The Anime Times

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan on VIZAnime.com and Hulu

2010-07-07T11:54:00.004-05:00

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), is showing Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan on VIZAnime.com just hours after the episodes are shown in Japan.
This will happen every Monday.

The videos are hosted on Hulu, as you can see on the player at VIZAnime.com.
After getting to the page, I waited...and waited...and got nothing on the player but a black screen.

So I went to Hulu and did a search on Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, found the page there and it loaded right up.

Maybe VIZAnime.com was just having a glitch that day.

By the way, it says on the Hulu site...
" Each Monday Hulu will add -- direct from Japan -- subtitled episodes of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, one episode per week immediately following their original Japanese airdates."

So if you go to VIZ and can't see the anime, just go to Hulu.

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan on VIZAnime.com and Hulu, posted to http://anime-times.blogspot.com/ on July 7th, 2010

Bleach, Naruto Shippuden and Monster Hunter News

2010-05-25T09:37:00.004-05:00

Dragon Ball Z Kai and Naruto Shippuden
Over at NY Breaking News, Neo discusses Dragon Ball Z Kai airing on CW4kids this fall and the latest Naruto Shippuden English Dub Episodes on iTunes.
You can see Neo's vlog here

Monster Hunter
Okay, Monster Hunter is a game that spawned a manga (Monster Hunter Orage), not the other way around, but since the game is very popular with anime and manga fans, I thought I'd include this.
Capcom has announced that this summer, it will release its new Monster Hunter spinoff game with a Flash-animated tie-in project on Japanese television.
On August 26th, MonHun Nikki Pokapoka Airū-mura will ship for the Sony PSP console in Japan.
Full story here

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 1, comes out on DVD and Blu-ray this week, and you can read a review of it here

Also coming out this week are Bleach, Vol. 28 and Kenichi: Season One.

On a side note, I have seen where you can watch Bleach Episode 272, Ichigo Vs Ulquiorra Conclusion, many places on the web, but so far, I haven’t found a single one that actually works.
If you find one that actually is a link to the episode, you can post it in the comments.
But I'll check the link before I approve it, so no funny business...LOL

Bleach, Naruto Shippuden and Monster Hunter News, posted to http://anime-times.blogspot.com/ on May 25th, 2010.

Are Anime and Manga Going Live Action?

2010-05-04T11:14:00.000-05:00

Since DC and Marvel are rolling out (usually successful) films based on their superheroes, why wouldn't Hollywood start mining Anime?
Well they are.
Steven Spielberg is working on Ghost in the Shell, James Cameron is working on Battle Angel Alita, Peter Segal and Michael Ewing are working on Bleach and The Hughes Brothers are working on Akira.

Over at indieWIRE, guest blogger Cameron Carlson has an article about the upcoming live action films based on Anime, and a whole lot more that are in development...

" Would you buy a ticket for a big-budget, live-action anime feature? What if there were four of them released at the same time? That could be the plight facing anime fans in 2011, and while the fans of japanimation recognize the difference between a cyborg and a mobile battle suit, the general public does not."

You can read the full article here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2010/05/04/anime_next_big_thing/

So with that in mind, here are a few Anime/Manga projects that have already made the leap to the big screen...

Lady Snowblood (1973)
Based on the manga by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Kazuo Kamimura.
There was a sequel, Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance in 1974, and a science fiction remake in 2001, released in the US as The Princess Blade.
Quentin Tarantino has said the film was a major inspiration for his Kill Bill films.

The Guyver (1991)
Based on the Bio-Booster Armor Guyver manga series written by Yoshiki Takaya, it spawned a sequel, Guyver: Dark Hero in 1994.

City Hunter (1993)
A Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film based on the manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo.
Notable because it starred Jackie Chan as Ryo Saeba.

Hana Yori Dango (1995)
Based on the shōjo manga series Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio
In 2008, Hana Yori Dango Final was released in theatres on as the end of the live action Japanese TV series.

Crying Freeman (1995)
A French and Canadian produced action film based on the manga by Kazuo Koike & Ryoichi Ikegami.

Blue (2001)
A Japanese romantic drama based on the manga Blue by Kiriko Nananan.

Blue Spring (2001)
A Japanese film based on a manga by Taiyō Matsumoto.

Doing Time (2002)
Based on the manga by Kazuichi Hanawa.

Cutie Honey (2004)
Starring Japanese model Eriko Sato and based on the manga and anime series Cutie Honey.

A Battle of Wits (2006)
This Hong Kong historical action drama film, was based upon a Japanese historical novel and a manga series written by Hideki Mori.

Death Note (2006)
Not one, but three films were based on the manga and anime series by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
Death Note was released on June 17, 2006, Death Note: The Last Name was released on November 3, 2006 and a spin-off L: Change the World, was released on February 9, 2008.
This film is one of those set for a remake by Warner Bros.

Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Based of course on the Japanese manga and anime series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama.
Despite the fact the film flopped at the box office, with critic and with fans, there is a sequel rumored

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Sakura, But Which One?

2010-04-16T09:27:00.005-05:00

Well the number one female anime / manga character on this list is kinda hard to figure out.
At number seven, we had Sakura from Naruto.
But, the name Sakura comes in at number one.
Is it Naruro's Sakura?
Or is it Sakura Kinomoto, from Cardcaptor Sakura?
That's the question.

Is it Sakura Haruno from Naruto?

It looks like both of them have a loyal fanbase, and with both being named Sakura, how can I tell the difference?
I really hate ties, I like to see one clear winner, but the only thing I can think of is to call it a draw and list both Naruto's Sakura and Cardcaptor's Sakura as a tie for number one.

Is it Sakura Kinomoto, from Cardcaptor Sakura?

This is kinda like DC comics and Marvel both having a character named Batman, and trying to figure out which companies character is the most popular.

Personally, I'd have to give the nod to Sakura Haruno from Naruto, but like I said Sakura Kinomoto seems to have just as much popularity.

Or is it this?

Of course since Sakura means Cherry Blossom, so maybe it's just that cherry trees are really popular.

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Sakura, But Which One? , posted to http://anime-times.blogspot.com/ on April 16th, 2010.

The Top Ten Anime Girls - Eve - Black Cat

2010-04-01T18:50:00.002-05:00

Number Two - Eve (Black Cat)

Eve, the genetically engineered bio-weapon that looks like a young girl from the Anime and Manga Black Cat comes in at number number two on the list.
Using nanotechnology Eve can transform her body into various types of offensive and defensive weapons.
At first she could only do parts, but later, she developed the ability to transform her entire body into a weapon, though it puts quite a strain on her.

You have to admit, having a person on your side that can turn her arms into blades, hammers, shields etc., and turn her hair into fists and more blades, turn her skin into steel, sprout wings and swim underwater like a mermaid has it's advantages.

Eve was raised to be an emotionless killing machine and designed to be the ultimate soldier.

She is usually called "Princess", or "Hime-chan" by Train.

Eve versus Leon (Black Cat)

Eve - Black Cat, posted to http://anime-times.blogspot.com/ on April 1st, 2010

The Top Ten Anime Girls,Orihime Inoue (Bleach)

2009-06-10T10:48:00.002-05:00

Number 3. Orihime Inoue (Bleach)

Number three on the list is Orihime Inoue from the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo.

Besides the manga and anime series, Orihime has appeared in Bleach video games and animated films.
Her likeness has also been made into items like action figures, figurines, key chains and you can even buy replicas of her ever present hair pins.
She has also ranked very high in popularity polls among readers.
Outside of Bleach, she has appeared in Gin Tama created by Hideaki Sorachi.

Bleach: Excellent Model Series Inoue Orihime & Yoruichi PVC Figure 1/8 Scale

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Misa Amane / Death Note

2009-06-05T16:54:00.004-05:00

Misa Amane, Manga

Number 4. Misa Amane (Death Note)

The Japanese manga, anime and film series Death Note was created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata.
The female protagonist in the Death Note series, Misa Amane, is very popular.
Popular enough to come in at number 4 at least.

Misa Amane, Anime

In the series, Misa is a famous model, singer and actress and is infatuated with Light Yagami.
She usually refers to herself in the third person by calling herself "Misa-Misa" to be cute and she leans toward being hyperactive.

Misa Amane, Film

In the film adaptations of Death Note, Death Note (2006), Death Note: The Last Name (2006) and the spin off movie, L: Change the World (2008) , Misa was portrayed by Erika Toda.

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Chi

2009-05-21T11:07:00.002-05:00

Number 5. Chi (Chobits)

Chi (or Chii) is a character from the manga and anime series Chobits, that also appears in the series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Kobato.
She is a Chobit (a persocom or personal computer) created by Ichiro Mihara.
The name Chobit comes from her creator who called anything "small and hopelessly adorable" Chobi.
So two Chobi, Chi and her sister Freya, became "Chobits".

Chobits - Persocom (Vol. 1)

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Yuki Nagato

2009-05-13T10:52:00.005-05:00

http://blogs.ign.com/foxrevolution/2008/03/29/85340/

6. Yuki Nagato (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

The catgirl Yuki Nagato from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya comes in at number six on the list.
This introverted, but supernaturally powered young lady seems to be pretty popular.
She's popular enough that several PVC Statues of her have been released, one of which you can see below.

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Yuki Nagato White Bunny 1/6 Scale Figure

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 1

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Sakura

2009-04-16T11:13:00.003-05:00

I'm dead sexy.....

The seventh most popular anime girl is Sakura from Naruto.
Really?
I don't see it.
I guess she has a nice personality.

I mean even Masashi Kishimoto says he has had difficulty drawing her, resulting in her having a huge forehead.
But she ranked high enough to be number seven.

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Galatea

2009-03-06T12:26:00.003-05:00

http://www.animegalleries.net/

8. Galatea from the Claymore anime.

Claymore is a dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Norihiro Yagi and a twenty-six episode anime directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka.
One of the more kind-hearted Claymores, Galatea starts out in the series as Claymore Number 3.
She is able to sense other Claymores from a long distance, read their emotions, and see their actions as if she were there.

Claymore, Starter Set (includes Vol. 1)

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Rei Ayanami

2009-02-19T11:30:00.003-05:00

9. Rei Ayanami
If you don't know what Neon Genesis Evangelion is, you must be new to anime.
Rei Ayanami is just one of the characters in the series.
But the pilot of Evangelion Unit 00 appears to be very popular.
Just based on sculptures alone, everybody seems to want her in some form.

The Top Ten Anime Girls, Simca

2009-02-13T11:02:00.001-05:00

Of course everyone has their favorite girl in Anime, so making a list based on popularity would be very hard.
So I turned to who was the most searched for anime girls.
Starting in reverse order, we begin with......

10. Simca (Air Gear)

Simca, the leader of Genesis in the Manga and Anime "Air Gear".

Air Gear is a shōnen manga and anime by the mangaka Oh! great (Tenjho Tenge).
Both in the East and West, this Anime has gained a lot of popularity.
And Simca herself seems to have a fairly large fanbase.
She's popular enough to come in at number ten on the list.
In the Japanese Anime she's voiced by Rie Tanaka, and in the English dub, she's voiced by Monica Rial.
Simca also seems to be a very popular cosplay character.

Hoshin Engi / Soul Hunter

2009-02-06T09:13:00.001-05:00

Hoshin Engi (also known as Soul Hunter) is a Japanese manga and anime by Ryu Fujisaki.
Hoshin Engi was inspired by an ancient Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods or The Creation of the Gods).
From 1996 to 2000, the manga series was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine.
VIZ Media acquired the rights to the manga and bimonthly releases started June 5, 2007.
The manga was also compiled in 23 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha.
After VIZ Media acquired the rights, 18 Kanzenban (collector edition) volumes were released between July 2005 and June 2006.
The manga was adapted into a 26 episode anime that was broadcast on Japanese TV in 1999.
It was released on DVD in North America as Soul Hunter in 2001.
Some of the characters from the series appear in Jump Ultimate Stars, a fighting video game developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The game is similar to Super Smash Bros.
A video game based on the manga was released for the Game Boy Advance and the Wonderswan.

Shaman King

2009-01-28T13:23:00.002-05:00

Shaman King is a 285 chapter, 32 volume manga and 64 episode anime series created by Hiroyuki Takei.
The manga started in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan, which lead into the creation of the anime.
The anime starts off following the events of the manga for about half the series and then slowly moves into its own plot.
You can see more about the manga at their English site here.
And you can learn more about the anime series at JETIX's Shaman King website here.

The Wallflower / Perfect Girl Evolution / Yamato Nadeshiko

2009-01-09T11:54:00.001-05:00

The Wallflower (a.k.a Perfect Girl Evolution and Yamato Nadeshiko) is an anime and manga series written by Tomoko Hayakawa.
The individual chapters have been serialized in Bessatsu Friend since its premiere in 2000 and Nippon Animation adapted part of the manga series into a twenty-five episode anime series
The story follows a girl named Sunako Nakahara, who was called "ugly" by the first and only person to whom she confessed her love.
This causes Sunako to change and shun all forms of beauty, both in herself as well as in life.
Sunako's aunt, who owns a beautiful mansion where four very handsome students live, offers the guys free rent in if they can turn Sunako into a "perfect lady" or Yamato Nadeshiko.
It's a kind of "My Fair Lady" story with a few twists.

Shugo Chara!

2009-01-02T13:39:00.001-05:00

Created by the manga author duo, Peach-Pit (Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara), Shugo Chara! is a manga and anime that follows elementary schoolgirl Amu Hinamori.
The manga is serialized in the Japanese magazine Nakayoshi and published by Kodansha.
Shugo Chara! went on sale on January 3, 2006 in the February edition of Nakayoshi magazine.
It was adapted into an Anime, produced by Satelight under the direction of Kenji Yasuda, on October 6, 2007.
Crunchyroll.com announced on November 19, 2008 that it will be streaming Shugo Chara! with English subtitles.
Shugo Chara! won the 2008 Kodansha Manga Award for best children's manga.
The first DVD compilation was released on February 20, 2008 by Pony Canyon.

Claymore

2008-12-19T11:56:00.001-05:00

Claymore started out, as a lot of anime does, as a manga.
This dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Norihiro Yagi. It appeared in the Monthly Shōnen Jump in May 2001.
When Monthly was canceled in June 2007, the series moved to Weekly Shonen Jump.
The first eleven volumes of the series was made into a twenty-six episode anime series by Madhouse Studios, and it premiered in Japan on NTV on April 3, 2007.
The plot is basically that a group of superhuman warriors called Claymores are created by a nameless secret organization to protect humans from flesh-eating creatures called Yoma.
Most of the claymores are female, because human males who are changed to hybrids (by implanting Yoma flesh and blood into humans) tend to lose control of their powers faster.
The series follows the adventures of one Claymore named Clare and her friend Raki.

Vampire Knight

2008-12-11T12:21:00.000-05:00

Continuing along with Vampire Animes....

Vampire Knight, a manga and anime series written by Matsuri Hino, premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa magazine and is still on-going.
Hakusensha publishes chapters in collected volumes, nine of which have been released in Japan.
A twenty-six episode anime adaptation was produced by Studio Deen and directed by Kiyoko Sayama.
The first season of thirteen episodes, premiered on TV Tokyo in Japan on April 8, 2008 and ran until the season finale on July 1, 2008.
The second thirteen episode season, called Vampire Knight Guilty, premiered on October 7, 2008.
Besides the manga and anime, two drama CDs have been released, two light novels, a video game (Vampire Knight DS coming out in 2009) and the official Vampire Knight Fanbook was released in November 2008.

Hellsing

2008-12-02T10:53:00.002-05:00

And now for one of my personal favorite animes.....Hellsing.

Hellsing is a Japanese manga and anime series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano.
It debuted in Young King Ours in 1997 and ended in 2008.
Hellsing chronicles the efforts of the mysterious and secret Hellsing Organization, as it combats vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural foes who threaten the United Kingdom.

Dark Horse Comics is licensed for the English language release of the manga in North America. In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment owns the rights and in Singapore the rights are owned by Chuang Yi.
Hellsing: The Dawn, a prequel series, has been published in special editions of Young King OURs since 2001.

The anime series was produced by Gonzo and directed by Umanosuke Iida from a screenplay by Chiaki Konaka.
It is different from the manga in terms of plot, though it uses some of the same characters and similar character designs.
The anime was broadcast on Fuji Television in Japan from October 10, 2001 to January 16, 2002.
Satelight and Geneon. is producing an original video animation (OVA) called Hellsing Ultimate. Ultimate follows the manga story line more closely than the first anime series.

