death an episode (can’t have a Shigofumi otherwise).  There is also a subplot following the strange case of Fumika being in a coma, not dead as all of the other couriers are, and the boy who is trying to track her down.  This is interesting, but there has not been enough given that it’s not simple to pick up on.

Opinions- Shigofumi… it’s not BAD, per se, but it’s not immensely entertaining either.  Going to a different set of characters each week means that it’s difficult to really connect to any of them, and Fumika’s lack of personality makes it difficult to connect with her, too.  This is an interesting show, but it falls a bit flat when compared to some of the other amazing shows this semester.

Soul Eater:

Summary- Shibusen is a technical school for young Meisters and Weapons to train together to collect Demon Eggs, the transformed souls of those who have begun consuming the souls of innocents.  Each Weapon, assisted by their Meister, seeks to collect 99 Demon Eggs and the soul of one Witch, in order to be made into a weapon for Death himself.  Maka and Soul are one team seeking to be the best, along with their classmates Black⋆Star and Tsubaki, and Kid, Liz, and Patty.

Plot- We haven’t gotten into the serious plot yet, with the episodes up until now focused on introducing one of the teams or showing a bit of their training.  That will end this week, so I suggest not missing this one.

Opinions- I’ve seen Soul Eater before, but I do love this series (at least the first half).  It’s shonen anime done very well.  It also has some really great themes, which are a blast to listen to.  The series unfortunately begins to fall apart in its second half, but we aren’t getting that far, and it’s fun to watch anyways.  Anyone that likes shonen should definitely give this series a try.

And that’s it for this semester.  Even if you are unable to join us for Showing on Saturday, there are plenty of series here strong enough to warrant your attention.  I really hope that I have so few bad things to say about our lineup in the future!  I guess I’ll find out when I get back to everyone with the Spring review next semester.  Happy watching, everyone!

CJAS has some orientation events coming up, and it’d be great to see you all there! And new freshmen, come on by to play video games, read manga, and talk to people in improbable cosplay!  There’ll also be a group constructing models of gundams and robots for all you robo-fans.

When?

Saturday, 8/20/11, 2pm, Fireside Lounge, in Appel Commons (one of two dining halls on North Campus).

Sunday, 8/21/11, 1pm, in Appel Commons 302A.

Tuesday, 8/23/11, 5pm, Fireside Lounge.

Click after the jump for a more detailed listing of our showing schedule.

We will begin our showing year not with a regular opening, but with a commemoration of the late Satoshi Kon. It was nearly one year ago today that the world lost this great director to pancreatic cancer as he was working on his latest film. To honor him, we will be showing Paprika, a film many years in the making, and probably the most recognizable of his films. This psychological thrill ride is sure to please everyone, though not recommended due to its R rating.

Paprika

Black Lagoon

Gungrave

In terms of anime series, we are showing a number of well known series from the past ten years, including one of the fan favorites from last year. For nearly every week after our opening week, we begin with the high action series Black Lagoon. Borrowing heavily from American action movies, this movie will shoot you in the face and spout vulgar language the entire time. Following this is another heavily western influenced series, this time though influenced by crime dramas like The Godfather, Gungrave. If you enjoy character dramas with a heavy helping of fake-Marlon Brando, you should enjoy it.

Basilisk

Gankutsuou

Switching gears from the heavy Western influence, we head into a duo of series animated by the controversial studio Gonzo. While known to be very hit or miss with each series, we are showing likely the two best series from the studio, Basilisk and Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. Basilisk is the series Shakespeare would have written if he thought Romeo and Juliet needed a ninja bounty list. Gankutsuou is a rewrite of the famous novel The Count of Monte Cristo set in a futuristic world, borrowing heavily in sci-fi elements and impressive visual flair.

Angel Beats

Shiki

Following our showing break, we will drift from showing Western series to showing series that are are more typical of what most people consider “anime.” Our lead-off show post-break is the otaku darling hit of 2010 Angel Beats!, a supernatural high school drama without any of the high schooling. Following this is a double helping of a horror series that premiered on the noitaminA block, and received acclaim as it was airing in Japan, Shiki. This brightly colored horror series will please those fond of frights, vampires, goth fashion, and brightly colored hair.

Shigofumi

Soul Eater

Our last two series as well borrow heavily from horror trends, and show it in design. Shigofumi: Letters of the Departed focuses on how one can deal with the heavy losses stemming from the death of a close one, and letting the pain come and go. A heartfelt series, this is one to watch, appreciate and discuss with others post showing. Our end cap of a series is another high octane series popular in Japan as it was airing, Soul Eater. Again taking influence from horror elements and death, it is a fashionable and energetic shonen action series.

Gundam Unicorn

Our last showing week replaces Shiki with a something different. Instead of horror, we will show a new entry into the most famous robot series. Gundam Unicorn is a new entry into the dense and storied Universal Century timeline, but provides a good starting point for anyone looking to get into the UC timeline.

Our schedule is sure to please fans of nearly all genres, and provide a welcome schedule to all people looking for a friendly viewing environment.

