Fall 2009 Schedule Released

It’s that time of the year again. Summer is winding down, pro football is gearing up for the pre-season, back-to-school sales are everywhere, and students are gearing up for the upcoming school year. Luckily, there is some good news to lift up your spirits—the release of the 2009 Fall Semester Schedule!

Notice that at our first meeting, we will be showing the classic Lupin III movie, The Castle of Cagliostro (Aug. 29).  We will be advertising the movie more as the beginning of the semester nears.

This semester, we have five series that will be making their CJAS premieres, all of which have been released in the past few years in the U.S. Higurashi no Kaku Koro ni is a horror series about a small town and its mysterious annual festival. Newly-arrived Keiichi must attempt to uncover the secret behind Hinamizawa’s disappearances and murders before he meets the same fate. In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Nanoha Takamichi is a normal Japanese grade-schooler who, after finding a shape-shifting ferret, gets mixed up in an intergalactic crisis. Claymore focuses on Claire, a Claymore warrior whose purpose is the eradication of Yoma, monsters that feed on humans. Along the way, they have to fight to keep their own humanity intact or face the consequences. Baccano! features a story about immortals, the mob, and one unforgettable train ride, set in the 1920s. The many seemingly disconnected threads do eventually weave together into a coherant picture; in the meantime, enjoy the ride! And I hope you have your ticket… Ouran High School Host Club is a brilliant send-up of the shojo genre that plays off just about every archetype imaginable while still managing to have compelling characters of its own. This is a series that can be enjoyed by jaded veterans and newcomers alike.

In addition to these new series and the movie, we will be showing three popular series and one very popular OVA from past schedules. In Genshiken, a freshman is drawn deeper and deeper into the mysterious world of “anime”, thanks to his school club “Genshiken”, the biggest bunch of weirdos ever to assemble in a single room to discuss “Why This Week’s Episode of Kujibiki Unbalance Was Awsome”. Wolf’s Rain, an elegantly melancholy post-apocalyptic anime, features a group of shape-shifting wolves searching for paradise in a world where they’re supposed to be extinct. In Outlaw Star, outlaw Gene Starwind, his young partner Jim Hawking, and their motley crew battle against space pirates and law enforcement alike in pursuit of the ultimate treasure. We end our semester schedule with Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman, a parody of the famous Super Sentai series. This one is a real “can’t miss” OVA.

Below are the complete summaries of everything we will be showing.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Keiichi Maebara moves from the big city to the small town of Hinamizawa, which appears at first glance to be a simple countryside village. He soon discovers, however, that the town has suffered a series of mysterious disappearances and outright murders which no one seems willing to talk about. When he starts finding clues left behind by one of the villagers who disappeared, he becomes increasingly suspicious of his new friends, and attempts to aid the police in solving the incidents while avoiding suffering the same fate. While this series seems at first to be quite light-hearted, its dark nature quickly seeps through the cracks of the town’s idyllic façade, and it becomes a genuinely creepy (and at times disturbing) experience.

Ouran High School Host Club
In this brilliant parody of the stereotype-laden shojo genre, poor, study-absorbed nerd Haruhi Fujioka enters a rich high school only to be mistaken for a boy and forced to work as a “host” for the academy’s young ladies. Her Host Club colleagues present themselves to customers as well-worn shojo archetypes, from the adorably earnest princely leader to the childish-seeming short kid (voiced by and greatly resembling Momiji from Fruits Basket). Off the clock, though, their motives for acting the way they do vary from conniving desire for profit to mischief-craving ennui to genuine starry-eyed passion for making upper-class young ladies’ days. The whole affair is presented in a very self-aware, hyperbolic way which plays off of just about every shojo trope out there while still managing to have compelling characters of its own, creating a show which can be enjoyed by jaded fans and newcomers alike.

Outlaw Star
In this sci-fi adventure, Gene Starwind and his young partner Jim Hawking run a shop that “fixes any problem, from engines to relationships;” but an encounter with a mysterious outlaw woman thrusts them well over their heads into conflict with pirates. Joined with the bio-android Melfina, Gene sets out to find out the truth behind his new ship, the Outlaw Star, as well as Melfina herself. The series features an ensemble of colorful characters, each motivated by their own disparate goals. The series begins as a straightforward action-adventure, combining an old West lawlessness with high-technology space sci-fi. Outlaw Star gets better and better as it progresses, however, eventually culminating in a highly-symbolic climax and addressing themes of self-determination, identity, and what it means to be human. A definite classic.

Wolf’s Rain
People say that wolves have become extinct centuries before. People are wrong: wolves have just become better at hiding. As humanity shelters beneath huge domes that shelter them from the frozen wastes outside, wolves wander among them, disguised as humans themselves, with only the most subtle of signs to give them away. And while humans seem to have given up on both science and beauty, the wolves have their own lore and legends. Among them, it speaks of paradise. Four wolves have decided to find paradise, dragging others along with them and upending parts of what remains of the world in their passage. But nothing is free, and on this cold earth, prices are higher than most.

Claymore
This series takes place in a world of abundant towns where humans coexist with shape-changing demons called Yoma.  These monsters hide in human form until they feed on humans.  As they feed, they take possession of the memories of those they eat, allowing them to better disguise themselves.  A group of skilled Claymore warriors protect humans from these demons.  The story follows the adventures of the beautiful Claymore warrior Clare, who fights demons and struggles to hold on to her humanity.
[Summary adapted from TVRage]

Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro
This movie is a crossover between two fine old franchises: Hayao Miyazaki and Lupin III. Many anime pay tribute to (or parody) this movie, especially the bits with the clocktower. Can our dashing young thief (a blend of James Bond and Inspector Gadget), along with his gunman, swordman, sometimes-girlfriend, and the cop that’s perpetually a step behind, manage to find the treasure, defeat the evil Count, and rescue the princess? Well, of course! But don’t you want to see HOW?

Baccano!
An old mobster tries to recreate the elixer that made him immortal. An immortal child seeks a safe haven. A girl looks for her brother. A young mobster starts out to make a name for himself. Two clueless but surprisingly competent thieves take a train ride. A younger set of thieves realize they picked the wrong train to rob when a mob war breaks out in the dining car. And those bloodstains seem to indicate that “Rail Tracer” is killing everyone in sight. There is also a fire, a homunculus, a stolen bottle of elixer, lots of fancy hats and costume changes, at least one car chase, and more gunplay than you can imagine, in, and this is the kicker, no particular order.

Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman
Aliens have secretly invaded Earth and are trying to take over!…But since they’re attempting an economic takeover, who better to protect us than a group of costumed businessmen? They just shouldn’t have been allowed to choose their own colors…Cheer on Shinesmen Red, Grey, Sepia, Salmon Pink and Moss Green as they simultaneously save the day, seal the deal, get romantically entangled with aliens, visit a theme park, inspire children, discover new powers, and start more plot threads than can possibly be resolved in two episodes!