Hellsing (Complete Boxed Set)

xxxHolic

2008-11-25T11:53:00.000-05:00

This is another manga, anime from CLAMP that ties in with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Cardcaptor Sakura.
xxxHolic has been serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine since 2003 and published in volumes under the KC Deluxe label.
It's published in the United Kingdom by Tanoshimi and in the US by Del Rey Manga.
On August 20, 2005, an animated movie, xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream, was released in Japan. The movie was released on DVD on November 24, 2006 and TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) began airing a TV animation series April 6, 2006 in Japan. Funimation Entertainment obtained the rights to both the movie and TV series for distribution in the United States.
At the end of the second season run of the anime, a special episode was announced for a DVD-only release. It will be bundled for release with volume 14 of the manga on January 16, 2009.

In the manga there are references to Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Magic Knight Rayearth, Legal Drug, Kobato, Chobits, Lupin III and Cat's Eye.
In the anime, there are references to Ōkiku Furikabutte (a baseball manga) and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

"Watanuki's Sixteen-day-old Moon Grass Story" was released as a video game in Japan for the PlayStation 2 on August 9, 2007.

Cardcaptor Sakura

2008-11-17T13:51:00.001-05:00

Cardcaptor Sakura is a magical girl manga series from the famous all-female artist team CLAMP (creators of Angelic Layer, Magic Knight Rayearth and Tokyo Babylon, among others) .
Cardcaptor Sakura is published in Japan by Kodansha (the largest manga publisher in Japan) and was serialized in Nakayoshi (a shōjo manga magazine).
The manga series consists of twelve volumes.
The Cardcaptor Sakura manga is well-known for its emphasis on the shōjo genre (manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10 and 18) of the series, with nearly every page having detailed flowers, bubbles, or sparkles around the main characters.
It won the Seiun Award for Best Manga in 2001, and the anime won the Animage Grand Prix award for best anime in 1999.
The manga was translated into English by Tokyopop.

Cardcaptor Sakura was adapted into an anime television series, animated by Madhouse (Death Note, Chobits, Trigun) and directed by Morio Asaka (who also did Chobits) .
The character designer and chief animation director for the series was Kumiko Takahashi (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam).
It premiered on NHK from April 8, 1998 and finished airing on March 21, 2000.
Two theatrically released movies (Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie and Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card), and several specials (Tomoyo's video diary 1, 2 and 3) were also produced.
The second season of TV series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1999.
Nelvana produced an English dub of the anime series, titled Cardcaptors, which aired in English-speaking countries.
An unedited English translation, bearing the original title, Cardcaptor Sakura, was broadcast in its English-language networks by the anime television network Animax.
Cardcaptor Sakura has also been released in North America (but not the UK or Australia) on unedited and subtitled DVDs under its original title.

Besides being a very popular anime, Cardcaptor Sakura has another interesting quirk.
Several of the characters from Cardcaptor Sakura have been reworked for use in another Clamp series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.
Sakura (The Princess of Clow Country) and "Syaoran" Li (The son of Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li) are two of the cross overs from Cardcaptor to Tsubasa.

The series has been adapted into several video games, developed for Game Boy, PlayStation, WonderSwan, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

2008-11-06T11:12:00.000-05:00

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle is a manga series by Clamp (a Japanese mangaka group).
It is currently being serialized in Shōnen Magazine.

It was adapted into an anime series, Tsubasa Chronicle (renamed Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle in English) animated by Bee Train.
It was aired in 52 episodes over two seasons during 2005 and 2006.
Three OVAs (original video animation) were also released in every two months, from November 2007 through March 2008.

As of September 1st, 2008, the English dub is being broadcast on the Funimation in the United States.
The English dub is also being broadcast by Animax across its English language networks in Southeast Asia at the beginning of 2006 under the title 'Chronicle of The Wings'.
Tsubasa Chronicle was released in the United Kingdom by Revelation Films in September 2007.
Tsubasa Chronicle Season 2 will also be released in the UK.
Both seasons and the movie (Tsubasa Chronicle the Movie: The Princess of the Country of Birdcages) are licensed for release in North America by FUNimation

Ouran High School Host Club

2008-10-22T11:25:00.001-05:00

Ouran High School Host Club is a manga and anime series done by Bisco Hatori.
The Manga has been serialized in Hakusensha's LaLa magazine since August 5, 2003.
Ouran High School Host Club follows Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at Ouran High School, and the other members of the host club.
The romantic comedy focuses on the relationships within and without the Club and satirizes the stereotypes that endure in series aimed at girls.
Besides the anime, the manga has been adapted into a series of audio dramas and a visual novel by Idea Factory.

The animated television series, Ouran High School Host Club, premiered April 5, 2006 on Japan's NTV network. The series was directed by Takuya Igarashi and written by Yōji Enokido, who also wrote Revolutionary Girl Utena and The Melody of Oblivion, while the character designer and chief animation director for the series was Kumiko Takahashi, who did Cardcaptor Sakura. It also features a different cast from the audio dramas, with Maaya Sakamoto starring as Haruhi Fujioka and Mamoru Miyano portraying Tamaki Suou. Ouran High School Host Club finished its run on September 26, 2006, totaling to twenty-six episodes.

The series is licensed for distribution in North America by FUNimation Entertainment. The first anime DVD set containing the first thirteen episodes will be released on October 28, 2008 in North America. The second volume will follow in January 2009 containing the last thirteen episodes.

Detective Conan / Case Closed

2008-10-15T10:44:00.001-05:00

Detective Conan is a Japanese detective manga and anime series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama and has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday since 1994.
In the English speaking world it is called Case Closed because of legal issues with the Conan the Barbarian franchise.

Case Closed is about the adventures of Jimmy Kudo, a young detective who was investigating a secret criminal organization when he was knocked unconsious and given a drug that was supposed to kill him, but instead it turned him into a prepubescent boy.
The manga and anime versions are both very popular and the series has been adapted into 12 Golden Week movies. Starting on April 17, 1997, one movie a year has been released. Ten of those movies have been in the top ten each year. Nine OVAs (Original video animation released on home video formats) have also been released.

Chibi Vampire

2008-10-08T09:35:00.001-05:00

Chibi Vampire was originally released in Japan as Karin.
It is a Japanese manga and anime series written and illustrated by Yuna Kagesaki.
The story is about basically a " reverse vampire"girl , instead of drinking blood, she must inject it into others because she produces too much.
Chibi Vampire first premiered in the shōnen magazine Monthly Dragon Age from October 2003 until February 2008.
The individual chapters of the story were published by Kadokawa Shoten into thirteen collected volumes.

Both the manga and light novel series were released by Tokyopop in English. Tokyopop renamed the manga series Chibi Vampire and the novel series Chibi Vampire: The Novel.

In 2005, an anime adaptation of Chibi Vampire was created by J.C.Staff and directed by Shinichiro Kimura.
Twenty-four episodes were aired in Japan on WOWOW from November 3, 2005 till May 11, 2006.
It was licensed for an English release to Region 1 DVD, under the name Karin, by Geneon USA.
On July 3, 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced that Funimation had agreed to be the exclusive North American distributer of Geneon titles, including Chibi Vampire.

A guidebook to the Chibi Vampire series, Karin All-Nosebleeds Book, was released in 2006.

Chibi Vampire, Volume 1 (v. 1)

The Prince of Tennis

2008-09-30T14:06:00.002-05:00

You know I was really surprised that this anime is still as popular as it is.

The Prince of Tennis is a popular Japanese manga and anime written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi.
First published in Japan in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in July 1999, the manga ended publication on March 3, 2008.
A total of 379 chapters were written, comprising 42 volumes. It has sold over 40 million copies in Japan.
The manga is published in English in North America by Viz Media.

It was adaptated into an anime series directed by Takayuki Hamana, animated by Trans Arts and co-produced by Nihon Ad Systems and TV Tokyo.
The anime aired in Japan on the anime satellite television network Animax and the terrestrial TV Tokyo network from October 10, 2001 to March 30, 2005, spanning a total of 178 episodes. There was also a feature movie.
In April 2006, an OVA continuation of the anime began to be released on DVD. The beginning of the second OVA series was released on June 22, 2007. The second OVA ended on January 25, 2008, and the third and final OVA started on April 25, 2008.

Since April 2003, over fifteen stage musicals have been produced for the series. An animated movie was released in 2005, as well as a live action movie in 2006. In addition, a 22-episode-long live-action television drama began airing in China on July 25, 2008. The franchise has also had a long running radio show, several video games, soundtracks, and other assorted merchandise and collectibles.

YuYu Hakusho

2008-09-22T09:55:00.001-05:00

YuYu Hakusho is a Japanese manga and later anime series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi.

Originally, the manga was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump. The series consists of 175 chapters collected in 19 tankobon ( volumes in a series), and won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 1994. In North America, the manga currently runs in Viz's Shonen Jump.

The anime was directed by Noriyuki Abe and co-produced by Fuji Television, Yomiko Advertising, and Studio Pierrot. It consisted of 112 television episodes and two movies: "The Golden Seal" and "Bonds of Fire". The anime series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1993 and 1994. The TV series was originally aired on Japan's Fuji Television network from October 10, 1992 to January 7, 1995, and was later licensed in North America by Funimation in 2001. The show first aired on US TV on February 2002 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. In March 2003, the show moved to Cartoon Network's Toonami block due to higher ratings. YuYu Hakusho was taken off Toonami around March 2005 and moved to an early Saturday morning time slot at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time where the series finished its run. It also aired as part of the Funimation programming block on Colours TV.

A series of YuYu Hakusho OVAs were released only in Japan. It has also been broadcast across Japan, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent by the anime satellite television network Animax.

A number of video games have been released that tie to the YuYu Hakusho series.

Chobits

2008-09-16T11:16:00.000-05:00

Chobits is a Japanese manga created by Clamp (a Japanese mangaka group).
It was published by Kodansha in Young Magazine from February 2001 to November 2002 and was collected in eight bound volumes.
Unlike most stories by Clamp, Chobits is a seinen (manga that is generally targeted at an 18–30 year old male audience) series, specifically of the magical girlfriend variety, using robotics and computers as a subplot.
Chobits is commonly mistaken for shōjo (manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10 and 18) because of its strong romantic themes and flowery art style.
Chobits was adapted as a 26-episode-long anime television series broadcast on TBS and Animax from April to September 2002.
It has spawned a video game as well as merchandise such as figurines, collectable cards, calendars, and artbooks.

The series tells the story of Hideki Motosuwa, who finds an abandoned persocom, or personal computer with human form, that he names Chi after the only word she initially can speak. As the series progresses, together they explore the mysteries of Chi's origin and questions about the relationships between humans and persocoms. The manga is set in the same universe as Angelic Layer, taking place a few years after the events of that story, and like Angelic Layer, it explores the relationship between humans and electronic devices shaped like humans. Chobits branches off as a crossover to many other stories in different ways, such as Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and xxxHolic.

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Fruits Basket / Furuba

2008-09-10T10:54:00.002-05:00

Fruits Basket, sometimes abbreviated Furuba, is a Japanese manga series by Natsuki Takaya. It was serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese magazine Hana to Yume, published by Hakusensha, from 1999 to 2006. The series was also adapted into a 26-episode anime series, directed by Akitaro Daichi. The series tells the story of Tohru Honda, an orphan girl who, after meeting Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Sohma, learns that thirteen members of the Sohma family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac and are cursed to turn into their animal forms if they embrace anyone of the opposite gender.

The word "Fruits" in the title is always plural; the spelling originates from the transcription of the English word "fruit" into Japanese, where because there is no "tu" sound, "tsu" is used instead. The title comes from the name of a popular game played in Japanese elementary schools, which is alluded to in the series.

Mushishi

2008-09-03T12:07:00.000-05:00

Mushishi is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Urushibara and published in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine. It ran from 1999 to August 2008.

The manga was adapted into an animated television series in 2005. The Artland production was directed by Hiroshi Nagahama. Episodes one through twenty aired in stations across Japan between October 2005 and March 2006. Episodes 21 through 26 aired on BS Fuji every Sunday from May 14, 2006 to June 18 of the same year. A live-action feature film adaptation, directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, premiered on March 24, 2007.

The Mushishi manga won an Excellence Prize at the 2003 Japan Media Arts Festival and the 2006 Kodansha Manga Award.

The anime series was animated by Artland and directed by Hiroshi Nagahama and spanned a total of 26 episodes. The first 20 episodes of the series first aired between October 2005 and March 2006 on Fuji TV and its affiliated broadcast networks, including Kansai TV, Tōkai TV, Hokkaidō Bunka Hoso, TV Shinhiroshima, TV Nishinippon. Episodes 21 through 26 aired on BS Fuji every Sunday from May 14, 2006 to June 18 of the same year.

The television series covered every chapter from the first five volumes of the manga and the first story from volume six, but did not adhere to the original order.

At the 5th Tokyo Anime Award competition held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, held on March 25, 2006, the anime series won grand prizes in the categories of television series and best art direction (for Takashi Waki).

The series has later been aired by the Japanese anime television network, Animax, who have also aired the series later across its respective networks worldwide, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. It has also been licensed for distribution across numerous other regions, including North America by Funimation.

Cowboy Bebop

2008-08-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

Cowboy Bebop is an animated Japanese television series. It was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and written by Keiko Nobumoto and produced by Sunrise. It consisted of 26 episodes. The series followed the adventures of a group of bounty hunters traveling on their spaceship, the Bebop, in the year 2071.

Cowboy Bebop was a commercial success both in Japan and international markets, notably in the United States. After this reception, Sony Pictures released a feature film, Knockin' on Heaven's Door to theaters worldwide and followed up with an international DVD release. Two manga adaptations were serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Asuka Fantasy DX.

Cowboy Bebop has been strongly influenced by American music, especially the jazz movements of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s and the early rock era of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of its action sequences, from space battles to hand-to-hand martial arts combat, are set and timed to music. Following the musical theme, episodes are called Sessions, and titles are often borrowed from album or song names (such as Sympathy for the Devil or My Funny Valentine), or make use of a genre name ("Mushroom Samba") indicating a given episode's musical theme.

Cowboy Bebop almost did not appear on Japanese television due to its depictions of violence. It was first sent to TV Tokyo, one of the main broadcasters of anime in Japan. The show had an aborted first run from April 3, 1998 until June 19, 1998 on TV Tokyo, broadcasting only episodes 2, 3, 7 to 15 and 18.

Later that year, the series was shown in its entirety from October 23 until April 23, 1999, on the satellite network WOWOW. With the TV Tokyo broadcast slot fiasco, the production schedule was disrupted to the extent that the last episode was delivered to WOWOW on the day of its broadcast. Cowboy Bebop won the Seiun Award in 2000.

The full series has also been broadcast across Japan by the anime television network, Animax, who has also aired the series via its respective networks across Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. Cowboy Bebop was popular enough that the movie, Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira (Knockin' on Heaven's Door), was commissioned and released in Japan in 2001, and later released in the United States as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie in 2003.

In a 2006 poll by TV Asahi, Cowboy Bebop was voted 40th for Japan's all-time favorite anime.

FLCL / Fooly Cooly

2008-08-23T15:05:00.000-05:00

FLCL (also Fooly Cooly) is an Japanese anime OVA series co-produced by Gainax and Production I.G. The series was created and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, and written by Yōji Enokido.

Furi Kuri follows the story of Naota Nandaba, a twelve-year-old boy living in the fictional industrial town of Mabase, and his encounters with the alien life-form Haruko Haruhara. The Japanese suburb houses the Medical Meccanica building, the reason for Haruko's visit.

The American reception for the series, although not widespread, has been enthusiastic following its release on Adult Swim in the summer of 2003. Anime.com also gave the series an enthusiastic review in October of that year, although there was also a minor reference to it in the September "issue". In 2003, it also went on to win third place for Best Animation Film at the Fantasia Festival.

FLCL has garnered both positive and negative reception among reviewers, sometimes diverging to extremes in both directions. Adult Swim occasionally refers to FLCL as "The greatest show we have ever aired". Christopher McDonald of Anime News Network called it "downright hilarious" and "visually superb" with great music, citing the packaging of 2 episodes per DVD as the only weakness of Synch-Point's original release.

On February 24, 2007, FLCL was nominated for "Best Cast", and won "Best Comedy Series" and "Best Short Series" at the first American Anime Awards show.