Darker than Black

Summary – Several years ago, a mysterious area known as, “The Gate,” appeared in Japan.  Once it did, random people began to get supernatural abilities.  Governments now fight with and against these super-powered people.  Li is one of these people, a Contractor, who uses his electrical abilities to carry out missions for the mysterious organization he works for.

TL;DNR: Electric Batman fights with other super-powered enemies.

Plot – While there definitely is an underlying plot to the series, each two-episode arc of this series can be watched separately without missing too much.  This being the case, I’m not going to try to explain here the slightly complex plotline, as it requires a lot of definitions and explanations that are worked into the series fairly fluidly.

Review – This remains one of my favorite series that we’re showing this semester.  The opening is good, the plot is interesting, and it does a fascinating job of characterizing people who are supposedly devoid of personality.  If you just want to watch a single arc, they are great at setting up a coherent story for each in the first episode, and then bringing in the main body of the action in the second.  If you want to watch the entire series, the hidden plot is interesting enough on its own to string together the separate arcs.  I definitely recommend this series to anyone who likes their action more serious.

El Hazard – The Magnificent World

Summary – Makoto, his teacher, his worst enemy, and his female classmate are transported to a mysterious other world filled with magic after Makoto encounters a strange woman in ruins located under his school.  Makoto and his friends have to help protect a kingdom from the evil Bugrom Empire if they want to have any hope of returning home.  They have all gained a special ability by coming to the world of El Hazard, but with Makoto’s enemy leading the Bugrom, and a mysterious third party pulling strings, the heroes have their hands full.

Plot – Because we’ve already completed this series, I’m not going to go into the plot here.  As a heads-up, Makoto has to impersonate a princess for a chunk of the series, but luckily they don’t drag on the cross-dressing gag for TOO long.

Review – This series is pretty good.  The visuals are very nice, and it has an interesting story, albeit one that isn’t entirely original.  However, there are a large number of characters, and only 7 episodes, so some of the cast doesn’t get to be entirely fleshed-out.  I wasn’t ever really blown away by the plot, though it was fairly enjoyable throughout.  If you’re looking for a short series to watch, it’s probably worth giving El Hazard – The Magnificent World a chance.

RahXephon

Summary – Ayato is just an ordinary boy living in Tokyo with his mother.  Well, actually, he’s not, or else we wouldn’t have a story.  Ayato is the only one capable of piloting the RahXephon, a robot which could be mankind’s only hope against an unknown enemy known as the Mu.  But secrets and suspicions permeate the atmosphere, and Ayato starts to lose track of what he should really be doing.

Plot – Ayato is a Mulian (told you there would be spoilers).  It takes him quite a while to discover this, of course, as the only obvious difference between humans and Mulians is blood color, and it appears to be a trait that does not immediately manifest itself.  For quite some time beforehand, Ayato has been fighting against the attacking Mulian, out of a sense of duty to protect people. But his resolve has been severely shaken, as he no longer understands who he is, what he should do, or who he can rely on.

Review – This is an interesting, though confusing, series.  I absolutely love the opening theme, and the animation is overall a very good quality.  RahXephon bears some resemblance to Evangelion, and, unfortunately or otherwise, this includes some very confused teenagers.  Given the unusual situation that Ayato is thrust into, though, it is somewhat understandable, and a good portion of the series is about seeing how Ayato reacts to the things going on in his life.  If you’re looking for a series with a lot of great giant robot fights, stick with G Gundam.  If you’re looking for something which uses the giant robot as a device to put pressure onto a troubled character, then RahXephon is probably right down your alley.

Ga-Rei: Zero

Summary – The world is filled with ghosts, spirits, and other supernatural beings that the majority of the populace is unaware of.  The Japanese Ministry of Environment has a special task force given the task of controlling these beings.  Kagura is the daughter of a powerful family of vanquishers who is just now getting involved in these fights.  With the guidance of Yomi, who she views as a sister, she has to become stronger and come to terms with the world she is a part of.

Plot – Now, the first episode of this show is absolutely incredible to watch (as is the second, to a slightly lesser extent).  I wouldn’t want to deprive people of that experience, so if you want to watch this series, I strongly advise you to skip this section.

…

…

If you’re still with me, the first episode of Ga-Rei follows a group from the Ministry of Defense as they try to control a major situation in the city involving a large number of very powerful ghosts.  After a significant effort and great ingenuity, their original goals are completed, but every one of them ends up dead when the end credits roll.  Their entire purpose was apparently to benchmark the strength of the enemy that the team from the Ministry of Environment has to face.  When this team, including Kagura, shows up, they come to the shocking discovery that Yomi, who had been missing for some time, was for some reason fighting against them.  Over the course of this episode, Yomi all but single-handedly eliminates the entire team, until only Kagura is left.  Kagura loses the ensuing fight, and is apparently cut down.  When the third episode begins, the ‘rewind’ button has been pressed, and we go back to Kagura’s first meeting with Yomi, and follow the series of events to find out how things turned out as they did.

Review – Another series that I like quite a bit.  The combat isn’t sparse, but still the series manages to stay far away from any shonen stereotypes – fights are serious and frantic, consequences are very real, and characters really react to the weight that is put on them.  I would definitely recommend this if you want a series with a heavy take on fighting ghosts.