In the November 2007 issue of Anime Insider, FLCL was ranked 4th in their list of the best English-licensed anime of all time.

Sailor Moon

2008-08-19T09:45:00.001-05:00

Sailor Moon(officially translated as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon)is the title of a huge Japanese media franchise created by Naoko Takeuchi. It's generally credited with popularizing the concept of a sentai (team) of magical girls, as well as the general re-emergence of the magical girl genre itself.

The story of the various series revolves around the reincarnated defenders of a kingdom that once spanned the solar system, and the evil forces that they battle. The major characters—called Sailor Senshi (literally "Sailor Soldiers"; frequently called "Sailor Scouts" in the North American version)—are teenage girls who can transform into heroines named for the moon and planets (Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, etc). The use of "Sailor" comes from a style of girls' school uniform popular in Japan, the sērā fuku (sailor outfit), after which the Senshi's uniforms are modeled. The elements of fantasy in the series are heavily symbolic and often based on mythology.

Creation of the Sailor Moon manga was preceded by another, Codename: Sailor V, which centered around just one Sailor Senshi. Takeuchi devised the idea when she wanted to create a cute series about girls in outer space, and her editor asked her to put them in sailor fuku. When Sailor V was proposed for adaptation into an anime, the concept was modified so that Sailor V herself became only one member of a team. The resulting manga series was a fusion of the popular magical girl and sentai genres of which Takeuchi was a fan, making Sailor Moon one of the first series ever to combine the two.

The manga resulted in spinoffs into other types of media, including a highly popular anime, as well as musical theatre productions, video games, and a live-action (tokusatsu) series. Although most concepts in the many versions overlap, there are often notable differences, and thus continuity between the different formats is limited.

Elfen Lied

2008-08-06T10:28:00.002-05:00

Elfen Lied is a Japanese manga and anime series created by manga author Lynn Okamoto. A thirteen-episode anime series adaptation based on the manga was produced by the studio ARMS and broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to October 2004; the anime was later licensed in North America on DVD by ADV Films. The anime started before the manga was complete, as a result, the plot differed between the two, especially towards the ending of the story. In 2005, a special original video animation, written to occur between the tenth and eleventh episodes of the series, was released. The title is literally German for "Elves' Song", or more properly translated "Song of the Elves", and takes its name from the poem Elfenlied and the German word lied, a classical-romantic poem or musical work.

Elfen Lied revolves around the interactions, views, emotions, and discrimination between humans and the diclonius, a mutant species similar to humans in build but distinguishable by two cat-ear-like horns and "vectors", transparent arms which can pass through air and objects at high speed. The series is centered around the teenage Diclonius girl "Lucy", said to be the first Diclonius, being rejected by humans and her subsequent murderous vengeance upon them.

So far, only the thirteen-episode anime series has been licensed in the United States, by ADV Films and in Australia, by Madman Entertainment. ADV Films said the series was one of their bestselling and "most notorious" releases of 2005.

Samurai Champloo

2008-07-25T12:29:00.000-05:00

Samurai Champloo is a Japanese animated T.V. series consisting of twenty-six episodes. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004 through March 19, 2005 on the television network, Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo was created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, whose previous television show, Cowboy Bebop, earned him renown in the anime and Japanese television communities. The show was produced by studio Manglobe.

The word, champloo, comes from the Okinawan word "chanpurū" (as in gōyā chanpurū, the Okinawan stir-fry dish containing bitter melon). Chanpurū, alone, simply means "to mix" or "to hash." Therefore, the title, Samurai Champloo, may be translated to "Samurai Remix" or "Samurai Mashup."

The series is a cross-genre work of media, blending the action and samurai genres with elements of non-slapstick comedy. It is also a period piece, taking place during Japan's Edo period. The series is interwoven with revisionist historical facts and anachronistic elements of mise-en-scene, dialogue and soundtrack. The shows most frequent anachronism is its use of elements of hip hop culture, particularly rap and the music it has influenced, break dancing, turntablism, hip hop slang, and graffiti. The show also contains anachronistic elements from the punk subculture and modernism, but less prominently.

Wolf's Rain

2008-07-18T10:26:00.002-05:00

Wolf's Rain is an japanese animation series created by writer and story editor Keiko Nobumoto and produced by BONES Studio. The series was directed by Tensai Okamura and featured character designs by Toshiro Kawamoto with a soundtrack produced and arranged by Yoko Kanno. It focuses on the journey of four lone wolves who cross paths while following the scent of the Lunar Flowers. They form a pack and decide to seek out the Flower Maiden in order to open the way to Paradise. Along the way, they must avoid a fanatical wolf hunter and the nobles who wish to use the Flower Maiden to create their own Paradise.

The anime series was well received in Japan, being the third ranked anime series in its time slot while airing on Fuji TV. The Bandai Entertainment English language release sold well in North America. It helped Bandai gain the 2004 Anime Company of the Year award from industry news company ICv2 in the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Anime/Manga. The manga adaptation was selected as one of their top ten anime products of 2005 and sold well in North America. Reviewers of the series gave it high marks for characterization, visual presentation, and its soundtrack, while disparaging the existence of four recapitulation episodes in the middle of the series. The manga adaptation also sold well in North America and received good reviews, though reviewers felt its short length resulted in a rushed plot and neglected supporting characters.

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The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

2008-07-11T11:05:00.001-05:00

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the name of the 2006 television anime about a girl who, unknown to her, possesses the power to change reality. The story is based on the series of novels, the first of the same name. The anime adaptation, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and produced by Kyoto Animation, shares the first novel's plotline, contained in six self-contained episodes. Intermingled between them were seven episodes based on chapters from the second, third, fifth, and sixth novels. The ninth episode, "Someday in the Rain", was a new totally story written for the anime by Nagaru Tanigawa, the author of the novels. The fourteen episode series premiered in Japan on April 2, 2006 and aired until July 2, 2006. Notably, these episodes were not originally broadcast in chronological order.

Soon after the show aired, Kadokawa Shoten received offers from companies in regards to licensing the anime, manga, and novels. On December 22, 2006, the website asosbrigade.com revealed that the anime version of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was licensed for North American distribution by Kadokawa Pictures USA, who sublicensed production and distribution to Bandai Entertainment. The first and second DVDs were released on May 29, 2007 and July 3, 2007, respectively, with the third and fourth on September 25, 2007 and November 6, 2007.

The series was extremely popular and has become a cult television series with a large and dedicated fanbase. As of December 2006, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the most popular anime in Japan according to Newtype magazine. Similar to Star Trek's fans as Trekkies, fans of the series call themselves "Haruhiists", and the collective fandom is known as Haruhiism.

Eureka Seven / Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven

2008-07-03T11:10:00.001-05:00

Eureka Seven, known in Japan as Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven, is a mecha anime TV series by Bones. Eureka Seven tells the story of Renton Thurston and the outlaw group Gekkostate, his relationship with the enigmatic mecha pilot Eureka, and the mystery of the Coralians. Bandai produced three video games based on Eureka Seven; two of them are based on events prior to the show, while the third is based on the first half of the show. Both the original concept of the anime and the video game Eureka Seven vol.1: New Wave have been adapted into manga series, as well. The TV series has also been adapted into a series of four novels in Japan.

A movie based on the series was announced in the May issue of Newtype. The creators announced it will contain a new mythos, despite still featuring Renton and Eureka as the main characters. It will be produced by Kinema Citrus.

The series' origins can be traced to a pitch of a mecha anime series that Bandai had proposed to the animation studio Bones. At first, the studio rejected it, but later reversed its position because it had already planned to create an anime using mecha designs by Shoji Kawamori. With the appointment of director Tomoki Kyoda and writer Dai Satō, Bandai's proposal was more or less scrapped and the staff began work on their own series that would become Eureka Seven.

While conceptualizing Eureka Seven, director Tomoki Kyoda wished to design the series as one that would at first focus on the personal elements and conflicts of the characters, then subsequently move the framework into a broader scale and perspective. The series' two halves each have their own very clear focus that reflects this design choice. The series was Tomoki Kyoda's first as chief director for a TV anime; his major credits to date before that were his position as Assistant director of the RahXephon TV series and subsequent position of Director for the movie adaption, also from studio Bones. RahXephon creator and director Yutaka Izubuchi provided additional design works for Eureka Seven, as well.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

2008-06-27T10:24:00.001-05:00

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is an anime television series created by Sunrise. Directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, both of whom had earlier worked on another Sunrise series, the acclaimed Planetes, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion features original character designs by Clamp.

The first season of the series premiered across Japan on MBS from October 5, 2006,and concluded its run on July 28, 2007, after running for 25 episodes. A second season and sequel to the series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, premiered on MBS and TBS on April 6, 2008.

Both seasons of Code Geass have been licensed for release in the United States and Canada by Bandai Entertainment, and the first season began airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block in the U.S. on April 27, 2008.

Since its premiere, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion has collected numerous awards and accolades. At the sixth annual Tokyo Anime Awards held at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair, Code Geass won the best TV anime series award. In noted Japanese anime magazine Animage's 29th Annual Anime Grand Prix, Code Geass won the most popular series award, with Lelouch Lamperouge also being chosen as the most popular male character and "Colors" being chosen as the most popular song. At the first Seiyū Awards held in 2007, Jun Fukuyama won the award for best actor in a leading role for his performance as Lelouch Lamperouge in the series, while Ami Koshimizu won the award for best actress in a supporting role for her performance as Kallen Stadtfeld. Furthermore, Code Geass won the award for Best TV Animation at the twelfth Animation Kobe event, held annually in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture.

Fate/stay night

2008-06-19T09:04:00.001-05:00

Fate/stay night is a Japanese eroge visual novel game created by Type-Moon, which was originally released on January 30, 2004, for the PC. It has been adapted into an anime television series, which was animated by Studio Deen and aired between January 6, 2006, through June 16, 2006.

The official announcement and teaser trailer of the anime were first shown at the Rondo Robe 2005 "-Gate to Date-" event in Japan on June 26, 2005, and a curtain-raiser DVD was released in Japan during November 2005. An all-ages version of Fate/stay night, titled Fate/stay night Réalta Nua, was released for the PlayStation 2 on April 19, 2007, and features the seiyū from the anime series. The series has been adapted into a manga series, which began serialization in the monthly Shōnen Ace magazine. is a Japanese eroge visual novel game created by Type-Moon, which was originally released on January 30, 2004, for the PC. It has been adapted into an anime television series, which was animated by Studio Deen and aired between January 6, 2006, through June 16, 2006.

The official announcement and teaser trailer of the anime were first shown at the Rondo Robe 2005 "-Gate to Date-" event in Japan on June 26, 2005, and a curtain-raiser DVD was released in Japan during November 2005. An all-ages version of Fate/stay night, titled Fate/stay night Réalta Nua, was released for the PlayStation 2 on April 19, 2007, and features the seiyū from the anime series. The series has been adapted into a manga series, which began serialization in the monthly Shōnen Ace magazine.

Full Metal Panic!

2008-06-05T08:35:00.002-05:00

Full Metal Panic! ( FMP!) is a series of light novels written by Shoji Gatoh and illustrated by Shikidouji. The series follows Sousuke Sagara, a member of the covert anti-terrorist mercenary group Mithril, tasked with protecting Kaname Chidori, a spirited Japanese high school girl.

Individual chapters are published on Monthly Dragon Magazine, followed by a paperback compilation released by Kadokawa Shoten's Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. The novels are split between stories focusing on Sousuke's mission as a soldier of Mithril and comedic side stories centered on his life at Jindai High School.

Full Metal Panic! has been adapted to other media a number of times, including an animated television series by GONZO in 2002.

The main story develops its characters carefully, and is the shadow or "unusual" events of the protagonist's life. These stories feature the mercenary group Mithril, their mobile base/submarine, called the TDD-1 Tuatha De Danaan, giant humanoid powered suits called Arm Slaves, and the various missions to which Sousuke Sagara is assigned. A highlight of the series is a serious and semi-realistic view of humanoid robotic weapons on the battlefield. The Arm Slave has significant consideration in its portrayal, with explanations given for its power source, operations, maintenance and pilot user interface. The existence of such advanced weaponry and equipment is explained through Black Technology.

The comedic segments are the contrasting "normal life" portrayal of a high school student in Tokyo. These segments are in stark contrast to the more serious main story; explosions are symbolic and humorous, and no death results from these visual gags, while in the main story characters are heavily injured and/or perish when hit by a bullet.

This has led to two discrete series of books within the narrative: the collected short stories, and the full novels. As of April 2007, there have been nine novels and ten short story collections published. There is also a significant number of short stories that have not yet been published in a collection, making the stories difficult to find outside back issues of the magazine. The main storyline is still continuing, with the latest novel, "Approaching Nick of Time" released on February 2008. Shoji Gatoh has recently stated in his blog that the next novel will be the 'climax' of the series, meaning it could possibly be the final novel of the series. However, there is no specific details, release date or name for the moment. It will probably begin production next year.

The author's handling and balance between the serious character-driven plot of the full plot arcs, contrasted with the caricature portrayal of the same characters in the comedy arcs, is one of the most lauded aspects of the series.

D.N.Angel

2008-05-26T10:56:00.001-05:00

D.N.Angel is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki. There was also an anime adaptation and a PS2 video game.

Yukiru Sugisaki's D.N.Angel manga started in Japan in Monthly Asuka in 1997 and inspired a 26-episode anime adaptation in 2003. The manga is published in English by Tokyopop. The manga currently consists of 11 volumes in tankōbon form. The series went on an extended hiatus after the August 2005 issue of Monthly Asuka, but the magazine announced in its March issue (released on January 24, 2008) that the manga would resume the next month in its April issue. This issue was released in Japan in February, and it featured a 123 page comeback issue, including 20 free extra illustrations by Sugisaki.

A series of drama CDs (D.N.Angel Wink) were also released, although it should be noted that the seiyū cast for the drama CDs is largely different from the anime cast.

The 26 episode television series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo, and has been released on DVD in the US and the UK by ADV Films and in Australia by Madman Entertainment. The final broadcast of the anime coincided with the release of the game, which carried on the story from that point. Due to the anime series having a different storyline than the manga series, a two-volume special manga series was serialized in Monthly Asuka titled D.N.Angel TV Animation Series in 2003 which followed the anime storyline.

Daisuke Niwa is a 14 year-old-boy who has a special genetic ability: Whenever he sees or thinks about his crush, Risa Harada, he turns into the infamous phantom thief Dark. During the start of the anime, Daisuke carries a picture of Risa Harada in his back pocket for such occasion. This will continue until his crush learns to love both him and Dark.

Satoshi Hiwatari is a student at the same school as Daisuke and the Harada twins and also the Commander of the police force, heading the investigation on Dark. This is because he is a member of the Hikari family, a clan of artists which has opposed the Niwa family of thieves for centuries. Satoshi has Krad, Dark's opposite and, like him, part of the Hikari artwork "Black Wings", within him in much the same way Daisuke has Dark within him.

Interestingly enough, Risa falls in love with Dark, and proceeds to do all sort of absurd things to get him to go out with her, which he eventually does. She has also kissed him on more than one occasion, and it is hinted that Dark loves Risa; but Dark claims that he does not love her, and that (according to the anime) Risa's grandmother, Rika, is the only woman he has ever loved. In the manga, Dark's reasons for rejecting Risa seem to be so that she is not hurt by the fact that he is immortal and not really human, and therefore cannot participate in a functional relationship. As expected, Risa doesn't really listen to him and continues to try to get him to go out with her.

During much of the plot, Satoshi Hiwatari's (adoptive) father, who is a high ranking Police Officer, happens to butt in, and ruin a few of Hiwatari's plans to capture Dark. His father also plans to capture Dark himself. But Dark and Daisuke always manage to escape his plans.

Trigun

2008-05-19T06:50:00.003-05:00

Trigun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow, with an anime adaptation released in 1998 and an animated movie currently in production for a 2009 release. Madhouse produced the 26 anime episodes for Trigun, and they are also working on the upcoming movie. As of April 2007, Trigun has ended in Japan, currently spanning 102 chapters and 14 tankōbon volumes.