Break

Ah, halfway through.  That’s quite a lot of writing there, isn’t it?  You should have seen it LAST semester when I did a mid-semester review.  Hoo boy, was that thing long.  I feel like I’ve gotten better at this since then.  Well, let’s continue, shall we?

Toradora!

Summary – Taiga is a small girl who strikes fear into her classmates.  She is best friends with Minori, and in love with Yusaku.  Ryuji is a kind, caring guy whose scary face intimidates his classmates.  He is best friends with Yusaku, and in love with Minori.  Ryuji and Taiga begin to work together to help win over their respective love interests.

Plot – Toradora! is a pretty standard high school drama.  And I don’t say that as a bad thing.  We seem to be moving ever closer to the inevitable Ryuji x Taiga pairing, and I still don’t mind.  I could sit here and explain every aspect of the plot, but I’m not going to.  Toradora! is easy enough to jump into, and you should really be experiencing everything as it was meant to be seen.

Review – Toradora! is still one of my favorite shows.  In this second season, we’ve unfortunately lost the super-catchy opening and closing, but the character interactions more than make up for it.  None of the cast feels one-dimensional, even minor characters.  There is a great mix of comedy and drama permeating the series.  I would highly recommend Toradora! to … well, just about anyone who likes high school dramas.

The Tower of Druaga

Summary – One day, a mysterious tower appeared within the desert, populated with demons.  A hero, Gilgamesh, fought his way to the top of the tower, and slew the demon, Druaga, who was its master.  Many years have passed, and the tower has reappeared, larger than ever.  The young warrior, Jil, wishes to build a party and ascend to the top of the tower to slay Druaga once more.

Plot – The first episode of this show is absolutely incredible.  They use EVERY SINGLE shonen stereotype, just so that’s all out of the way when the series actually gets into swing.  After that, it seems to be a fairly straightforward adventure series with the ragtag party of adventurers trying to reach the top of the tower.  You probably don’t need to know much more to be able to watch this series.

Review – The Tower of Druaga is simply a fun series.  Even though it’s ostensibly a fight to protect the future of mankind, the main characters’ personalities are always hilariously at odds.  Not to mention that the general of a massive, well-trained army is constantly used as additional comic relief.  Is it without its serious moments?  Certainly not.  Will it take a darker turn?  It very well may, but I’m quite enjoying it as it is.  I’m definitely recommending this series to anyone that seems the tiniest bit interested.

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Summary – Utena is just a normal girl, who wants to grow up to be a prince!  Hilarity ensues!  Wait, scratch that last bit.  Utena’s ring marks her as a duelist for the hand of the Rose Bride, who is engaged to whoever is the current champion of the duels.  Though she isn’t happy with the idea of being engaged to her classmate, Anthy, she continues to fight so that Anthy doesn’t have to be a prize.  At stake is the mysterious power to revolutionize the world (whatever THAT means) and eternity (immortality?  I’m not going to claim this makes a lot of sense).

Plot – For the first half of the series, the plot is: Utena gets challenged to a duel, Utena goes to the duel with stock footage, Utena starts fighting, Utena wins with stock footage.  It’s broken up a bit by comedic filler episodes, but it’s still pretty methodic.  The next arc has a more significant plot, but the entire thing gets retconned at its conclusion.  The only important revelation here is that Anthy’s brother is pulling all of the strings behind the duels (shocking!  But it explains why he’s so creepy when we meet him).  We’re now in the third arc, and although the formula still hasn’t changed much, everything has gotten so ridiculous that it’s become a hundred times more amusing.  Even though every one of the characters is now revealed to be totally messed up.  Oh, and shirtless guys in a speeding red Camaro.

Review – Yes there are a lot of people that really like Utena, but I’m not looking to start a flame war (been there, done that).  Go ahead and respectfully disagree with my opinion if you’d like, don’t tell me I’m wrong.  With that out of the way…

Utena is FINALLY getting good.  The characters have become more interesting, the plot has become a bit thicker, and things have gotten so incredibly crazy that you can’t help but be amused.  That being said, it has taken FAR too long to get to a point where I can enjoy this series.  If a show fails to catch me in the first few episodes, that’s a significant problem – when it doesn’t get me until about 20 episodes in, there’s no chance I’ll be watching it on my own.  I might recommend skipping around a bit in the series, but I don’t think I’d tell anyone to watch the whole thing.  Even if it is a “classic”.

Sengoku BASARA

Summary – What if all of the players in Feudal Era Japan fought at the same time?  And had ridiculous fighting abilities?  Well, then you’d get something like Sengoku BASARA.

Plot – The many warlords of Japan are fighting amongst themselves to gain complete control.  However, a threat to all of them has arisen – Oda Nobunaga, the Demon King.  Now, several armies are joining forces in order to wipe out this threat.

Review – This may be one of the BEST SERIES EVER.  It is completely and utterly outrageous.  Powerful opponent meet each other with fire and explosions.  Date Masamune breaks out with his awesome Engrish, horse with motorcycle handlebars, and six swords.  There is just so much awesome packed into this series.  I recommend it to EVERYONE.