Known for its Space Western theme, Trigun is about a man named "Vash the Stampede" and the two Bernardelli Insurance Company employees who follow him to minimize the damage caused by his appearance. Most of the damage attributed to Vash is caused by bounty hunters after the "60,000,000,000$$" (sixty billion "double dollars") bounty on Vash's head for the destruction of the city of July. However, he cannot remember the incident clearly due to amnesia. Throughout his travels, Vash tries to save lives using non-lethal force. He is occasionally joined by a priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who is an excellent gunfighter like Vash. As the series progresses, it is revealed that he was actually assigned by Knives to "protect and guard" Vash. Later, he also become a target by a member of the band of assassins, the Gung-Ho Guns, for not following the change in "orders" ( to eliminate Vash).

As the series progresses, more is gradually learned about Vash's mysterious history and the history of human civilization on the planet Gunsmoke. The series often employs comic relief and is mostly light-hearted in tone. It also involves moral conflict pertaining to the morality of killing other living things, even when justified.

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One Piece

2008-05-05T07:59:00.005-05:00

One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, with an anime adaptation produced by Toei Animation. It focuses on a ragtag crew of heroic pirates, formed and led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy's greatest ambition is to obtain the world's ultimate treasure, One Piece, and become Pirate King.

The One Piece manga began its serial run in issue #34 of Shueisha's Shonen Jump magazine on August 4, 1997, while the anime adaptation produced by Toei Animation premiered on Fuji TV on October 20, 1999.

Eiichiro Oda originally planned One Piece to last five years, and he had already planned out the ending, but he found himself enjoying the story too much to end it in that amount of time, and now has no idea how long it will take to reach that point. Nevertheless, the author states (as of July 2007) that the ending is still the one he had decided on from the beginning, and he is committed to seeing it through to the end, no matter how many years it takes.

One Piece is the third highest selling manga in the history of Weekly Shonen Jump, (behind Kochikame and Dragon Ball) and is currently their most acclaimed and all-time third-best-selling title in Japan. The manga is so well-liked that it is the first to increase the sales of Weekly Shonen Jump in eleven years. Volume 25 of One Piece holds a manga sales record in Japan, with 2,630,000 units sold in its first printing alone; as of volume 46, the series has sold over 140,000,000 copies domestically, and is the fastest manga to reach sales of 100,000,000.

As the success of One Piece rose within its serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump, the manga was adapted into an animated television series. The anime (a mostly faithful adaptation of the manga) debuted in 1999, but animated One Piece had its origins one year earlier with an OVA. It was translated into English and brought over the Pacific in 2004, when it debuted on 4Kids TV. Since then, it has migrated to Cartoon Network's Toonami block, and is currently helmed by FUNimation.

Konosuke Uda, the director, said that the he believes that the creators "made the anime pretty close to the manga."

Oda has referenced many real-life pirates over the course of the manga as well as many other figures of the Golden age of Pirates. These have included; Bartholomew Roberts (Batholomew Kuma), Edward Teach (Marshall D. Teach, Thatch and Edward Newgate), Samuel Bellamy (Bellamy the Hyena), Francois l'Ollonais (Roronoa Zoro), John Hawkins (Basil Hawkins),Henry Morgan (Captain Morgan), Bartolomeo Português (Portgas D. Ace), Samuel Burgess (Jesus Burgess), John Auger (Van Auger), Jean Lafitte (Lafitte), Francis Drake (X. Drake), William Kidd (Captain Kid), Woodes Rogers (Gol D. Roger) and female pirates such as Awilda (Alvida) and Anne Bonny (Jewelry Bonney). In addition, Calico Jack has two references, both in the Rumbar Pirates captain "Calico" Yorki and in his famous flag, where the two crossed swords and skull are believed to be referenced by the flag of Red-Haired Shanks. However out of these references, only Zoro, Morgan, Alvida, Bellamy, Whitebeard, Thatch and Teach have been confirmed by the creator.

Another pirate related reference comes from the Shichibukai. They are loosely based on the privateers of old Europe. The privateers were approved pirates, considered heroes in their homeland and pillagers in others. Their main goal was to plunder the villages and towns of the then mighty country of Spain.

The worlds "Great Age of Piracy" is comparable to the Golden Age of Piracy in the real world. The flow of pirates into the Grand Line, is equally comparable to the flow of pirates into the Caribbean.

One Piece - Season 1, First Voyage (Uncut)

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Blood+

2008-04-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

Blood+ ("Blood Plus") is an anime series produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed by Junichi Fujisaku. The series premiered in Japan on Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax, as well as on terrestrial networks such as MBS, TBS, and RKB on October 8, 2005. The final episode aired on September 23, 2006. Blood+ is licensed for international distribution in several regions through Sony Picture's international arm, Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI).

Blood+ was inspired by the 2000 anime film Blood: The Last Vampire; however, there are only a few allusions and basic elements from the film. Fujisaku has been involved with both works, including acting as the director for Blood+ and writing the novelization of Blood: The Last Vampire.

InuYasha

2008-04-13T11:34:00.002-05:00

InuYasha, full title InuYasha, a Feudal Fairy Tale, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. The story centers on a time-traveling middle school student, a half-demon, a lecherous monk, a fox demon, a demon slayer, and a nekomata during the Sengoku period who seek to find all the fragments of the Jewel of Four Souls (Shikon no Tama) and to keep them out of the hands of evildoers, especially Naraku.

The manga was adapted into a 167 episode anime series produced by Sunrise. Masashi Ikeda directed the first forty-four episodes, while Yasunao Aoki directed the remainder of the series. InuYasha premiered on Yomiuri TV in Japan on 16 October 2000 and ran until 13 September 2004. The television run of the anime ceased without a conclusion to the story. As of April 2008, the manga is still being released in Japan, but has recently begun its final story arc.

In 2002, the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen title of the year.

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Wild Arms

2008-04-08T08:08:00.002-05:00

The Wild Arms series is a collection of role-playing video games and related media developed by Japanese software company Media.Vision. Since the launch of the original Wild Arms title in 1996, the series has gone on to encompass several media, including toys, manga, mobile phone applications, and a 22-episode anime. Wild Arms remains noteworthy in the computer and video game industry as being one of the few role-playing series to adapt an American Old West visual style and motif. Characters, settings, and music within the series contain visual and audio cues to American westerns, as well as traditional fantasy and science fiction elements.

The series has largely been overseen by producer Akifumi Kaneko, and is viewed as a "cult classic" among other role-playing game franchises. While reception in North America and Europe remains modest, the series still retains a small, yet active western fanbase. The Wild Arms games remain popular in Japan, with a ten-year heritage that is still celebrated

White Album (Howaito Arubamu)

2008-03-28T09:25:00.002-05:00

White Album (Howaito Arubamu) is a Japanese adult visual novel released on May 1, 1998 for the PC by Leaf.
Due to the game's strong addictive qualities, White Album is also known as "White Drug" in South Korea.
An unofficial Korean translation was released in 2003. Also in 2003, a renewal package of the game was released compatible for the Windows 98/Me/2000/XP.

White Album is the first bishōjo game made by Leaf that has not used the title of "visual novel", so there are some differences between the system of White Album and the other previous Leaf games. One of the most distinctive feature is that the game's hero already has his girlfriend, so the objective is not to form a new relationship, but to either keep the girlfriend, give up, or act as if nothing happened.

A set of 66 White Album trading cards were released in 1998.

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War of Genesis III

2008-03-23T10:22:00.001-05:00

War of Genesis III is a console and computer role-playing game released by Softmax in 1999. Additionally, this title is unofficially known as War of Genesis III: Part 1 to distinguish the sequel, War of Genesis III: Part 2. Part 1 contains episodes 1, 2, and 3, while Part 2 contains episodes 4, 5, and 6. Though continuous in story, there is a time gap between the two parts that is millenias long.

War of Genesis 3 is a turn-based role-playing game with a minor element of real time strategy game. This minor real time element is called the Legion System. For example, a small number of individually uncontrollable characters surrounding the leader character is considered as one whole player, contributing a faster pace of duration for a huge scale combat for a turn-based Tactical RPG.

Now no longer in service, The War of Genesis Arena was an extra feature for The War of Genesis III: Part 2. It was a game in which players controlled one of the characters in War of Genesis III Part 1 and Part 2 to play a cooperative SRPG style game online.

Episode 1 : Shivan Scimitar
Saladin, whose real name is Philip Pandragon, leads a mercenary group called the Shivan Scimitar. He joins in the civil war going on in Tur with intentions to weaken the nation so that the Kingdom of Pandragon can take it over, but finds himself falling in love with Sherazard, who is a young daughter of Scieiman the 5th. He abandons his intentions, but soon the weakened nation of Tur gets invaded by the kingdom of Pandragon. Sherazard is murdered by the Beaumont and Saladin goes in a deep bout of depression and rage.

Episode 2 : Crimson Crusade
The story follows a zealous young man, the Grandduke of Beaumont, referred to as simply "Beaumont." He conquers all the resistance within the Pandragon Kingdom's territory, and becomes the king of the Kingdom of Pandragon, overthrowing the aristocracy that had been characteristic of Pandragon for ages (Beaumont views the aristocracy as reason for Pandragon's weakness in comparison to the amount of territory it controls, because the nobles wouldn't unite for a common cause). When he invades the nation of Tur--under the declaration of a "Crimson Crusade"--it is revealed that his brother, Philip Pandragon, is alive.

Episode 3 : Apocalypse
Christian de Medich is the main character in this episode. Christian and his partner Joan Kartwright work for ISS (Imperial Secret Service.) They investigates the cult following of a former ruler of the Geysirian Empire, the Dark Prince (A.K.A G.S., Karl Styner). Along the way, they meet up with a mysterious individual who refers to himself only as "The Iron Mask." With Iron Mask's help, they find a conspiracy that will doom the world that they live in. Before that happens, the Iron Mask offers an unconventional solution, which Christian reluctantly accepts

Viper GTS

2008-03-16T09:04:00.008-05:00

Viper GTS is a three episode anime OVA series, which is based upon a popular H anime video game series.

The plot of the series centers around three succubi, Carrera, Mercedes and Rati, who are summoned to Earth to capture souls, which are then processed into brilliant gems.

The series and all the devils are named after automobile models or companies. Viper GTS is named after Dodge's Viper GTS (a coupe model of the famous automobile), Carerra is named after the Porsche 911 Carrera, Mercedes is named after Mercedes-Benz, and Alpina after the BMW tuning company Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen. Rati might be derived from Maserati, but is also the name of the Hindu goddess of love.

The Viper M1 h game in the Hyper Viper Animation series for the PC was released in 1998.
Viper V16 was released in 2002 for the PC by the now defunct Sogna.

VIPER GTS (DVD MOVIE)

Video Girl Ai

2008-03-12T08:44:00.005-05:00

Video Girl Ai is a manga series created by Masakazu Katsura and published by Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump. It also has an anime adaptation. The manga is published in English by Viz Communications and in Spanish by Grupo Editorial Vid. It was formerly published in the anthology Animerica Extra by Viz.

It was started in 1990 and continued until 1993, and fifteen manga volumes were produced. The first 13 volumes tell a story about a video girl named Ai Amano. The last two volumes, which came years later, focus on a video girl named Len, hence the new name for these two volumes – Video Girl Len. In fact, a pun is present here which is lost in translation; the two video girls' names, "Ren" and "Ai", combine to form ren'ai – a Japanese word used to describe the type of romantic comedy that Video Girl Ai is. Although they have different protagonists, the "Ai" and "Len" sub-stories are not entirely unrelated; they take place in the same setting, with a similar premise. Two characters from the first 13 volumes also appear in volumes 14 & 15. Volume 15 concludes with a bonus chapter about Video Girl Haruno. Her story is totally separate from the stories of Ai and Len.

A live-action movie of Video Girl Ai was released in 1991.

The Video Girl Ai anime is a six part OVA series which was produced by I.G. Tatsunoko. The series was released in 1992 by Jump Video. It roughly covers most of the material found in volumes 1 and 3 of the manga (and some of Volume 2). The character designs for the anime remained faithful to the manga style.

It is commonly speculated that the author, Masakazu Katsura, used this series as what could be described as a pilot; although he wanted to write a straight romantic comedy, he included sci-fi and action elements, so that the series would guarantee to be a success with both his publishers and (teenage male) audience.

Video Girl Ai was followed in 1993 with another sci-fi/romantic comedy manga DNA² and by the straight romantic comedy I"s in 1997.

Sexy Magical Girl Ai Vol. 1 - Magical Girl Cometh DVD

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Vandread

2008-03-10T09:26:00.003-05:00

Vandread is a Japanese anime series directed by Takeshi Mori and created by GONZO and Media Factory animation studios. Vandread, as a science fiction space opera, combines elements of action, romance, ecchi, comedy, and mecha elements.

Vandread presents a mix of comedy ranging from slapstick humor to subtle humor. It also utilizes well-animated characters and cleanly rendered CG action sequences.

The series is composed of two seasons (Vandread, released in 2000 and Vandread: The Second Stage, released in 2001), each composed of thirteen episodes of twenty-five minutes. The first series is summarized in the Vandread Taidouhen OVA in 2001, and the second in the Vandread Gekitouhen ("Turbulence") OVA, released in 2002. There is a Vandread Extra Stage Novel, that explains the events after Vandread: The Second Stage.

Vandread: The Complete Series

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Vulgar Ghost Daydream / Teizokurei Daydream / Ghost Talker's Daydream

2008-02-29T10:20:00.002-05:00

Vulgar Ghost Daydream (Teizokurei Daydream) is a shōnen manga by Saki Okuse (story) and Sankichi Meguro (art), set in modern Japan. As of 2006 there are 9 volumes available (ongoing story, with 10 volumes planned) also adapted as a four episode OVA. The English version released by Geneon changed the title to "Ghost Talker's Daydream", which is not a direct translation of the formal manga title.

This story is centered on a main character named Saiki Misaki who has two jobs, neither of which she is particularly happy with. Officially she is a dominatrix in a BDSM club who writes a column for a sex magazine. Additionally she works for a government agency, The Livelihood Preservation Group, as a necromancer. The term necromancer in this story refers to a person who can speak to and see ghosts, and who sometimes can allow the ghosts to speak with their voice to people who cannot see the ghost. Her government job usually entails helping to remove a troublesome ghost. Misaki considers her government job to be less respectable than her work in the sex industry.

There are many smaller story arcs within the story, although in most cases these stories are important to the main narrative. In some cases they introduce important characters, and in others they are used to explain motivations pertaining to the main characters. In general, these smaller story arcs consist of one or two chapters.

There are three major characters, at least one of which is in every chapter with the exception of chapter 16 Dead Mans Hand. In order of introduction they are: Saiki Misaki, Mitsuru and Souichirou. Many reoccurring and often important characters also populate the series.

The Japanese title translates as teizoku = vulgar + rei = ghost. However there is a pun on the word rei, which can also refer to a companion when spoken. In other words it can be said either Vulgar Ghost or Vulgar Companion, and Misaki Saiki is a professional dominatrix who can also speak to ghosts. A dominatrix could be considered a vulgar companion.

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Super Robot Wars

2008-02-26T10:09:00.002-05:00

Super Robot Wars (abbreviated as SRW) is a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by the Japanese gaming company, Banpresto, a division of Bandai, for various video game consoles and video game handheld consoles. The games' main feature is the use of mecha units from multiple Japanese anime and manga titles, mixing them together in a battle simulation and adding a complex plot involving some of their respective storylines, characters, and backgrounds. Another feature is a simple menu interface that can be understood by the gamer, even if he or she does not know how to read Japanese.

The very first game in the franchise was released for the Nintendo Game Boy in 1991. The first animated mecha series featured on the game (and the ones usually present in all the series' games) are Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, and the earliest incarnations of Mobile Suit Gundam. The first two, both creations of famous Japanese manga artist, Go Nagai, and his production company, Dynamic Productions, are representatives of the super robot type of units, while Gundam, realized by animator Yoshiyuki Tomino, represents the real robot units. It is a tradition for a Super Robot Wars game to include a Mazinger, Getter and a Gundam series, forming what fans call the "Holy Trinity", but as of July 2007, only the Mazinger franchise has appeared in every non-original incarnation of Super Robot Wars.

As more games were released, more characters, units and storylines were added to these games, both from existing mecha series and/or original units designed by Banpresto, exclusively for the games. As the number of series involved in the games increased, the stories have become increasingly complex.

Some series that have been featured, including Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gundam, are well-known worldwide, whereas others, such as Heavy Metal L-Gaim and Raideen, have little to no fame at all outside of Japan. Because much of the appeal of any Super Robot Wars title resides in the player's knowledge of and familiarity with the various series involved, the games are most successful and have their biggest fanbase in Japan. There is, however, a small but loyal fanbase for the games, internationally. It was widely believed that the series would never see release outside of Japan, largely due to potentially complicated rights and licensing issues (a problem that also affects other games, such as Jump Superstars). Because of this, fan translations of some of the games have been made.

On March 3, 2006, Atlus USA released two Original Generation titles for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in North America, thus making them the first games in the series to ever see release outside of the Asian market. Because the Original Generation lineup uses original robots and characters not from any anime or manga series, these games do not have the licensing problems that other games might have.

Super Robot Wars Advance Portable for Sony PSP [Asian Version]

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Stellvia of the Universe

2008-02-15T11:37:00.003-05:00

Stellvia of the Universe is an anime series which is set in space and in the future. As a prelude to the series, the Earth of year 2167 AD is shown to be devastated by a powerful electromagnetic shockwave. This is caused by a nearby star, Hydrus Beta, 20 light-years away, going supernova. The series itself is set 189 years later, in the year 2356 AD. Civilization has been rebuilt with humanity having united together to face the coming of the second shockwave of the supernova. The second shockwave, unlike the first, is to contain a great deal of matter composed of the remnants of the star itself. Stellvia ran for 26 episodes. It was produced by the animation studio XEBEC and is distributed in the United States by Geneon. A sequel was originally announced for 2005, but was canceled after internal difficulties. Geneon however recently halted all distribution of anime DVDs in America. As of now Stellvia has been discontinued.

Beginning with the May 2003 issue, a manga adaptation by Ryo Akizuki was serialized in Dengeki Daioh and has been published in the US as a two volume graphic novel series by DrMaster. The word Stellvia is actually made up from two Latin words, stella meaning star(s) and via meaning street. In Japanese the kanji for street is "Michi" which can be translated as either street or road. Therefore Stellvia is roughly translated as The Road to the Stars.

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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ( Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo )

2008-02-09T13:48:00.001-05:00

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is an animated Japanese film produced by the animation studio Madhouse and distributed through Kadokawa Herald Pictures, first released in theatres in Japan on July 15, 2006. The film was later released on DVD on April 20, 2007 in Japan in regular and limited editions. A German RC2 DVD (with German and Japanese dub and German and Polish subtitles) was released on September 24, 2007 by Anime Virtual/AV Visionen. A manga story, set as a prelude to the film, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace manga magazine between April 26, 2006 and June 26, 2006; the chapters were later collected into a single bound volume which went on sale on July 26, 2006.

On December 9, 2007 Bandai Entertainment announced that the anime film will be released as a region 1 DVD. Bandai Entertainment, who had very recently obtained the North American distributing rights to the film said in a New York press conference that they are also considering releasing the film in limited release in selected theaters in Los Angeles, New York, and possibly other locations. Bandai Entertainment did not specify whether or not they will release the film dubbed or subbed for American viewers, though they are considering both options.

Tsutsui Yasutaka's novel, Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (unofficial translation: The Little Girl Who Conquered Time) is the basis of the film, but the film is not a movie version of the book. Instead, the film is set as a continuation of the book in the same setting some twenty years later. Tsutsui Yasutaka praised the film as being "a true second-generation" of his book at the Tokyo International Anime Fair on March 24, 2006.

Death Note

2008-02-09T13:41:00.001-05:00

Death Note

Death Note is a Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. The series primarily centers around a high school student who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it.

Death Note was first serialized by Shueisha in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump from the first issue in December 2003 to May 2006, with 108 chapters in total. The series has been published in its entirety in 12 tankōbon volumes in Japan and in North America. The series has been adapted into a pair of live-action films released in Japan on June 17, 2006 and November 3, 2006, and an anime series which aired in Japan from October 3, 2006 to June 26, 2007. Also, a novelization of the series, written by light novelist Nisio Isin, was released in Japan on August 1, 2006.

Some schools in Shenyang, People's Republic of China have banned the manga after some of their students started to tease friends and teachers by altering a notebook to resemble a Death Note and writing their names in them.

The newspaper Shenyang Night Report called Death Note "poison, creating wicked hearts". One major Chinese newspaper felt that the ban is an overreaction and is inappropriate.

Beijing also has a ban on "horror stories" around schools to protect the "physical and mental health" of students, which includes local adaptations of Death Note. China itself is likewise trying to weed out pirated copies of the books and television series, as well other Japanese horror magazines, where no legal publication house prints it. Wang Song of the National Anti-piracy and Anti-pornography Working Committee has said that the series "misleads innocent children and distorts their mind and spirit".

On September 28, 2007, two notes stating "Watashi wa Kira dess" (I am Kira, with "desu" being the more phonetic transliteration of the verb) were found near the unidentified remains of a Caucasian male. Nothing was found on or near the victim besides these two notes. Belgian police are investigating the matter further.

A senior at the Franklin Military Academy in Richmond, Virginia was suspended after being caught possessing a replica Death Note notebook with the names of fellow students

Rurouni Kenshin

2008-02-09T13:37:00.001-05:00

Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki with an anime adaptation. The story is set during the early Meiji period in Japan. The English-language versions of the OVAs as well the film is released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD releases. The series tells the story of an assassin named Himura Kenshin, who was known as the Hitokiri Battōsai. Kenshin later grieves for all the lives he has taken, and vows that he will never kill again.

The manga originally appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from September 2, 1994, to November 4, 1999, and the completed work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The United States release of the manga has been completed by Viz Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases, as a rough translation of "Rurouni."

Writer Kaoru Shizuka has written an official Rurouni Kenshin novel titled Voyage to the Moon World. The novel has been translated by Viz and distributed in the United States and Canada.

Black Magic

2008-02-01T15:51:00.000-05:00

Black Magic is a science fiction manga by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed). It was first published in a fanzine in 1983, and later reprinted in tankoubon format in 1985.

The series was adopted into an OVA in 1987, which was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo and Shirow himself. The OVA is loosely based on the manga with its plot centered around the efforts of a female journalist named Sybel to save a young girl from a malfunctioning military robot which was created by the girl's grandfather for initial enemy combat fighting.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=260

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Bowers Pilots Astro Boy | Animation Magazine

2008-01-26T20:36:00.000-05:00

Bowers Pilots Astro Boy Animation Magazine:

"Bowers Pilots Astro Boy
Friday, January 25, 2008
By: Ryan Ball
Imagi Studios, the animation company behind TMNT, has signed Flushed Away director David Bowers to helm its CG-animated Astro Boy feature. Based on the classic comics and anime series created by Japan’s “god of manga,” Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy will be released worldwide release in 2009 by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Weinstein Co. Bowers replaces the film's previously announced director Colin Brady (Everyone's Hero)."

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

2008-01-18T12:18:00.001-05:00

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ( lit. "Break-Through Heaven Gurren Lagann" or more loosely "Heaven Shattering Gurren Lagann") is a Japanese shōnen anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It lasted for twenty-seven episodes and premiered on April 1, 2007 on Japan's TV Tokyo network. It is directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, written by veteran playwright Kazuki Nakashima and has been in development since the participation of the famed animator in the Abenobashi mecha themed episodes by the same studio. Konami also released a video game to accompany the series, for the Nintendo DS. Licensing for a North American release of Gurren Lagann was announced by ADV Films at AnimeExpo 2007 on June 30, 2007. It was also announced for a UK release by ADV Films at AmeCon and by ADV Films Germany for a summer 2008 release.

Produced by the animation studio Gainax and directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi. Gurren Lagann first aired in Japan on TV Tokyo on April 1, 2007 and the last episode first aired on September 30, 2007. The anime has twenty-seven episodes plus two specials, the first being the uncensored version of the sixth episode, and the second is episode 5.5, a bonus that came with the Nintendo DS's game. The anime received an Excellence Prize at the 2007 Japan Media Arts Festival, and its director received an individual award at the twelfth Animation Kobe Festival. On December 11, 2007, a Gurren Lagann-based design submitted from Norway won The Daily Telegraph's contest to update the British Union Flag by incorporating the Welsh Dragon.

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'Dragonball' movie set to roll

2008-01-13T14:29:00.000-05:00

Jamie Chung / Chi Chi

'Dragonball' movie set to roll

Twentieth Century Fox is finally moving forward with a live-action adaptation of the hugely popular manga "Dragonball," casting the stars of the movie and setting a release date of next summer.

Justin Chatwin is starring as the hero while James Marsters will play the villain in the sci-fi adventure, which will be directed by James Wong. The movie has been penciled in for a worldwide release date of Aug. 15, 2008. Stephen Chow, the filmmaker behind "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Shaolin Soccer," is producing.

"Dragonball" is one of the most successful Japanese cultural exports of all time. The manga, created by Akira Toriyama and published by Tokyo's Jump Comics, was adapted into graphic novels, video games and a phenomenally successful television series that ran in Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. "Dragonball's" popularity also generated more than $4 billion in merchandising sales. In North America, the property achieved the zenith of its popularity under the name "Dragonball Z."

The story follows an adult humanoid alien named Goku, who discovers that he was sent to Earth to blend in and destroy our population but instead elects to protect it from an oncoming alien onslaught bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects from which the film takes its name.

Chatwin, who will play Goku, has already begun training under the auspices of stunt performance company 87Eleven, which has executed and designed action pieces in pictures such as "The Matrix," "The Bourne Supremacy," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "300." Marsters is playing the villainous Piccolo.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3if4dd78b5e8cb039096286b7cdb7e6562

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Fullmetal Alchemist

2008-01-04T10:36:00.002-05:00

Fullmetal Alchemist ("Alchemist of Steel"), commonly abbreviated as FMA or Hagaren, is a manga series created by Hiromu Arakawa and serialized in Enix's (now Square Enix) Monthly Shonen Gangan. It has also been adapted into an anime TV series and a movie sequel, as well as several spin-off novels and video games.

The manga is still running in Japan, and 18 volumes have been released so far. The anime, on the other hand, is finished, and consists of 51 episodes and a full-length movie sequel. Both incarnations (the manga and the anime) have seen massive popularity in both Japan and North America. The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 2003. In September 2005, the anime was voted #1 most popular anime of all time in Japan in a TV Asahi web poll, and was #1 again in 2006. In 2005, Anime Insider named it "Series of The Year."

It was nominated in six of the eight categories for which it was eligible at the American Anime Awards in February 2007, winning awards in five of them: Best Long Series, Best Actor (Vic Mignogna), Best Cast, Best DVD Package Design, and Best Anime Theme Song (Rewrite by Asian Kung-Fu Generation). It was also nominated in the category of Best Anime Feature for Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa. Awards were given in twelve categories, and no other anime won more than two.

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Revolutionary Girl Utena / Shōjo Kakumei Utena

2008-01-04T10:12:00.001-05:00

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a manga by Chiho Saito and anime directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The manga serial began in the June 1996 issue of Ciao and the anime was first broadcast in 1997. A movie, "Adolescence of Utena" ( literally "Adolescence Apocalypse") was released in theatres in 1999. A number of stage productions based on the franchise were also produced in the mid 1990s, including the "Comedie Musicale Utena la fillette révolutionnaire", staged by an all-female Takarazuka-style cast.

The main character is Utena Tenjou, a tomboyish teenage girl who was so impressed by a kind prince in her childhood that she decided to become a prince herself (expressed in her manner of dress and personality). She attends Ohtori Academy, where she meets a student named Anthy Himemiya, a girl who is in an abusive relationship with another student. Utena fights to protect Anthy and is pulled into a series of sword duels with the members of the Student Council. Anthy is referred to as the "Rose Bride" and is given to the winner of each duel. As Anthy is thought to be the key to a coming revolution, the current champion is constantly challenged for the right to possess the Rose Bride.

While the show generally has the appearance of a magical girl series, it is also highly metaphysical and allegorical. It contains a mix of borrowed visuals from Takarazuka theater, shadow puppetry, and classic Shōjo.

The anime and manga were created simultaneously, but, despite some similarities, they progressed in different directions.

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Dragonball (Dragon Ball Z 2008) Movie | Movie News, Reviews, Images, Previews, and Trailers @ BeyondHollywood.com | Asian, Foreign, Horror, and Genre Movie Reviews and News

2008-01-02T16:46:00.000-05:00

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/category/dragon-ball-z-2008-movie/:

"Emmy Rossum, who was last reported to have landed a cushy job in the upcoming James Wong movie “Dragonball”, has talked about the movie via her official Myspace page in an entry dated Monday, December 24th. According to Rossum, she’s already filming the movie and has been doing martial arts training for it."

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Dragonball (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2008-01-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

Dragonball (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"Dragonball is a 2008 live action film adaptation of the Dragon Ball franchise. The film follows Goku, played by Justin Chatwin, and his quest to obtain the mystical Dragonballs before the evil Piccolo, played by James Marsters, does. The film began development in 2002, and is directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow. It is scheduled for worldwide release on August 15, 2008"

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Shikigami no Shiro II

2007-12-20T10:46:00.001-05:00

Shikigami no Shiro II is a vertically scrolling shooter released in the arcades, using the Sega NAOMI arcade system board. It was subsequently ported in Japan to the Nintendo GameCube, and then later to Sega Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows PCs. The game was also released in the U.S. on the PlayStation 2 by XS Games as Castle Shikigami 2, and in Europe as Castle Shikigami 2: War of the Worlds. XS Games released its prequel as well, under the name of Mobile Light Force 2.

A number of tie-in novels and manga volumes were produced, expanding the story of the game.

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Shadow Hearts

2007-12-19T11:28:00.002-05:00

Shadow Hearts is a console role-playing game developed by Sacnoth and published by Aruze Corp in Japan and in the United States and Europe by Midway in 2001. It is the first official game in the Shadow Hearts series and Koudelka is its prequel. Shadow Hearts follows the adventures of Yuri Hyuga, a Harmonixer guided by a mysterious voice in his head. He finds himself thrown into the conflicts prior to World War I where he must save the girl and the world from destruction.

Released in North America only one week before Square Enix's Final Fantasy X, and unhelped by Midway's nominal marketing campaign, Shadow Hearts initially struggled to gain the attention of gamers. The use of 2D pre-rendered backgrounds rather than a full 3D environment drew criticism as well. The game was praised for its original battle system. Shadow Hearts gained a cult following for its quirky use and misuse of historical facts and situations in a form of secret history.

Shadow Hearts

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Real Bout High School

2007-12-18T10:42:00.001-05:00

Real Bout High School is a six-volume manga written by Reiji Saiga with art by Sora Inoue and adapted into a 13-episode anime series. It is set in a school called Daimon High, where disagreements among the student body are settled by matches called K-Fights. (The "K" stands for kenka, meaning "street fight".)

This is a manga about a school that doesn't break up fights, but rather, they grade them. The manga introduces Ryoko Mitsurugi, Daimon High's Current reigning K-Fight Champion and self described Samurai Girl. It also introduces Shizuma Kusunagi, a traveling Street Fighter with mysterious powers. The Manga while comedic in the beginning becomes more serious as Ryoko and Shizuma find themselves caught up in the machinations of several student councils and a criminal organization with Ryoko teaming up with a band of female fighters named after the historical Shinsengumi.

The events in the anime series take place after those in the manga. (With several events moved.) Ryoko Mitsurugi is the current K-Fight champion, whose skill at Kendo and her love for samurai dramas has led her to be known as the "Samurai Girl". One day, Ryoko finds a strange pendant which transports her to another dimension called Solvania, where she is expected to fight monsters. Which is part of a bigger plot to revive Solvania.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/real-bout-high-school/dvd-1

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=1611

http://www.anime-planet.com/anirec/289.html

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Serial Experiments Lain

2007-12-13T15:15:00.001-05:00

By sabrebIade
Serial Experiments Lain is an anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe, screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda (credited as production 2nd) for Triangle Staff. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to September 1998. A PlayStation game with the same title was released in November 1998 by Pioneer LDC.

Lain is influenced by philosophical subjects such as reality, identity, and communication. The series focuses on Lain Iwakura, an adolescent girl living in suburban Japan, and her introduction to the Wired, a global communications network similar to the Internet. Lain lives with her middle class family, which consists of her inexpressive older sister Mika, her cold mother, and her computer-obsessed father. The first ripple on the pond of Lain's lonely life appears when she learns that girls from her school have received an e-mail from Chisa Yomoda, a schoolmate who committed suicide. When Lain receives the message at home, Chisa tells her (in real time) that she is not dead, but has just "abandoned the flesh", and has found God in the Wired. From then on, Lain is bound to a quest which will take her ever deeper into both the network and her own thoughts.

The anime series is licensed in North America by Geneon (previously Pioneer Entertainment) on DVD, VHS and LaserDisc. It was also released in Singapore by Odex. The video game, which shares only the themes and protagonist with the series, was never released outside Japan.

The series shows influences from topics such as philosophy, computer history, cyberpunk literature and conspiracy theory, and it was made the subject of several academic articles. English language anime reviewers found it to be "weird" and unusual, but reviews were still generally positive. Producer Ueda said he intended Japanese and American audiences to form conflicting views on the series, but was disappointed in this regard, as the impressions turned out to be similar.

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D.Gray-man

2007-12-09T12:12:00.002-05:00

D.Gray-man is a manga series by Katsura Hoshino. It is a Gothic-fiction manga first serialized in 2004 in Weekly Shōnen Jump (published by Shueisha under their Jump Comics imprint). It is an ongoing series and is currently up to 139 chapters. There is also a novel series called Reverse, authored by Kaya Kizaki, that tells the characters' backgrounds. As of November 6, 2007, VIZ has released the first seven volumes in the United States. The anime began airing on October 3, 2006 in Japan and is still ongoing.

Many characters and their designs were adapted from some of Katsura Hoshino's previous works and drafts, such as Zone, Book-man, and Continue, and her assistants. Earlier titles considered for the manga were Dolls, Chronoa, and Zone.

The story of D.Gray-man takes place on a fictional Earth at the end of the 19th century. The plot centers around Allen Walker, a young British boy who is a member of The Black Order; a secretive organization whose members are known as Exorcists. The Order's primary mission is to stop The Millennium Earl, an ancient demonic sorcerer who intends to 'cleanse' the world by destroying all life on it.

Exorcists are specially chosen humans who are gifted with the ability to control and use Innocence, a divine substance created in ages past to combat the Earl. According to the Order's history, at the end of The Great Flood, 109 fragments of Innocence were scattered around the world. Once an Innocence fragment is matched to its compatible user, it can become a weapon or tool for the user to wield in the battle against the Earl.

Throughout the story, Allen is introduced to more Exorcists, including Yu Kanda, Lenalee Lee, Lavi, Miranda Lotto, and Arystar Krory. Assisting Allen and the Exorcists are a team of scientists and handlers led by Komui Lee, a Supervisor of the Black Order and Lenalee's older brother. Allen's master and mentor is the enigmatic Cross Marian, one of the five Exorcist Generals of the Black Order, who at the beginning of the story has mysteriously disappeared. In the course of completing their missions, Allen and his fellow Exorcists are introduced to the other Generals: Kevin Yeegar, Froi Tiedoll, Cloud Nine, and Winter Sokaro.

The Millennium Earl is aided in his plans by The Noah Clan, humans who are direct descendants of Noah himself. Each member of this clan is gifted with great power and each represent a different 'aspect' of Noah. They are identified by their gray skin and line of cross-shaped markings on their foreheads. As the story progresses, the members of the clan are revealed: Road Kamelot (the Dreams of Noah), Tyki Mikk (the Pleasures of Noah), Jasdero and Debitto - Jasdebi (the Bonds of Noah), Skin Boric (the Wrath of Noah), and Lulubell (the Lust of Noah).

The Earl also utilizes an army of demonic creatures called Akuma to do his bidding. Akuma are created by taking advantage of someone's grief over the death of a loved one. The Earl tricks individuals into bringing their loved one back to life through a skeletal 'doll', only to have that doll kill them and turn them into an Akuma with the soul of the dead loved one trapped inside. Akuma are able to evolve and with each new level grow more intelligent, powerful, and sadistic. Since Akuma can impersonate humans to blend in, Exorcists are routinely assigned to track down and eliminate them.

D. Gray-Man: Season One, Part One

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Countdown

2007-12-08T12:46:00.001-05:00

http://www.animecritic.com/hentaireviews/countdown/hnr-countdown.html

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2578

http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,604,zckcjh,countdown.html

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Ikki Tousen / Battle Vixens, part 2

2007-12-07T10:41:00.001-05:00

Seven schools in the district of Kantō are constantly at war with each other, and the students within — both male and female — have become skilled fighters and constantly battle with rival schools. Their lives and fates are guided by strange jewels, called magatama, that contain the spirits and destinies of warriors from the Three Kingdoms period of China, and also change colour according to the ranking of its bearer. The ultimate purpose of each of these high-school fighters, known as tōshi ("fighter"), is to become stronger than all others and ascend to become the eponymous Ikki Tōsen — a relatively obscure yojijukugo. Literally translated, it means "one knight who is the match for a thousand (other knights)" (the character ki, for "knight" does not translate directly, as knights in the Western mold were unknown in Japan, but the sense is the same). The destinies of those who wear the magatama, though, have repeated time and time again for the past eighteen centuries — without fail — and the carnage is immense each time around.

One girl, Hakufu Sonsaku, recently moved to Tokyo and is apparently destined to unite the schools, just as her counterpart united seven countries long ago. It is hard to believe for the other characters just as much as the reader/viewer, as she consistently shows a lack of common sense and intelligence. However, the magatama that her mother Goei passes on (which belonged to Hakufu's late father Sonken; a play on the name of Sun Jian) is rumoured to be infused with the spirit of the legendary warrior Sun Ce.

Hakufu herself knows naught of this, and explanations of what is going on are largely meant for those watching or reading. All she cares about is fighting whomever happens to be up for a rumble. In fact, fighting even excites her—especially scraps where she is heavily outnumbered. This causes incredible embarrassment and frustration to her cousin, a Toushi by the name of Shuyu Koukin with whom she is staying; he always ends up entangled in the situations in which Hakufu finds herself (to the point of being impaled once), and is driven to distraction by the conflicting facts that (a) the two of them are related, (b) she is incredibly attractive, and (c) her clothing inevitably ends up shredded.

Just like all heroes, there are darker facets to Hakufu's ultimate destiny, and as always there is perpetual conflict in those around her to break the chains of their own seemingly predetermined fates, and to make their own lives. The other main characters include the honourable (Taishiji Shigi, Kanu Uncho, Kakoton Genjo), tragic (Ryofu Hosen, Chinkyu Koudai), manipulative and power-crazed (Toutaku Chuei), enigmatic (Saji Genpo), perverted and unhinged (Kannei Koha), and borderline schizophrenic (Ryomo Shimei—her fighting and non-fighting sides are poles apart).

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Ikki Tousen / Battle Vixens

2007-12-06T23:14:00.003-05:00

Ikki Tousen ( literally "a lone rider with the strength to withstand a thousand") or "Bakunyū" Hyper-Battle Ikki Tōsen is a 13 episode anime series loosely based on the manga by Yuji Shiozaki, which is in turn based on the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The series is known for being full of fan service, featuring a very large cast of attractive young girls, who fight in short skirts and dresses, in addition to numerous other ecchi situations.

The TV series ran on AT-X from July 30, 2003 to October 22, 2003, and its license is held by Enoki Films. The whole series has been licensed by Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. for the North America market, and is available on four separate DVDs. The manga is released in English by TOKYOPOP under the title Battle Vixens. The official German title is Dragon Girls, while in France it is called Ikkitousen.

As with numerous other Geneon series, the anime is distributed in United Kingdom by MVM Films. But unlike Geneon, MVM seem to have some ties with TOKYOPOP, as their releases use both "Ikki Tousen" and "Battle Vixens" as titles, using the title graphic from TOKYOPOP's manga for the latter of these. The DVD covers are reversible, for those who prefer the original title, and a limited edition of the first DVD came in a box set with the first volume of the manga.

A second season of Ikki Tousen was picked up, titled Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny, which began airing in February 2007. An accompanying radio series named Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny Radio was hosted on Media Factory. A DVD for chapter 0 was released on Comic Market 71 for 1000 yen, featuring an unedited Dragon Destiny promotional video, voice actor interviews, and DVD for Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny Radio, recently Ikki Tousen: Destiny was licensed by Media Blasters.

Ikki Tousen: The Complete Series Box Set

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All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku

2007-12-04T10:57:00.000-05:00

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku is a six-episode anime OVA created in 1992. It spawned a 14-episode anime TV series remake (of the same name) in 1998, as well as a 12-episode second OVA series All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku Dash in that year. They are based on an original short manga by Yuzo Takada. The series also has a manga adaptation.

In the show, genius inventor Kyusaku Natsume transplants the brain of a cat found by his son Ryunosuke on Christmas Eve, into a schoolgirl android that he created and subsequently stole from his former employer, Mishima Heavy Industries (owned by his estranged wife and Ryunosuke's mother, Akiko Natsume). The result, Nuku Nuku (also known as Atsuko Natsume), is a nekomusume.

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Samurai X: Trust / Samurai X: Betrayal

2007-10-06T13:30:00.001-05:00

Samurai X: Trust and Samurai X: Betrayal, known in Japan as Tsuiokuhen is the first OVA series of the anime series Rurouni Kenshin and is set during the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate.
A Director's Cut version of the OVA series was later released, editing all four episodes into one two-hour movie as well as adding new scenes.
The movie is composed of 4 acts suggestively named "The man of the slashing sword" ,"The lost cat" , "The previous night at the mountain home" and "The cross-shaped wound".

Tsuiokuhen is currently number one on Anime News Network's top ten.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/ratings-anime.php

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Combustible Campus Guardress

2007-09-27T14:07:00.001-05:00

http://www.animecubed.com/galleries/combustiblecampusguardress/ccg004.jpg.shtml

Combustible Campus Guardress is an anime Original Video Animation. (OVA) The English name "Combustible Campus Guardress" was originally coined by members of the Project Daicon subtitling group when they did the fansub for No-Name Anime.

The plot involves students from Tobira High School, who are guardians that must prevent the evil "Remnants" from reopening the gate that will let demons take over the world. Predominately a parody of other "save the world" anime, there are fight scenes throughout the story. It is not suitable for children.

Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex-Solid State Society

2007-08-16T15:47:00.000-05:00

Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex-Solid State Society

With more than 1.5 million copies sold in Japan and 100.000 copies per volume sold in the USA, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex has consolidated his place among the classics in the world of science fiction. Now, after two years from the TV series that started all, a completely new and all-original chapter is about to emerge: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama and with the participation of the same staff from the popular series, this full-length 105 minute feature has required an unprecedented budget of 360 million yen (or 3.20 million dollars), in order to provide theatrical quality. The movie will premiere in Japan on the SKYPerfecTV! satellite television network on September 1st, and successively released on DVD on November 24th. DVD release in the USA is scheduled on July 3, 2007.

full article here:
http://www.production-ig.com/contents/works_sp/47_/index.html

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Buttobi CPU

2007-08-13T15:30:00.002-05:00

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Buttobi/Buttobi1.jpg.shtml

Buttobi CPU is a Japanese anime series by Kaoru Shintani. It was produced in 1997 by Pink Pineapple studios.

A young student named Akira has saved up a large sum of money to buy the latest and best personal computer - only to find out they are sold out. He then finds what he thinks is the same model number in an alley, and buys the large boxed-up machine from a shady character nearby. When he gets home, Akira is shocked to find that his new computer is a bio-android shaped like a pretty young lady. He is even more shocked when he finds out what she constantly needs to refresh her physical memory.

Buttobi CPU: I Dream Of Mimi

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Buso Renkin

2007-08-12T18:41:00.000-05:00

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Busou/Busou2.jpg.shtml

Buso Renkin (literally "Armored Alchemist") is a manga series written and drawn by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator of Rurouni Kenshin.

Buso Renkin was serialized in the weekly Japanese manga anthology Shonen Jump, with ten tankōbon volumes in total published in Japan. The series has been licensed by VIZ Media for US release and has been adapted into an anime by XEBEC, which finished its run in Japan with a total of 26 episodes. There are also two drama CDs as well as a novel based on the series.

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Bible Black

2007-08-10T14:13:00.006-05:00

http://www.animecubed.com/

Bible Black is an Japanese video game created by ActiveSoft in 2000 , and was adapted into an anime by Milky Studio. The adaptation of the original game was called La Noche de Walpurgis (The Night of Walpurgis) in English and simply Bible Black in Japanese. It and consisted of 6 episodes. Additionally, there are 2 prequel episodes (Origin in US, Sidestory in Japan) and two special "ONLY" episodes. A sequel, titled La Lanza de Longinus (The Lance of Longinus) is currently being produced by Milky Studio as well, with 5 episodes already released. Both seasons of the anime and the game as well have been translated and released in the U.S. by Kitty Media.

The whole series revolves around a certain high school rumored to have been the base of operations of a coven several years ago (pre-2000). The school's unofficial "Witchcraft Club", as they called themselves, practiced black magic in the underground basement hidden away at the institute. Teachers, students, professors, and staff practicing the dark occult religion and sacrifices upon their innocent victims is a common and recurring theme in all things Bible Black.

BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad

2007-08-07T13:19:00.001-05:00

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Beck/Beck2.jpg.shtml

BECK is a manga, which was later made into an anime under the name BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. It was created by mangaka Harold Sakuishi and was originally published by Kodansha in Monthly Shonen Magazine. It tells the story of a group of Japanese teenagers who form a rock band. The manga is currently licensed in the USA by TOKYOPOP. The series has also spawned three guidebooks. BECK won the 2002 Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen.

The original 26-episode anime television series was aired on Japan's TV Tokyo from October 2004 to March 2005. It was created by Osamu Kobayashi, animated by Madhouse and produced by Takeshi Shukuri and Yoshimi Nakajima. The series has received critical acclaim and was translated into English.

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Tokyo Babylon

2007-08-01T16:58:00.001-05:00

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Babylon/Babylon1.jpg.shtml

Tokyo Babylon is a shōjo manga series created by Clamp. In 1991, it was made into a two-part anime OVA series. The OVA series was directed by the then up-and-coming Kōichi Chigira, and the character designs and animation direction were handled by veteran animator Kumiko Takahashi. There was also a live action movie entitled Tokyo Babylon 1999 made in 1993, which has never been released in the United States. The English manga has been licenced by TOKYOPOP. The OVAs are now available in the United States in both DVD and VHS.

The plot is told in a series of substories, 2-3 per volume. While it begins with a monster of the week approach, with somewhat independent running chapters, the plot gradually becomes continuous and backstory is introduced. The focus throughout the manga is on the development of the characters and the relationships between them.

The main characters are the onmyouji (lit. "yin-yang master", also translated as spirit medium or shaman) Subaru Sumeragi, his twin sister Hokuto Sumeragi, and the veterinarian Seishirou Sakurazuka. The plot involves Subaru and Hokuto protecting Tokyo from spirits by exorcising them, aided by Seishirou's somewhat subtle interference. It also involves Seishirou's love for Subaru and the development of Subaru's reaction to it; from rejection through acceptance to a growing romantic attachment; until the tragic twist in the final two volumes.

The OVAs are similar in content to independent stories taking place in the middle of the manga series. The second OVA gives hints toward the overall plot line.

In terms of plot timeline, the live action movie takes place after the ending of the manga and before the beginning of X.

Even though the story has an ending, it is still a rather open-ended conclusion that allowed for the possibility of more story to be told. Based on early artwork found in the Tokyo Babylon Photographs artbook, which showed older and more mature versions of Subaru and Seishirou with the text Tokyo Babylon 1999 behind them, speculation has long existed in the fan community that the plotline that would eventually become X had its routes in a direct sequel for Tokyo Babylon. Ultimately, X became a separate story which incorporated ties to several past CLAMP manga rather than being a direct sequel, and neither Subaru or Seishirou appeared for a significant length of time in the manga. However, in the fifth tankōbon of X, a direct reference to Subaru was finally made, at last establishing the link. From this point in the manga on, the story and characters "crossed-over" into X, which is set 9 years after the events of Tokyo Babylon. Thus, the unfinished business between Seishiro and Subaru continues as they cross paths again and it is suggested that even the events in Tokyo Babylon are something long foreordained by destiny.

The mystery that was left by Hokuto concerning her special "power" was also explained in X in volume 16. Considering that the last volume of Tokyo Babylon was published in 1993 and X volume 16 was published in 2001, CLAMP has managed to keep the mystery a secret for nearly 8 years before revealing the answer.

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Tokimeki Memorial

2007-07-16T16:14:00.001-05:00

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Tokimemo/Tokimemo3.jpg.shtml

Tokimeki Memorial (ときめきメモリアル, Tokimeki Memoriaru?) is a popular dating simulation series by Konami. It consists of 6 main games, Tokimeki Memorial, Tokimeki Memorial 2, Tokimeki Memorial 3 ~ Yakusoku no Ano Basho de ~ (At the Place we Promised), Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side, Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 2nd Kiss, and Tokimeki Memorial Online, in addition to a large number of spinoffs. The games are notable in the dating sim genre for being highly nonlinear. Their nickname amongst their fans is the contraction TokiMemo.

The gameplay in Tokimeki Memorial focuses on scheduling, dating and stat-building. The player must organize his or her time between asking out members of the opposite sex and developing his or her abilities at school and sport (with the long-term goal of becoming more seductive, not out of any intrinsic value). Dates are frequent but very brief, with usually only one multiple-choice question to determine whether your partner's love meter will increase or decrease. One playthrough lasts for a fixed period of 3 years of high school (on the order of 5-10 hours of play), at the end of which the character with the highest love meter confesses their love. None of the games in the series contain erotic elements.

Tokimeki Memorial has been adapted into a 26 episode anime TV series, Tokimeki Memorial Only Love, produced by Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. and Anime International Company and based on Tokimeki Memorial Online, which premiered across Japan on October 2, 2006.

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Bleach, part 2

2007-07-14T15:41:00.001-05:00

The Bleach manga was first released in August of 2001 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. New Japanese-language chapters are featured weekly in the same magazine. The chapters are regularly compiled in seven-to-nine chapter tankōbon by Shueisha every few months. The first volume of the manga sold over 1.25 million copies in Japan, and the manga series alone has sold over 40 million volumes. In 2005, Bleach was awarded the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category.

The Bleach animated TV series is broadcast on Wednesdays by TV Tokyo and affiliated stations throughout Japan. It is co-produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Studio Pierrot and directed by Noriyuki Abe, with character designs by Masashi Kudō and music by Shiro Sagisu. The first episode was aired on October 5, 2004. The first 63 episodes were based on the manga, and the following 46 were original to the anime. Beginning with episode 110, the anime has returned to the manga storyline, yet incorporates elements from the previous 46 filler episodes. There are no plans to end production of the series. In addition, two OVAs have been produced and an animated film, Bleach: Memories of Nobody, was released in Japan on December 16, 2006. A second Bleach film, entitled Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, was announced on June 4, 2007. The movie will be released in December 2007. In a 2006 internet poll by TV Asahi, Bleach was ranked as Japan's seventh-favorite anime program.

VIZ Media has released 19 English-language volumes of the manga in North America, and numerous scanlation groups continue to release unofficial English translations of new chapters. North American sales of the manga have been high, with Volume 16 placing in the top 10 graphic novel sales in December 2006 and Volume 17 being the best-selling manga volume for the month of February 2007. On March 15, 2006, VIZ Media obtained foreign television, home video, and merchandising rights to the Bleach anime from the TV Tokyo Corporation and Shueisha. Subsequently, VIZ Media contracted Studiopolis to create the English dub of the anime, and has given its individual Bleach merchandising rights to several different companies.

The English version of the Bleach anime premiered on Canada's YTV channel in the Bionix program block on September 8, 2006. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim began airing Bleach the following evening. The English version of Bleach was nominated for the "best manga" and "best theme" awards at the 2006 American Anime Awards, but did not win either category. It was nominated again in 2007 in the fields of "best manga", "best actor", "best DVD package design", and "best theme", but failed to win any awards

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Bleach

2007-07-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

Bleach is an ongoing manga series authored by mangaka Tite Kubo. Since its debut in 2001, Bleach has been adapted into an anime series, two OVAs, two anime films, a rock musical, and numerous video games. Compilation volumes of the manga have sold over 39 million copies in Japan.

Bleach follows the lives of Ichigo Kurosaki, who is a high school student with the ability to see ghosts, and a shinigami (Soul Reaper or, literally, "death god") named Rukia Kuchiki, who crosses paths with Ichigo while hunting an evil spirit known as a hollow. Rukia is wounded during the ensuing confrontation with the spirit and is left with no choice but to transfer her powers into Ichigo. Thus the adventures of Ichigo and Rukia begin. Together they search for hollows and perform soul burials on wayward souls, cleansing the spirits and sending them to Soul Society. The early parts of the story focus mainly on the characters and their pasts, rather than the actual occupation of the shinigami. As events unfold, the story begins to delve deeper into the world of these gods of death on the "other side" called Soul Society.

Naruto, part 7

2007-06-21T16:49:00.001-05:00

Team 7 returns to Konoha to continue with their lives as regular Genin. One day, whilst playing with Konohamaru and his friends, Naruto meets two of the three Genin from Sunagakure (Hidden Sand) - Gaara, Kankuro and Temari - and learns that they are in Konoha to participate in the Chunin Selection Exams. Meanwhile Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai all volunteer their teams for the exam also. Naruto is thrilled about the possibility of becoming a Chunin.

The first part of the exam is written, but it was not a test of knowledge as much as a test of information gathering and willpower. The first 9 questions were supposed to be cheated, where the Genin must use any techniques to find out the correct answer without being caught. Naruto, who did not realize this, went into a traumatic state in which he felt that he would cause his entire team to be eliminated, as he did not know the answer to any of the questions. Sasuke realizes that he, too, did not know the answers but immediately activates his Sharingan to copy someone else's answers. Sakura as a testament to her incredible intellect answers all of the questions quickly (a feat which the Examiner later said could not be accomplished at Genin level). The last question was do or die question: don't answer and your entire team fails the Chunin exams, answer and get it wrong and you stay a Genin forever. Naruto shows that he is not somebody who quits when he bursts out that he doesn't care if he stays a Genin forever, he will still become Hokage. The Genin who stayed behind all pass the first part of the Chunin exams (including Naruto, who didn't answer a single question on the exam but number 10.)

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Naruto, part 6

2007-06-18T18:42:00.002-05:00

With the demon fox power that Naruto used, he proved to be too powerful for Haku. Seeing that he was unable to help Zabuza, Haku asked Naruto to kill him. Naruto protested and initially refused, but then decided to honor his request. However, Haku then noticed that Zabuza was in danger from Kakashi, so he stopped Naruto's attack and ran away to save Zabuza. Zabuza was being dominated by Kakashi, who used a Summoning Technique to immobilize him using his tracking dogs. As Kakashi was about to stab Zabuza with his Lightning Blade, Haku realized that Zabuza was in mortal danger and ran to save Zabuza by standing in front of him. Thus Kakashi stabbed Haku, Kakashi's hand going completely through Haku's heart. Everyone realizes now that Haku is dead. At first, Zabuza has no change in emotion and praises Haku as a good tool.

As the battle draws to an end, Gato arrives with his gang of hired thugs. He tells Zabuza that he never intended to pay him, even if Zabuza finished the mission. Gato then kicks Haku for breaking his arm earlier. This infuriates Naruto as he cries for Haku's death and says to Zabuza that Haku really cared about him and that he would die for him. Moved by his words, Zabuza confesses that he cared deeply about Haku and he begins to cry. With this realization, Zabuza asks Naruto if he can borrow one of his kunai. Naruto tosses one to him, and with the memories of Haku fresh in his mind, Zabuza grabs the kunai in his mouth and rushes to kill Gato. Gato runs behind his miniature army, but Zabuza rushes past all of them, killing many on the way, and eventually reaches Gato. Before he dies, Gato realizes that Zabuza really is worthy of the name "Demon of the Hidden Mist" as he sees a demonic silhouette of Zabuza. In the anime, Zabuza slashes Gato repeatedly and knocks him off the bridge and into the water below. In the manga, Zabuza decapitates him. Zabuza then stands still and gets stabbed in the back by the remaining henchmen. After a brief moment, Sasuke wakes up from the near death state Haku put him in. The shinobi gangs are then chased away, by Naruto & Kakashi producing many Shadow Clones and with the help of the villagers, who finally stand up for themselves. Zabuza's last request to Kakashi is to be buried next to Haku. After Naruto witnessed what happened to Haku and Zabuza, he decides to become a ninja in his own way, and defy the belief that ninja are merely tools of their villages.

After the team departs Tazuna decides to name the newly completed bridge the "Great Naruto Bridge"

Naruto, part 5

2007-06-18T18:40:00.001-05:00

While genin are normally assigned D-Rank missions, Naruto insists on doing something more exciting and the Third Hokage agrees to send them on a C-Rank mission to escort Tazuna, a master bridge builder. During their mission, the team is attacked by two enemy Chunin, something that is not supposed to happen on C-Rank missions, and Naruto panics and freezes. Sasuke, however, deals with the attackers quite efficiently and rubs in his one-upping Naruto by calling him a "scaredy-cat." This name-calling, which Naruto would imitate many times later in the series, is a defining moment in the Naruto-Sasuke rivalry. After the attack, Naruto bleeds out the poison he received by stabbing his wound with a kunai and swears upon his pain to never freeze up and leave his friends to fend for themselves again. Kakashi then tells Naruto that if he looses any more blood, he'll die. Naruto starts panicking, but Kakashi tells Naruto to let him take a look at it. Kakashi is about to treat the wound when he sees that it's already healing. Kakashi then theorizes that this could be a power given to Naruto because of the Nine Tailed Fox.

Tazuna then explains the real mission: the Land of Waves has been taken over by a shipping magnate called Gato, and the only way to revitalize the economy is by building a bridge to the mainland that can bypass Gato's shipping monopoly. However, Gato does not want that to happen, and uses shinobi gangs to get what he wants. Thus Team 7's mission is to support and protect the bridge-building efforts that have been thwarted thus far.

Next, the team is challenged by Zabuza Momochi, who is one of the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist. Early in the battle, Kakashi is trapped in Zabuza's Water Prison Technique and unable to continue fighting. Left to fend for himself, Naruto attempts to run, but feels the pain in his left hand and remembers his earlier vow. In another defining point in Naruto and Team 7's development, Naruto conceives a plan to release Kakashi and Sasuke, with little apparent communication between the two, executes it perfectly. Kakashi, free again, demonstrates the abilities of the Sharingan, defeating Zabuza with both physical and psychological attacks. Though Zabuza should have met his end, he was saved by Haku, who was so skilled with needles that he made it seem as though Zabuza had died, and pretended to be a tracker ninja trying to kill Zabuza.

Team 7 undergoes chakra training, and this becomes another point of rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke, as they constantly challenge themselves to try to outdo each other, but instead end up helping and motivating each other to succeed. They also meet Inari, Tazuna's grandson, who is still brooding over the loss of Kaiza, whom he respected as his father and a local hero, but was killed by Gato.

Eventually, Zabuza and Haku return to make a do or die battle, with some experience as to how they should handle the Konoha ninjas. Haku reveals his Demonic Ice Mirrors jutsu, and completely overpowers Sasuke. Naruto joins the fight and through his own ignorance and impulsiveness gets himself trapped in Haku's jutsu, and is immediateley placed at Haku's mercy. During the course of the fight Sasuke awakens his Sharingan and saves Naruto by sacrificing himself. Naruto asks him why he did that and Sasuke just replied 'How should I know, my body just moved by itself' and then appears to die with 3 needles in his neck. Meanwhile, Zabuza is focused on finding a way to weaken Kakashi's Sharingan.

Naruto's "hidden power" is revealed after he believed Haku killed Sasuke. Naruto loses control and is consumed by the demon fox's chakra. Its power is so immense that the chakra is visible. All of Naruto's wounds heal near-instantaneously, and Naruto's appearance changes; his eyes become red and slitted like a cat, his "whiskers" deepen, his fingernails grow long like claws and his canine teeth become sharper. He completely overwhelms his enemy with this power and speed.

Naruto, part 4

2007-06-18T18:34:00.001-05:00

In order to officially obtain the rank of Genin, Academy students must undergo a field evaluation administered by a Jonin, who will be their squad leader should they pass. Students are organized into groups of three Genin, with a Jonin-sensei assigned to each team. Teams are chosen to balance skills and abilities. As such, Naruto, being the worst student, was paired with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, with Sasuke being the brightest one and Sakura being the best at quizes and tests but not stong in subjects like stamina and taijutsu. The other teams (that would pass) were Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka in Team 8 and Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka in Team 10.

Team 7's initial group chemistry was terrible: Naruto was infatuated with Sakura and detested Sasuke, Sakura was infatuated with Sasuke and detested Naruto, and Sasuke was a lone wolf who detested the both of them. Unfortunately for them, their Jonin instructor was Kakashi Hatake, who emphasized teamwork above all else.

Kakashi's field evaluation, considered the strictest of its type, is simple but difficult; in fact, he hadn't passed anyone during his time as a Jonin. All the Genin have to do to pass is take a bell from him using any means necessary before noon. Aside from the fact that three Genin are taking on a Jonin, Kakashi only has two bells on his belt, ensuring that one of them will fail. On top of that, the students are tricked into skipping breakfast. Those who get the bells get to eat, while the one who doesn't is tied to a post. The main purpose is not to test the Genin's skill, but rather their teamwork. Team 7's performance during the exam was terrible: Naruto fell into every trap Kakashi set, not bothering to be at all stealthy about his attacks, Sakura did nothing to help, even getting tricked by Kakashi's Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique genjutsu, and Sasuke didn't bother to help either of them, instead attacking on his own because he believed they would slow him down. All three failed to get a bell.

After their failure, Kakashi berates all three for their lack of teamwork. He eventually explained to them the purpose of the exam, and allowed them to eat in preparation for a second try. Naruto, who had stumbled upon the lunches Kakashi prepared and attempted to eat them, is tied to the post. After he left, Sakura and Sasuke realized that they'll need Naruto in top-shape if they're to retrieve the bells, and decided to feed him against Kakashi's wishes. Kakashi, of course, was watching the whole time and appeared in a giant blast of smoke, appearing quite furious. The three Genin claim that they're a team, and as such one person. Quickly changing his attitude, Kakashi lets them pass for figuring out the purpose of the exam. He also recites the exact message he was trying to get across - "In the ninja world, those who don't follow the rules are trash. That is true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash."

Naruto, part 3

2007-06-09T17:57:00.001-05:00

Twelve years before the start of the story, the Nine-Tailed demon fox attacked Konohagakure. The Fourth Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure at the time, sacrificed his life to seal the spirit of the demon fox inside a newborn baby: Naruto Uzumaki, whose parents and origin are unknown.

Though the Fourth Hokage wanted Naruto to be viewed as a hero for such a burden, the villagers could not see him beyond the monster that destroyed their homes. The Third Hokage, who had taken over once more the Fourth died, made a decree preventing anyone from telling Naruto about the demon within him. Though Naruto found some friendship in children his age, even they came to ostracize him, following in their parents' example without even knowing anything about the fox-demon themselves.

Once Naruto was admitted into the Ninja Academy, he was befriended by his Chunin instructor, Iruka Umino. Iruka was the first person to believe in Naruto, and became a father-figure for him to look up to.

At the ninja academy, Naruto's reputation as a troublemaker earned him infamy among the teachers and students. Iruka, and the Third Hokage, were the only two positive influences on him. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Hinata Hyuga also thought very highly of him. Naruto failed the graduation exam twice, because he failed to properly perform the Replication Technique.

Mizuki, another Academy examiner tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals, a collection of forbidden techniques, claiming that Naruto would be automatically passed by simply learning a jutsu from the scroll. The Third soon realized the scroll was missing and gathered many ninja. As search parties were sent to find Naruto, Iruka goes out on his own and gets to him first.

Naruto had been training in the forest the entire time, ignorant of what he had done, and simply repeated to Iruka what Mizuki had told him earlier. Iruka realized what Mizuki wanted just as Mizuki himself showed up to attack them both. Mizuki then tried to kill Naruto with an oversized shuriken, but Iruka pushed him out of the way, saving his life. Mizuki tried to get Naruto to give him the scroll while Iruka tried to convince Naruto to do otherwise. Their argument led Mizuki to tell Naruto that he was the container of the demon fox that killed Iruka's parents.

Startled, Naruto runs off, leaving Iruka and Mizuki to fight amongst themselves. Naruto watched from a distance, eventually learning what Mizuki was after, as well as the true level of Iruka's devotion to him. Just before Mizuki could kill Iruka, Naruto attacked and defeated him using his newly learned Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Impressed that Naruto could master such a difficult technique, Iruka lets Naruto graduate, ironically fulfilling Mizuki's original promise.

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Naruto, part 2

2007-06-09T17:53:00.001-05:00

Even though it debuted some time after the manga, the anime quickly caught up, since one anime episode usually covers one or two manga chapters. To prevent overlapping, the anime's producers tend to organize content from the manga chapters into long, uneventful sections followed by short bursts of action, sometimes adding filler content in between. By the time the Sasuke Retrieval arc ended in the anime (episode 135), the series was at a point where it was quickly gaining on the manga. At the conclusion of this arc, the anime immediately switched to anime-only filler episodes to allow the manga to broaden the gap once more. Most of the filler episodes are stand-alone stories, with a few being part of arcs that are several episodes long. The filler episodes lasted for 85 episodes, the duration of the first series. After the series moved back into manga-adapted episodes, it was renamed Naruto: Shippūden . The new series premiered on February 15, 2007.

The anime generally remains true to the manga, usually changing only minor details (causes of death, loss of limbs, and other injuries have been lessened in the anime) or expanding on parts skipped by the manga, such as the fight between Tenten and Temari. The filler arcs, though unreferenced in the manga (save for a few scant scenes), deal with the breaks between manga volumes, which covers a short period before the Sasuke Retrieval arc and several months before the time skip. The filler arcs tend to cover the supporting characters, occasionally giving insight into an otherwise rarely seen character.

New episodes, animated by Studio Pierrot, air weekly on TV Tokyo in Japan during the Golden Time slot (Japan's equivalent of prime time in the US). As of October 5, 2006, it shows on Thursday nights. The series has also spawned four movies, Naruto the Movie, Naruto the Movie 2, Naruto the Movie 3, and Naruto: Shippūden the Movie scheduled to premiere on August 4, 2007. The first three are available on DVD.

On September 10, 2005, Naruto had its hour-long premiere in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's Toonami. The first episode of Naruto premiered in Canada on YTV on September 16, 2005. In the United Kingdom, Naruto premiered on Jetix on July 22, 2006. In Australia and New Zealand it premiered on Cartoon Network on September 27, 2006. It also began showing on Toasted TV on January 12, 2007, in Australia.

In its English anime release, Naruto was aired with a TV-PG rating in the US and a PG rating in Canada. More explicit episodes, such as Jiraiya's debut and the battle with Zabuza, have been given a TV-PG-DS or a TV-PG-V rating. References to alcohol, Japanese cultural differences, mild language, mild sexual situations, and even blood and death remain in the English version, though reduced in some instances. Other networks make additional content edits apart from the edits done by Cartoon Network, such as Jetix's more strict censoring of blood, language, smoking and the like.

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Naruto, part 1

2007-06-05T15:20:00.001-05:00

Naruto is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto with an anime TV series adaptation. Its main character, Naruto Uzumaki, is a loud, hyperactive, adolescent ninja who constantly searches for approval and recognition, as well as to become Hokage, acknowledged as the leader and strongest of all ninja in the village.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan's Shonen Jump magazine. As of volume 36, the manga has sold over 71 million copies in Japan. VIZ Media publishes a translated version in the American Shonen Jump magazine. Naruto has become VIZ's best-selling manga series. To date, the first fourteen volumes are available. In order to catch up to the translated anime, VIZ plans to release volumes 16 to 27 three at a time over the months of September to December 2007.

The anime series, produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex, premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animax on October 3, 2002, and is still being aired. Viz also licensed the anime for North American production. Naruto debuted in the United States on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block on September 10, 2005, and in Canada on YTV's Bionix on September 16, 2005. Naruto began showing in the UK on Jetix on July 22, 2006. It began showing on Toasted TV on January 12, 2007 in Australia, although it could be watched on Cartoon Network in 2006. The first series lasted nine seasons, while the second began its first on February 15, 2007.

The series' length and popularity is comparable to that of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, another popular action-oriented shōnen manga. Since its creation, Naruto has spawned a large number of fansites that contain detailed information, guides, and active forums. Some of the first and most popular sites targeted at English speaking audiences were established shortly after the first English manga volume was released in August 2003. Like many other manga and anime titles, Naruto has also spawned its own collectible card game.

Prior to the anime's North American debut in 2005, several scanlation and fansub groups translated the series and made it available for free download on the internet. Despite North American companies' perceived tendency to prosecute fansubbing groups more frequently than Japanese companies, there are some that have continued to translate new Naruto episodes due to the extremely large gap between the English and Japanese versions.

Volume 7 of the manga has recently won a Quill Award for best graphic novel in North America. In TV Asahi's latest top 100 Anime Ranking, Naruto ranked 17th on the list

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Beat Angel Escalayer

2007-06-01T16:58:00.001-05:00

Beat Angel Escalayer is a hentai anime OVA and eroge series from 2002 created by Alice Soft and animated by Pink Pineapple.

Sayuka Kouenji is the guardian of the Earth and has the ability to transform into her alter ego Escalayer to protect the world from the evil forces of the Dielast. However, in order to transform into Escalayer she must recharge her power source, the Doki Doki Dynamo which can only be recharged through sexual excitement. This was previously achieved through lesbian sex with her android friend Madoka, however, this has become less effective and Madoka recruits the school playboy Kyohei Yanase who's vast sexual experience will help Sayuka transform.

This series is currently available in North America through Media Blasters under the Kitty Media label. The original hentai game has not been officially released in English.

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Escalayer/

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Battle Arena Toshinden

2007-05-30T14:19:00.002-05:00

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Battle Arena Toshinden (Batoru Arīna Tōshinden) is a fighting game for the PlayStation. It was one of the first fighting games to boast polygonal characters in a 3D battle arena, rather than the traditional side-to-side fighting space that had been popular since Street Fighter II. The player could use the L/R trigger buttons to step "toward" or "away from" the camera to dodge attacks or get a better angle for an offensive strike. It was an early killer game for the PlayStation, and Sony promoted it eagerly. However, they soon left the series, which was published by Playmates Interactive. By that time, fighting games like Tekken started emerging and Battle Arena Toshinden quickly lost popularity and was completely forgotten by the public after spawning Battle Arena Toshinden 2, 3, and 4.

Battle Arena Toshinden was the first 3D weapons fighter, and was succeeded in spirit by Soul Edge and other games of the genre.

Battle Arena Toshinden also had an anime based on the game.

For one year, Master Swordman Eiji Shinjo has been haunted by the memory of his battle with the renegade champion, Gaia - a battle that was cut short by the forces of the malevolent syndicate known as "The Organization." Denied victory, Eiji left the tournament followed by his opponent's mocking laughter. Worse still, Eiji walked away no closer to finding his long-lost brother, Sho.

But now, a mysterious warrior is hunting down the champions of the previous tournament and using their own moves against them.

Who is this powerful, new foe and who will be his next target? Eiji and Kayin - his closest friend and greatest rival - attempt to unravel the mystery before they, too, join the ranks of the defeated. The answer lies at the heart of the Organization and its plans. At last, the ultimate battle between the greatest fighters in the world may be decided.

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Basilisk

2007-05-29T11:38:00.003-05:00

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Basilisk is a Japanese manga and anime series. The manga was authored by Masaki Segawa and published in Japan in 2003 and 2004, based on novel The Kouga Ninja Scrolls by Futaro Yamada published in 1958. The anime, produced in 2005 by GONZO Studios closely follows the manga aside from a handful of distinctions. The manga won the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award.

The story takes place in the year 1614. Two ninja clans, Tsubagakure of the Iga and Manjidani of Kouga, battle each other to determine which grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu will become the next shogun. The deadly competition between 10 elite ninja from each clan unleashes a centuries-old hatred that threatens to destroy all hope for peace between them.

Although the anime follows the original manga almost exactly in storyline, there are a few slight differences. The most notable being flashbacks (such as the one in episode 1 as to how Ogen and Danjou's love came to an end) as well as addional scenes which occur only in the anime; both of which serve to expand on the characters and the backstory.

Other differences include fight scenes happening in a different order (i.e. in the manga, Oboro uncovers Jingoro's attempt to assassinate Gennosuke before stopping Akeginu and Jousuke's duel whereas in the anime the situation is reversed), and exposed breasts being obscured in the anime by some form of covering whereas the manga tends to be less censored. Although, toward the end of the anime, bare breasts can be seen on a number of occasions.

The Kouga Ninja Scrolls (Kouga Ninpōchō) is the first book in author Futaro Yamada's "Ninpōchō series of novels. His work also served as the inspiration for the 1993 hit anime movie Ninja Scroll (Jūbei Ninpūchō) and Basilisk feature similar and occasionally matching characters. For instance; both feature a character named Kagerou, a female ninja from the Kouga Clan whose ability is to poison those in sexual contact with her, and who is in love with the main character. Basilisk's antagonist Yakushiji Tenzen is similar to the villain of Ninja Scroll Himura Genma in that both possess powers of regeneration and pursue their own objectives outside of their superior's knowledge. And Rousai's ability to stretch and contort his arms is replicated by Ninja Scroll's Dakuan. However, Ninja Scroll didn't credit Yamada.
The anime/manga's title is a reference to the basilisk; a mythological dragon whose gaze was said to cause death. Likewise, both Gennosuke and Oboro possess the deadliest techniques in the series which are exercised through their eyes.
Some characters are designed around concepts of animals. Rousai's large, gourd-like head and lengthy limbs are meant to evoke an octopus. Similarly, Shogen has six red dots on his forehead, meant to evoke the multiple eyes of a spider. Most obviously, Jubei's prehensile tongue and limbless body are meant to evoke a snake. A less obvious example is Hotarubi who controls clouds of glowing butterflys; a possible reference to how her name is the Japanese word for firefly.
In addition to the Basilisk anime and manga, Futaro Yamada's book has been adapted for the live action film, Shinobi: Heart Under Blade which was released on DVD for American audiences in February 2007 by Funimation, the same company that distributed the dubbed version of Basilisk.
Del Rey Books, the company that publishes the Basilisk Manga in English, released an English language version of the original Kouga Ninpocho novel in late December 2006, shortly after releasing English volume 3 of the manga.
The Funimation English dub of the anime keeps many of the original Japanese honorifics.
The Funimation English sub of the anime uses the original credits written in Japanese honorifics when played.
The Basilisk manga is printed using a method unique among other titles in that very little of the background is actually drawn. Instead, a good deal of the manga is comprised of the various characters superimposed over black and white photographs of real world landscapes.
In the Nintendo DS videogame Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. One of the enemy Ninja Boys near Snowhead City will ask if your character is Kouga or Iga.

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BALDR FORCE EXE Resolution (OAV)

2007-05-27T12:18:00.001-05:00

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BALDR FORCE EXE Resolution (OAV)

Tooru Soma was a member of "Steppen Wolf", a group of hackers. The group decided to do one more hacking attack by attempting to hack into FLAK, a major military organization run by the United Nations to prevent cyber terrorism. However, they were discovered quickly, which resulted in the death of Yuuya, Steppen Wolf's leader and Tooru's friend, as well as their arrest. In order to avoid a long term in prison, Tooru ultimately decided to join FLAK, in order to find out who killed Yuuya. While Tooru tries to find the murderer of his friend, he and his new teammates are to defend the wired world from Fei Dao, an extremist group who threatens to disrupt the stability of the wired world.

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Burst Angel

2007-05-25T16:25:00.003-05:00

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Burst Angel is an anime series produced by GONZO animation studio set in a world sometime after 2020. The Japanese name for the anime Bakuretsu Tenshi is loosely translated to "Exploding/Explosive Angel", shortened to Bakuten and is also known as Burst Angel and Crazy Burst Angel. Burst Angel features character designs by Ugetsu Hakua. Funimation licensed and released all 24 episodes of Burst Angel on six DVDs in North American from October 10th, 2005 through February 21st, 2006. There is also a 3 episode OVA entitled "Tenshi Sairin", or "Burst Angel Infinity" in English, which was released on DVD on March 3rd, 2007 in Japan.

In the future, there are major crime issues in Tokyo. The main cause of this is because it has become legal to possess firearms in Japan (this was partly due to an unusual rise in crime prior, and the gun control laws were repealed in order for lawful citizens to protect themselves). And because of this, it has reached the point where the police force charged with protecting the citizens (known as R.A.P.T., as an acronym for 'Recently Armed Police Taskforce') has resorted to exterminating criminals rather than arresting them.

The story opens with Kyohei Tachibana, a student at a culinary arts school with dreams of someday becoming a patissier (pastry chef). Motorcycling down an inner city street and becoming caught up in a shoot-out between a mysterious white-haired woman and a couple of gangsters. Kyohei escapes unharmed and ends up cooking as a cook for a group of four girls named Jo, Meg, Amy, and Sei in an effort to gather up enough money to travel to France. The girls, ranging in ages of eleven to nineteen, turn out to be pseudo-mercenary agents for a larger international group known as Bai Lan.

The anime focuses on the group as they investigate a series of mutated human monsters with odd glowing brains that cause various amount of mayhem mostly throughout the Tokyo, Japan, area. There are also a couple of side characters (namely the group's Mecha, Jango, that is maintained by a man named Leo) along with various third persons that occur throughout or in specific parts of the series, such as a new Japanese Prime Minister that takes over via an assassination of an early, newly-elected Prime Minister nearing the end of the series.

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Ayashi no Ceres / Ceres, Celestial Legend

2007-05-20T13:13:00.000-05:00

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Ceres, Celestial Legend , is a 14-volume shōjo manga series by Yūu Watase, the creator of the popular manga/anime series Fushigi Yūgi and Alice 19th. There is also the anime with the same title, which runs in 24 episodes in length. The manga is published in English by VIZ Media.

Ayashi no Ceres was serialized from 1996 to 2000 in the bi-weekly Japanese manga magazine Shōjo Comic. The original Japanese title is Ayashi no Ceres - Tenkū Otogizūshi, which the literal translation is "Bewitching Ceres - Heavenly Fairy Tale". The original title was changed for North American release.

The story revolves around a teenage girl named Aya and her twin brother Aki, members of the wealthy and powerful Mikage family.

On their sixteenth birthday, they are called to gather in their family home to be given a special present. The present was actually some sort of test -- which Aya failed. She is proven to be a reincarnation of a tennyō (celestial maiden), and when her hidden memory is jogged, she will transform into Ceres, the tennyō. According to the legend, if left to live, the reincarnation of Ceres will bring ruin upon the Mikage family. Aya quickly finds she is being hunted by her own family who plans to kill her. She is saved by Suzumi Aogiri, another tennyo descendant, Yūhi, a very energetic teenager and Suzumi's brother-in-law, and Tōya, a mysterious man with whom Aya soon falls in love.

Events escalate as Aya struggles to control Ceres and her brother gains the ability to manifest as the "Progenitor", the ancestor of the Mikage family who happen to have stolen Ceres' hagoromo (celestial robe) that will help her open the gate of heaven.

As Aya's allies increase, which include two tennyo like herself and the Aogiri family, and Tōya, she manages to reach a compromise with Ceres such that Ceres will not manifest herself without Aya's approval so long as Aya manages to recover Ceres' lost hagoromo.

Aya's quest to find Ceres' hagoromo wavers as she attempts to avoid her family, the advances of the Progenitor, and forces that threaten to tear her apart from Tōya, whose lost memory may be the key to finding Ceres' hagoromo. Toya soon learns that he was the organism that was created from the "hagoromo" or mana and his purpose was to return the mana back to Ceres. His love for Aya set him apart from everyone else.

The name of the goddess comes from Ceres in Roman mythology. However, this story is completely unrelated to the grecoroman mythologies concerning Ceres and has nothing to do with the duties, powers, and rank of that goddess.

Ceres: Celestial Legend is based on a famous folktale that has appeared in various versions in the world, from Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and China, all the way to Scotland and Ireland and among the Plains Indians of North America.

The story always remains consistent in that a man (a fisherman, farmer, or woodcutter) will find an item belonging to an unearthly maiden (a tennyo, fairy, star fisher, merrow, selkie, etc.) and keeps it. The maiden is not able to return to her world because the man possesses the item (usually a garment) she needs (a celestial robe, a feathered cloak, a hat, a seal-skin... etc) and reluctantly marries him. However, she always recovers the item (often as a result of her children discovering it) and she returns to her world. Sometimes her children from earth will be taken with her and sometimes her husband will join her. Once the maiden returns to her world, she never returns to the earth.

This folktale is referenced in both manga and anime. Ceres is one such example. Others include the Korean Manhwa Faeries' Landing and the Inuyasha the Movie 2: Castle Through the Looking Glass.

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